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The Rise of the Chinese Techno-Security State Under Xi Jinping

Event title and speaker name; pictures of the professors; upper left: a wifi icon, gear icon, robot icon, and microchip icon arranged in a quarter-circle around the atomic energy symbol
Tuesday, January 25, 2022
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Tai Ming Cheung (UC San Diego)
China Innovations 21-22

China under Xi Jinping is a security-maximizing state that is building its power and prestige on an increasingly capable and expansive economic and technological foundation. This presentation examines five key pillars that contribute to the development of what can be described as a techno-security state over the past decade: the making of a grand innovation-driven development strategy; the forging of a comprehensive national security state; the transformation of China's military capabilities through a military strengthening doctrine; bringing together the civilian and defense components of the economy and society through military-civil fusion; and the securitization of the Chinese economy to mitigate against rising global threats. The presentation assesses the implications of these developments for China and the rest of the world, and especially the intensifying great power competition with the United States.

About the speaker:
Tai Ming Cheung is a professor at the School and director of the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC). He is a longtime analyst of and leading expert on Chinese and East Asian defense and national security affairs, especially related to economic, industrial, technology and innovation issues.

His book "Fortifying China: The Struggle to Build a Modern Defense Economy" was published in 2009, followed by "Forging China's Military Might: A New Framework for Assessing Innovation," which he edited. He was previously a correspondent at the Far Eastern Economic Review.

As director of IGCC, Cheung leads the institute's Study of Technology and Innovation, examining the evolving relationship between technology and national security in China. He also manages the institute's Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue, bringing together senior foreign ministry, defense officials and academics from around the globe.