Chas Freeman

Chas Freeman

Charles "Chas" W. Freeman, Jr. was former ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Chas Freeman was Barack Obama's choice to lead the National Intelligence Council but withdrew from consideration after he "had come under fire for statements he has made in the past about China and Israel."

Background

From NPR in an article dated March 10, 2009:

"The National Intelligence Council is a kind of think-tank for the U.S. intelligence community and prepares national intelligence estimates for policymakers on key security issues and global hotspots. The Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair, last month picked Chas Freeman to chair the council sighting his wealth of knowledge and expertise in defense diplomacy and intelligence.

Freeman served under the first President Bush as an assistant secretary of Defense and as an ambassador to Saudi Arabia. He started his diplomatic career as a China specialist and was actually Richard Nixon's interpreter on Nixon's 1972 trip to China. But in recent years, as a private citizen, Freeman has been an outspoken critic of some U.S. policies, especially regarding China and Israel. Because of that, his appointment to the National Intelligence Council was vigorously criticized, though a series of U.S. diplomats rallied to his defense, all seven Republican members of the Senate Intelligence Committee took a stand opposing Freeman's appointment. His selection was not subject to Senate confirmation, but Freeman apparently decided to halt the controversy.

According to a statement from Dennis Blair's office, Freeman requested that his selection not proceed. The Intelligence director accepted Freeman's decision with regret.

Chas Freeman Frequent guest of Dialogue Works

Chas Freeman Screenshot of Dialogue Works YouTube Page (1 of 2)

Chas Freeman Screenshot of Dialogue Works YouTube Page (2 of 2)

Chas Freeman is a frequent guest of Dialogue Works.

C-100 2018 Summit

Ro Khanna delivered opening remarks at the Committee of 100 Annual Summit and Gala, Silicon Valley May 5 2018, at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara.

On May 5-6, 2018, the Committee of 100 held its 2018 Annual Conference at the heart of America's technology epicenter in Silicon Valley. The theme of the 2018 Annual Conference was "Silicon Valley: Bridge Between the U.S. and China." Conference Co-Chairs included Chi-Foon Chan, Ken Fong, Buck Gee, Philip Ma, Ken Xie, and honorary co-chair Linda Tsao Yang.

Over 500 business, government, academic, technology, entertainment, and media representatives attended the two-day conference to discuss strengthening the bilateral relationship between the U.S. and China through economics and foreign policy, tech entrepreneurism, artificial intelligence, and the Belt and Road Initiative. Experts also discussed the ongoing tensions surrounding a potential trade war between the U.S. and China.

Speakers included Jin Liqun, Inaugural President and Chair of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank; Former U.S. Ambassadors to China Max Baucus and Gary Locke; Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense and Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chas Freeman; Dr. Fei-Fei Li, Chief Scientist at Google Cloud AI/ML and Director of Stanford University's AI Lab, among others.

Conference keynote speakers all highlighted the importance of continued U.S.-China cooperation in avoiding a trade war. Ambassador Chas Freeman noted that at this inflection point in the U.S.-China relationship, “The United States and China are each too globalized and dynamic to contain, too big and influential to ignore, and too successful and entangled with each other to divorce without bankrupting ourselves and all associated with us.”

Conference theme is “Silicon Valley: Bridge Between the United States and China.”

Withdraws from Appointment as Chair of National Intelligence Council

Chas Freeman withdraws from his appointment as chairman of the National Intelligence Council.