Elizabeth Freund Larus, Chairman of the Department of Political Science and International Affairs, commented on Indus News on U.S. sanctions against Chinese construction companies. In her August 31 interview, Professor Larus argued that the U.S. sanctions are not intended to contain China’s rise, but are in response to their participation in China’s island building on disputed territories in the South China Sea. The U.S. sanctions threaten the future of Chinese development projects, such as construction of Sri Lanka’s Port City Columbo project. Professor Larus’ comments begin at 19:30 minutes into the program at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ1mCRNkptw

Professor Elizabeth Freund Larus, Chairman of the Department of Political Science and International Affairs, commented in the South China Morning Post Sept. 3 that China has become a bipartisan issue. No matter if the next presidential administration is Democrat or Republican, the U.S. will take a hard line in treating China as a challenger. The SCMP is Asia’s main source of regional and international news. Read the article at
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3100126/us-elections-whether-trump-or-biden-win-china-policies-wont

Elizabeth Freund Larus, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Political Science and International Affairs, on August 22 offered comments to the Vietnam News Agency on the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Professor Larus indicated that comments by convention speakers reflect the fact that this year’s presidential election is not about electing former U.S. VP Biden president but is an opportunity to end Trump’s presidency. Rather than focus on a Biden-Harris ticket agenda, convention speakers attacked both Trump’s personality and his policies. Dr. Larus indicated that most of the politically active speakers at the convention identify with the political left, and that the convention wanted to send the message that the party is moving to the political left even if Biden is a political moderate. Professor Larus pointed out that the Democratic Party needs to inspire voters on the political left to come out to vote if Biden has a chance of winning. He needs to compel political independents and people who voted for Trump as a rejection of Hillary Clinton to vote for his ticket.

Professor Larus’s comments, in Vietnamese, begin at 5:43 minutes into the program at https://vnews.gov.vn/video/the-gioi-360-do-ngay-22-8-2020-189251.htm