China

China

China’s rise continues to present tremendous strategic challenges and opportunities for the United States and its allies and partners. Today, Beijing aims to connect the majority of the world’s population under the Belt and Road Initiative, dominate high-tech industry, and forge a world-class military. Despite the sustained, structural momentum behind China’s growth, increasing economic uncertainty, paired with long-term demographic challenges and tightening domestic political control, have further complicated the trajectory of Chinese power and influence in the decades ahead.

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The Global China Hub tracks Beijing’s actions and their global impacts, assessing China’s rise from multiple angles and identifying emerging China policy challenges. The Hub leverages its network of China experts around the world to generate actionable recommendations for policymakers in Washington and beyond.

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Our pillars of work

This initiative capitalizes on the breadth of the Atlantic Council’s geographic reach and expertise on China across everything from security, to energy, to technology, to the economy, to information integrity in order to provide US and allied decision-makers with strategic solutions to the vexing questions posed by China’s rise.

What happens in China no longer stays in China. China’s approach to everything, from economic reform to mounting political repression, affects its trajectory as a great power and directly impacts US and allied interests and values. China Inside Out provides cutting-edge insights into the domestic drivers of China’s external behavior to shape effective allied responses.

Emerging technologies will dominate the competition for industries of the future. At risk are not only their associated economic benefits, but the future of democracy and individual rights. Promoting policy and technological advances that bolster democratic governance and individual rights will help the US and its allies outflank rather than react to China’s techno-authoritarian efforts.

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Content

In the News

Aug 21, 2026

Eftimiades interviewed on Restricted Handling on Chinese political influence campaigns

By Atlantic Council

On July 5, Forward Defense Nonresident Senior Fellow Nicholas Eftimiades was interviewed on the Restricted Handling podcast to discuss Chinese political influence campaigns and penetration of American critical infrastructure. He highlights the need for an American response strategy based on Beijing’s long-term intelligence strategy.

China Critical Infrastructure Policy

In the News

Aug 21, 2026

Eftimiades testified at the National Intelligence Enterprise Subcommittee of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

By Atlantic Council

On June 25, Forward Defense Nonresident Senior Fellow Nicholas Eftimiades testified in front of the National Intelligence Enterprise Subcommittee of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence as part of a roundtable on gray zone threats. He emphasized the scale of China’s penetration of American critical infrastructure and urged policymakers to develop a response strategy.

China Critical Infrastructure Policy

In the News

Aug 21, 2026

Eftimiades interviewed on Deterrence Down Under on countering Chinese covert influence operations

By Atlantic Council

On February 26, Forward Defense Nonresident Senior Fellow Nicholas Eftimiades was interviewed on Deterrence Down Under for a conversation about the organizational structure of the Chinese intelligence apparatus. He underscored the importance of a credible deterrence framework to respond to Chinese covert influence operations, particularly given increasing threats of economic and political interference.

China Indo-Pacific

In the News

Aug 21, 2026

Eftimiades interviewed on Restricted Handling on intelligence strategy in China

By Atlantic Council

On December 31, Forward Defense Nonresident Senior Fellow Nicholas Eftimiades was interviewed on the Restricted Handling podcast to discuss the history of China’s intelligence capabilities and how they have been met by American strategy. The conversation covers economic espionage, American vulnerabilities to foreign influence, and ways intelligence strategies can counter Chinese influence.

China Intelligence

In the News

Aug 21, 2026

Eftimiades interviewed on China Insider Podcast on Chinese intelligence operations

By Atlantic Council

On July 10, Forward Defense Nonresident Senior Fellow Nicholas Eftimiades was interviewed on the China Insider Podcast to discuss trends in Chinese Communist Party espionage. He highlighted an uptick in economic espionage and concerns around forms of intelligence collection efforts, and provided history around how China’s intelligence apparatus is constructed.

China Intelligence

In the News

Aug 21, 2026

Eftimiades interviewed on NTD Newsroom on Chinese shipment masking

By Atlantic Council

On August 15, Forward Defense Nonresident Senior Fellow Nicholas Eftimiades appeared on NTD Newsroom to discuss industrial-scale Chinese shipment masking. He highlighted a variety of methods used to mask shipments and argued that transshipment networks have grown after tariff increases. He also discussed China’s espionage tactics.

China Intelligence

Dispatches

Jul 27, 2026

What the latest US sanctions bill means for Russia—and for China, India, and Iran

By Maia Nikoladze

If it passes, the bill would affect several major countries that currently trade with Russia, and those effects should be factored into US planning.

China Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion

GeoTech Cues

Jul 27, 2026

The best AI you can own is Chinese. The West needs to close that gap quickly.

By Ivan Ferrari

The controls the West built around the data center do not reach the laptop, and the answer is to compete on open models.

Artificial Intelligence China

Econographics

Jul 27, 2026

Why banning open-source AI is a bad idea

By JP Schnapper-Casteras

The best response to capable Chinese open models is not to make US developers less capable. It is to build better, safer, more competitive US models—open and closed.

Artificial Intelligence China

Dispatches

Jul 21, 2026

Washington is pushing Brazil toward China

The current trajectory raises the odds that over time more Brazilian firms will prefer partnering with Chinese suppliers and financiers.

Americas Brazil
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Experts

Fellow

Ahmed Aboudouh

Former Nonresident Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Arabic China

Fellow

Michael Allen

Nonresident Senior Fellow

GeoStrategy Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

China Cybersecurity

Fellow

Peter Arvo

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Freedom and Prosperity Center

China Human Rights

Staff

Rayhan Asat

Senior Legal & Policy Advisor, China Lead

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Central Asia China

Fellow

Kelsang (Kaydor) Aukatsang

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Global China Hub

China Civil Society
Jessica Batke

Fellow

Jessica Batke

Nonresident Fellow

Digital Forensic Research Lab

China Civil Society
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