Pekingology

In this episode of Pekingology, Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Logan Wright, author of the new book Broken China: How the Economic Miracle Shattered and What it Means for the World. Logan argues the Chinese economy is already shrinking, in large part due to its overextended financial system. Logan and Henrietta discuss what happens when the tools on which Beijing relies to control...

In this episode of Pekingology, Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Steve Tsang, Director of the SOAS China Institute and co-author of the new book China’s Global Strategy under Xi Jinping, to discuss China’s ambitions under Xi Jinping and the ideas shaping Beijing’s approach to the world. They discuss the importance of Xi’s personal worldview in understanding Chinese foreign policy, h...

In this episode of Pekingology, Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Ambassador Daniel Kritenbrink, former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam, and Senior Director for Asian Affairs at the National Security Council, to discuss U.S.-China diplomacy and the upcoming meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping....

In this episode of Pekingology, Henrietta Levin, Senior Fellow with the CSIS Freeman Chair in China Studies, is joined by Kurt Campbell, former Deputy Secretary of State and President Biden’s “Asia Czar.” He is currently Chairman of The Asia Group and Distinguished Fellow in Diplomacy with the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. Henrietta and Kurt discuss how Beijing views American po...

Founded in 2001 by China, Russia, and key Central Asian states, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) marks its 25th anniversary this year. With Chinese President Xi Jinping expected to attend the SCO Leaders' Summit in Kyrgyzstan later this month, the organization has become an increasingly important platform for advancing Beijing's vision of a multipolar international order as China's econ...

China is generating groundbreaking advances in electric vehicles, battery technology, applied artificial intelligence, and industrial robotics. Yet Chinese households are facing stagnant wages, consumption is weak, and public confidence in the economy appears to be declining. In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Alicia García-Herrero, a leading expert on...

China is rapidly emerging as a global leader in robotics and embodied artificial intelligence, leveraging its manufacturing scale and deep supply chains to shape the future of automation. In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Wendy Chang, Senior Analyst at MERICS, to unpack the significant advances – and limitations – of China’s robotics sector and it...

Ten years after an international tribunal found the vast majority of China’s claims in the South China Sea to be unlawful, the risk of conflict in this vital global throughway remains stubbornly high. This week on Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Greg Poling, Director and Senior Fellow of the CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative and Southeast A...

As a global power, China faces a growing tension between its ambitions to reshape the international order and its disinterest in bearing the costs of upholding that new system. In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Sam Chetwin George, Senior Fellow at the Asia Society’s Center on U.S.–China Relations and Research Fellow at China Heritage, to explore Beijin...

China and Russia have transformed a historically fraught relationship into one of the most consequential strategic partnerships in the world. This week on Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Alexander Gabuev, a leading expert on China-Russia ties and director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. They examine how Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin have deepened their bilateral...

In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Adam Farrar, who previously served as Special Advisor to the Vice President for the Indo-Pacific, Space, and Intelligence as well as Director for the Korean Peninsula and Mongolia at the White House National Security Council. Adam is currently a Senior Geoeconomics Analyst at Bloomberg and Non-Resident Senior Associate...

In this bonus episode of Pekingology, host Henrietta Levin is joined by Jon Czin to discuss the May 14-15 summit between President Trump and President Xi in Beijing. Henrietta and Jon unpack the personal relationship between Trump and Xi, as well as the full range of issues on the bilateral agenda - Taiwan, technology, trade, the war in Iran, soybeans, and more. Jon previously served as Director f...

In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Philip Luck, Director of the CSIS Economics Program and Scholl Chair in International Business. Phil was previously the deputy chief economist at the U.S. Department of State. Phil and Henrietta discuss the economic and commercial context for the big summit between President Trump and President Xi in Beijing, what it m...

In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Aaron Glasserman, an expert on China's Middle East strategy and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for the Study of Contemporary China. Aaron and Henrietta unpack what China is really trying to achieve in the Middle East, how China is approaching the U.S. war against Iran, and what this all...

In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Eyck Freymann, a Hoover Fellow at Stanford University and author of the new book, Defending Taiwan: A Strategy to Prevent War with China. Eyck unpacks Beijing’s real goals vis-à-vis Taiwan, how Taiwan fits into the Party’s domestic and international ambitions, and how the United States and its allies can manage the bed...

In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Ben Hillman, Director of the Australian Centre on China in the World at Australian National University and co-editor of the new book, The Communist Party of China: Understanding the Durability of the World's Most Powerful Political Organization. Ben explains how the Party has managed to stay in power, becoming the worl...

In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Neil Thomas, Fellow on Chinese Politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis. They discuss the significance of China's recent "Two Sessions," where the National People's Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference come together with great pageantry to announce new policie...

In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Zoe Liu, Fellow in China Studies with the Council on Foreign Relations. They discuss Zoe’s new Foreign Affairs piece, China’s Long Economic War: How Beijing Builds Leverage for Indefinite Competition. Zoe offers a new framework for understanding China’s national power, evaluating the country’s evolving capacity, capita...

In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Charlie Edel, Senior Adviser and Australia Chair at CSIS. Charlie unpacks China’s strategy towards Australia, an influential, democratic middle power that maintains strong economic ties to China and a security alliance with the United States. How has Beijing used economic coercion and inducements to try and sway Austra...

In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Francisco Urdinez, Associate Professor at the Political Science Institute of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and author of the new book Economic Displacement: China and the End of US Primacy in Latin America. Francisco unpacks China’s strategy in Latin America, how regional countries have experienced China’...

In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Sabine Mokry, Postdoctoral Researcher with the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg and author of the new book Chinese Scholars and Think Tanks’ Construction of China's National Interest. Sabine unpacks the process through which outside expertise can shape the Party’s national s...

In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Paul Mariani, Professor at Santa Clara University and author of the new book, China’s Church Divided: Bishop Louis Jin and the Post-Mao Catholic Revival. Paul unpacks the Communist Party's views on religion, how the Catholic Church navigated the turbulent politics of 1980's China, and why the Vatican has renewed a cont...

In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Minxin Pei, author of the new book, "The Broken China Dream: How Reform Revived Totalitarianism." Minxin traces the evolution of China's political and economic system through the post-Mao era, highlighting key moments in which the Party's efforts to strengthen collective leadership inadvertently planted the seeds of Xi...

In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Philip O’Keefe, Professor of Practice at the University of New South Wales Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research and one of the world's leading experts on demographic trends in China and across Asia. They unpack the rapid aging of Chinese society, exploring the impact of a shrinking population on China's p...

In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Cobus van Staden, Managing Editor of the China Global South Project, host of the China in Africa podcast, and a leading scholar of China–Africa relations. Ahead of the Johannesburg G20 Summit, they unpack China’s Africa strategy as well as China's bilateral ties with South Africa. Henrietta and Cobus discuss Beijing's...