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The world is currently experiencing the lowest levels of democracy we have seen in over thirty years.
The China Research Group is delighted to host a discussion of Charles Dunst's latest book, Defeating the Dictators, in which he tells us how we can defeat the dictators, strengthen democracies, and build a better future for generations to come.
2022 turned out to be a challenging year for British businesses operating in China.
Unexpected lockdowns caused by COVID-19 outbreaks, weak consumption trends, a struggling property sector, and newfound geopolitical tensions caused serious disruptions to supply chains and damped global business confidence in the country. However, UK-China trade has remained relatively stable and foreign direct investment in mainland China continues to grow year-on-year.
With the end of China’s zero-COVID policy now in sight, is there light at the end of the tunnel for British businesses? Which industries are likely to be most impacted by Beijing’s policy priorities? Does optimism remain about the long-term prospects of doing business in China despite the country’s stuttering economic growth and rising geopolitical tensions?
The China Research Group is delighted to be joined by members of the British Chamber of Commerce in China - all of whom have been based in China for the last three years - to discuss the realities of doing business in China.
Domestic politics and foreign policy have both played a part in China's recent major energy policy decisions. What impact will China’s quest for energy security have on global stability?
Read the full transcript of the event here.
Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, China and Russia appeared to be growing ever closer. Russian President Vladimir Putin being one of a handful of known leaders to attend the Winter Olympics, where he signed a landmark strategic partnership with his counterpart, President Xi Jinping.
Will that 'no limits' partnership survive Russia's newfound pariah status? In this live event, co-chair of the China Research Group Alicia Kearns MP was joined by Professor Sergey Radchenko, Dr Maria Repnikova and Bonny Lin. These three leading Sino-Russian experts set out the historical and geopolitical context of the China-Russia relationship and answered questions including:
How the invasion of Ukraine has been portrayed in Chinese and Russian media
How reliant the strategic partnership is on the personal relationship between Putin and Xi
Whether Russia can accept being the junior partner in the relationship
How the West's response to the invasion will shape China's thinking on Taiwan
Sergey Radchenko is the Wilson E. Schmidt Distinguished Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He has written extensively on the Cold War, nuclear history, and on Russian and Chinese foreign and security policies. His books include: Two Suns in the Heavens: the Sino-Soviet Struggle for Supremacy and Unwanted Visionaries: the Soviet Failure in Asia.
Bonny Lin is a senior fellow for Asian security and director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Previously, she was the acting associate director of the Strategy and Doctrine Program of RAND Project AIR FORCE and a political scientist at the RAND Corporation, where she analysed different aspects of US competition with China. She recently co-authored a piece for Foreign Affairs magazine titled: China’s Ukraine Crisis.
Maria Repnikova is an Assistant Professor in Global Communication at Georgia State University. Her research examines China’s critical journalism, political persuasion, and soft power; China-Africa cultural exchanges; and China-Russia comparisons. She recently published a book titled Chinese Soft Power, which explores the Chinese theorisation of the idea of soft power, as well as its practical implementation across global contexts.
Tom Tugendhat MP will chair a discussion with experts on Beijing’s view of technology and the challenges ahead for China’s internet giants.
Join us for a virtual panel discussion on the CPTPP, chaired by Andrew Bowie MP, with two leading trade experts. The UK has applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. What are the benefits of joining and what does this mean for the UK's trade and geopolitical ambitions? Will China join, and how might this impact the CPTPP?
Desmond Shum is an entrepreneur who rose to the zenith of power and money in 21st century China and whose wife was disappeared - and then mysteriously reappeared four years later on the eve of Red Roulette’s publication. He’ll be joined by Tom Tugendhat MP for a short in conversation session.
Join us for a discussion on how the international community might engage China on climate change and Beijing’s ambitions at the UK-hosted COP26 summit. This event will feature Amber Rudd (former Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change), Isabel Hilton (Founder of China Dialogue), and Alex Wang (leading expert on environmental law and the law and politics of China at UCLA).
We were joined by two experts from the William & Mary College AidData team as they discussed what analysis of Chinese development finance to more than 150 countries tells us. Their report found that countries’ financial liabilities linked to the Belt and Road have been systematically under-reported for years - to the tune of $385bn.
Join us for a pre-election briefing on how the outcome of the German election will shape Germany's foreign policy and the EU's approach to China. This event will be hosted by Tom Tugendhat MP.
This discussion will feature Claire Coutinho MP, Michael Auslin and Sophia Gaston for for insight and analysis into one of the generational changes in British foreign policy.
With the WTO in desperate need of reform and Australia hit by trade sanctions by the PRC, do we need a new alliance for protecting free trade in the 21st century? This event will feature Rob Atkinson (President of ITIF), Reinhard Bütikofer (Co-Chair of the European Green Party) and Agatha Kratz (Rhodium Group), chaired by Tom Tugendhat.
We will be joined by three experts in Chinese disinformation from the University of Oxford for a 45-minute briefing in which they will lay out their most recent findings of disinformation and inauthentic amplification of PRC diplomats on Twitter, and what we do and don’t know about pro-PRC disinformation online.
The FT’s Global China Editor, James Kynge, joined us to discuss his perspective on how the next generation of technology is shaping geopolitics. Over half of global trade is digital, and trust issues have suddenly become front and centre to global trade and investment. The discussion also touched on China's pursuit for self-reliance, Beijing's policies towards big tech and how the digital currency could affect the internationalisation of the renminbi.
China may become the world's largest economy by 2028. Where does Xi see China in 10 years? What problems will China encounter along the way? And what does China's economic rise mean for the rest of the world? This event was chaired by Jeremy Hunt with George Magnus and Elizabeth Economy.
President Xi Jinping's expansive vision of a "modern Silk Road" promised to revolutionise China's foreign policy and global influence. But what does the future of the Belt and Road Initiative look like? And how should the UK and like-minded democracies respond?
We were joined by a panel of three experts on the Belt and Road Initiative: Jonathan Hillman of CSIS, Meia Nouwens of IIS and Eyck Freymann, author of One Belt, One Road. The discussion was moderated by Tom Tugendhat.
What does China want from its foreign policy? How does China perceive the UK? And what should the UK change about its approach to China?
Join us for a wide-ranging discussion on UK-China relations with one of the UK's leading China experts. Rana Mitter is Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China at the University of Oxford. He recently co-authored a report on The Future of UK-China Relations with Sophia Gaston of the BFPG.
This event will be hosted by Tom Tugendhat.
Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles is Chair of the China-Britain Business Council. The China-Britain Business Council (CBBC) is the UK's national business network promoting trade and investment with China. China was the UK’s sixth largest export market in 2019 (the second largest outside of the EU), and also the fourth largest source of imports, significantly increasing over the past decade. This event will focus on this important part of UK-China relations.
What do we know about CCP interference in British society? And what can the UK government do to tackle the problem? With Charles Parton, Mareike Ohlberg and Juliet Samuel.
Join our panel of experts for insight into how US-China relations will evolve under newly-inaugurated President Biden, including Gideon Rachman, Evan Medeiros and Jude Blanchette.
Join the China Research Group for the launch of our new report, Defending Democracy in a New World, with senior politicians and human rights activists. Watch the livestream on YouTube.
As Europe finds itself caught between rising US-China tensions, the CRG convened a panel of EU-China experts to take a closer look at the future of the relationship. The panel will include Dr Janka Oertel (Director of the Asia Programme at the ECFR), Pavel Fischer (Speaker of the Czech Senate) and Johann Wadephul (Deputy Chair of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group), chaired by Tom Tugendhat MP.
Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu addressed UK MPs on Tuesday 10 November, discussing the importance of UK-China relations and briefing MPs on the security environment in Asia.
Sir Geoffrey Nice QC chaired the China Tribunal last year, which ruled that there was evidence of organ harvesting in China. He is also set to chair the Uyghur Tribunal in early 2021, and will discuss the implications of human rights abuses in China in national and international law.
With more than 120,000 Chinese students enrolled in UK higher education, universities are an essential part of UK-China relations. This event looked at the challenges and opportunities of UK-China higher education partnerships.
With reports of over 1 milliion Uyghurs in camps in Xinjiang and new report of labour camps in Tibet, this event will cover the evidence we have of human rights violations against ethnic minorities in China.
Rob Atkinson is President of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). He served as a policy adviser to the Clinton, Bush and Obama administration, and his work continues to be a strong influence on US-China trade policy.
With speaker Kōno Tarō, Minister of Defence of Japan. There is no recording available of this event.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called the Hong Kong national security law a "clear and serious breach" of the Sino-British Joint Declaration. How will the law impact UK relations with China? And how should the UK and other democracies respond to the new legislation?. There is no recording available of this event.
Speakers: Ambassador Ashok Kantha, India’s former Ambassador to China, and Dr Rudra Chaudhuri, Director of Carnegie India. There is no recording available of this event.
