The 2009-10 E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues will continue its series about China with a Nov. 12 lecture, “China: Fragile Superpower,” originating from the Lied Center for Performing Arts at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

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The program will be simulcast in North Platte.

The forum on “Encountering China” presents speakers from a variety of backgrounds to explore China from diverse perspectives. This time, Susan Shirk will discuss the thesis of her 2007 book, exploring the paradox faced by China’s leaders — the more developed and prosperous the country becomes, the more insecure and threatened they feel.

Shirk was the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Mongolia from 1997-2000. She knows many of today’s Chinese rulers personally and has studied them for three decades.

A leading authority on China, she is the Ho Miu Lam endowed chair in China and Pacific relations at the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at the University of California San Diego, and the director of the University of California’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, whose mission is to educate the next generation of international problem-solvers and peace-makers through research and teaching activities.

Shirk’s lecture will be followed by a community conversation.

The lecture can be seen at the north campus of the North Platte Community College, 1101 Halligan Drive. For details, contact Tom Gorman at (308) 535-3714. It begins at 7 p.m. and is free and open to the public.