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Pekingology
30 episodes
Inside China's Dual Economy
Aug 6, 2026 · 42 min
China is generating groundbreaking advances in electric vehicles, battery technology, applied artificial intelligence, and industrial robotics. Yet Chinese households are facing stagnant wages, consumption is weak, and public confidence in the economy appears to be declining. In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Alicia García-Herrero, a leading expert on Chinese economics, to unpack China's "dual economy." They discuss why President Xi has prioritized g…
Embodied AI and the Transformation of China’s Robotics Industry
Jul 23, 2026 · 35 min
China is rapidly emerging as a global leader in robotics and embodied artificial intelligence, leveraging its manufacturing scale and deep supply chains to shape the future of automation. In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Wendy Chang, Senior Analyst at MERICS, to unpack the significant advances – and limitations – of China’s robotics sector and its embodied AI ecosystem. They discuss the politics that have driven huge amounts of capita…
Avoiding War in the South China Sea
Jul 9, 2026 · 49 min
Ten years after an international tribunal found the vast majority of China’s claims in the South China Sea to be unlawful, the risk of conflict in this vital global throughway remains stubbornly high. This week on Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Greg Poling, Director and Senior Fellow of the CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative and Southeast Asia Program, for a wide-ranging discussion on China’s strategy, successes, and failur…
China Was Ready for the Age of Anarchy
Jun 25, 2026 · 44 min
As a global power, China faces a growing tension between its ambitions to reshape the international order and its disinterest in bearing the costs of upholding that new system. In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Sam Chetwin George, Senior Fellow at the Asia Society’s Center on U.S.–China Relations and Research Fellow at China Heritage, to explore Beijing’s evolving perspectives on the post-World War II order and what comes next. They discuss China’s v…
Inside the China-Russia Partnership
Jun 11, 2026 · 42 min
China and Russia have transformed a historically fraught relationship into one of the most consequential strategic partnerships in the world. This week on Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Alexander Gabuev, a leading expert on China-Russia ties and director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. They examine how Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin have deepened their bilateral and personal ties, what China gains from supporting Russia's war in Ukraine, and where the limits o…
Can China Control North Korea?
May 28, 2026 · 38 min
In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Adam Farrar, who previously served as Special Advisor to the Vice President for the Indo-Pacific, Space, and Intelligence as well as Director for the Korean Peninsula and Mongolia at the White House National Security Council. Adam is currently a Senior Geoeconomics Analyst at Bloomberg and Non-Resident Senior Associate with the CSIS Korea Chair. As Xi Jinping prepares for a rare trip to Pyongyang, Henrietta and Adam…
BONUS POD: Trump and Xi Meet in China
May 15, 2026 · 44 min
In this bonus episode of Pekingology, host Henrietta Levin is joined by Jon Czin to discuss the May 14-15 summit between President Trump and President Xi in Beijing. Henrietta and Jon unpack the personal relationship between Trump and Xi, as well as the full range of issues on the bilateral agenda - Taiwan, technology, trade, the war in Iran, soybeans, and more. Jon previously served as Director for China at the White House National Security Council and a member of the Senior Analytic Service at…
How to Win a Summit: China’s Economic and Commercial Leverage
May 14, 2026 · 44 min
In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Philip Luck, Director of the CSIS Economics Program and Scholl Chair in International Business. Phil was previously the deputy chief economist at the U.S. Department of State. Phil and Henrietta discuss the economic and commercial context for the big summit between President Trump and President Xi in Beijing, what it means to have “managed trade,” the trajectory of U.S. tariff rates and export controls, and how soybe…
China and the Iran War: Beijing's Ambitions in the Middle East
Apr 30, 2026 · 39 min
In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Aaron Glasserman, an expert on China's Middle East strategy and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for the Study of Contemporary China. Aaron and Henrietta unpack what China is really trying to achieve in the Middle East, how China is approaching the U.S. war against Iran, and what this all means for the upcoming summit between President Trump and President Xi.
Defending Taiwan: A Strategy to Prevent War with China
Apr 16, 2026 · 46 min
In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Eyck Freymann, a Hoover Fellow at Stanford University and author of the new book, Defending Taiwan: A Strategy to Prevent War with China. Eyck unpacks Beijing’s real goals vis-à-vis Taiwan, how Taiwan fits into the Party’s domestic and international ambitions, and how the United States and its allies can manage the bedeviling challenge of gray zone coercion while also deterring high-end conflict.
How the Chinese Communist Party Stays in Power
Apr 2, 2026 · 42 min
In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Ben Hillman, Director of the Australian Centre on China in the World at Australian National University and co-editor of the new book, The Communist Party of China: Understanding the Durability of the World's Most Powerful Political Organization. Ben explains how the Party has managed to stay in power, becoming the world's second-longest ruling party (barely losing out to North Korea's communist party) and maintaining…
Decoding China's Two Sessions: Politics, Purges, and a New Five Year Plan
Mar 19, 2026 · 49 min
In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Neil Thomas, Fellow on Chinese Politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis. They discuss the significance of China's recent "Two Sessions," where the National People's Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference come together with great pageantry to announce new policies. Neil unpacks the state of China's elite politics and purges, the highlights of the 15th Five-Year…
Understanding Chinese Power
Mar 5, 2026 · 51 min
In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Zoe Liu, Fellow in China Studies with the Council on Foreign Relations. They discuss Zoe’s new Foreign Affairs piece, China’s Long Economic War: How Beijing Builds Leverage for Indefinite Competition. Zoe offers a new framework for understanding China’s national power, evaluating the country’s evolving capacity, capital, character, and credibility.
Can China Sway Australia?
Feb 19, 2026 · 50 min
In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Charlie Edel, Senior Adviser and Australia Chair at CSIS. Charlie unpacks China’s strategy towards Australia, an influential, democratic middle power that maintains strong economic ties to China and a security alliance with the United States. How has Beijing used economic coercion and inducements to try and sway Australian policy? Why has Australian public opinion turned sharply against China? And why has Australia c…
China’s Growing Influence in Latin America
Feb 5, 2026 · 43 min
In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Francisco Urdinez, Associate Professor at the Political Science Institute of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and author of the new book Economic Displacement: China and the End of US Primacy in Latin America. Francisco unpacks China’s strategy in Latin America, how regional countries have experienced China’s growing influence, how Chinese firms are replicating U.S. companies’ playbook from the early 20th…
How Experts Shape Chinese Foreign Policy
Jan 22, 2026 · 32 min
In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Sabine Mokry, Postdoctoral Researcher with the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg and author of the new book Chinese Scholars and Think Tanks’ Construction of China's National Interest. Sabine unpacks the process through which outside expertise can shape the Party’s national security concepts, the relevance of Chinese think tanks and scholars in policymaking, and how China –…
China's Church Divided
Jan 8, 2026 · 40 min
In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Paul Mariani, Professor at Santa Clara University and author of the new book, China’s Church Divided: Bishop Louis Jin and the Post-Mao Catholic Revival. Paul unpacks the Communist Party's views on religion, how the Catholic Church navigated the turbulent politics of 1980's China, and why the Vatican has renewed a controversial deal with Beijing.
The Broken China Dream
Dec 11, 2025 · 40 min
In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Minxin Pei, author of the new book, "The Broken China Dream: How Reform Revived Totalitarianism." Minxin traces the evolution of China's political and economic system through the post-Mao era, highlighting key moments in which the Party's efforts to strengthen collective leadership inadvertently planted the seeds of Xi Jinping's eventual power grab. To hear more from Minxin, check out the 2024 episode of Pekingology:…
China's Demographic Dilemma
Nov 25, 2025 · 46 min
In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Philip O’Keefe, Professor of Practice at the University of New South Wales Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research and one of the world's leading experts on demographic trends in China and across Asia. They unpack the rapid aging of Chinese society, exploring the impact of a shrinking population on China's politics, economy, and innovation ecosystem, as well as its trade imbalances and Beijing's global amb…
China's Africa Strategy
Nov 13, 2025 · 36 min
In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Cobus van Staden, Managing Editor of the China Global South Project, host of the China in Africa podcast, and a leading scholar of China–Africa relations. Ahead of the Johannesburg G20 Summit, they unpack China’s Africa strategy as well as China's bilateral ties with South Africa. Henrietta and Cobus discuss Beijing's diplomatic ground game, key trends in Chinese investment and BRI projects in Africa, how China's slo…
How Firms Serve the Party-State
Oct 30, 2025 · 31 min
In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Ning Leng, assistant professor at the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy and a Wilson Center China Fellow. They discuss her new book Politicizing Business: How Firms Are Made to Serve the Party-State in China. Henrietta and Ning explore the relationship between politics and business in China, what the Party really wants from Chinese firms, and why a malfunctioning wastewater treatment plant in sout…
Behind the Scenes of U.S.-China Summitry
Oct 16, 2025 · 38 min
In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Sarah Beran, who managed the U.S.-China relationship in senior roles at the State Department, the American Embassy in Beijing, and the White House National Security Council. Ahead of President Trump's potential meeting with President Xi on the margins of the 2025 APEC Leaders Meeting, Sarah explains how U.S.-China diplomacy and summitry actually work. Sarah unpacks the tough negotiations that set the stage for conver…
China's Economic Transition
Oct 2, 2025 · 49 min
In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Dinny McMahon, Head of China Markets Research at Trivium China, and Andrew Polk, Co-Founder and Head of Economic Research at Trivium China. Dinny and Andrew discuss their new Freeman Chair report, China’s Economic Transition: Debt, Demography, Deglobalization, and Scenarios for 2035. The conversation unpacks the structural challenges facing China’s economy, why the next decade will be decisive in whether China can es…
Who does Xi Jinping trust?
Sep 18, 2025 · 42 min
In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Jon Czin, the Michael H. Armacost Chair in Foreign Policy Studies and a fellow with the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution. Jon is a former member of the Senior Analytic Service at CIA, where he was one of the intelligence community’s top China experts, and he also served as Director for China at the White House National Security Council. Jon and Henrietta discuss his recent China Leadership M…
State of Play: Are U.S. tariffs bringing India and China together?
Sep 5, 2025 · 29 min
Pekingology is excited to feature a new CSIS podcast called State of Play, where CSIS experts unpack the biggest geopolitical developments of the week. In this State of Play episode, Henrietta Levin and Rick Rosso discuss the China-India relationship, alongside host Will Todman. President Xi and Prime Minister Modi greeted each other warmly at the SCO summit in China last weekend. But how real is the China-India rapprochement, and what does it mean for the United States?
China’s Quest to Engineer the Future
Sep 4, 2025 · 36 min
In this joint episode between Pekingology and the ChinaPower Podcast, CSIS Freeman Chair Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin and co-host CSIS China Power Project Deputy Director and Fellow Brian Hart are joined by Dan Wang to discuss his new book, Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future. The conversation unpacks China’s monumentalism in its grand engineering projects, the advantages and consequences of building at such scale, China’s push to lead in key technologies, Beijing’s social engineeri…
Is China’s Military Ready for War?
Aug 21, 2025 · 38 min
In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by M. Taylor Fravel, Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science and Director of the Security Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They discuss Dr. Fravel's recent Foreign Affairs article, "Is China’s Military Ready for War? What Xi’s Purges Do—and Don’t—Mean for Beijing’s Ambitions." The conversation unpacks corruption, modernization, and sudden disappearances at the highest levels of…
The Locknet: How China Controls its Internet
Aug 7, 2025 · 35 min
In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Jessica Batke, Senior Editor for Investigations at ChinaFile, and Laura Edelson, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Northeastern University. They discuss Jessica and Laura's new report "The Locknet: How China Controls Its Internet and Why It Matters," exploring how the government and internet platforms collaborate on censorship, how tensions between the CCP's political and economic goals play out online, and…
History, Memory, and the Party
Jul 24, 2025 · 41 min
In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Dr. Rana Mitter, ST Lee Chair in US-Asia Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School. Henrietta and Rana discuss the relationship between history and politics in today’s China, how memory of the Second World War shapes Beijing’s thinking on Taiwan, the worldview of the next generation of CCP leaders, and more. To learn more about Rana Mitter’s perspectives on China, you can read his recent Foreign Affairs article, "The O…
Kurt Campbell on China Strategy and Diplomacy
Jul 10, 2025 · 45 min
In this episode of Pekingology, Henrietta Levin, Senior Fellow with the CSIS Freeman Chair in China Studies, is joined by Kurt Campbell, former Deputy Secretary of State and President Biden’s “Asia Czar.” He is currently Chairman of The Asia Group and Distinguished Fellow in Diplomacy with the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. Henrietta and Kurt discuss how Beijing views American power, the development of U.S. strategy towards China, U.S.-China diplomacy and the characters that sa…
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