china focus essay contest

China Focus 2024 Annual Essay Contest

China Focus is thrilled to announce the 2024 China Focus Essay Contest. This year’s contest is organized by China Focus and is jointly hosted by the Fudan-UC Center on Contemporary China , the 1990 Institute , The Carter Center , and the 21st Century China Center . 

We will accept both Chinese and English submissions. The contest offers two topics and awards two prizes of $1,000 and four runner-up prizes of $500.

Award winners will grant China Focus and co-sponsors the right to publish their essays on their respective platforms or in their publications. Winners may then be contacted with additional award opportunities to transform their essays into teaching materials and also to discuss their work with a panel of experts during the summer.

2024 ESSAY TOPICS (CHOOSE ONLY ONE) :

Topic 1: China has positioned itself as a potential mediator in conflicts like the Russo-Ukrainian War and the conflicts in the Middle-East. How would you define China’s track record in its mediation? Evaluate Chinese success so far and the geopolitical implications and potential obstacles surrounding China’s newfound role as an international mediator.

Topic 2: The U.S. and China have had an ongoing exchange of students and migrants for years as a product of increasingly globalized education and labor markets. How does the flow of U.S.-Chinese populations influence U.S.-China relations? To what extent can these population flows and ensuing people-to-people ties help to stabilize the relationship?

CONTEST REQUIREMENTS

The contest is open to undergraduate, graduate students, and recent graduates. Each entry must be the original work of students enrolled during the 2023-24 academic year as well as students who graduated after May 2023. We especially welcome submissions by students from U.S. and Chinese universities. Collaborative projects are encouraged, but prize money must be split among collaborators. Entries can be in either English or Chinese.

Essays should be written in op-ed style, with references provided as appropriate but no need for detailed footnotes, with a length of up to 2,500 words in English and 3,000 in Chinese.

Each entry will be reviewed by a panel of judges drawn from the China Focus board of advisers, experts in U.S.-China relations from the 21st Century China Center, and others with relevant expertise.

CONTEST PRIZES

Two equal $1,000 prizes for contest winners, the 1990 Institute Prize and the Jimmy Carter Prize, will be awarded. Four runner-up essays will also be selected to win $500 each.

Winners will be selected on quality without regard to the question addressed in the essay. Essay winners may then be contacted with additional award opportunities entailing transforming their essays into teaching materials and/or discussing their essay themes with experts on a panel event during the summer.

CONTEST DEADLINE (EXTENDED)

May 1st, 2024, 11:59 PM PST

Contestants who have already submitted are free to send in any revisions before the new extended deadline.

PREVIOUS CONTEST WINNERS

https://chinafocus.ucsd.edu/category/essay-contest/

HOW TO ENTER

• Send your submission to us by email ( [email protected] ) with the subject heading: “CF Contest2024-LastName”
• Send from your official university email address.
• Send your essay attached as a PDF.
• Submission title
• Author name(s)
• Affiliated school
• Degree just completed or being pursued in the current school year
• Nationality
• 3-4 sentences bio
• An alternative (permanent) email address (different from the school email address)
• Where did you hear about the essay contest?

For more information, email [email protected] and follow our LinkedIn page.

2024″中国焦点”作文大赛

2024“中国焦点”年度征文比赛正式开启。本届征文比赛由“中国焦点”（China Focus）倡议和组织， 复旦-加大当代中国研究中心 、 1990学社 （The 1990 Institute）、 卡特中心 （The Carter Center）和 加州大学圣地亚哥分校21世纪中国研究中心 (21st Century China Center)共同协办。本届比赛共有两个主题，邀请就读于中、美两国的本科生、研究生 (包括毕业不到一年的学生) 任选其中一个主题，针对中美两国正共同面对的一些挑战表述自己的观点和看法。

比赛共将选出六篇优胜论文，两个冠名一等奖，奖金额1,000美金；和四个二等奖，奖金额500美金。有奖征文评委会将同时接受收中文及英文稿件。大赛组织方将在各自平台或出版物上发表获奖论文。届时，获奖者也将有机会获得额外奖励，与大赛组织方专家合作，将获奖文章改编成教学材料，并在暑假期间应邀参与远程讨论，与相关专家面对面讨论获奖论文。

征文比赛题目（二选一）

题目一： 中国在俄乌和中东地区局势中将自己定位为潜在的调停者。中国作为调停者迄今为止的表现如何?该如何评价中国为俄乌和中东地区局势带来的积极影响？中国的调停者角色是否会对地区局势产生影响？作为新晋的调停者，中国将会面临哪些障碍和考验?

题目二： 多年来，教育市场和劳动力市场的日益全球化促进了中美的学生交流和移民往来。中美之间的人口流动是如何影响中美双边关系? 在多大程度上，中美双边的人口流动和民间交流能够促进两国关系的稳定发展?

征文比赛资格和其他要求：

参赛者须于2023至2024学年度在中国或美国大学注册或有学籍（包括自2023年5月毕业不足一年的应届生）的学生。比赛对本科生、研究生以及博士生开放。如果征文稿由多位作者共同撰写，则奖金须平分。

稿件必须为参赛者原创，中、英文皆可。征文长度不超过英文2,500字、中文3,000字。文体属非学术论文，但必须有理有据，可以参照长篇时事评论、专栏形式或往届获奖征文。酌情提供参考文献，但无需详细脚注。

有奖征文评委会由“中国焦点”顾问团队，包括21世纪中国研究中心教授以及其他中美关系专家担任。

2024年5月1日，23：59（美西时间）

两个冠名一等奖，奖金额1,000美金。

四个二等奖，奖金额500美金。

• 在截止期限之前，将稿件存为PDF格式，寄至 [email protected] ，标题为“CF Contest2024-LastName”
• 征文必须由学校官方电子邮箱寄出
• 个人简历 (3-4句话即可）
• 永久个人电子邮箱（非学校官方邮箱）
• 你从哪个渠道听说此次征文比赛

如果您还有其他问题，请咨询 [email protected] 或关注 中国焦点 官方领英。

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• China Focus 2024 Annual Essay Contest - February 26, 2024

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2023 China Focus Essay Contest Winners

This announcement was  originally published by China Focus at the 21st Century China Center at UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy.

China Focus is thrilled to announce the winners of the 2023 China Focus Essay Contest.  This year’s contest was organized by China Focus and was jointly hosted by the Fudan-UC Center on Contemporary China, the 1990 Institute, The Carter Center, and the 21st Century China Center. 

The Contest received a record number of submissions from many talented individuals. The quality of the submissions exceeded our expectations, making the selection process a challenging task. After careful evaluation by experts representing the 1990 Institute, the Carter Center, the 21st Century China Center, the Fudan-UC Center, and China Focus, we can now officially announce the winners of this year’s contest!

The 1990 Institute Prize: Katerina Yang and Ann-Alice Tichá from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies for their essay entitled “ Politics Out the Way! Towards a Deeper U.S.-China Green Cooperation .”

The Jimmy Carter Prize:  Graham Wilmot Revare from the University of Kansas for his essay entitled “ Green Protectionism: A Dangerous Consensus .”

The two runners up are Jessie Yin from the Paris School of International Affairs and Peking University for for her essay entitled “ Untangling China’s Reconstruction of Angola ” and Michelle Lai from UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy for her essay, “ China’s Best Friend in the EU: The Potential for Sino-Hungarian BRI Projects and Economic Cooperation .”

The 1990 Institute and the Jimmy Carter prize winners will receive an award of $2000 each, and two runners up will get $1,000 each. Each winning essay showcased profound insights, thoughtful analysis, and a deep understanding of U.S.-China dynamics, and we  look forward to seeing them published on China Focus soon.

Congratulations to our 2023 winners!

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Annual china focus essay contest.

China Focus , our student-run online magazine featuring original writing on China’s domestic and global affairs, is launching its 2022 essay contest calling for submissions from students in both U.S. and China. Four prizes of $1000 each will be awarded to winners. For detailed information about topics, eligibility, please click  here .

Election Updates: Biden, competing with Trump to be tough on China, calls for new steel tariffs.

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Kellen Browning

Kari Lake’s campaign released a new ad today attacking Ruben Gallego, her Democratic opponent in Arizona’s Senate race, and tying him to President Biden’s economic policies. “Joe Biden destroyed our economy, and Ruben Gallego is nothing but a rubber stamp for his disastrous Bidenomics,” the ad says.

Neil Vigdor

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, whose focus on cultural issues did not move the needle in the Republican primary race against Donald J. Trump, signed a bill on Wednesday that requires schools in his state to teach about “dangers and evils of Communism.” The bill, signed on the 63rd anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba, calls for the creation of a museum on the history of Communism.

While President Biden is speaking to steelworkers in Pittsburgh, across the country in Arizona, Republicans in the statehouse just blocked another effort to repeal the state’s 1864 near-total abortion ban, which was upheld by the State Supreme Court last week. In doing so, they resisted pressure from prominent Republicans, including former President Donald J. Trump and Kari Lake, who had urged them to take action.

Nicholas Nehamas

President Biden, who almost never mentions the criminal charges against former President Donald J. Trump, just took a swipe at his rival during his speech here in Pittsburgh. “Under my predecessor, who’s busy right now, Pennsylvania lost 275,000 jobs,” he said to laughter from the crowd. Trump’s trial trial began in Manhattan this week, though he was not in court today.

In his speech at the steelworkers union in Pittsburgh, President Biden is criticizing the Chinese subsidies on its steel and aluminum industries, saying “they are cheating. And we’re seeing the damage here in America.”

President Biden just took the stage at the United Steelworkers headquarters here in Pittsburgh. Biden, who is trying to organize a wave of support from organized labor, noted taht the union endorsed him during his first run for Senate and cited an old saying: “You go home with them that brung you to the dance. And you brought me to the dance.” He added: “I’m president because of you guys.”

President Biden has touched down in Pittsburgh, where he is set to announce higher tariffs on some steel and aluminum products from China in a speech at the steelworkers union here. He and Donald Trump are vying for votes in industrial states.

President Biden later today will announce heightened tariffs on some steel and aluminum products from China. Asked by reporters outside a coffee shop in Scranton this morning if he was worried about a trade war, Biden, carrying a paper bag of muffins and scones, shouted back: “No trade war!”

The Biden campaign touted two special election victories for Michigan House seats in the Detroit-area, saying the Democratic winners trounced “Trump’s MAGA allies.” Both wins were widely expected and allow Democrats to regain their narrow control of the Michigan House.

Shane Goldmacher

Shomari Figures, a former Justice Department official who won the Democratic runoff for a House seat in Alabama last night, is now the favorite to pick up a newly-drawn seat for Democrats this fall. Figures benefited from $2.4 million in spending from a super PAC linked to the crypto industry.

Jonathan Weisman

At a walkthrough of the United Center on Wednesday, which will host Democrats' convention this summer, Jaime Harrison, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, appealed to state Democratic officials for cohesion. “At the end of the day, we have to walk out of here unified,” he said. Later tonight, the focus here won't be on politics: the Chicago Bulls have a playoff game.

Nicholas Nehamas and Jim Tankersley

Nicholas Nehamas reported from Pittsburgh, and Jim Tankersley from Washington.

Biden, competing with Trump to be tough on China, calls for steel tariffs.

President Biden on Wednesday called for major increases to some tariffs on steel and aluminum products from China, speaking to members of a national steelworkers union in Pittsburgh as he vies with former President Donald J. Trump for votes in Northern industrial states.

“These are strategic and targeted actions that are going to protect American workers and ensure fair competition,” Mr. Biden told a crowd of about 100 union members at the United Steelworkers, which endorsed him last month. “Meanwhile, my predecessor and the MAGA Republicans want across-the-board tariffs on all imports, from all countries, that could badly hurt American consumers.”

The Biden administration has argued that a flood of low-cost exports from China is undermining American-made products — jeopardizing Mr. Biden’s push to expand U.S. manufacturing, a central focus of his economic agenda.

In his speech, Mr. Biden said he would ask the U.S. trade representative, Katherine Tai, to increase tariffs to what White House officials said would be 25 percent on certain Chinese products that now face tariffs of 7.5 percent, or none at all, pending the outcome of an administration review of the China tariffs initially imposed under Mr. Trump.

“I want fair competition with China, not conflict,” Mr. Biden said, flanked by supporters and signs that read, “President Joe Biden: Standing With Workers.” “And we’re in a stronger competition to win the economic competition of the 21st century with China or anyone else because we’re investing in America, and American workers, again.”

The move is another effort by Mr. Biden to put up new barriers to trade with China in some industries. It could help him compete with Mr. Trump in a “tough on China” context with swing voters, though administration officials said elections did not motivate the move.

A day earlier, Mr. Biden began a three-day swing through Pennsylvania, a crucial battleground state, by giving a speech in Scranton in which he focused on the tax code but repeatedly attacked Mr. Trump and accused him of favoring billionaires over the working class.

Mr. Biden’s plans on Chinese trade are more targeted than Mr. Trump’s, though. The former president has called for sweeping and steep new tariffs on imports from China and elsewhere, in a potential effort to fracture trade lines between the countries. Mr. Biden’s administration is reviewing existing tariffs and is expected to propose raising some rates on Chinese products while reducing others.

At a morning stop for breakfast on his way to Pittsburgh from Scranton, Mr. Biden was asked by reporters if he was worried about a trade war with China. “No trade war,” he replied.

Before Mr. Biden’s remarks, Ms. Tai announced that her office had begun an investigation into China’s aggressive support for shipbuilders and other related industries, in response to a union complaint.

“The American commercial shipbuilding industry is a shell of its former self,” the unions wrote in a filing with the trade representative. They added, “The biggest obstacle to the industry’s recovery is the unfair trade practices of the world’s largest shipbuilding nation: China.”

In the complaint , the unions cite “hundreds of billions” of dollars in Chinese government support for the shipbuilding industry. Those include supplying steel from government-owned companies at below-market rates, along with a variety of efforts to steer low-cost loans and other financing to shipbuilders from state-run companies. Ms. Tai called the allegations “serious and concerning.”

The moves threaten to deepen a trade dispute with Beijing, which has criticized Mr. Biden for his own efforts to subsidize American manufacturing — including tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act that are meant to increase production of solar panels, electric vehicles and other technologies aimed at reducing fossil fuel emissions.

China’s Commerce Ministry sharply criticized the investigation in a release, saying it was “filled with a large number of false accusations, misinterpreting normal trade and investment activities as harming U.S. national security and corporate interests, and blaming China for its own industrial problems.”

In his speech, Mr. Biden also reaffirmed his support for the steelworkers union in a dispute over the proposed sale of the Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel of Japan.

Nippon officials have vowed to invest billions in American manufacturing facilities, to keep U.S. Steel’s headquarters in Pittsburgh and to honor existing labor contracts. But the attempted purchase has drawn fire from the union and a bipartisan group of senators, largely from industrial states, who say it could compromise national security.

Mr. Biden has signaled opposition to the deal , which his administration is scrutinizing on security and antitrust grounds. He has said repeatedly that he will stand with steelworkers in the dispute over the sale, though administration officials have not specified exactly what that means in policy terms. In Pittsburgh, the president appeared to promise a worker that he would not allow the company to leave the United States — a move that no one is discussing currently.

“Let’s keep U.S. Steel in America,” one woman told Mr. Biden as he met with steelworkers before his speech.

“Guaranteed,” the president replied to cheers and applause.

David McCall, the international president of the steelworkers union, praised Mr. Biden before his speech.

“President Biden promised U.S.W. members that he had our backs,” Mr. McCall said. “And it’s clear he does.”

Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump are fighting for working-class votes in industrial swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Earlier on Wednesday, the Biden campaign released an ad featuring a steelworker promoting Mr. Biden’s economic record and attacking Mr. Trump.

This week, Mr. Trump’s case over falsified business records began in Manhattan , the first of the four criminal cases he faces to go to trial. Mr. Biden generally refrains from commenting directly on the trial. But his tour of Pennsylvania is meant to provide voters with a contrast to Mr. Trump’s legal troubles.

In his speech in Pittsburgh, Mr. Biden did take a veiled swipe at Mr. Trump, referring to him as “my predecessor, who’s busy right now.”

The crowd laughed, seeming to get the joke about Mr. Trump’s whereabouts, although the former president does not actually have to appear in court on Wednesdays.

Alexandra Stevenson contributed reporting.

Chris Cameron

Trump demands a percentage of donations from campaigns that use his name.

The presidential campaign of former President Donald J. Trump said in a letter to Republican vendors that candidates may use his name, image and likeness in campaign materials only if they send at least 5 percent of donations that they receive to Mr. Trump’s campaign.

The move in effect imposes a tax on using the Trump brand for campaign purposes. Mr. Trump has sought to close a significant financial gap between him and President Biden, his Democratic rival. The Biden campaign and its political committees reported $192 million in cash on hand at the end of March , more than double the $93 million of Trump and the Republican Party.

Danielle Alvarez, a spokeswoman for the Trump campaign, said in a statement that “it is important to protect small-dollar donors from scammers that use the president’s name and likeness.”

In a letter this week signed by Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, who identified themselves as co-campaign managers, the campaign also said it was tightening control of campaign materials that use Mr. Trump’s name, prohibiting strident language that has become common in donor appeals such as “President Trump needs you” or “If you support President Trump, you’ll contribute now.”

The letter said the messaging guidelines were part of an effort “to treat our donors with the utmost respect.” After Mr. Trump appeared in court on Monday, the campaign sent a fund-raising pitch falsely claiming in all-capital letters that Mr. Trump had “just stormed out of Biden’s kangaroo court!” Mr. Trump had not actually stormed out of the Manhattan courthouse.

The letter added that the campaign would punish campaign vendors if candidates whom they worked with did not comply with the new rules.

“Repeated violations will result in the suspension of business relationships” with the Trump campaign and the national party, the letter said.

The campaign also encouraged Republican candidates and committees to kick up more than the 5 percent minimum for donations received.

“Any split that is higher than 5 percent will be seen favorably by the R.N.C. and President Trump’s campaign, and is routinely reported to the highest levels of leadership within both organizations,” said the letter, which was earlier reported by Politico.

Mr. Trump has for years feuded with Republican candidates and institutions who have solicited donations using Mr. Trump’s likeness without his approval. Weeks after leaving office, when many in the Republican establishment were seeking to distance themselves from the former president after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, Mr. Trump sent cease and desist letters to the party asking it to stop using his name and likeness. Many Republicans ignored him and continued to profit from his image.

But Mr. Trump is once again ascendant in the Republican Party, and the former president wields near-total control over party institutions like the Republican National Committee, which is now led by a close ally and Mr. Trump’s daughter-in-law.

He has also — in the midst of a felony criminal trial and a mountain of other legal trouble he is facing — spent more than $100 million on legal bills since leaving office in 2021, and Mr. Trump has an arrangement with the Republican Party that funnels a portion of political donations into paying his legal bills before any money goes to the party itself.

And the announcement is only the latest effort by Mr. Trump to leverage his personal brand. Just days after he was ordered to pay about $450 million in a civil fraud case in New York, Mr. Trump appeared at a footwear convention to hawk $400 Trump-branded sneakers for which he had licensed his name to another company.

Shane Goldmacher and Michael Gold contributed reporting.

Biden weighs in on Caitlin Clark salary debate after the W.N.B.A. Draft.

President Biden jumped into a debate about gender and sports this week, calling for pay equity for women athletes after Caitlin Clark, the University of Iowa basketball standout, was selected first in the W.N.B.A. Draft.

Ms. Clark’s salary will be far less than that of her male counterparts. Mr. Biden, writing on X on Tuesday, said that for all their accomplishments in sports, women athletes were undervalued.

“Right now we’re seeing that even if you’re the best, women are not paid their fair share,” he said. “It’s time that we give our daughters the same opportunities as our sons and ensure women are paid what they deserve.”

Mr. Biden was nodding to a banner moment for women’s basketball, one powered by stars like Ms. Clark, who was chosen by the W.N.B.A.’s Indiana Fever , and Paige Bueckers of the University of Connecticut and Angel Reese of L.S.U.

But Ms. Clark’s salary will amount to $338,056 over the next four years, under the W.N.B.A.’s collective bargaining agreement . The total is a fraction of the contract of Victor Wembanyama, whom the San Antonio Spurs chose with the top pick in last year’s N.B.A. Draft. His contract was for $55 million, according to Spotrac , a website that tracks salaries in sports.

The disparity has drawn intense scrutiny during a pivotal moment for sports, particularly in college athletics. Students have gained the opportunity to monetize their athletic success through name, image and likeness, or N.I.L. deals, that can earn top stars like Ms. Clark millions of dollars. But the overall compensation of women in sports is far outpaced by how much money male athletes make.

The women’s national championship game, in which Ms. Clark’s Iowa lost to South Carolina, earned higher ratings for the first time than the men’s championship contest between UConn and Purdue.

The president’s comments touched off a flurry of responses online, some echoing Mr. Biden’s perspective about inequity, while others argued that the league’s revenues, which are far weaker than the N.B.A.’s, are to blame, rather than sexism. And others used the occasion to criticize Democrats over the participation of transgender athletes in women’s sports.

Martina Navratilova, the women’s tennis legend, praised Mr. Biden.

“Exactly,” she responded on X , and she called for protecting a policy that ensures equal access for women in education. “Which means do not mess with Title IX , thank you Mr President!”

Last year, Jill Biden, the first lady, created a stir after L.S.U. defeated the University of Iowa, another squad led by Ms. Clark, when she suggested that both teams should be invited to the White House, which would have broken from the tradition of the president hosting just the title winners.

Ms. Reese, the L.S.U. star who was also a top selection in the W.N.B.A. Draft, panned the idea at the time.

“If we were to lose, we would not be getting invited to the White House,” she said on a podcast.

The Biden campaign will run ads across Pennsylvania attacking Trump’s economic record.

As President Biden tours Pennsylvania, his campaign will run a new ad promoting his commitment to organized labor and attacking the economic policies of former President Donald J. Trump.

The ad features JoJo Burgess, who is a steelworker and the mayor of Washington, Pa., a small town southwest of Pittsburgh. Mr. Biden is scheduled to speak on Wednesday at the headquarters of the United Steelworkers union in Pittsburgh, where he is expected to call on his trade representative to increase some tariffs on steel and aluminum products from China.

“Donald Trump has shown through his history that workers mean nothing to him,” Mr. Burgess says in the ad, a minute-long spot . “Right now, we have the most pro-American worker president in office that we’ve ever had in our history.”

The Biden campaign said it was spending in the “mid-six figures” to push the message across television and digital platforms in Pennsylvania, separate from a $30 million ad campaign across the major battleground states. It hopes the ad will complement news media coverage of Mr. Biden’s three-day Pennsylvania visit, which is set to conclude on Thursday in Philadelphia. Winning the state, where he narrowly defeated Mr. Trump in 2020, is crucial to his re-election strategy.

The new ad amplifies the argument that Mr. Biden is pursuing against Mr. Trump on the economy, accusing the former president of siding with billionaires over workers. In a speech laying out his tax policy on Tuesday in Scranton, his hometown, Mr. Biden laid into Mr. Trump .

“He learned the best way to get rich is to inherit it,” Mr. Biden said of his rival.

Mr. Burgess, a Democrat, was a guest of Mr. Biden’s at the president’s State of the Union address in 2022. He became the first Black mayor of Washington, Pa., last year. The Biden campaign said the ad featuring Mr. Burgess would run during news programs, as well as on regional sports networks.

The campaign also released a shorter ad with Mr. Burgess for digital platforms. In that ad, Mr. Burgess defends Mr. Biden against attacks from Mr. Trump and other Republicans on his age and mental fitness.

“When you meet him, this guy is as sharp as a knife,” Mr. Burgess says of the president. “They have nothing else to attack because they can’t attack the things that he is doing that are so good for this country.”

Mitch Smith

Michigan Democrats reclaim full control of Statehouse with special election victories.

Michigan Democrats started 2023 with full control of state government for the first time since the 1980s. They ended the year in a political bind after two House members left to become mayors of suburbs, leaving that chamber with an even partisan split and making it impossible for Democrats to pass bills without Republican support.

On Tuesday, five months after their House majority evaporated, Democrats won two special elections to reclaim those seats and full control at the Michigan Capitol. The Associated Press said the Democrats Mai Xiong, a Macomb County commissioner, and Peter Herzberg, a Westland City Council member, defeated their Republican opponents.

The results of the special elections had never been in great doubt. Both districts, situated in the Detroit area, are liberal strongholds that Democratic candidates had carried by large margins in 2022. But the details of scheduling and running special elections meant a long, slow winter for Democratic lawmakers in Lansing while the House was evenly divided between the two parties. Michigan’s governor, Gretchen Whitmer , is a Democrat, and her party has a majority in the State Senate.

Republicans hope the Democrats’ renewed House majority is short-lived. Michigan, long a swing state, is expected to be a pivotal presidential battleground again this year. President Biden is working to rebuild a coalition that helped him win the state in 2020, but early polling has been favorable to former President Donald J. Trump. Republicans see an opening to deliver Michigan for Mr. Trump in November and to win control of the Michigan House, a goal that could be helped by newly redrawn legislative maps in the Detroit area. All 110 Michigan House seats are up for election in November, including the two seats that were contested on Tuesday.

Before losing their House majority last year, Michigan Democrats raced through a list of longstanding policy goals that had been stymied during decades of divided government or Republican control of the state. In the span of several months in 2023, Ms. Whitmer and legislative Democrats enacted new gun laws , codified civil rights for L.G.B.T.Q. people , solidified abortion rights and undid Republican laws that they said weakened labor unions.

Those efforts slowed in November after one House member, Kevin Coleman, was elected mayor of Westland and another, Lori M. Stone, was elected mayor of Warren. Under Michigan law, Mr. Coleman and Ms. Stone had to resign from the Legislature when they became mayor.

Mr. Coleman said in November that some fellow Democrats, including members of Ms. Whitmer’s staff and Speaker of the House Joe Tate, expressed concerns to him about his mayoral run. But none of them, he said, did anything to undermine his campaign for mayor.

Once Ms. Xiong and Mr. Herzberg are sworn in, Democrats will have the numbers to resume their legislative push. With the general election only months away, it is uncertain how aggressively lawmakers will move.

Ms. Xiong, who was elected to the Macomb County Board of Commissioners in 2020, has worked as an interpreter. She is of Hmong descent and said on her campaign website that she immigrated to the United States as a child after being born in a refugee camp in Thailand. Mr. Herzberg, who has a finance background, has been a member of the City Council in Westland, his hometown, since 2016.

Chris Cameron and Kellen Browning

Chris Cameron reported from Washington, and Kellen Browning reported from Lake Havasu City, Ariz.

Kari Lake urges supporters to ‘strap on a Glock’ in preparation for the election.

Kari Lake, a top ally of Donald J. Trump who is running for a Senate seat in Arizona, called on her supporters on Sunday to arm themselves ahead of an “intense” period leading up to the election, urging them to “strap on a Glock,” referring to a brand of firearm.

“The next six months is going to be intense,” Ms. Lake said during a rally in Lake Havasu City. “We’re going to strap on our seatbelt. We’re going to put on our helmet — or your Kari Lake ball cap. We are going to put on the armor of God. And maybe strap on a Glock on the side of us just in case.”

The crowd roared its approval, and she continued, “You can put one here,” gesturing to the side of her hip, “and one in the back or one in the front. Whatever you guys decide. Because we’re not going to be the victims of crime. We’re not going to have our Second Amendment taken away. We’re certainly not going to have our First Amendment taken away by these tyrants.”

When asked about Ms. Lake’s remarks on Tuesday, Alex Nicoll, a representative of the campaign, said that “Kari Lake is clearly talking about the Second Amendment right for Arizonans to defend themselves.”

It is not the first time Ms. Lake has alluded to armed conflict with her and her supporters. Last year, she said: “If you want to get to President Trump, you are going to have go through me, and you are going to have to go through 75 million Americans just like me. And I’m going to tell you, most of us are card-carrying members of the N.R.A.,” referring to the National Rifle Association. She added, “That’s not a threat — that’s a public service announcement.”

Her voice is just one in a rising chorus of violent, authoritarian or otherwise aggressive political rhetoric from Mr. Trump and his allies. The former president shared a video late last month featuring an image of President Biden, his Democratic rival, hogtied. He has also said that migrants are “poisoning the blood of our country” and described his political opponents last year as “vermin” who needed to be “rooted out.”

And Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, on Monday urged people whose routes were blocked by pro-Palestinian demonstrators to “take matters into your own hands” and confront the offenders, endorsing the use of physical force against peaceful protesters.

Michael Gold

Trump leaves his trial to rail against crime and jab at the prosecutor in his case.

In his first campaign stop since his criminal trial in Manhattan began, former President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday visited a bodega in Harlem where he made a pointed attack on the district attorney prosecuting him and portrayed himself as tough on crime, a central theme of his 2024 run.

His visit to the store — the site of a case that prompted political controversy for Manhattan’s district attorney when an employee was charged after fatally stabbing a man after a confrontation — made for a striking juxtaposition.

After spending much of the day in a Manhattan courtroom as a criminal defendant, Mr. Trump immediately traveled uptown both to criticize the district attorney, Alvin Bragg, for being too lenient on crime and to play up his “law and order” message.

Mr. Trump has for months tried to draw a distinction between his frequently expressed tough-on-crime stance and the felony charges he faces in four separate cases. Outside the bodega, he again tried to dismiss his charges as political persecution, arguing that Mr. Bragg was too focused on Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign sex scandal cover-up trial and was ignoring crime in the city.

“It’s Alvin Bragg’s fault,” Mr. Trump said. “Alvin Bragg does nothing.”

Though Mr. Trump is prevented by a gag order from attacking witnesses, prosecutors and jurors in his New York case, the order does not cover Mr. Bragg or the judge overseeing his trial.

Before he arrived at the bodega, his campaign attacked Mr. Bragg over his handling of the 2022 incident, in which Jose Alba, a clerk, was charged with second-degree murder after stabbing a man, Austin Simon, in an altercation.

Mr. Bragg and his office were criticized at the time for charging Mr. Alba, as surveillance video showed Mr. Simon shoving Mr. Alba, raising questions about whether Mr. Alba had acted in self-defense. Prosecutors eventually dropped the case , saying they would be unable to “prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was not justified in his use of deadly physical force.”

In a statement, a spokesman for Mr. Bragg’s office said that the Alba case “was resolved nearly two years ago, and the charges were dismissed after a thorough investigation.” On social media, Mr. Bragg’s office pointed to statistics showing large declines in homicides and shootings in Manhattan over the last two years and a more modest decrease in robberies.

At the bodega on Tuesday evening, Mr. Trump briefly met with the store’s owner and Mr. Alba’s lawyer. He also spoke with Francisco Marte, the founder of the Bodega and Small Business Association, which represents bodegas in New York and which has attacked Mr. Bragg over the case.

After their conversation, Mr. Trump repeated criticisms about liberal politicians that have become standard campaign lines, depicting Democratic-run cities as being riddled with crime and attacking their leaders for being overly lax and opposed to law and order.

Before he left, Mr. Trump shook hands and posed for a photo with a group of uniformed New York police officers, an atypical move for many criminal defendants. He often takes photos with police officers at political stops after they have helped guard his motorcade.

And he again repeated his criticism of President Biden’s handling of the surge of migrants of the border, arguing that the crisis was harming people of color because migrants were taking their jobs.

That message resonated with some of his supporters, who had come to catch a glimpse of the former president.

“This is the worst city for all these migrants,” Lesandra Carrion, 47, said. She said that she believed the border had been more secure when Mr. Trump was in office and that she did not believe Mr. Biden “did anything for this country.”

And Mr. Trump’s criminal charges, she said, did not worry her, adding that he would win in 2024.

“He’s going to beat that,” Ms. Carrion said. “It’s all allegations.”

Mr. Trump was greeted by a large crowd when he arrived outside the store, and the surrounding blocks in Harlem were lined with people standing behind police barricades hoping to catch a glimpse.

As might be expected given that Mr. Trump lost overwhelmingly in New York, his former home state, in 2016 and 2020, his reception was not all positive. A group of protesters also arrived to jeer him, shouting, “Dump Trump” and waving signs before his arrival.

Other passers-by cursed in frustration because police barricades stretched for a city block, breaking easy access to sidewalks, their apartments or the store.

Still, despite the mixed response, Mr. Trump promised to “make a big play for New York,” suggesting he would make more campaign stops after his courtroom appearances and could easily campaign locally.

Lacretia McNeil, 40, whose daughter sat on her shoulder while she recorded the appearance, said Mr. Trump’s decision to visit Harlem was a smart effort “to rally up the votes.” Her daughter wondered aloud about the point of visiting a store.

Mr. Trump will be present in the courtroom when his trial is in session, and it is expected to last at least six weeks. But he is expected to hold more events like Tuesday’s bodega stop on evenings after court.

Campaign aides have also explored planning rallies on Wednesdays, when the trial is expected to pause each week, and he will most likely continue to hold rallies on weekends.

Bernard Mokam contributed reporting.

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President Carter’s decision to normalize diplomatic relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China in 1979 changed both countries and the world. Facilitating expanded bilateral trade, investment, and people-to-people exchange between the two countries has allowed East Asia to enjoy relative peace and prosperity for decades.

However, the U.S.-China relationship is now under immense strain. Since 2009, the Chinese Communist Party has veered from the path of “reform and opening” that encouraged slow and steady progress toward political and economic liberalization. Washington began to criticize China’s attempts to revise the international system, and Beijing responded by accusing the U.S. of containing China’s rise. As President Carter wrote in February 2021, “government officials in both countries have adopted rhetoric and policies that reflect the hostility that Vice Premier Deng and I sought to calm in 1978.”

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Today, The Carter Center publishes three websites focused on bilateral relations and U.S.-China public opinion. These are the English- and Chinese-language  U.S.-China Perception Monitor  websites (now inaccessible in mainland China) and the Chinese-language  China-America Stories  website (currently accessible in mainland China). Content includes a wide variety of interviews with American and Chinese scholars, insightful analyses of U.S.-China relations, surveys of Chinese public opinion, profiles of key opinion leaders in the bilateral relationship, translations of influential commentaries into English or Chinese, and more.

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