

Pekingology
Center for Strategic and International Studies
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.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Apr 22, 2021 • 33min
The Strength of a Weak Organization
In this week’s episode of Pekingology, Jude Blanchette is joined by Jérôme Doyon, a Departmental Lecturer on Contemporary Chinese Studies at the Oxford School of Global and Area Studies, to discuss his research on the evolving role of the Communist Youth League as a "path to power" within China's elite political networks.

Apr 8, 2021 • 44min
Fragmented Authoritarianism in Xi's China
In this week's episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Jessica Teets, an Associate Professor in the Political Science Department at Middlebury College, to discuss her work on China's evolving governance system.

Mar 25, 2021 • 42min
Provincial Power in a Centralizing China
In this week's episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Yeling Tan, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Oregon and Kyle Jaros, an Associate Professor of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame. They discuss the critical -- and surprising -- role that provinces play in China's economic policymaking and development. Despite Xi Jinping's centralizing tendencies, provincial governments are as important as ever.

Mar 11, 2021 • 41min
Ideology and Law in Xi Jinping's China
In this episode, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette talks with Rogier Creemers, an Associate Professor in the Law and Governance of China at Leiden University, about the role ideology plays in China's evolving legal and governance system.

Feb 25, 2021 • 30min
Stock Markets with Authoritarian Characteristics
In this week’s episode of Pekingology, Jude Blanchette is joined by John Yasuda, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University to discuss his research on the development of China's financial and equity markets, and how these intersect with Beijing's political priorities.

Feb 11, 2021 • 43min
Grand Steerage
In this week's episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Andrew Polk of Trivium China and Barry Naughton, the So Kwanlok Chair of Chinese International Affairs at UC San Diego, to discuss Beijing's evolving theory and praxis towards managing its economic and financial systems.

Jan 28, 2021 • 38min
The New Realities of Party-State Capitalism in China
Meg Rithmire, a Harvard Business School professor specializing in China's state capitalism, delves into the complexities of this evolving model. She discusses the transformation of China's capital markets and the effects of historical events like the 2015 stock market crisis. Rithmire examines how state entities increasingly influence the private sector, raising questions about corporate governance. The conversation also addresses the balance between state control and innovation, and the implications for domestic and international security in a rapidly changing landscape.

Jan 21, 2021 • 38min
Does Xi Jinping Face a Coup Threat?
In this episode of Pekingology, Jude Blanchette is joined by Yale University's Dan Mattingly to discuss his new working paper, "How the Party Commands the Gun: Coups, Revolts, and the Military in China." In it, Dan leverages a new dataset of over 10,000 appointments in the PLA to explore how Chinese leaders, including Xi Jinping, manage the possibility of coups through personnel appointments.

Jan 7, 2021 • 49min
Statistics and State-Building in Mao's China
How did communist ideology affect state-building efforts in the early PRC? How and why does the current CCP leadership view statistics through the lens of politics? In this episode, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Arunabh Ghosh, an associate professor of Modern Chinese History at Harvard University to discuss his new book, Making it Count: Statistics and Statecraft in the Early People's Republic of China.

Dec 10, 2020 • 31min
The State Advances, The Private Sector Retreats
In this episode of Pekingology, Jude Blanchette talks to Jörg Wuttke, the president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, to discuss the expanding power and influence of state-owned enterprises in China's economy.