Uploaded December 2024 | Updated September 2026, 18 hours ago
China’s significance as the era’s most successful autocracy has begged a pressing question: is Beijing attempting to export authoritarianism to the rest of the world? While President Xi Jinping has denied any such effort, experts have warned of China’s intent to spread autocracy through various means, including attempts to weaken global peacekeeping institutions like the United Nations and the dissemination of disinformation to discredit democracy. As a massive global power, however, China also seemingly seeks stability and cooperation with certain democracies. What exactly does China want from the international community, and what is it willing to settle for? How does its long-standing desire to take over Taiwan figure into its diplomacy?
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Ning Leng, an assistant professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, examines how non-democratic institutions create unintended consequences in state-business relations and development outcomes, including public service provision, infrastructure building, and environmental policy-making. Focused on China, her research is supported by the National Science Foundation, the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation, the Institute for Humane Studies, and others.
Michael Oborne is a fellow at Blackfriars Hall in Oxford and a member of the Las Casas Institute’s Advisory Board. Previously, he served as director of multi-disciplinary issues at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris, where he supervised its International Futures Program and the Global Science Forum. He also served as deputy director of the directorate for science, technology and industry.
Zoe Reed has been chair of the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding since 2009. She has a direct interest in building links and understanding with China, as her father was Chinese. However, she did not meet him until the 1990s, when she traced him to his hometown of Lanzhou, Gansu province. She is also a director of a National Health Service foundation trust that provides mental health services. In 2016, she wrote a book illuminating the history of British-Chinese relations, "A Bridge Between Hearts."
Michael Scott (moderator) is senior dean, fellow of Blackfriars Hall, Oxford, college adviser for postgraduate students, and a member of the Las Casas Institute. He also serves as senior adviser to the president of Georgetown University. Scott previously was the pro-vice-chancellor at De Montfort University and founding vice-chancellor of Wrexham Glyndwr University.
Sanford J. Ungar (moderator), president emeritus of Goucher College, is director of the Free Speech Project at Georgetown University, which documents challenges to free expression in American education, government, and civil society. Director of the Voice of America under President Bill Clinton, he was also dean of the American University School of Communication and is a former co-host of "All Things Considered" on NPR.
Recorded on Dec. 4th, 2024
China’s significance as the era’s most successful autocracy has begged a pressing question: is Beijing attempting to export authoritarianism to the rest of the world? While President Xi Jinping has denied any such effort, experts have warned of China’s intent to spread autocracy through various means, including attempts to weaken global peacekeeping institutions like the United Nations and the dissemination of disinformation to discredit democracy. As a massive global power, however, China also seemingly seeks stability and cooperation with certain democracies. What exactly does China want from the international community, and what is it willing to settle for? How does its long-standing desire to take over Taiwan figure into its diplomacy?
Featured:
Ning Leng, an assistant professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, examines how non-democratic institutions create unintended consequences in state-business relations and development outcomes, including public service provision, infrastructure building, and environmental policy-making. Focused on China, her research is supported by the National Science Foundation, the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation, the Institute for Humane Studies, and others.
Michael Oborne is a fellow at Blackfriars Hall in Oxford and a member of the Las Casas Institute’s Advisory Board. Previously, he served as director of multi-disciplinary issues at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris, where he supervised its International Futures Program and the Global Science Forum. He also served as deputy director of the directorate for science, technology and industry.
Zoe Reed has been chair of the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding since 2009. She has a direct interest in building links and understanding with China, as her father was Chinese. However, she did not meet him until the 1990s, when she traced him to his hometown of Lanzhou, Gansu province. She is also a director of a National Health Service foundation trust that provides mental health services. In 2016, she wrote a book illuminating the history of British-Chinese relations, "A Bridge Between Hearts."
Michael Scott (moderator) is senior dean, fellow of Blackfriars Hall, Oxford, college adviser for postgraduate students, and a member of the Las Casas Institute. He also serves as senior adviser to the president of Georgetown University. Scott previously was the pro-vice-chancellor at De Montfort University and founding vice-chancellor of Wrexham Glyndwr University.
Sanford J. Ungar (moderator), president emeritus of Goucher College, is director of the Free Speech Project at Georgetown University, which documents challenges to free expression in American education, government, and civil society. Director of the Voice of America under President Bill Clinton, he was also dean of the American University School of Communication and is a former co-host of "All Things Considered" on NPR.
Recorded on Dec. 4th, 2024
