Analysen Und Diskussionen Über China

China has been quick to signal its acceptance of renewed Taliban rule over Afghanistan, stating that it respects the quote, “the will and decision of the people of Afghanistan” on August 16 – one day after the Taliban leadership announced their victory in the presidential palace in Kabul.What are China’s interests in Afghanistan? How do the new circumstances impact Xinjiang? And what can decisionmakers in Europe do? In our interview Angela Stanzel, associate researcher in the Asia division of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) shares her analysis. In her view China is mainly interested in protecting its own border. Beyond that, Stanzel does not expect China to offer Afghanistan significant security or economic cooperation.

China is radically changing the way it regulates data environments. With a new Data Security Law passed and a Personal Information Protection Law in the works, China is moving from a largely unregulated data environment to a highly regulated one.Rebecca Arcesati and John Lee, Analyst and Senior Analyst at MERICS respectively, join the podcast to talk about the effects and implications of these laws as well as two recent publications on the evolving data governance regime in China, specifically on AI ethics and governance in China as well as China and the Internet of Things.

Die G7-, NATO- und EU-US-Gipfeltreffen im Juni haben gezeigt, wie wichtig das Thema China auch in den transatlantischen Beziehungen ist. Während die USA auf eine härtere Gangart gegenüber China drängen, tendiert zum Beispiel Deutschland zu einem weniger konfrontativen Ansatz. In dieser Folge des MERICS-Podcasts diskutiert Claudia Wessling, Leiterin Kommunikation und Publikationen, mit Jan Weidenfeld, Leiter Policy und Advisory bei MERICS. Jan ist einer der Autoren eines neuen Berichts der Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz, der Aspen Strategy Group und von MERICS. Die Studie skizziert Prioritäten und gibt Empfehlungen für Strategien zur Gestaltung der transatlantischen China-Politik und ist online verfügbar unter: https://securityconference.org/en/publications/report-of-the-transatlantic-reflection-group-on-china/

The summits in June, G7, NATO and the EU-US top-level meeting, have shown that China is a crucial topic in transatlantic relations. While we currently see the US pushing for a tougher stance towards China, German approaches could be described as more careful and less confrontational. In this episode of our podcast, Claudia Wessling, Director Communications and Publications, discusses transatlantic China policy with Jan Weidenfeld, Director Policy and Advisory at MERICS. He is one of the contributors to a new report by the Munich Security Conference, the Aspen Strategy Group and MERICS. The study outlines priorities and provides recommendations for strategies to shape transatlantic China policy and is available at: https://securityconference.org/en/publications/report-of-the-transatlantic-reflection-group-on-china/

The leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) considers itself as being in the midst of the most challenging period of its rule. In the eyes of party leaders, potential threats to regime security wait behind every corner and all matters are, therefore, seen through the prism of national security. This behavior is no longer limited to the domestic sphere but has expanded to the international stage. In this episode of the MERICS Podcast, Helena Legarda explains what drives China’s international behavior. Helena is a Senior Analyst at MERICS and an expert on China’s foreign and security policies.She has analyzed CCP securitization of international relations in a chapter for the new MERICS report on China’s Communist Party that is available here: https://merics.org/en/report/ccps-next-century-expanding-economic-control-digital-governance-and-national-security

Digitalization is a crucial element of the Chinese Communist Party’s governance approach. It serves to improve governance and public service, but also enhances the party state’s surveillance and monitoring capabilities. In this episode of the MERICS experts podcast, MERICS Senior Analyst Katja Drinhausen explains how the CCP has embraced digitization as a governance tool, the extent of digital surveillance in China, the party’s vision for a digitalized China, and its global implications. Katja is one of the authors “The CCP in 2021: smart governance, cyber sovereignty and tech supremacy”, a chapter in our MERICS Paper on China on the “CCP’s next century.” Read more here: https://merics.org/en/ccp-2021-smart-governance-cyber-sovereignty-and-tech-supremacy

Mikko Huotari, Executive Director of MERICS, answers questions about the challenges the CCP is faced with in its 100th year and what Europe should be prepared for in relations with China. Beijing will be overseeing multiple challenges in the coming years: Productivity crisis, a crisis of social and regional inequality, high leverage in the financial system and social insecurity. European actors, Huotari argues, need to be prepared for a China in 'struggle mode': “We will see a CCP-led government that seeks to further limit and control access to information and political actors in China. Europeans need to be prepared for crisis and further politicization of doing business and interacting with China. In many cases this requires investing in China competence and policy coordination,” says Huotari. Visit our website for more analysis on the CCP's centenary: www.merics.org/en/ccp-100.

China’s economic success and its achievements in poverty reduction are often perceived as inspiring to other countries, especially in the global south. Beijing itself actively promotes its state capitalism as the China model – and as an alternative for Western liberal democracy. But increased Chinese engagement has also led to criticism in neighboring countries. To talk about the issue of informal activities and actors in Chinese overseas engagement, MERICS Experts is joined by Matt Ferchen, Head of Global China Research at MERICS.

Die sechsten deutsch-chinesischen Regierungskonsultationen finden in diesem Jahr in einem schwierigen Kontext statt. Wegen Menschenrechtsverletzungen in Xinjiang hatte die EU vor fünf Wochen Sanktionen gegen China verhängt. Die Führung in Beijing reagierte umgehend mit weitaus schärferen Sanktionen. Die Reaktion der Bundesregierung fiel bisher verhalten aus. Über die deutsch-chinesischen Beziehungen sprechen in unserem neuen Podcast Ariane Reimers, ARD-Korrespondentin und MERICS Senior Fellow, und MERICS-Direktor Mikko Huotari. Trotz einer Vertiefung der deutsch-chinesischen Wirtschaftsbeziehungen sei bei zentralen Fragen der Kooperation zu wenig passiert, sagt Huotari.

“The EU's policy towards China should be based on the following principles: cooperate where possible, compete where needed, confront where necessary.” This is the vision of the European People’s Party’s (EPP) strategy paper on European relations with China released in the beginning of March. In this episode of MERICS Experts we talk to its author, Radosław Sikorski, Member of the European Parliament for the European People’s Party and chair of the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with the United States.The conversation touches on a range of strategic issues related to EU-China relations including the implications of the exchange of sanctions between the EU and China, the prospects for transatlantic cooperation on China and the logic behind the EU’s Indo-Pacific strategy that is now in the works. The interview was led by MERICS analyst Grzegorz Stec.If you are interested in our research on EU-China topics you may want to subscribe for free to our EU-China Weekly Review or become a paying sub

On February 9, China’s President Xi Jinping held an online 17+1 summit with representatives from Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. The summit would normally be attended by Chinese Premier and CEE Prime Ministers, making Xi’s decision to take Li Keqiang’s place a boost to the meeting’s importance. The format has been controversial - with Brussels and Western capitals maintaining that it undermines European unity, while leaving many Central and Eastern Europeans critical of its underperformance and China maintaining it to be a success. So what are the outcomes of the summit and what future awaits the 17+1 framework? To answer these and other questions we are joined by Plamen Tonchev, Head of the Asia Unit at the Athens- based Institute of International Economic Relations (IIER). As a representative of IIER, he is a founding member of the European Think-tank Network on China (ETNC). In addition, he sits on the EU Chapter of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (EU CSCAP) committee

Accompanying our MERICS China Forecast 2021 event, MERICS experts wages a look at three global challenges in 2021, namely decoupling and the evolution of multilateralism, cooperation and competition in the climate crisis, and the development of connectivity in a world plagued by a pandemic. For every section we are proud to introduce a very accomplished and knowledgeable guest.Our first guest is the Honorable Kevin Rudd, CEO and President of the Asia Society, and President of the Asia Society Policy Institute. Mr. Rudd served as Australia’s 26th Prime Minister (2007-2010, 2013) and as its Foreign Minister (2010-2012). He is one of the leading international authorities on China that remains active in second-track diplomacy. In our conversation we discussed the issues linked to politicization of international economy and the prospects for adjustment of the multilateral system in the year ahead.Our second guest is Isabel Hilton, the CEO and Editor of China Dialogue, a fully-bilingual non-profit focused on the en

The second World War in China is among the least known chapters of Word War II, yet it is crucial in shaping the politics of post-war Asia into the present moment. The way the war is remembered in China has changed over the years and keeps on changing. The recent memorial ceremony on December 13, 2020, remembered the Nanjing Massacre of 1937. It is only the seventh year since a National Memorial Day has been instituted. How has China’s interpretation of WWII changed? How does it differ from other countries in the region? And what are the implications for contemporary global and domestic politics? To answer these and other questions we are joined by Professor Rana Mitter of Oxford University. In his view today “it is possible to spot aspects of China’s collective sense of WWII in every aspect of public life from movies to social media communities to official museums and plenty of others too.” The interview was led by MERICS senior analyst John Lee.

From a highly publicized trade war to assigning blame for the coronavirus pandemic, US-China relations have loomed large during the Trump presidency and have worsened over time. With a new administration under president elect Joe Biden taking charge in January 2021, what will change and what will remain the same? Head of Global China Research at MERICS, Matt Ferchen, joins MERICS Experts to assess the prospects for change in US-China relations under a future Biden administration. He recently authored two opinion pieces – on divergent views in Washington on US policy towards China and Chinese perceptions of the US being in decline – as well as a working paper on a US response to the Belt and Road Initiative. Johannes Heller-John, Communications Manager at MERICS, led the interview.

China has taken on a more confident and aggressive role as a global actor by expanding economically, politically and militarily, becoming a force to be reckoned with in virtually all aspects of geopolitical competition. Xi Jinping has made it clear that China has ambitions to become a global power by 2049. How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected these ambitions? MERICS Senior Analyst Helena Legarda joins MERICS Experts to present her latest article “Engaging in effective geopolitical competition”, which is part of the MERICS Paper on China titled "Towards a 'principles first approach' in Europe’s China policy". Kerstin Lohse-Friedrich, Director of Communications at MERICS led the interview.

Der angemessene Umgang mit dem neuen China unter Xi Jinping treibt ihn um: Der ZDF-Fernsehjournalist und ehemalige Chinakorrespondent Thomas Reichart setzt sich in seinem aktuellen Buch „Das Feuer des Drachen“ mit hartnäckigen Vorurteilen gegenüber China auseinander, die die wahren Gefahren außer Acht ließen. „Die größte Gefahr einer verkürzten China-Wahrnehmung ist, dass wir gar nicht realisieren, wo die eigentliche Herausforderung Chinas liegt, wo seine eigentliche Stärke ist, aber auch eine durchaus aggressive Macht- und Industriepolitik“, so Reichart.Ein Ende der Leisetreterei sei lange überfällig – gerade auch mit Blick auf die Zukunft Hongkongs und Taiwans, wenn Deutschland keinen Verrat an seinen eigenen Werten begehen wolle. Längst sei China in der deutschen Innenpolitik angekommen, sagt der Fernsehkorrespondent, der inzwischen aus dem ZDF-Hauptstadtstudio berichtet. Doch längst nicht in allen Teilen der Regierung und Parteien sei man sich bereits bewusst, in welchem Umfang China zu einem Risikoland g

Was droht Hongkong, nachdem innerhalb von nur sechs Wochen seit Inkrafttreten des Nationalen Sicherheitsgesetzes die Meinungs- und Pressefreiheit bereits so drastisch eingeschränkt und die Parlamentswahlen verschoben wurden? Was bedeutet Chinas Vorgehen in Hongkong für Taiwan, und was kann das Ausland tun, um einen weiteren Demokratieabbau zu verhindern? In dieser Ausgabe von MERICS Experts diskutieren Kristin Shi-Kupfer, Leiterin des Forschungsbereichs Politik und Gesellschaft am MERICS, und Kerstin Lohse-Friedrich.

The discussion of Sino-African relations continues to be dominated by China’s economic activities and aspirations. However, the People's Republic has been working for more than a decade to establish itself as a serious actor in security policy on the African continent and has already made significant progress. Former MERICS Academic Research Fellow Tom Bayes joins MERICS Experts to present his new report “China’s growing peace and security role in Africa: views from West Africa, implications for Europe” published by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and the Mercator Institute for China Studies. He talks about challenges of doing fieldwork in the security sector and outlines China’s growing security activities in Africa, their background and objectives, perceptions among West African stakeholders and implications for Europe.

A few weeks ago, a group of Tory members of the British parliament decided to form the China Research Group (CRG) to promote “fresh thinking” about how Britain should respond to China’s rise. The group is be led by the chairman of Britain’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Tom Tugendhat. In this podcast interview with MERICS analyst Thomas des Garets Geddes, he explains the reasons for establishing the CRG, talks about the future of UK-EU collaboration vis-à-vis China and criticizes China’s handling of the Coronavirus outbreak.

The World Health Organization is an indispensable institution in the fight against pandemics. In dealing with the ongoing COVID-19 crisis the WHO and its director general Tedros Adhanom have provided and disseminated important and critical information for dealing with the virus, but were also criticized – not least by US president Donald Trump – for acting to slowly in the early stage of the crisis and being too close to China. MERICS Senior Policy Fellow Hanns Maull and Junior Analyst Thomas des Garets Geddes look at the relationship of the WHO and China, how it has affected the response to COVID-19 and how Taiwan complicates this picture even further.