ChinaPower

This special episode of the ChinaPower Podcast is the second of six featuring the audio from the China Power Project’s sixth annual conference. This keynote took place on December 1, 2021 and featured Secretary Christine Wormuth’s discussion of the US Army’s view of the China challenge. Secretary Wormuth was sworn into her current position in May 2021, becoming the first woman to serve as the US Army Secretary. Prior to this position, Secretary Wormuth served in numerous leadership roles at the Pentagon, including Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Force Development. She was also Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Defense at the National Security Council during the Obama administration. Outside of government, Secretary Wormuth was formerly the director of the RAND Corporation’s International Security and Defense Policy Center, as well as a Senior Fellow at CSIS. This event was made possible by generous support of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

This special episode of the ChinaPower podcast is the first of six featuring the audio from the China Power Project’s sixth annual conference. The first debate took place on November 19, 2021 and featured two experts debating the following proposition: The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the timeline by which China will surpass the United States to become the world’s leading economic power.  The Covid-19 pandemic ended the longest recorded economic expansion in United States history. China suffered its own historic slowdown during the initial Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan, but the impacts were less severe. As a result, some have argued that the pandemic has sped up the timeline by which China will overtake the United States to become the world’s preeminent economic power. Others have argued that Beijing’s handling of the pandemic’s economic fallout has failed to put China on solid economic footing in the long-term. Dr. Yao Yang, Professor at the China Center for Economic Research and the National School of Development at Peking University, argued that the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the timeline by which China will surpass the United States to become the world’s leading economic power. Mr. Gerard DiPippo, Senior Fellow in the CSIS Economics Program, argued that the Covid-19 pandemic has not accelerated the timeline by which China’s economic power will surpass that of the United States. This event was made possible by generous support of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

In this episode of the ChinaPower Podcast, US Representative Ami Bera joins us to discuss Congress’ view of China’s growing power. Rep. Bera explains that China has been an issue of bipartisan agreement in the US House of Representatives, Senate, and the Biden administration. Specifically, he says there is bipartisan support for Taiwan, the One China Policy, and the Taiwan Relations Act, and notes that there are more varying opinions on issues such as cooperating with China on climate change. Rep. Bera also examines how Congress views Afghanistan, the South China Sea, and Taiwan, and justifies the need to increase Taiwan’s participation in the international community. He argues that the best way for the US to compete with China is to invest domestically, specifically on issues related to infrastructure and immigration. Lastly, Rep. Bera describes a potential rocky future in US-China relations and explains that healthy competition between the two nations could improve both countries.  

In this episode of the ChinaPower Podcast, Ms. Jessica Ludwig and Mr. Kevin Sheives join us to discuss China’s sharp power. Ms. Ludwig and Mr. Sheives first define sharp power and contrast it with other forms of influence, such as soft and hard power. They also explain notable differences between China’s sharp power strategy toward mature democracies and developing nations. They argue that a clear line between China’s domestic propaganda and global media projections does not exist, and that China has emerged as a trendsetter in sharp power that can take advantage of younger democracies’ inability to recognize propaganda and disinformation. Ms. Ludwig and Mr. Sheives also analyze the dynamics of China’s sharp power at work through foreign media partnerships and social media disinformation campaigns. They then contrast the sharp power strategies of authoritarian governments, such as Russia and China, explaining that China attempts to buttress its global image while Russia seeks to foment social upheaval abroad. Finally, Ms. Ludwig and Mr. Sheives emphasize the relative strengths of democratic nations in projecting global power and offer potential options for countering Chinese sharp power.Mr. Kevin Sheives is the Associate Director at the International Forum for Democratic Studies at NED. For nearly fifteen years, Mr. Sheives served as a manager and advisor at State Department offices, leading U.S. diplomatic and governmental responses to strategic competition with China, global disinformation, and the Asia-Pacific’s rise, along with assignments elsewhere in Washington at the Defense Department, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and Congress.Ms. Jessica Ludwig is a Senior Program Officer at the International Forum for Democratic Studies, the research and analytical section of NED. Her research focuses on authoritarian influence in emerging democracies, with a particular interest in China and Russia’s engagement with Latin America. Ms. Ludwig is co-editor of the report, “Sharp Power: Rising Authoritarian Influence”. Her writing has been published in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Global Americans, and the Journal of Democracy.

In this episode of the ChinaPower Podcast, Dr. Joanna Lewis joins us to discuss China’s commitment to addressing climate change. Dr. Lewis provides an overview of major domestic and international policies that China has implemented to combat climate change, including its dual-carbon goals, newly launched emissions trading scheme, and commitment to end new coal-fired financing abroad. She emphasizes that China is a crucial player not just in international climate negotiations, but also in the global effort to keep warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. Dr. Lewis also assesses China’s role in the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow and discusses how China’s performance impacted international progress in combating climate change and China’s desire to be seen as a global leader on climate issues. Lastly, Dr. Lewis highlights the new joint working group between the U.S. and China as an important step in making meaningful progress on climate change during an era of strategic competition between the two countries.Dr. Joanna Lewis is the Provost’s Distinguished Associate Professor of Energy and Environment and Director of the Science, Technology and International Affairs Program (STIA) at Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. Dr. Lewis has two decades of experience working on international climate and clean energy policy with a focus on China. She is also a faculty affiliate in the China Energy Group at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

In this episode of the ChinaPower Podcast, Mr. Ryan Fedasiuk joins us to discuss the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) efforts to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Mr. Fedasiuk explains the findings of his new report, which analyzes critical AI defense industry suppliers to the PLA and the implications for China’s ability to compete with the US on AI defense technology. Mr. Fedasiuk says AI technology will be central to the PLA’s goal of becoming a “world-class” military force and for preparing the PLA for “intelligentized” warfare. In addition, Mr. Fedasiuk argues that through AI technology, the PLA has the potential to compensate for areas where it has historically been vulnerable, such as undersea warfare. He also discusses PLA’s procurement of different AI technologies, including intelligent autonomous vehicles. Lastly, he explains that only a small portion of identified AI suppliers to the PLA are subject to US export controls or sanctions regimes, and he analyzes the corresponding policy implications for the United States.Ryan Fedasiuk is a research analyst at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET). His work explores military applications of artificial intelligence, as well as China’s efforts to acquire foreign technology. Prior to joining CSET, Mr. Fedasiuk worked at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Arms Control Association, the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, and the Council on Foreign Relations, where he primarily covered aerospace and nuclear issues. His writing has appeared in Foreign Policy, Defense One, the Jamestown Foundation’s China Brief, and CFR’s Net Politics.

In this episode of the ChinaPower Podcast, Professor William Kirby joins us to examine the changing dynamics in the US-China educational relationship. Professor Kirby explains that education has been one of the central parts of US-China relations since the 1870s and has internationalized education in the US. Professor Kirby describes the origins of China’s top universities, noting that many were created in partnership with the United States. He also argues that academic exchanges have benefitted American universities by attracting international talent. In addition, Professor Kirby says the United States needs to promote the learning of the Chinese language and study abroad in China to balance the number of Chinese students studying in America. Lastly, Professor Kirby recommends that the Biden administration should restart the Fulbright Program and re-open previously closed Chinese consulates, and highlights the importance of academic exchanges in maintaining connections with China. Professor William Kirby is Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and T. M. Chang Professor of China Studies at Harvard University. He is a University Distinguished Service Professor. Professor Kirby serves as Chairman of the Harvard China Fund, the University's academic venture fund for China, and Faculty Chair of the Harvard Center Shanghai, Harvard's first University-wide center located outside the United States. 

In this episode of the ChinaPower Podcast, Dr. David Finkelstein joins us to discuss the PLA’s new joint doctrine and how it will impact China’s military modernization. Dr. Finkelstein describes his research process behind his new report and predicts the major new components of the doctrine. He argues that the concept of an integrated joint force represents a major doctrinal development within the PLA and is a response to a paradigm shift in how warfighting is conducted in an information-centric era. In addition, Dr. Finkelstein emphasizes how the joint doctrine will enhance the PLA’s abilities to engage in all types of military operations, including high-end conventional operations. Lastly, Dr. Finkelstein analyzes the possible internal and external challenges the PLA will face when implementing the new doctrine, and how this timeline aligns with China’s military modernization goals for 2027, 2035, and 2049. Dr. Finkelstein is a vice president of the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) and director of CNA’s China & Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Division. He is a long-time student of Chinese military and security issues, serving as a member of the National Committee on US-China Relations (NCUSCR) and the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). A retired US Army Officer, Dr. Finkelstein has spent his career in several tactical assignments, to include in Panmunjom, Korea, and in various China and Asia-related positions at the Pentagon, and has taught Chinese security issues at West Point. He is the author of “The PLA’s New Joint Doctrine: The Capstone of the New Era Operations Regulations System.”

In this episode of the ChinaPower Podcast, we are joined by Mr. Daniel H. Rosen to examine the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on China’s economic power. Mr. Rosen describes the variables that contribute to China’s economic power and recounts how China’s economy was initially impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. He also discusses the primary measures the Chinese government took to rejuvenate its economy and evaluates which measures were the most significant. In addition, he evaluates the prospects of Chinese economic growth (both quarterly and yearly) and analyzes the various scenarios that may arise. Lastly, Mr. Rosen explains the potential impact of the Chinese Communist Party’s “Common Prosperity” political campaign on China’s economic growth.   Mr. Daniel H. Rosen is a founding partner of Rhodium Group and leads the firm’s work on China, India and Asia. Mr. Rosen has twenty-six years of professional experience analyzing China’s economy, commercial sector and external interactions. He is widely recognized for his contributions on the US-China economic relationship. A native of New York City, Mr. Rosen graduated with distinction from the graduate School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University (MSFS) and with honors in Asian Studies and Economics from the University of Texas, Austin (BA). 

In this episode of the ChinaPower Podcast, Dr. Adam Segal joins us to examine Beijing’s ongoing crackdown on China’s technology sector. Dr. Segal argues that company blacklists from the Trump administration served as a driver for Chinese technological decoupling and caused an increasing domestic focus within China on data collection and security. He explains how China’s new phase of technology crackdowns closely aligns with the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) goals on antitrust regulation, social inequality, innovation, cybersecurity, and political stability, and states that new regulations are a means of exerting party control. Dr. Segal then discusses the new competitive landscape between Chinese state regulators and how such a landscape may impact domestic innovation. Lastly, Dr. Segal explores what these new regulations mean for US-China technology exchange and how these new dynamics will shape the future of the Chinese technology sector.