Domestic debates on China’s global impact, with Alexander Davey and Kristin Shi-Kupfer

2025 has seen the Chinese government act with increasing confidence in its own power and agency on the international stage. Is this confidence mirrored in Chinese self-perceptions? MERICS Analyst Alexander Davey and professor for sinology at the University of Trier Kristin Shi-Kupfer join Johannes Heller-John to cast a spotlight on domestic debates in China.

Together with Christina Sadeler from MERICS and Wutao Wen from the University of Trier they are the co-authors of the report “China’s domestic debates under the shadow of geopolitics: How views about the economy, commercial culture, and trending topics reveal self-perceptions”.

The report and this podcast are part of the China Spektrum, a joint project of the China institute of the University of Trier (CIUT) and MERICS, supported by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom.