This episode examines China’s efforts to develop smart city infrastructure. Our guest, Dr. Alice Ekman, analyzes how China is supporting domestic technology industries in critical sectors like telecommunications and surveillance to build smart cities. Dr. Ekman explains how Beijing’s ambitions are aimed at boosting economic development and maintaining political control throughout China’s urban environments. She also assesses the risks of China’s smart cities for the international community, and how the US should respond to China’s growing prowess in smart city technology. 
Dr. Alice Ekman is the Senior Analyst in charge of the Asia portfolio at the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS). Dr. Ekman covers foreign policy and security developments in the Asia region, including China, the Korean Peninsula, Japan, India, and ASEAN. She was previously Head of China Research at the French Institute of International Relations, and a visiting scholar at Tsinghua University, National Taiwan Normal University, and the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

What’s Driving China’s Smart City Development?: A Conversation with Alice Ekman

A podcast unpacking critical issues underpinning China’s emergence as a global power.

News

In this episode of the ChinaPower Podcast, Dr. Zhao Hai joins us to discuss China’s views on the Russia-Ukraine war and its broader implications for China. Dr. Zhao provides an assessment of how he thinks China perceives the evolving situation on the ground, emphasizing China’s concerns about the risk of further escalation between Russia and the West, potentially involving the use of nuclear weapons. He argues that the Ukraine crisis has heightened U.S.-Russia competition and speaks to how China views the conflict as a sign of the world order shifting towards one of multi-polarity. He also shared his assessment of the United States engaging in enhanced proxy warfare in Ukraine that could be used in the Indo-Pacific in the future.  
Dr. Zhao is the director of the International Politics Program at the National Institute for Global Strategy and research fellow at the Institute of World Economics and Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). Before joining CASS, he was a research fellow at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University. His research interests are Sino-US strategic relations, geopolitics in East Asia, and international security cooperation. Dr. Zhao holds a PhD in international history from the University of Chicago and a Master’s degree in Asia-Pacific Studies from Peking University. The views he shared on the podcast were his personal views.

A Chinese Perspective on the Russia-Ukraine War: A Conversation with Dr. Zhao Hai

In this episode of the ChinaPower Podcast, Dr. Steve Tsang joins us to discuss his new book The Political Thought of Xi Jinping, coauthored with Dr. Olivia Cheung. Dr. Tsang explains that Xi Jinping thought is vastly different from the thought and practices of his predecessors, such as Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. Core to Xi Jinping thought is the desire to achieve China’s national rejuvenation and the embracement of the “Tian Xia” concept of Chinese hegemony. Dr. Tsang points out that Xi seeks to position China in a more prominent role on the world stage. Dr. Tsang highlights that through Xi’s efforts to centralize the Communist Party under his control and to create an alternative to the US-led international order, Xi aims to reshape policy both within China and abroad. Finally, Dr. Tsang shares his thoughts on how best to deter Xi Jinping.  
Dr. Steve Tsang is Professor of China Studies and Director of the China Institute, SOAS, London. He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and an Emeritus Fellow of St Antony’s College at Oxford. He previously served as the Head of the School of Contemporary Chinese Studies and as Director of the China Policy Institute at the University of Nottingham. Before that he spent 29 years at Oxford University, where he earned his D.Phil. and worked as a Professorial Fellow, Dean, and Director of the Asian Studies Centre at St Antony’s College.

The Political Thought of Xi Jinping: A Conversation with Dr. Steve Tsang

In this episode of the ChinaPower Podcast, Dr. Sheena Chestnut Greitens joins us to discuss one of President Xi Jinping’s signature priorities: China’s national security. She delves into Xi's “Comprehensive National Security concept,” emphasizing its broad scope with over 20 different components, covering everything from border security to food security. Dr. Greitens discusses Xi Jinping’s preventive rather than reactive approach to security threats, in an attempt to treat what the CCP views as root causes to security issues rather than just the symptoms. Finally, Dr. Greitens explains how China’s views of national security influences how it exerts control at home and uses force abroad. 
Dr. Sheena Chestnut Greitens is Associate Professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, where she directs UT’s Asia Policy Program. Her research focuses on security, authoritarian politics, foreign policy, and East Asia. Currently, Dr. Greitens is on leave to serve as a Visiting Associate Professor of Research in Indo-Pacific Security at the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute. She is also concurrently a Nonresident Scholar with the Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

National Security with Chinese Characteristics: A Conversation with Dr. Sheena Chestnut Greitens

In this episode of the ChinaPower Podcast, Mr. Tuvia Gering joins us to discuss China’s strategy in the context of the Israel-Hamas war and the Red Sea crisis. He dissects the different views within China and the role China has played in both. He shares that China blames the United States for the war and that the PRC response to the region is informed by China’s desire to push back against the Western-led world order. Mr. Gering also discusses the politics behind the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and the economic ramifications that have followed. Overall, China’s responses to both crises have been high on rhetoric and low on action. Finally, Mr. Gering warns of the possibility of broader escalation in the Middle east and the low likelihood of Chinese willingness to work with the United States. 
 Tuvia Gering is a nonresident fellow in the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub, a researcher at the Diane & Guilford Glazer Foundation Israel-China Policy Center at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), and a Tikvah Fund’s Krauthammer fellow based in Jerusalem and specializing in Chinese security and foreign policy. Previously, he was a research fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS) and the Israeli Chinese Media Center.

China’s Perspective on the Current Middle East Crises: A Conversation with Mr. Tuvia Gering

In this episode of the ChinaPower Podcast, Dr. Matthew P. Funaiole and Mr. Brian Hart join us to discuss the work of Hidden Reach, a special initiative focused on analyzing China’s growing influence abroad. Ranging from China’s use of civilian research vessels to collection intelligence to its construction of ground stations in South America, Hidden Reach’s analysis explores “blind spots” that US media and policy have often overlooked. Funaiole and Hart discuss the key role that satellite imagery plays in open-source intelligence to tell the story of China’s expanding global influence and its implications. They dive into Hidden Reach’s existing work, with an eye towards future projects and the overarching goals of the initiative.
Matthew P. Funaiole is vice president of iDeas Lab, Andreas C. Dracopoulos Chair in Innovation and senior fellow of China Power Project at the CSIS. He specializes in using data-driven research to unpack complex policy issues, specifically those related to Chinese foreign and security policy, cross-Strait relations, and maritime trade. From late 2015 through mid-2020, he was the principal researcher for the ChinaPower website. Prior to joining CSIS, Dr. Funaiole taught international relations and foreign policy analysis at the University of Saint Andrews in Scotland, where he also completed his doctoral research.
Brian Hart is a fellow with the China Power Project at CSIS and helps to lead Hidden Reach. Brian’s research focuses primarily on Chinese foreign and security policy, Chinese military modernization, U.S.-China relations, and Taiwan security issues. Prior to joining the China Power Project, he conducted research for the Project 2049 Institute, the Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS, and Trivium China. Brian earned his MA with honors in China studies and international economics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and he received a graduate certificate in China studies from the SAIS Hopkins-Nanjing Center. He also received a BA with honors in politics and international affairs from Wake Forest University, where he graduated magna cum laude.

What’s Driving China’s Smart City Development?: A Conversation with Alice Ekman

Download our free app to listen on your phone