The China Smart State Podcast LeidenAsiaCentre

This month's guest is Meia Nouwens, senior fellow for Chinese Security and Defence Policy and head of the China Programme at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London. Her expertise lies in Chinese cross-service defence analysis, China’s defence industry and innovation, as well as China’s regional strategic affairs and international relations. Meia joins the podcast to talk about her new book 'The digital Silk Road – China’s Technological
Rise and the Geopolitics of Cyberspace".

The Digital Silk Road often remains a ill-defined and poorly understood concept. There are many misconceptions, for example the idea that the the Digital Silk Road is only an extension of the Belt and Road Initiative, with the same actors and geographical boundaries. Or that China is going to completely take over the digital world. In reality, the Digital Silk Road is a lot more complex and operates according to its own rules. In this podcast Rogier, Linda and Meia delve deeper into the nuances of this Chinese cyber initiative.

Our guest this month is Martin Chorzempa, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and author of the book 'The Cashless Revolution: China's Reinvention of Money'. Martin joins Rogier to discuss everything from the impacts of the rise of Chinese fintech, to digital payment tools, and the ban on cryptocurrencies in China.

This month on the China Smart State Podcast, host Linda van der Horst interviews Julia Voo. Julia is a Cyber Fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and leads the team behind Belfer's National Cyber Power Index. She was formerly the Research Director for the China Cyber Policy Initiative. Her areas of research concern geotech strategy including the Digital Silk Road, industrial policy, and technical standards for strategic technologies.

In this episode they talk about the National Cyber Power Index, a ranking that lists 30 countries according to their capabilities to harness their cyber power. What are the most powerful countries when it comes to cyber? And how is this ranking decided? Tune in to found out. 

In this month’s episode of the China Smart State Podcasts our guest is Hunter Dorwart, policy counsel at the Future of Privacy forum and Associate at Bird&Bird. Together with hosts Rogier Creemers and Linda van der Horst, he discusses the role of China in international data flows and governance.

The episode explores different aspects of cross border data flows; how our understanding of them has changed, and what interests are at stake in internet governance. Subsequently, we compare China’s governance of data flows to other models of internet governance, and go into the different regulations and administrative bodies that play a role in Chinese data governance.

In this month's episode of the China Smart State Podcast, Rogier and Linda interview Tim Rühlig about Chinese policies on digital standard-setting. Rühlig is a research fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), and is the author of China's Foreign Policy Contradictions (2022). Recently, his research has focused on Chinese policies on technical standardisation. 

This talk explores the importance of technical standard-setting, and assesses the motives for and effects of Chinese policies concerning standard-setting. Furthermore, the talk delves into the different domestic and international consequences of growing Chinese presence in global standard-setting processes. It offers a comprehensive introduction into the causes and effects of China's growing influence in this field.  

This month on the China Smart State Podcast, Rogier talks with Rui Ma about tech investment in China. Rui has over fifteen years of experience in investment banking and venture capital finance, and spent eight of those years working across multiple industries including real estate and media as well as technology in Shanghai and Beijing. She is currently an angel investor, advisor to several startups and funds, and founder of Techbuzz China.

On this episode they discuss everything to do with innovation in China, the private internet sector, companies, finance and investment. On the accompanying Techbuzz China episode they will discuss the regulatory policy side of tech investment and finance.