Lars Pelke
Several liberal democracies view the People’s Republic of China no longer as a strategic partner, but as a systemic rival. Yet how intense is China’s influence? The China Index seeks to measure this influence across different domains. This is a welcome first step, but it is not without far-reaching flaws, write Lars Pelke and Katrin Kinzelbach Read more
Li-Chia Lo
Li-Chia Lo revisits Rongxin Li’s essay on the Confucian concept of Minben (people-core/root) to offer more context to the concept and to differentiate it from the Chinese concept of Minzhu (people-master). Lo argues that both concepts are different, and we should not elide them Read more
Abhishek Sharma
The concept of an ‘Indo-Pacific’ region is gaining traction. More countries in and beyond the Indo-Pacific region are building closer relations—in opposition to China. Abhishek Sharma argues that North Korea sees opportunity in the region's changing power dynamics to position itself as China's ally Read more
Abbey Heffer
Authoritarian regimes are not centralised monoliths. In China, authoritarian responses to protest can differ dramatically across localities. Abbey Heffer argues that research on regime-level authoritarianism often overlooks decentralisation. Studying aspects of authoritarianism, such as protest repression and concessions, requires a practice-based approach that reconciles national and localised authoritarianism Read more
Stephen Bagwell
The case of Hong Kong shows that Chinese Communist Party dominance has a negative impact on empowerment rights. For Taiwan, though, it could end up much worse. Stephen Bagwell and Meridith LaVelle explore the potential outcomes of this scenario, using evidence from Hong Kong and data from the Human Rights Measurement Initiative Read more
