Professor Chen Participates in U.S. - China Tech Panel with the Library of Congress

October 1, 2021 Dr. Wenhong Chen, Asia Policy Program Affiliate, participated in a panel discussion hosted by the John W. Kluge Center on the conflict over technology between the U.S. and China. The Kluge Center at the Library of Congress brings relevant scholarship to the attention of policymakers and the interested public, drawing from the expertise of over 1,000 alumni. Former Kluge Fellow, Aynne Kokas, led the conversation with Dr. Chen, Adam Segal from the Council on Foreign Relations, and Yaqiu Wang from Human Rights Watch.  Dr. Chen began the discussion by indicating that antitrust measures by the Chinese and U.S. governments would have significant implications for big tech and tech start-ups in both countries. Additionally, she described how the U.S. and China could collaborate in the technosphere, addressing technological and data governance issues. Dr. Chen then shared her perspective on the tech cold war metaphor between Watch the full panel here. ...

Professor Rana Siu Inboden’s Research Cited in a WSJ Article

September 21, 2021 A recent Wall Street Journal article discussed China’s use of its seat on the United Nations NGO Committee to insist that civil society organizations applying for UN consultative status refer to Taiwan as a part of China.  The article cited the work of Professor Rana Siu Inboden, a Strauss Center Distinguished Scholar.  As the article illustrates, applicants often receive pushback from the Chinese delegation, which insists that any reference to “Taiwan” be changed to China’s preferred terminology: “Taiwan, Province of China.”  Professor Inboden has researched China’s efforts to restrict a range of NGOs from obtaining UN consultative status, especially civil society groups working on human rights.  Dr. Inboden’s research on China’s role on the UN NGO Committee appeared in the Journal of Democracy: China at the UN: Choking Civil Society | Journal of Democracy  ...

Sankaran Discusses U.S. Policy Options in Addressing Chinese and North Korean Missile Accumulation

August 23, 2021 In a recent policy op-ed titled “Countering China and North Korea’s mad dash for missiles,” Jaganath Sankaran, Assistant Professor of Public Affairs, discusses the U.S.’s policy options in responding to China and North Korea’s accumulation of ballistic missiles. The U.S. may “respond in kind” by deploying missiles in the region; it may expand missile defense systems in the region, or it may pursue arms control mechanisms. In evaluating these policy options, Professor Sankaran notes that understanding China and North Korea’s motivations behind their missile pursuits will help policymakers weigh the pros and cons of each option. On the North Korean side, Professor Sankaran identifies missiles as “instruments of coercion and leverage” which North Korea can use in various geopolitical pursuits. For example, North Korea hopes to use the threat of missile bombardment to “unravel Japanese support for a...

Greitens Interviewed on Show “On Balance With Leland Vittert”

August 20, 2021 Sheena Chestnut Greitens, Associate Professor of Public Affairs at the LBJ School and APP's inaugural director, was recently interviewed on On Balance With Leland Vittert. Greitens discussed the recent news regarding Huawei’s hiring of former Democratic Lobbyist Tony Podesta as a consultant. Greitens noted the long history of people working in the United States Government and thereafter accepting money to lobby on behalf of a foreign government. This type of work, she noted, must be disclosed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) which helps to make the scale of foreign lobbying in the U.S. “visible.” In response to a question regarding Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman’s recent visit to China, Greitens noted that the Chinese Communist Party is well-known for its use of rhetoric related to “foreign humiliation” and “foreign exploitation” as a justification for its own hold on power. Greitens...

Sung-Sheng Yvonne Chang and Tse-Min Lin Spearhead New Center for Taiwan Studies at UT

August 6, 2021 In March 2021, UT launched a new Center for Taiwan Studies, a multidisciplinary center dedicated to promoting the study of Taiwan’s society, history and culture on the UT campus. The new Center builds on a robust Taiwan Studies program that has been operating at UT since 2009, and is funded through a major grant from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan. Professors Sung-sheng Yvonne Chang and Tse-Min Lin, both affiliates of the Asia Policy Program, spearheaded the establishment of CTS, and Dr. Chang is currently serving as the Center’s inaugural Director.  Going forward, UT’s Center for Taiwan Studies will support student and faculty research, foster exchange and engagement, and offer a range of Taiwan-related courses.   A link to the CTS website will be posted soon. ...

Sheena Greitens Contributes to Wilson Center Report on The Rise of China & Its Implications

August 6, 2021 Sheena Chestnut Greitens, Director of the Asia Policy Program, published an essay on Chinese surveillance technology in the inaugural publication from the Wilson Center entitled The 2020-21 Wilson China Fellowship: Essays on the Rise of China and Its Implications. Her essay finds that the rise of China’s surveillance state has had a clear global impact: as of late 2019, China had exported surveillance technology platforms for use in policing and public safety to over 80 countries.  These exports raise questions about how this technology will impact global trends in data privacy and data security, human rights and democratic freedoms, and technology competition between the United States and China. The essay concludes with eight recommendations for U.S. policy, beginning with the need for the U.S. to develop a comprehensive, interagency strategy to address the challenges posed by China’s surveillance technologies...

Book Release: Amy Liu on the Chinese Diaspora in Europe

August 6, 2021 Dr. Amy Liu, associate professor of government and an affiliate of the Asia Policy Program, recently released a book entitled The Language of Political Incorporation: Chinese Migrants in Europe (Temple University Press, 2021).  Dr. Liu examines the varying levels of political incorporation among Chinese migrants in Central and Eastern Europe, and shows that linguistic networks matter greatly for their incorporation, including their trust in institutions and civic engagement.  In Hungary, for example, the Chinese community has been politically incorporated, in part because they have not been targeted by anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies; by contrast, in Romania, Chinese migrants have sought assistance from the Chinese embassy to fight efforts to collect back taxes.  Drawing on original survey data as well as comparisons with Muslims in the same region and Chinese migrants in Western Europe, this groundbreaking study challenges conventional wisdom on what leads to high levels of...

Book Release: Rana Inboden on China and Global Human Rights

August 6, 2021 Rana Siu Inboden, an affiliate of the Asia Policy Program, recently published a book entitled China and the International Human Rights Regime, 1982-2017 (Cambridge University Press, 2021).  Dr. Inboden’s book explores China’s rising position in the world through the lens of China’s role in the international human rights regime.  She focuses on three major case studies: the drafting and adoption of the Convention against Torture and the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, the establishment of the UN Human Rights Council, and the International Labour Organization’s Conference Committee on the Application of Standards.  Through these cases,based on a range of documentary and archival research and extensive interview data, Dr. Inboden chronicles China’s subtle yet persistent efforts to constrain the international human rights regime.  Her book provides fresh insights into the motivations and influences driving China’s conduct and...