Elizabeth Economy on Her Book The World According to China

Elizabeth Economy is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and was previously senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. She is currently on leave from her position at the Hoover Institution and is serving as a senior adviser to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The views expressed in the podcast and her book are her personal views and do not represent the views of the U.S. government or the Commerce Department.

Jessica C. Teets is an associate professor in the Political Science Department at Middlebury College (United States) and associate editor of the Journal of Chinese Political Science.

Time Stamps

[2:40] “Could you describe how the [Chinese Communist Party] state system delivers both the strengths and weaknesses of the foreign policy. Are there any changes we might expect to this system to improve it?”

[11:47] “You’re talking about these externalities, or where the goals of the Chinese [Belt and Road] projects aren’t meeting what the domestic goals are of the country that’s hosting it. I also wonder if there’s growing distrust of the motivations behind these projects.”

[17:20] “You seem to be making this argument that not only is there a change in foreign policy in the goal of reordering the current world order but also in the methods.”

[22:58] “It would be tempting to look at [China’s] behavior and say that’s bad foreign policy, it’s not accomplishing its goals. But I’m wondering if you think that those sorts of messages are really intended for an external audience, or do you think that this is more intended for a domestic audience and this is more a sort of nationalism and domestic signaling?”

[26:58] “Are there any [foreign policy communities inside of China] that are offering alternative ways forward or is…the policy that you describe as Xi Jinping’s the only foreign policy that is really being thought about?”

[34:05] “Are there specific things that can be done to increase those costs [to China] so that [Taiwan] reunification would be negotiated versus just imposed?”

[39:26] “When you end the book you talk about a situation where the world sort of splits into two ecosystems. Is there any role for people-to-people engagement?”

This podcast was recorded on January 20, 2022.