Center for Strategic and International Studies

Pekingology

China is one of the 21st century’s most consequential nations, and it has never been more important to understand how the country is governed. Pekingology is the podcast that unpacks Chinese politics, the inner workings of the Communist Party, and how China's domestic and foreign policy will impact the world. Pekingology is hosted by Henrietta Levin, Senior Fellow with the Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS. It is produced by Gina Kim.

Author

Center for Strategic and International Studies

Category

Government

Latest episode

Oct 15, 2026

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Episodes

The Administrative Foundations of the Chinese Fiscal State 26.10.2023

In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair in China Studies Jude Blanchette is joined by Wei Cui, professor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Colombia to discuss his recent book The Administrative Foundations of the Chinese Fiscal State.

China’s New Navy 12.10.2023

In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair in China Studies Jude Blanchette is joined by Xiaobing Li, professor of history and Don Betz Endowed Chair in International Studies at the University of Central Oklahoma to discuss his new book China’s New Navy: The Evolution of PLAN from the People’s Revolution to a 21st Century Cold War.  

Party of One 08.09.2023

In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair in China Studies Jude Blanchette is joined by Chun Han Wong, a China reporter for the Wall Street Journal, to discuss his new book Party of One: The Rise of Xi Jinping and China’s Superpower Future. 

Reshaping Corporate China 25.08.2023

In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair in China Studies Jude Blanchette is joined by Thomas Gatley, China Strategist at Gavekal Dragonomics, to discuss his recent report “Reshaping Corporate China.” 

How Loyal is the PLA? 10.08.2023

In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair in China Studies Jude Blanchette is joined by Eric Hundman, senior research analyst at BluePath Labs, to discuss his article “Fearing Hardships and Fatigue? Refusals to Serve in China’s Military, 2009-2018,” which was recently published in the Journal of Contemporary China.

How the CCP Finances its Global Ambitions 06.07.2023

In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Zongyuan Zoe Liu, a fellow for international political economy at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of the new book Sovereign Funds: How the Communist Party of China Finances Its Global Ambitions. 

The National Security Commission Meets 15.06.2023

In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Gerard Dipippo – Senior Fellow in the Economics Program at CSIS, and Andrew Polk – Co-founder of Trivium China and Senior associate with the Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS. This week they discuss China’s national security and the readout from the recent convening of China’s National Security Commission.

Interpreting the Recent Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission Meeting 25.05.2023

In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Carl Minzner – Senior Fellow for China Studies at the Council for Foreign Relations and a Professor of Law at Fordham Law School, Gerard Dipippo – Senior Fellow in the Economics Program at CSIS, and Andrew Polk – Cofounder of Trivium China and Senior associate with the Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS. Through the len...

How Information Flows Impact Decision Making 11.05.2023

In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Tyler Jost – Assistant Professor in the department of Political Science at Brown University. They discuss how China’s bureaucratic structure and politics impacts leader decision making. 

Economic Dynamics of a Cross-Strait Crisis 13.04.2023

In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Gerard Dipippo – Senior Fellow in the Economics Program at CSIS, and Andrew Polk - Cofounder of Trivium China and Senior associate with the Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS. They discuss the economic and financial dynamics of a possible Taiwan Strait Crisis.

Outsourcing Repression 30.03.2023

In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Dr. Lynette H. Ong, Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto, jointly appointed to the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy’s Asian Institute and also a Faculty Fellow at the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society. They discuss her recent book Outsourcing Repression: Everyday Sta...

The Political Logic of Taxation in China 23.03.2023

In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Dr. Changdong Zhang, Professor in the Department of Political Science at Peking University and Visiting Scholar at the Harvard-Yenching Institute, to discuss his recent book Governing and Ruling: The Political Logic of Taxation in China.

China’s Evolving Political and Economic System 02.03.2023

In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Kellee Tsai, Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Science and Chair Professor of Social Science at the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, to discuss her recent articles “Structural Power, Hegemony, and State Capitalism: Limits to China’s Global Economic Power,” published in Politics & Society, and “China’s...

Corporate Governance with Chinese Characteristics 16.02.2023

In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Kjeld Erik Brødsgaard, Professor at the Department of International Economics, Government and Business at the Copenhagen Business School, to discuss his work on corporate governance in the Chinese state sector, focusing on his paper: “Corporate Governance with Chinese Characteristics: Party Organization in State-owned Enter...

Party Building in China's Institutions 02.02.2023

In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Daniel Koss, a Research Scholar and Lecturer in East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University, to discuss his work on Party-building in two recent articles: “Party Building as Institutional Bricolage: Asserting Authority at the Business Frontier & Discipline Inspections,” published in the China Quarterly, and...

China’s Influence and Investments in Africa 19.01.2023

In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Margaret Pearson, Distinguished Professor and Distinguished Scholar-Teacher in the Department of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park to discuss her recent research on Chinese Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Africa. Her recent works include “Does Chinese FDI in Africa Inspire Support for a...

Dictatorship and Information 05.01.2023

In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Martin K. Dimitrov,  a professor of political science at Tulane University, to discuss his recent book, ‘Dictatorship and Information’: Authoritarian Regime Resilience in Communist Europe and China.

Consensus-Building Toward a New Top Priority 15.12.2022

In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Howard Wang, an associate political scientist at the RAND Corporation, to discuss his recent paper, ‘Security Is a Prerequisite for Development’: Consensus-Building toward a New Top Priority in the Chinese Communist Party.

The Rise and Fall of the EAST 01.12.2022

In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Yasheng Huang, the Epoch Foundation Professor of International Management and Faculty Director of Action Learning at the MIT Sloan School of Management, to discuss his forthcoming book, The Rise and the Fall of the EAST: Examination, Autocracy, Stability and Technology in Chinese History and Today.

Missionary Roots of Nationalism 10.11.2022

In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Dan Mattingly, an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Yale University, to discuss his recent paper, The Missionary Roots of Nationalism: Evidence from China. In addition to the paper, they discuss emerging questions surrounding China’s system, the shift of leadership norms in China, and whether China is beginning a...

Political Selection of Local Cadres 27.10.2022

In this episode of Pekingology, Jude Blanchette is joined by Linan Jia, a political scientist who recently received her PhD from the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia, to discuss her recent article, Loyalty and Competence: The Political Selection of Local Cadres in China.

China’s Strategic Opportunity 13.10.2022

In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Yong Deng, professor in the Department of Political Science at the United States Naval Academy, to discuss his new book, China's Strategic Opportunity: Change and Revisionism in Chinese Foreign Policy.

Chinese Influence through Technical Standardization Power 29.09.2022

In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Tim Rühlig, Research Fellow in the Technology and Global Affairs Program at the German Council on Foreign Relations, to discuss his recent paper, Chinese Influence through Technical Standardization Power.

Surveillance State 16.09.2022

In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Josh Chin and Liza Lin, both reporters at the Wall Street Journal, to discuss their new book, Surveillance State: Inside China's Quest to Launch a New Era of Social Control.

Capital Mobility and Taxation 25.08.2022

In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Ling Chen, an assistant professor in political economy at Johns Hopkins SAIS, to discuss her article, Capital Mobility and Taxation: State-Business Collusion in China.

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