The Cook Islands allowed over a hundred shadow fleet tankers trafficking sanctioned Russian and Iranian oil. A Big Read from me looking at the curious case of Maritime Cook Islands with an investigation employing big data analysis and fieldwork in Raro. www.nzherald.co.nz/business/com...

We know that China ran a domestic propaganda campaign supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—but did it work? This article explores how effective the campaign was in persuading the Chinese public and which segments of the population were more vulnerable to its influence.

My new piece @foreignaffairs.com on whether #China is stepping into the #SoftPower gap left by the US withdrawal. I argue that it is doing so reluctantly, both in terms of material and ideological diplomacy. Take a look here: www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

About time. Well past time, in fact.

INCCS provides a platform for knowledge exchange and impact by hosting research based workshop events. sites.google.com/sheffield.ac...

An important new resource for anyone following China’s role in global development, and a big surprise - the vast majority of China’s FDI is going to middle and high income countries - not the developing world www.aiddata.org/publications...

a notable thing here is that Jin is about as powerful and privileged as you can be - first-tier Chinese aristocracy, basically, super-connected - and that still didn't prevent her from being harassed by Summers

Transnational Pressure Campaign Forces Closure of IndieChina Film Festival in New York City "I did think it might be better here … It turns out I was wrong."

Why threats to academic freedom are growing – and how universities can respond to intimidation - Kirsten Roberts Lyer on the link between academic freedom violations, human rights, and transnational repression (TNR) theconversation.com/why-threats-...

Imagine a country where hundreds of thousands of legal permanent residents find stripped of their status and forced to reapply for their right to remain. Many no longer meet the criteria, plunged into illegality, subject to deportation. @emile-chabal.bsky.social foreignpolicy.com/2025/11/05/b...

In case you missed it, Kerry Brown wrote a book that plagiarized Shelley Rigger’s classic book title. I, along with others who were asked to review Kerry’s manuscript, said verbatim to change the title. In the most tacky and unprofessional fashion, he stole her title anyway.

Now reversed, but only after eight months of disruption, cancellation of some work, and threats of legal action. Appalling. My former colleague @arthurkaufman.bsky.social interviewed @lauratmurphy.bsky.social about her work in 2022:

This is a concerning situation with a lot to unpack. I note it's being dealt with primarily in terms of academic freedom, but what stood out for me is the additional issue of safety both for researchers AND wider communities/participants. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

"Sources at Parliament, who wouldn’t speak on the record for fear of retribution, said the letter ...revealed how China’s government monitors New Zealanders ...they believe China is sending people to spy on events organised by Kiwi supporters of Taiwan."

China intimidated UK university to ditch human rights research, documents show www.bbc.com/news/article...

Surreal seeing something this candid.

If you're not aware of the details of what the Tory deportation plans would actually mean, @stephenkb.bsky.social lays it out clearly here.

Ashley Tellis. This will come as a shock to many in this area.

Next time an institution tells you how seriously it takes research misconduct, ask them if it's *this* seriously. www.bmj.com/content/297/...

The second Global Tipping Points Report has been launched today. Please see our press release here: www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article... Find the full report here: global-tipping-points.org @gsiexeter.bsky.social #TippingPoints #COP30

What’s the global narrative on China? Is its rise seen as positive? Is China-skepticism in the U.S. & Europe part of a broader global backlash? In a new paper, @zhubochubo.bsky.social analyzes 25 years of survey data from 159 countries to track global opinion trends. Key findings below🧵⬇️

Put this by @franceshisgen.bsky.social on my list awhile back, and being the scatterbrain I am it took a bit to get around to it. It's worth a few minutes of your time, if for nothing else than to acknowledge the bravery it takes to stand up and say this right now. nuvoices.com/2025/07/01/i...

Delighted that Joseph Torigian (@josephtorigian.bsky.social) will be joining us in Glasgow for our Scottish Centre for China Research seminar series. Join us! Wed 8 Oct 4pm UK time To join online register via link at: www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/...

Ok as of now, if you really rely on LLMs for close reading of government regulations, the interpretation will be mediocre to poor. I think Gemini is pretty good for Chinese material but even it misses many things which would be obvious to a trained human analyst

We are saddened to hear of the passing of Jerome A. Cohen, the eminent scholar of Chinese law. Our condolences to his family and all those who loved him. He authored many books, most recently the memoir, "Eastward, Westward: A Life in Law." (1/2)

Abolishing ILR is a deranged level of racism and xenophobia even by the standards of these deranged, xenophobic racists.

Academia.edu is changing its Terms and Conditions, and they're so outrageous (AI training; signing over ownership to them etc) I closed my account today. A thread with some practical tips if you want to delete your account (5 steps):

Pacific island leaders gathering in the Solomon Islands this week have adopted a novel strategy to prevent US-China tensions from overshadowing the region’s most important annual summit: inviting neither.

On parade day, amid talk of a new world order, Jordyn Haime looks at the notion of China as a "civilizational state" (文明型国家). Arising years before "civilization" joined the core of CCP thought, it connects today to Xi's “Global Civilization Initiative.” chinamediaproject.org/the_ccp_dict...

We seem to be living in an age of norm sabotage so this looks particularly relevant

I’ll be presenting tomorrow at 14.00 on Xi Jinping’s Global Security Initiative and then at 16.00 I’m on a Global IR panel talking about my forthcoming OUP book, Securing China: Worlding Security Studies #EISAPEC2025 come join!

This reminds me of the classic blog entry about falsehoods that programmers believe about names: www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/f... And this excellent follow-up with examples: shinesolutions.com/2018/01/08/f...

“You don’t fight Reform UK by making its strongest issue the national priority. Nor, as countless political-science research projects have illustrated, do you effectively combat the radical right by accommodating them.” 👏👏👏Also: there’s no such thing as ‘politically acceptable racism’. Depressing.

“This is Chinese culture” reminds me of a white American friend in Beijing who cheated at mahjong and insisted she was playing by “Inner Mongolian rules” if anyone called her out on it

In the latest in our series on belief, we’re examining the emergence of incels in the world’s largest manosphere. China’s growing incel community is fuelled by state-approved nationalism and simple demographics—by one estimate, 30 million Chinese men won’t find a life partner. (1/3)

wrote an explainer of how the sausage gets made when it comes to censorship in China, partially to serve as a useful comparative study for America foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/19/c...

China's chatbots are silent about a protest in Sichuan last week, telling us not to spread "unverified information." These AI models are now a crucial part of the Party's censorship system for sudden-breaking stories and emergencies (突发事件).

As always, Ted Chiang is great in this interview. cdh.princeton.edu/blog/2025/08...

Weird Al becomes a martyr of the revolution and by the 2050s we're all getting teary-eyed when a mournful rendition of "Eat It" comes on the radio.

Since 2015, a new concept has emerged in the PRC propaganda sphere: "peripheral communication" (周边传播). For @nbr.org, @angrant.bsky.social examines how this new propaganda theory purports to help China better penetrate the information space of its neighbors. strategicspace.nbr.org/expanding-ch...

the destruction of expertise has direct, immediate geopolitical consequences. www.smh.com.au/world/europe...

New paper! Govand Khalid Azeez & I ask: - What's a Marxist critique of ecomodernism? - How should Marxists think about technological innovation & climate crisis? - Why haven't they thought about this more? Our proposition: seizing the means of innovation. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

So urban workers will be sent down to the countryside, then? If only history could be our guide…

Politics can be complex, but every so often it’s pretty easy to tell which side of history you’re on. For example, if you require the police to arrest elderly ladies for peacefully protesting against genocide, that’ll probably be the wrong side.

The LL is for Labor Loves Cool J

This is why I am sceptical when assessments of soft power assume that a country scoring high on democracy is automatically a positive source of attraction. What people find politically attractive can change over time!

Even as a white person moving from NZ to Aus to the UK I have gone from Pakeha/European to Anglo-Celtic to White-other