This lecture is about the meaning of China and being Chinese. It examines critically how the Chinese state, under the control of the Communist Party defines them. It highlights the historical reality that the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan adopted different political systems. The Communist Party installed a powerful Leninist party-state on the Mainland. Laisses-faire British colonial rule gloomed Hong Kong people to desire democratization. Taiwan has become a vibrant democracy. This lecture address how such realities should influence how we understand China and Chineseness.

This lecture was recorded by Steve Tsang on the 15th of October 2025 at Bernards Inn Hall, London

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, 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.

He has a broad area of research interest and has published extensively, including five single authored and fourteen collaborative books. His latest (with Olivia Cheung) is The Political Thought of Xi Jinping (Oxford University Press, 2024). He is currently completing a new book, ‘China’s Global Strategy under Xi Jinping’, which will be published by OUP in 2026.

The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/china-lessons

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