Rethinking Economic Statecraft for a Taiwan Crisis
interview with Hugo Bromley, Eyck Freymann
Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann and Cambridge University’s Hugo Bromley join Hoover distinguished research fellow Glenn Tiffert for a conversation about an economic contingency plan for a Taiwan crisis, based on their new report, On Day One: An Economic Contingency for a Taiwan Crisis.
The Substructures of Chinese Grand Strategy, and Why Resolute US International Engagement Matters
by Christopher Ford
In this essay, Dr. Ford offers an account of China’s dream of Sinocentric global order and its implications. Explaining the theory of control upon which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) bases its power and influence, it describes the motivational structure behind Beijing’s grand strategy; the CCP’s strategic vision; how China aims to achieve that vision; and why sovereign peoples who prize their political autonomy and independence should care about these issues.
Sovereign Funds: How The Communist Party Of China Finances Its Global Ambitions
No other country in history has so rapidly transformed its economy from being among the world’s poorest and most isolated to the world’s second largest economies, at the heart of the global supply chain, and a leading source of international investment capital. For the last two decades, China’s sovereign funds have played a significant role in China’s economy, mitigating financial crises and tempering exogenous shocks. In this talk, Zoe will discuss how sovereign funds have supported China’s industrial policies by financing the state’s procurement of strategic overseas assets, bankrolling Chinese enterprises’ mergers and acquisitions abroad, and sponsoring the development of indigenous Chinese technology startups. As Zoe makes clear, sovereign funds are not just for oil exporters.
How China Wields Its “Sharp Power”
interview with Glenn Tiffert
Hoover fellow Glenn Tiffert on exposing, and counteracting, Beijing’s profound influence.
Countering China’s Malign Influence Operations In The United States
with Glenn Tiffert
Hoover Institution fellow Glenn Tiffert's testimony on Chinese malign foreign influence at a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
How Can the US and Europe Cooperate More Effectively on the Taiwan Issue?
In June 2023, the Hoover Institution and Institut Montaigne co-organized a transatlantic dialogue entitled “Ukraine and Taiwan: A Two-Front Test of Wills for America and Europe.” The dialogue was moderated by Larry Diamond, the William L. Clayton Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and François Godement, Senior Resident Fellow at Institut Montaigne for Asia and America.
Ukraine And Taiwan: A Two-Front Test Of Wills For America And Europe
In June 2023, the Hoover Institution and Institut Montaigne co-organized a transatlantic dialogue entitled Ukraine and Taiwan: A Two-Front Test of Wills for America and Europe. Led by Larry Diamond and François Godement and engaging some 20 high-level US and EU experts, the dialogue took place over two sessions.
The China Index: Measuring PRC Influence Around The Globe
The China Index is the first cross-regional project to objectively measure and visualize China's overseas influence through comparable data. This event brings together report contributors from Bogota, Berlin, Tblisi, and Taipei, who will analyze the PRC's influence campaigns in their regions, from Latin America to Germany to Central Asia.
China’s Global Influence And Interference Activities
with Glenn Tiffert
Hoover Institution fellow Glenn Tiffert testifies before the US-China Economic & Security Review Commission.
China's Response To War In Ukraine
This talk assessed how China's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine has varied across four domains: informational, diplomatic, economic, and military. China's stance appears to be shaped by several factors, including a perceived need to counter the United States and therefore a desire to support Russia while minimizing the costs of doing so to Chinese interests. China's desire for internal political stability and the increasingly personalist nature of its regime and political system also appear to have shaped its decision-making, as has its evolving assessments of what the Ukraine conflict might mean for Taiwan.
Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict With China
The Hoover Project on China’s Global Sharp Power and the Stanford Center for International Security and Cooperation held a talk titled Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China on Friday, October 7, 2022.
Banking on Beijing: The Aims and Impacts of China’s Overseas Development Program
Is China a “rogue donor” that uses its largesse to prop up corrupt and authoritarian regimes? Does Beijing bankroll politically motivated and economically inefficient ‘‘white elephants”? What are the risks of borrowing from Beijing? The existing debate about China’s overseas lending and grant-giving activities is largely guided by opinion and conjecture rather than rigorous evidence. In this talk, Dr. Parks will set the record straight with a new dataset of international development finance from China that captures 13,427 projects worth $843 billion across 165 countries over an 18-year period.
The US Needs To Step Up In The Pacific: Facing Up To China’s Military Challenge
The US is on the backfoot in the South Pacific. Distracted by other global challenges, it has for a long time outsourced its regional policymaking to Australia and New Zealand. But the South Pacific is essential to US security. If a hostile power controls a base in the region, it could block shipping traffic from the Pacific into the Indian Ocean to the Coral Sea, and beyond. It’s time for the US to step up and make a significant commitment to the Pacific region. This talk surveys China’s interests and activities in the South Pacific and considers policy options for the US going forward.
The Last Half Century of America’s Relationship with China
with Elizabeth Economy
Elizabeth Economy identifies and explains the essential elements of devising and implementing an effective foreign policy and national security strategy toward China.
Le pouvoir de subversion de la Chine en Afrique : un manuel pour renforcer la résilience nationale
by Glenn Tiffert, Oliver McPherson-Smith
Dans toute l'Afrique subsaharienne, la Chine a fait irruption sur la scène en tant que partenaire de premier plan. Si cette situation offre aux nations africaines de riches opportunités, elle les expose également aux risques d'un pouvoir de subversion (« sharp power ») autoritaire et fait peser une menace sur les conditions de la démocratie dans la région. Quels sont les signaux d'alarme ? Et comment les nations africaines peuvent-elles s'engager avec la Chine tout en sauvegardant leur souveraineté et en progressant vers une gouvernance, un développement et une démocratie de bonne qualité ?
China’s Sharp Power in Africa: A Handbook for Building National Resilience
by Glenn Tiffert, Oliver McPherson-Smith
Across sub-Saharan Africa, China has burst on to the scene as a leading partner. Although this affords African nations rich opportunities, it also exposes them to the risks of authoritarian sharp power and makes the conditions for democracy in the region more challenging. Where are the red flags? And how can African nations engage with China while safeguarding their sovereignty and advancing good governance, development, and democracy?
China Explores South Sudan’s Oil Sector without Environmental Care
by Mary Ajith Goch
In South Sudan, a consortium of oil companies from the People’s Republic of China has been operating without proper provisions for environmental audits and waste management. Although oil production contributes over 90 percent of South Sudan’s income, the enduring issues of waste management and accountability are putting the future of oil production and those who live in and around the oil-producing states at risk.
Corruption in the Zambian Construction Sector: The China Factor
by Rueben Lifuka
The construction sector remains a major contributor to Zambia’s gross domestic product (GDP). The country continues to invest in large-scale public infrastructure as part of its economic development agenda. This sector has attracted foreign construction companies, particularly from China. The growth of the sector has, however, also seen an increase in corruption. Is corruption any different in this sector following the involvement of Chinese companies?
The Trappings of the Mauritius Safe City Project
by Agnes Ebo’o
The Mauritius Safe City Project (MSCP), financed by a loan from China, has from the outset been shrouded in opacity. The MSCP resembles other projects across Africa that are strongly linked to surveillance and control. Is China’s Big Brother model being rolled out in an island nation known to be a beacon of democracy? Why was the project pursued? Whom does it serve? Will it roll back freedom?
China’s Domination of Distant-Water Fishing: The Impact on West and Central Africa
As China prepares to host the Winter Olympics, its economy is slowing, its real estate sector is in crisis, and its push for regional dominance is alarming its neighbors. At the 20th Party Congress this October, Xi Jinping is expected to win a third term as China’s ruler. What do these developments portend for China and the world, and how should the United States respond?
China On The Eve Of The Winter Olympics: Hard Choices For The World’s Democracies
with Glenn Tiffert
Monitoring China’s propaganda capabilities is critical to detecting and mitigating state-sponsored disinformation.
China’s Campaign to Shape Global Opinion
with Elizabeth Economy
The response of the United States to China’s growing global power will profoundly affect the trajectory of the 21st century.
America’s New Great-Power Competition with China
with Elizabeth Economy
Elizabeth Economy explains how a shift in understanding China’s intentions and capabilities has led to a rethink and a reset of American foreign policy.
U.S. Foreign Policy Relations with China
by Elizabeth Economy
The US-China rivalry represents, above all, a difference in values. The United States’ strength springs from its support for an open, multilateral world order.
The High Road
by Elizabeth Economy
The US-China rivalry represents, above all, a difference in values. The United States’ strength springs from its support for an open, multilateral world order.
More Than Sharp Power: How The CCP Penetrates Taiwan And Hong Kong
Called “canaries in the coal mine,” Hong Kong and Taiwan have been at the forefront of the CCP's sharp power play. But Beijing’s influence operations within and toward both territories also go beyond sharp power as the term is commonly understood. This panel will discuss Beijing’s influence mechanisms and the pushbacks that the authors discovered in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other countries and discuss the most recent news about the CCP’s crackdown on Hong Kong and its impact and response from Hongkongers.
China's Battle For Global Public Opinion
The Chinese Communist Party's efforts to shape global narratives go beyond just “telling China’s story.” They also include coercive and covert tactics that may undermine democratic norms, violate local laws, and weaken independent media. Ms. Cook will unpack the challenges that Xi Jinping’s self-described campaign to win the public opinion “battlefield” poses to media freedom worldwide, address how governments, tech firms, and civil society organizations are responding, and offer recommendations for effectively enhancing those initiatives.
Reflections On U.S.-China Relations
A discussion about the great-power competition between the United States and China, the rising risks for Western businesses in China, and the strategic pitfalls the West must avoid.
Advancing Effective U.S. Policy For Strategic Competition With China In The Twenty-First Century
with Elizabeth Economy
Hoover Institution senior fellow Elizabeth Economy testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on “Advancing Effective U.S. Policy for Strategic Competition with China in the Twenty-First Century."
Global Implications Of China's Belt And Road Initiative
In partnership with The Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Jonathan Hillman from the Center for Strategic & International Studies, Min Ye from Boston University, and Glenn Tiffert from Stanford's Hoover Institution discuss the current status of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which stands to be the largest bilateral infrastructure development program of the century. The event will discuss Hillman's new book, The Emperor's New Road: China and the Project of the Century and Ye’s new book, The Belt, Road and Beyond: State-Mobilized Globalization in China 1998-2018 and review the impacts of BRI on global trade and geopolitics.
Xi Jinping’s Himalayan Overreach
Chinese expansionism under Xi Jinping is injecting greater instability and tension into the Indo-Pacific region. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the relationship between China and India, which make up more than a third of humanity and over a fifth of the global economy. That relationship has come under severe strain following China’s stealth encroachments in the northernmost borderlands of Ladakh in 2020. The aggression promises to sharpen the rivalry between the two Asian giants and engender important changes in Indian defense, trade and foreign policies.
Covert, Coercive, And Corrupt: Countering Chinese Communist Party Malign Influence In Free Societies
Following introductory remarks from Hoover Institution Director Condoleezza Rice, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell will give a policy address on the PRC's malign influence activities and how the US government is countering them. He will focus in particular on how the US government is using legal, diplomatic, and consular tools to identify PRC propaganda outlets, and on how it is seeking to help ensure the fair and reciprocal treatment of foreign journalists in China. After the speech, Hoover Senior Fellow Larry Diamond will lead Assistant Secretary Stilwell in conversation with the Asia Society’s Orville Schell and Oriana Skylar Mastro, a Center fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University.
The Rise Of Digital Authoritarianism: China, AI, & Human Rights
The Hoover Institution is co-hosting The Rise of Digital Authoritarianism: China, AI, & Human Rights on September 29, October 1, October 6, and October 9, 2020.
Telling China’s Story: The Chinese Communist Party’s Campaign To Shape Global Narratives
by Glenn Tiffert, Renee DiResta, Carly Miller, Vanessa Molter, John Pomfret
Well-resourced countries have demonstrated sophisticated abilities to carry out influence operations in both traditional and social media ecosystems simultaneously. Russia, China, Iran, and a swath of other nation-states control media properties with significant audiences, often with reach far beyond their borders. They have also been implicated in social media company takedowns of accounts and pages that are manipulative either by virtue of the fake accounts and suspicious domains involved, or by way of coordinated distribution tactics to drive attention to certain content or to create the perception that a particular narrative is extremely popular. This raises an important question: how do state actors with full-spectrum propaganda capabilities put them to use in modern-day information operations?
