Caption
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s Fab 20, which specializes in the production of 2-nanometer advanced chips, in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on March 28, 2026. (Getty Images)
The Vatican recently reached a historic agreement with China when it allowed the Chinese government to appoint Catholic bishops in exchange for Beijing acknowledging the Pope as the leader of the Catholic church. On October 11, Hudson Institute hosted a discussion to consider papal and Chinese motives for the deal, its diplomatic consequences, and the history of the Vatican’s relations with authoritarian communist nations. While additional details remain unclear, the agreement represents the first major change in relations between the Vatican and China since 1951 when the two states ended diplomatic relations.
Panelists included Nina Shea, a Hudson Institute senior fellow and director of the Center for Religious Freedom; Daniel Mark, former chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom; and Ted Lipien, president and executive director at FreeMediaOnline.org. The discussion was moderated by Seth Cropsey, a Hudson senior fellow and director of the Center for American Seapower.
Related Events
03
June 2026
Virtual Event | Hudson Institute
Authoritarian Persistence in Latin America: What Should the US Do?
Featured Speakers:
Elliot Abrams
Daniel Batlle
03
June 2026
Virtual Event | Hudson Institute
Authoritarian Persistence in Latin America: What Should the US Do?
Please join Adjunct Fellow Daniel Batlle for a conversation with Elliott Abrams, whose leadership on Latin America policy stretches from his service as assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs under President Ronald Reagan to his role as special representative for Venezuela in the first Trump administration.
Featured Speakers:
Elliot Abrams
Daniel Batlle
04
June 2026
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Spain’s Latin American Reckoning
Featured Speakers:
Julio Crespo MacLennan
Daniel Batlle
04
June 2026
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Spain’s Latin American Reckoning
Join Hudson as Adjunct Fellow Daniel Batlle sits down with Julio Crespo MacLennan, a historian and one of the leading scholars on Spain’s democratic transition and on Europe’s relationship with the wider world.
Featured Speakers:
Julio Crespo MacLennan
Daniel Batlle
11
June 2026
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Growing the DIB: A Conversation with Deputy Assistant Secretary of War James Mismash
Featured Speakers:
Nadia Schadlow
James Mismash
11
June 2026
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Growing the DIB: A Conversation with Deputy Assistant Secretary of War James Mismash
Please join Hudson Institute for a fireside chat between Hudson Senior Fellow Nadia Schadlow and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Industrial Base Growth and Director of the Office of Small Business Programs James Mismash.
Featured Speakers:
Nadia Schadlow
James Mismash
12
June 2026
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Winning the Innovation Competition
Featured Speakers:
Bryan Clark
Dan Patt
Emil Michael
12
June 2026
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Winning the Innovation Competition
Please join Hudson Institute Senior Fellows Bryan Clark and Dan Patt for a conversation with Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering Emil Michael about the Department of War’s efforts to bring AI to the battlefield and implement an innovation strategy that makes the most of America’s commercial and government research sectors.
Featured Speakers:
Bryan Clark
Dan Patt
Emil Michael
Related Research
Caption
A sign is displayed at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) headquarters on June 1, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)
Caption
A man walks past an electronic board displaying the movement of 10-year government bonds in Tokyo on December 22, 2025. (Getty Images)
Caption
(Screenshot via YouTube)
