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Center for Strategic and International Studies

China has emerged as one of the 21st century’s most consequential nations, making it more important than ever to understand how the country is governed. True to the name Pekingology, or the study of the political behavior of the People’s Republic of China, this podcast aims to unpack the behavior of the Chinese Communist Party and implications these actions have within China and for U.S.-China relations. Jude Blanchette, the Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS, is joined by various experts to analyze the activities of the Chinese governing system and how these impact the complex relationships relating to China.

Pekingology

In this episode of Pekingology, originally released on April 8, 2021, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Jessica Teets, then an Associate Professor in the Political Science Department at Middlebury College (now Professor at Middlebury College and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Chinese Political Science), to discuss her work on China's evolving governance system.

Fragmented Authoritarianism in Xi's China

In this episode of Pekingology which originally aired on June 17, 2021, Freeman Chair in China Studies Jude Blanchette is joined by Wang Yuhua, the Frederick S. Danziger Associate Professor of Government at Harvard University, to discuss how rulers in Imperial China maintained -- and lost -- political power.

Overcoming the Emperor's Dilemma

With the removal of the only term limit on office in March 2018, Xi Jinping stands to rule indefinitely. But what happens if he suddenly dies in office? How will China's political and economic system respond? In this episode from September 2020, Jude Blanchette is joined by Michigan State University's Erica Frantz to discuss her co-authored paper, "When Dictators Die."

What Happens if Xi Jinping Dies in Office?

In this episode of Pekingology from March 2023, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Dr. Lynette H. Ong, Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto, jointly appointed to the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy’s Asian Institute and also a Faculty Fellow at the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society. They discuss her recent book Outsourcing Repression: Everyday State Power in Contemporary China.

Outsourcing Repression

In this episode of Pekingology which aired on July 6, 2023, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Zongyuan Zoe Liu, a fellow for international political economy at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of the book Sovereign Funds: How the Communist Party of China Finances Its Global Ambitions.

How the CCP Finances its Global Ambitions

In this episode of Pekingology from June 2022, Jude Blanchette is joined by Victor Shih, associate professor and Ho Miu Lam Chair in China and Pacific Relations at the School of Global Policy and Strategy, UC San Diego. They discuss his book, Coalitions of the Weak: Elite Politics in China from Mao’s Stratagem to the Rise of Xi.

Coalitions of the Weak

In this episode of Pekingology which aired in February 2022, Jude Blanchette is joined by Xuezhi Guo, the Lincoln Financial Professor of Political Science at Gilford College, to discuss his book, The Politics of the Core Leader in China: Culture, Institution, Legitimacy, and Power.

Why Does the CCP Need a Core?

In this episode of Pekingology from January 2023, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Martin K. Dimitrov, a professor of political science at Tulane University, to discuss his recent book, ‘Dictatorship and Information’: Authoritarian Regime Resilience in Communist Europe and China.

Dictatorship and Information

In this special episode from The Truth of the Matter from CSIS, host Andrew Schwartz speaks with Scott Kennedy, CSIS senior adviser and Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics, to discuss the latest in the U.S.-China trade war, including China’s technological capabilities, new export controls, and the possibility of future decoupling.

Original interview published on April 17, 2025.

China Across CSIS: China Weathers the Storm of U.S. Tariffs

In this special episode from China Field Notes from CSIS, host Scott Kennedy speaks with Chen Dongxiao, the President of the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS). He discusses how China's shifting role to the center of global politics and economics has shaped his career, and he offers a frank assessment of the U.S.-China bilateral relationship during the late-Biden and early Trump administrations. The discussion concludes with a strong defense of the value of U.S.-China track-2 dialogue for thinking creatively about the world's most important challenges and offering reforms to global institutions.

Original interview published on April 3, 2025.

China Across CSIS: Communication Amid Competition with Chen Dongxiao

How did communist ideology affect state-building efforts in the early PRC? How and why does the current CCP leadership view statistics through the lens of politics? In this episode, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Arunabh Ghosh, an associate professor of Modern Chinese History at Harvard University to discuss his new book, Making it Count: Statistics and Statecraft in the Early People's Republic of China.

Statistics and State-Building in Mao's China

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