Assessing the Risks and Finding Responses to China’s Digital Strategy

Assessing the Risks and Finding Responses to China’s Digital Strategy
Episode 3 of "China’s Strategic Approach to the Digital Revolution"

Podcast with Emily de La Bruyère, Greg Levesque, and Matt Turpin
April 8, 2022

This is the third of three episodes in the Asia Insight podcast miniseries China’s Strategic Approach to the Digital Revolution examining the findings of the NBR report “China’s Digital Ambitions: A Global Strategy to Supplant the Liberal Order.” NBR nonresident fellow Emily de La Bruyère, the project’s principal investigator, is joined by two of the report’s authors—Greg Levesque and Matt Turpin—to discuss the security implications of China’s digital rise and potential policy responses for liberal democracies to more effectively mitigate the associated risks and counter China’s ambitions.

Emily de La Bruyère is a Nonresident Fellow at the National Bureau of Asian Research and co-founder of Horizon Advisory, a consulting firm focusing on the implications of China’s competitive approach to geopolitics.

Greg Levesque is the Co-founder and CEO of Strider.

Matt Turpin is a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution and former U.S. National Security Council Director for China.

Time Stamps

[0:12] Introduction

[2:05] What direct threat do China’s digital ambitions pose to international security and the global order?

[4:21] How is what’s Beijing’s doing different in terms of its threat than the liberal digital order that you present as an alternative?

[8:45] So much of the Huawei case was focused on China’s ability to spy, but what other threats and risks is that missing?

[14:34] Right now we’re talking about Beijing’s digital ambitions as a future possibility, but this is already underway. How far has Beijing progressed in its strategy?

[21:43] What can we do to solve these challenges?

[24:42] How feasible is it that we can maintain the current system without allowing China to subvert it or take it over?

[29:44] If there’s one thing the U.S. or any other government can do right now to catalyze an effective response, what would that be?

[35:12] When looking at the risks and challenges associated with China’s digital strategy, what is one thing that you’re optimistic about?


About Asia Insight

The NBR podcast series Asia Insight features interviews with top Asia experts about key issues affecting the Indo-Pacific region, with a focus on implications for U.S. policy and businesses. Subscribe to Asia Insight on Podbean and Apple Podcasts and let us know what you think of the podcast on Twitter.

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Asia Insight theme music is by Laura Schwartz of Bellwether Bayou.

This podcast was edited by Doug Strub at NBR.