Prioritizing China’s Vulnerable Children after the CCP’s Suspension of International Adoptions

September 2024

Past Event

Prioritizing China’s Vulnerable Children after the CCP’s Suspension of International Adoptions

Past Event

Hudson Institute

September 27, 2024

A general view of the Harbin Holy Iveron Icon Orthodox Church and orphanage on December 6, 2017, in Harbin, China. (Tao Zhang via Getty Images)

September 2024

Past Event

Speakers:

Chelsea Sobolik

Author

Rana Siu Inboden

Senior Fellow, Robert Strauss Center for International Affairs and Law, University of Texas-Austin

Karla Thrasher

Senior Director of International Adoption, Lifeline

Shaoey Chapman

Certified Child Life Specialist, Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital, Vanderbilt

Shaoey Chapman is a certified child life specialist at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. She is trust based relational intervention (TBRI) certified and has a master of social work from the University of Alabama. She was adopted from China when she was eight months old and has worked closely with the nonprofit Show Hope, which aims to break down barriers between waiting children and loving families.

Listen to Event Audio

The Chinese Communist Party made a seemingly sudden decision to end its international adoption program in late August. Then, in September, the State Department told American families who were matched with children in China that they would likely never be united with the children they were pursuing for adoption. The news was a devastating blow to the hopes and dreams of hundreds of Chinese children and their prospective families, many of whom had been waiting for their adoptions to be finalized since before the start of the pandemic. This decision also leaves hundreds of thousands of children, most of whom have special needs, languishing in Chinese orphanages.

Join Hudson for a conversation on what the US government and the international community can do to help these children and their families.

March 2026

In-Person Event | Invite Only

Europe and the Iran War: A Conversation with Tomáš Pojar

Featured Speakers:

Michael Doran

Tomáš Pojar

March 2026

In-Person Event | Invite Only

Europe and the Iran War: A Conversation with Tomáš Pojar

To explore this question, Tomas Pojar joins Dr. Michael Doran for a timely conversation on Europe’s strategic posture, alliance cohesion, and the future of Western coordination in the region.

Featured Speakers:

Michael Doran

Tomáš Pojar

Learn More

March 2026

Virtual Event | Online Only

Zimbabwe’s Land Seizures and the Road to Resolution

Featured Speakers:

Joshua Meservey

Deon Therons

Allan “Rusty” Markham

John “JT” Tomaszewski

March 2026

Virtual Event | Online Only

Zimbabwe’s Land Seizures and the Road to Resolution

Join Senior Fellow Joshua Meservey as he hosts a panel of experts to discuss the history of land expropriation in Zimbabwe, the status of the land compensation agenda, and how policymakers can rectify an issue that bedevils US-Zimbabwe relations.

Featured Speakers:

Joshua Meservey

Deon Therons

Allan “Rusty” Markham

John “JT” Tomaszewski

Learn More

March 2026

In-Person Event | Invite Only

Updating US Trade Policy: A Discussion on the Strategic and Economic Importance of Central Asia with Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-CA)

Featured Speakers:

Michael Doran

Congressman Jimmy Panetta

March 2026

In-Person Event | Invite Only

Updating US Trade Policy: A Discussion on the Strategic and Economic Importance of Central Asia with Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-CA)

Please Join Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) and Senior Fellow Michael Doran for a discussion on the region’s significance and why updating US trade policy is key to unlocking its potential in an era of renewed great power competition.

Featured Speakers:

Michael Doran

Congressman Jimmy Panetta

Learn More

April 2026

In-Person Event | Invite Only

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on the Future of Trade Policy

Featured Speakers:

Ambassador Jamieson Greer

Peter Rough

April 2026

In-Person Event | Invite Only

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on the Future of Trade Policy

Please join Ambassador Greer for a fireside chat with Senior Fellow Peter Rough on the Trump administration’s first year back in office and what’s next for US trade policy.