MERICS China Podcast

12 October 2016, with Kevin RuddWhat does China really want with its foreign policy? Is there a grand strategy for Xi Jinping’s new multilateralism? And is China’s „One Belt, One Road“ initiative maybe less about geopolitics and more of an encounter with the complex realities in some of the most unstable countries in the world? Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has met Xi Jinping several...

5 October 2016, with Zhang JiepingThese are tough times for independent media in China: Censorship and controls have increased considerably in recent years. The pressure is also felt in Hongkong despite the territory’s greater freedoms. Still, several media start-ups have sprung up in Hongkong recently. One of the biggest is the online platform “Initium”. Within a year it has attracted more than t...

2. September 2016, mit Mikko HuotariBeim G20-Gipfel in Hangzhou soll globales Wachstum gefördert werden. Gastgeber China setzt dabei auf globale Infrastrukturinvestitionen. Auch aus Eigeninteresse, sagt Mikko Huotari, Leiter des Programmbereichs Internationale Beziehungen bei Merics. Die G20, so Pekings Hoffnung, könnten der chinesischen Seidenstraßen-Initiative den Ritterschlag geben. Aber auch C...

4 August 2016, with Richard McGregorFor all its problems, China is an incredibly successful country and still has a lot of growth potential, says Richard McGregor, visiting fellow at George Washington University. All gloomy scenarios about economic or political collapse have proved wrong so far. So, what if Xi Jinping succeeds in restructuring the economy and strengthening the Communist Party? Chi...

26 July 2016, with You JiXi Jinping has used military reforms to strengthen his command over the People’s Liberation Army. And he’s using personal connections, some dating back to his childhood years, to fill central positions within the military, says professor You Ji of Macau University. On strategy, Xi is moving away from his predecessors’ approach. China is now preparing to project power well...

22 July 2016, with Victor ShihFor years China was led by consensus – factions in the upper echelons of power were carefully calibrated to keep a balance. But with Xi Jinping all that has changed, says Victor Shih of the University of California, San Diego. Since Xi’s faction within the Central Committee is still rather small, he established a number of new leading small groups to strengthen his in...

7 July 2016, with Barry NaughtonExpectations for market oriented reforms were running high after the CCP’s 3rd plenum in 2013. But three years on Barry Naughton of the University of California, San Diego, is disappointed: Reform plans have come to nothing; economic problems got worse; the centralization of power has led to paralysis among bureaucrats. Xi Jinping is “political down to his fingernai...

01.07.2016The speed with which Xi Jinping has introduced stronger controls on society has surprised many China watchers. The Xi administration has been “extraordinarily successful” in controlling and shaping political communication especially online says Anthony Saich of Harvard Kennedy School: “If I was an authoritarian leader somewhere else in the world, I would want to learn lessons from China....

Xi Jinping has centralized power in China to unprecedented levels: he has sidelined both the prime minister and the state council and is trying to control everything himself says distinguished Harvard historian Roderick MacFarquhar. Xi might have – like Mao Zedong long before him - a vision and a sense of direction for China but he lacks the authority and historic legitimacy to implement his ideas...

28 June 2016Review of MERICS China Dispute “The Xi Jinping challenge: Will top-down leadership achieve political stability in China?” with Richard McGregor, Roderick MacFarquhar, Sebastian Heilmann and Anthony Saich.

21 June 2016Michael Fuchs on Trump: „Unpredictability is not a foreign policy“ China is one of Donald Trump’s favourite punching bags. If elected to the White House, he wants to label China a “currency manipulator” and impose hefty tariffs on imports from China. Such talk makes Michael Fuchs of the Center for American Progress and a former advisor to Hillary Clinton rather uneasy. “Trump is unpred...

9 June 2016With the right economic policies China could continue to grow at a rate of about five per cent per year for another decade says Arthur Kroeber of Gavecal Dragonomics, an independent research firm in Beijing. But the country would have to cut SOEs by up to a half and push through financial reforms. However, Xi Jingping’s economic policies lack clarity and direction. China still depends t...

6 June 2016Tensions on Chinese factory floors have been running high recently – because of non-payment of wages and because some industries have moved their investments to other parts of Asia. Labour relations are fraught and protests can potentially threaten social stability says Han Dongfang, founder of the NGO China Labour Bulletin and a former Tian’anmen activist now based in Hongkong. He is c...

26 May 2016Many non-governmental organisations are concerned about a new Chinese law that imposes tighter controls on international non-profit groups working in China. The law is seen as an attempt to further squeeze the space of civil society. It could affect not just NGOs but also cultural exchanges and business associations. But a lot of details are still unclear, says Shawn Shieh, deputy direc...

24 May 2016 with Thomas EderTensions in the South China Sea could further escalate after a ruling by a UN tribunal expected within the next few weeks. The case over tiny rocks and reefs brought to the UN by the Philippines has far reaching implications. China claims almost all of the South China Sea and has already rejected the tribunal’s right to rule on these matters. Thomas Eder of Merics says...

13 May 2016 with Daniel Leese; Questions by Ruth Kirchner50 years after the start of the Cultural Revolution Xi Jinping tries to reconnect to Chinas Maoist heritage. He won’t allow to mobilise the masses as Mao did, because he is afraid of losing control said Professor Daniel Leese in our MERICS Podcast. 

29. April 2016 mit Simon LangMit dem verlangsamten Wachstum in China ist die Zahl der Proteste und Streiks deutlich gestiegen. Allein in diesem Jahr gab es bereits rund 1.000 Streiks – vor allem im Süden des Landes. Aus Sorge um die soziale Stabilität gingen die Behörden in der Regel hart gegen Streikende vor, sagt Simon Lang, wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter bei MERICS. Die Proteste könnten aber au...

27.04.2016 mit Ekkehard RathgeberNirgendwo kaufen die Menschen so oft und so viel im Internet wie in China. Das Reich der Mitte ist der größte E-Commerce-Markt der Welt. Doch der Markt sei nichts für Leute mit schwachen Nerven, sagt Unternehmer Ekkehard Rathgeber, der seit 20 Jahren in China Geschäfte macht. Der Wettbewerb sei knallhart und der chinesische Konsument schwer einzuschätzen. Trotzdem...

20 April 2016, with Yuen-ying ChanMedia freedom in China has suffered under president Xi Jinping. In the latest press freedom index of Reporters without Borders China ranks at the bottom of the list followed only by Syria, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea. These are hard times for journalists in China, says professor Yuen-ying Chan. She is the founding director of the Journalism and Media Stu...

22. März 2016Ein Wachstum von jährlich 6,5 Prozent; eine Verdoppelung der Einkommen bis 2020, die Abschaffung der Armut – all das verspricht die chinesische Führung in ihrem 13. Fünfjahresplan. Extrem ehrgeizig, teils unrealistisch, nennt MERICS-Wirtschafts- und Finanzexpertin Sandra Heep diese Ziele. Eine Abkehr von der Politik staatlicher Großinvestitionen ist nicht wirklich zu erkennen: So will...

15. März 2016Selten stand ein Nationaler Volkskongress unter so strenger Zensur wie die diesjährige Jahrestagung des chinesischen Parlaments in der Großen Halle des Volkes. Chinesischen Journalisten wird genau vorgeschrieben, was sie berichten dürfen und was nicht. Doch sogar unter den Delegierten rege sich Widerstand gegen die strikten Kontrollen, sagt Kristin Shi-Kupfer, Leiterin des Forschungsb...

1 March 2016President Xi Jinping is the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong. He has centralised power and has cracked down hard on dissent. But, argues Kenneth Lieberthal of the Brookings Institution in Washington, Xi’s tight grip on power doesn’t necessarily make him a more efficient leader.

29 February 2016As the UN Security Council negotiates a resolution that would impose new sanctions on North Korea following Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test earlier this year, pressure is mounting on China to act more assertively towards its neighbour and ally. “China must be prepared to be much tougher on North Korea than it has been so far”, says Jonathan Pollack of the Brookings Institution. He...

1 February 2016After years of economic growth, China is claiming more influence on the international stage. Behind President Xi Jinping’s efforts to enhance China’s status as a nation lie domestic motives, says Akio Takahara in this podcast. Xi wants to maintain the power of the Communist Party, stability and economic growth of the country. Takahara, professor for contemporary Chinese politics at...

29 January 2016For the current leaders “muddling through” is good enoughAs China gets ready to welcome the year of the monkey and to adopt a new five year plan, Scott Kennedy of the Center for International and Strategic Studies in Washington (CSIS) examines the challenges for the Chinese leadership. Sluggish growth and clumsy stock market interventions have cast a shadow of doubt on the leadershi...