Those interested in China-related topics may have heard of China watchers like Twitter opinion leader Arnaud Bertrand and determined China critic Adrian Zenz. In a debate held in Cambridge, Massechusetts in early April by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Bertrand and Zenz were invited to compare Chinese and Western systems of governance. The aim of the debate was to ascertain which global superpower provides the system that best enables cultural and human flourishing.

It is said to have been the first time Adrian Zenz accepted an invitation to participate in a debate. And so, with high expectations for Zenz’s elaboration of his highly publicized assumptions and reports, the debate drew audience members from not just from Massachusetts, but also interstate. In this episode, Beijing Review reporter was joined by Arnaud Bertrand to share some of the stories from behind the scenes at the debate. Two of the audience members present at the debate, Doctor Adrian Vermeule, Ralph S. Tyler, Jr. Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard Law School, and John Pang, a former Malaysian government official and expert on China and ASEAN affairs, also joined the discussion. They shared their views on what happened during the debate and also some of their thoughts on the systems of governance in China and the U.S.

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