Charlie Parton: a deep dive into the United Front Work Department
Alicia Kearns and Charlie Parton discuss the United Front Work Department.
Dec 16, 2023•28 min
Talks on China
The China Research Group was set up by UK MPs in 2020 to promote fresh thinking about the future of our relations with China. We run regular seminars, connecting with experts from the UK and all over the world.
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Episodes
Steve Tsang on CCP influence in UK universities
Our podcast is back! In this episode Alicia Kearns MP and Professor Steve Tsang will go in depth into CCP influence in UK universities.
Dec 06, 2023•30 min
Sarah Bauerle Danzman on Biden's China tech offensive
In early October, the US government rolled out extensive new restrictions on China’s access to advanced semiconductors, which play a central role in sectors such as quantum computing and weapons manufacture. The order by President Biden is unprecedented in modern times and is designed to cut China’s legs off as Washington and Beijing compete for technological advantage. Chris Cash is joined by Sarah Bauerle Danzman, Associate Professor of International Studies at Indiana University and non-resid...
Dec 22, 2022•35 min
Xi Jinping: The Most Powerful Man in the World?
If China seems unstoppable, so too can its leader Xi Jinping. And yet we know very little about the man who commands over 1.4 billion people, in a vast country that spans prosperous megacities and desperately poor rural regions. Chris Cash is joined by Adrian Geiges and Stefan Aust, authors of the newly-translated biography ‘Xi Jinping: The Most Powerful Man in the World’, to discuss the story of Xi’s life and career, what he really wants, and how he is positioned ahead of the Chinese Communist ...
Oct 11, 2022•29 min
Ovigwe Eguegu on China's Global Security Initiative
In April 2022, Xi Jinping announced the Global Security Initiative (GSI), a new Chinese foreign policy initiative proposed as a solution to a rapidly deteriorating international security environment. Some view the initiative as China’s latest bid to tilt the rules-based global order in its favour, but what does it actually mean for the future of the international security architecture? Chris Cash and Archie Brown are joined by Ovigwe Eguegu, a policy analyst at Development Reimagined who has wri...
Oct 04, 2022•27 min
Alessio Patalano on Beijing’s military threat to Taiwan
In response to US Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, Beijing conducted large-scale military exercises across the Taiwan Strait. Its actions have been met with international alarm, with commentators declaring this as a ‘new normal’ for cross-strait relations. Chris Cash and Archie Brown are joined by Alessio Patalano, a Professor of War and Strategy in East Asia in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, to discuss these military exercises and their implications for the futur...
Sep 02, 2022•35 min
Rasheed Griffith on China in the Caribbean
In November 2021, Barbados became the latest Commonwealth nation to remove the Queen as its head of state. Some British policymakers and commentators attributed this trend to growing Chinese influence in the Caribbean, but does this narrative reflect the reality on the ground? Chris Cash and Archie Brown are joined by Rasheed Griffith, a non-resident senior fellow with the Asia and Latin America programme and the Inter-American Dialogue and head of operations at Merkle Hedge, to talk over the na...
Aug 15, 2022•25 min
Sabine Mokry on what is 'lost in translation' in Chinese foreign policy statements
There is a growing interest across the world in Chinese foreign policy signalling. Whilst English translations make Chinese foreign policy statements more accessible, most people fail to pick up on changes in the language of these statements in official translations. Chris Cash is joined by Sabine Mokry, PhD candidate at Leiden University and Visiting Researcher at the German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA) in Hamburg, to discuss the differences between Chinese foreign policy stateme...
Jul 21, 2022•17 min
Ananya Kumar on China’s digital currency
China’s digital yuan is a form of central bank digital currency (CBDC) which many other central banks around the world are also working on. Chinese authorities are now stepping up their ambition to expand the use of e-CNY after a trial at this year’s Winter Olympic in Beijing. Chris Cash is joined by Ananya Kumar, Assistant Director of Digital Currencies at the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center, to discuss the growth trajectory of the digital yuan and its domestic and geopolitical implicati...
Jun 29, 2022•31 min
Carl Minzner on the politics of zero-COVID in Xi Jinping's China
The emergence of highly infectious coronavirus variants has strained the Chinese Communist Party’s zero-COVID policy to breaking point. The economic struggles and growing civilian frustrations caused by unrelenting lockdowns threaten to undermine the narrative of China’s superiority in responding to the pandemic - and the image and stature of Xi Jinping’s rule. Chris Cash and Julia Pamilih are joined by Carl Minzner, senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and profess...
May 31, 2022•25 min
Emily de la Bruyère on China's Digital Ambitions
China's efforts at home and abroad to become a global leader in digital technologies is a challenge for the UK and its allies. How has Beijing set about shaping the new global digital architecture and how should we respond? Chris Cash is joined by Emily de la Bruyère, co-founder of Horizon Advisory, a strategic consulting firm focused on the implications of China’s competitive approach to geopolitics, to discuss the motives behind China's global digital strategy, its ambitions to lead the world ...
May 05, 2022•23 min
Mary Hui on Hong Kong’s struggle with COVID and political distrust
Hong Kong stood out as an international COVID success story before a recent Omicron outbreak took hold of the city. What could have been done to prevent the tragic scenes of hospitals being overwhelmed? Has the Hong Kong government lost all democratic accountability? Quartz journalist Mary Hui joins Chris Cash to discuss the reasons behind Hong Kong's lack of COVID preparedness, the erosion of democracy under the National Security Law, and Beijing's endgame for the city. Mary also shared her tho...
Apr 07, 2022•31 min
Lukas Wahden on China and Arctic geopolitics
As the thawing of the Arctic has increased its geopolitical prominence and potential economic viability, new players have expanded their presence and influence in the region. China - a less obvious player in the Arctic - has in recent years pressed for a greater role in regional affairs. Chris Cash is joined by Lukas Wahden, a Yenching Scholar at Peking University, to discuss his LSE IDEAS piece on the steps China will have to take to reach its goal of becoming a ‘polar great power’. Lukas expla...
Mar 30, 2022•34 min
Elisabeth Braw on countering greyzone aggression
The greyzone is defined as "competitive interactions among and within state and non-state actors that fall between the traditional war and peace duality." But what do these interactions look like and how can we deter the most harmful greyzone activities engaged in by hostile states? Chris Cash is joined by Elisabeth Braw, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and writer at the Financial Times and Foreign Policy magazine, to discuss how greyzone aggressions target our institu...
Mar 22, 2022•31 min
China and Russia: A deepening partnership?
Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, China and Russia appeared to be growing ever closer. Russian President Vladimir Putin being one of a handful of known leaders to attend the Winter Olympics, where he signed a landmark strategic partnership with his counterpart, President Xi Jinping. Will that 'no limits' partnership survive Russia's newfound pariah status? In this live event, co-chair of the China Research Group Alicia Kearns MP was joined by Professor Sergey Radchenko, Dr Maria Repnikova and...
Mar 08, 2022•52 min
Demystifying censorship in China with Molly Roberts
China has one of the world’s most restrictive media environments, relying on censorship to control information in the news, online, and on social media. But how does internet censorship in China actually function? Chris Cash is joined by Molly Roberts, a political scientist at UC San Diego and author of the groundbreaking book ‘Censored: Distraction and Diversion Inside China's Great Firewall’, to discuss China's censorship apparatus. Molly explains how censorship in China has evolved, how it im...
Feb 23, 2022•36 min
Martin Thorley on CCP interference activities in the UK
The case of Christine Lee shot to national attention when news broke that the Speaker of the House of Commons had warned MPs that there was a Chinese agent operating in parliament. But why is Lee perhaps just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Chinese interference in the UK political system and how can the UK better defend itself against such threats? Chris Cash is joined by Martin Thorley, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Exeter whose research has uncovered Chinese party...
Feb 14, 2022•36 min
How is China's tech landscape evolving?
Three experts, Rui Ma, Rogier Creemers and John Lee, joined the China Research Group to discuss China's evolving tech landscape. Rui, Rogier and John discussed how China sees the role of technology in relation to the country's economic and social development - and how common prosperity will shape the relationship between the state, society and tech firms. The panellists also analyse China's rapidly developing semiconductor industry, including how US sanctions played a crucial role in acceleratin...
Feb 11, 2022•54 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Jude Blanchette on the CCP's 2021
Where do Xi Jinping and the CCP stand - domestically and abroad - at the end of 2021? This week, Jude Blanchette, the Freeman Chair of China Studies at CSIS, joined Tom Tugendhat for a rapid review of the key political and economic moves in 2021 in China. What did the politics of the Sixth Plenum tell us about Xi's power? Is China's new style of diplomacy here to stay? And what does common prosperity mean for Chinese tech firms - and the Western finance industry? Listen for an expert breakdown o...
Dec 21, 2021•24 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Charles Dunst on the UK's South East Asian opportunity
As part of its Indo-Pacific Tilt, the UK is deepening its engagement with South East Asia. But what does the strategic environment look like and what are South East Asian countries looking for from the UK? Julia Pamilih is joined by Charles Dunst, an adjunct fellow with the Center for Strategic and International Studies’s Southeast Asia programme. They discuss the impact of China's vaccine efforts, the role of ASEAN and CPTPP and mixed support for further military presence in the Indo-Pacific re...
Dec 17, 2021•29 min•Season 1Ep. 11
China's Elite: Tom Tugendhat MP in Conversation with Desmond Shum
Chair of the China Research Group, Tom Tugendhat MP was joined by Desmond Shum for a conversation on Desmond's recent book Red Roulette: An Insider's Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption, and Vengeance in Today's China, a rare look at the inner workings of the Chinese Communist Party. Desmond's journey as a successful businessman during China's boom period in the 2000s took him close to the nexus of power at the top of the Chinese Communist Party. After studying in the US and working in Hong Kong,...
Nov 02, 2021•27 min•Season 2Ep. 3
China and COP26: What does success look like?
With COP26 set to kick off at the end of the week and President Xi's attendance looking unlikely, we were joined by three experts for a panel discussion on China’s efforts to combat climate change - and what a successful COP 26 would look like. All three panellists have worked closely with China on climate change. Former Climate Change Secretary Amber Rudd led the UK’s delegation at COP15 in Paris, Isabel Hilton founded the influential ChinaDialogue , and Alex Wang is a Professor at UCLA and Fac...
Oct 27, 2021•54 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Banking on the Belt and Road: Insights from a New Global Dataset of 13,427 Chinese Development Projects
Two data experts from AidData, Bradley Parks (Executive Director) and Dr Ammar Malik (Senior Research Scientist), joined us to discuss their findings from their recent paper: Banking on the Belt and Road . The paper draws on a new dataset covering 13,427 Chinese development projects in 165 countries, worth over $843 billion. Since the BRI, was introduced, China has spent roughly $85 billion a year on overseas development projects. That means that China has eclipsed the US on overseas spending by...
Oct 20, 2021•44 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Tilt to the Indo-Pacific: Assessing the UK's strategy
As part of the Integrated Review published earlier this year, the UK formalised its tilt to the Indo-Pacific. Our panel discussion with Claire Coutinho, Michael Auslin and Sophia Gaston provided insight and analysis of one of the generational changes in British foreign policy. How should the UK maintain its interests and deepen its engagement with the region? What can it realistically seek to achieve and which relationships should it be prioritising? And what has it achieved so far?...
Jul 14, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 7
NATO for Trade: Rethinking trade and industrial policy with the rise of China
With the WTO in desperate need of reform and Australia hit by trade sanctions by the PRC, do we need a new allied trade treaty? How should the UK, EU and US come together to rethink the economic challenge posed by China? This event took place in tandem with the launch of a new policy paper written for the China Research Group by Robert D. Atkinson, which you can read here . The paper looks at whether democratic nations should form an allied trade treaty to combat Chinese trade aggression. This e...
Jul 14, 2021•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 6
James Kynge on China's tech rivalry
The FT’s Global China Editor, James Kynge, joined us to discuss his perspective on how the next generation of technology is shaping geopolitics. Over half of global trade is digital, and trust issues have suddenly become front and centre to global trade and investment. That lack of trust is increasingly leading to technological bifurcation. The discussion also touched on China's pursuit for self-reliance, Beijing's policies towards big tech and how the digital currency could affect the internati...
Apr 28, 2021•56 min•Season 1Ep. 5
China's Economic Rise under Xi Jinping
The China Research Group was joined by experts George Magnus and Elizabeth Economy for a discussion chaired by Jeremy Hunt MP. Given some predict China will overtake the US as the world's largest economy by 2028, how should we understand China's ambitions for the next decade of its economic rise? And what does China's economic rise mean for the rest of the world? Read the transcript here .
Apr 16, 2021•55 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Where next for the Belt and Road?
Our new China Research Group paper, written by Eyck Freymann, is now published: 'The UK's Strategic Options: Belt and Road' . -- Back in 2013, President Xi Jinping unveiled his expansive vision of a modern Silk Road, promising to revolutionise China's global influence. Eight years later, and 130 countries have signed up to Xi’s signature foreign policy. But the ‘project of a century’ remains loosely defined and poorly understood. Despite accusations of predatory debt diplomacy, Chinese infrastru...
Mar 12, 2021•56 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Rana Mitter on China's foreign policy
In this conversation, Rana Mitter joins Tom Tugendhat MP, chair of the China Research Group, for a discussion on the UK's relationship with China and China's wider foreign policy. Rana discusses the value of the Chinese public's trust in the UK, and the need for the UK to be more aware of its strategic strengths in the relationship. He also answered questions on the broader picture of the Belt and Road, China's relationship with Pakistan and India, and the influence of the CCP on modern Chinese ...
Feb 16, 2021•54 min•Season 1Ep. 2
The Next Four Years: US-China Relations Under Biden
Our panel of experts joined us to give some insight into how US-China relations will evolve under newly-inaugurated President Biden. Gideon Rachman (Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator at the Financial Times), Dr Evan Medeiros (Penner Family Chair of Asia Studies at Georgetown University, Former Director for China at the NSC and lead advisor on Asia-Pacific under President Obama) and Jude Blanchette (Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS). The wide-ranging conversation looked at policy priorities...
Jan 22, 2021•56 min•Season 1Ep. 1
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