Category: ReConnect China podcast

In this episode of the Reconnect China podcast, Hermann Aubié, Senior Researcher at the University of Turku, delves into China’s COVID-19 aid diplomacy in Europe. Aubié explores the fragmented nature of China’s global donation campaign, highlighting the roles of both state actors and private donors like the Jack Ma Foundation. He discusses the geopolitical motivations behind these aid efforts, the discrepancies between Beijing’s narrative and the data, and the implications for global health governance. This engaging conversation sheds light on how China’s aid reshaped EU perceptions and prompted lessons for future pandemic responses.

Interviewee: Hermann Aubié (University of Turku), Interviewer: Huanyu Zhao (Ghent University)

 

The podcast is to be accessed on Soundcloud and Spotify.

In this ‘ReConnect China’ Podcast Professor Bart Dessein unpacks China’s narrative of ‘a shared future for mankind’ as one of a series of ‘strategic narratives’ along with the country’s ‘Global Development Initiative’ of 2021, the ‘Global Security Initiative’ of 2022, and the ‘Global Civilization Initiative’ of 2023. The episode sheds light on these initiatives as part and parcel of China’s geopolitical and geo-economic initiatives (Shanghai Cooperation Organization, BRICS+, Belt and Road Initiative), and traces the historic roots of such initiatives back to the 1950s.

Prof. Dr. Bart Dessein is full professor at the Department of Languages and Cultures of Ghent University and serves as the scientific coordinator of the ReConnect China project.

The episode is hosted by Dr Huanyu Zhao, a postdoc researcher at the Department of Languages and Cultures of Ghent University and manager of the ReConnect China project.

 

The podcast is to be accessed on Soundcloud and Spotify.

In this episode, we explore the EU’s recent tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs) with an expert who sheds light on the underlying dynamics of this strategic policy move. After explaining reasons behind the EU’s tariffs, the discussion delves into the fast-paced evolution of China’s EV industry, tracing its roots and remarkable expansion into global markets. With Europe’s auto industry facing fierce competition, our guest unpacks the strategic crossroads that could shape the sector’s future competitiveness. Tune in to understand how geopolitical currents, market innovations, and industry shifts are reshaping the EV landscape. This conversation is a must-listen for anyone curious about the collision of policy, geoeconomics, and technology at the forefront of the green industrial transition.

Interviewee: Victor De Decker (Egmont Institute), Interviewer: Hermann Aubié (University of Turku)

The podcast is to be accessed on Soundcloud and Spotify.

 

In this ‘ReConnect China’ Podcast, Bart Dessein and Jasper Roctus shed light on the composition of the European Parliament after the 2024 European elections, and how this might translate into the EU’s China policies. Against the background of a shift in global power – with an enhanced importance of South-South relations, and the growing importance of such China-initiated organizations of global governance and platforms as the SCO and the BRICS+ framework – reflections are made on the functioning of the EU’s Global Gateway initiative, a possible revival of the CAI, and the possibilities for a BAI. With regard to the latter, broader reflections are made on the relations of the EU with Taiwan.

Interviewees: Bart Dessein and Jasper Roctus (Ghent University / Egmont), Interviewer: Mieke Matthyssen (Ghent University)

The podcast is to be accessed on Soundcloud and Spotify.

 

Connectivity initiatives have become a major instrument in the competition among major powers. What are the implications of an exclusively geopolitical reading of connectivity? How should the EU position itself in this context? In this fourth episode of the ReConnect China podcast, Mario Esteban, Senior Analyst at Elcano Royal Institute, interviews Aurelio Insisa, Senior fellow at the Istituto Affari Internazionali. Both have recently authored a Policy Brief arguing that a geopolitical framing of the EU’s Global Gateway is counterproductive for the EU. In this conversation they discuss why this is the case and how a more positive framing of the initiative can help improve the Global Gateway’s standing in the Global South.

The podcast is to be accessed on Soundcloud and Spotify.

Both the EU and China are ramping up efforts to become global leaders in digital technologies by channeling public funding into research on and development of innovative tools and applications. Even if strategic national (or European) interests may be behind, researchers and private companies from both sides do not refrain from seeking collaborations with each other. Who is behind the most active cooperation networks between the EU and China in digital technologies? How can European actors within these networks be best advised on potential risks related to research security when it comes to cooperation with China? And what are China’s other research priorities at the moment, to which European partners should look at?

In the third episode of the ReConnect podcast University of Turku researcher Outi Luova interviews Gábor Szüdi and Philipp Brugner from the Centre for Social Innovation in Vienna. Both have several years of experience in working in EU-funded international research projects with a particular focus on the topics of science diplomacy with non-like-minded states, research integrity and trust in science. In ReConnect China, they recently finished a report and two related policy briefs on the EU’s science, technology and innovation cooperation with China in the fields of artificial intelligence, big data and machine learning.

The podcast is to be accessed on Soundcloud and Spotify

In the second episode of the ReConnect podcast, University of Tartü researcher Elo Süld interviews Ties Dams. Ties Dams is a political theorist, writer and Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute, working on a book-project about Europe and the geopolitics of narrative. Aside from his research, he is a member of the EEAS expert group on Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference. With Ties, Elo speaks about what the power of narrative is, why it matters to geopolitics, and why the highest echelons of Chinese politics have made gaining global narrative power a top priority.

The podcast is to be accessed on SoundCloud and on Spotify.

Our first podcast deals with “Remonstrating”, or the Art of Forging Relations between the Europe and China. Based on our policy brief on the same topic published in May, its authors Bart Dessein and Jasper Roctus from Ghent University are guests in this first edition of the ReConnect China podcast.

During the conversation with Huanyu Zhao, Bart Dessein and Jasper Roctus shed more light on the origin of the term “Remonstrating” and plausibly demonstrate its practicability to interpret the challenging environment of current EU-China relations.

Sit back, relax, listen, and join us as we delve into this fascinating topic.

More information on the podcast on Soundcloud. The transcripts for the podcast can be found here.

Soon, the ReConnect China podcast series will be available on Spotify too.