The China Smart State Podcast

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.

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 chats with John Lee about semiconductors. John Lee is the director of East-West Futures, a consulting firm focusing on the global impacts of China’s digital technology industries and cyberspace governance system. Previously, John worked as a senior analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin.

In this episode, Rogier and John talk about the evolution of the Chinese semiconductor sector. 

This month's guest on The China Smart State Podcast is Tai Wei Lim, associate professor at Soka University in Japan, as well as adjunct research fellow at the National University of Singapore East Asian Institute. He is a historian and area-studies specialist whose research focuses on contemporary China and Japan. He also recently published a book called 'Industrial Revolution 4.0, Tech Giants and Digitized Societies'. In this episode, hosts Rogier Creemers and Linda van der Horst talk with him about China's relations with its region through the lens of the Belt and Road Initiative and the fourth wave of industrialization. 

This month on the China Smart State Podcast, Rogier Creemers and co-host Linda van der Horst chat to Fatoumata Diallo about Chinese smart cities. Fatoumata Diallo is a project manager and research fellow at ISDP’s Stockholm China Center and her research focuses Chinese domestic politics, digital urbanization and China’s foreign policy. Today they discuss the Xiong’an New Area in Hebei province, perhaps the most well-known and biggest smart city project that is currently in development in China. 

This month on the China Smart State Podcast, Rogier Creemers and co-host Straton Papagianneas chat to Rachel Stern about the use of big data and artificial intelligence in Chinese courts. Rachel Stern is a Professor of Law and Political Science at Berkeley University, where she currently holds the Pamela P. Fong and Family Distinguished Chair in China Studies. In this episode, they discuss everything that falls under the term ‘smart courts’, such as the digitization of the litigation process, computer assisted judging and online case filing. 

"This month on the China Smart State Podcast, Rogier Creemers and Linda van der Horst are joined by Nigel Inkster, Senior Adviser on Cyber Security and China at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and Camino Kavanagh, visiting senior fellow at King’s college London as well as a member of the UN advisory support team to the Chairs of two UN negotiating processes relating to cyber/ICT and international security. In this episode they discuss the cyber diplomatic landscape and China’s approach to cyber diplomacy."