Sinica
Sinica Podcast
China's Military-Civil Fusion program: CNAS fellow Elsa Kania on the myths and realities
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China's Military-Civil Fusion program: CNAS fellow Elsa Kania on the myths and realities

This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with Elsa Kania, a Ph.D. candidate in Harvard University's Department of Government and adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security who researches China's military strategy, defense innovation, and emerging technologies. Elsa joins the show to discuss China’s push for Military-Civil Fusion, debunking some of the myths about the program that U.S. pundits and policymakers have imbibed.

03:54 – Did the concept of Military-Civil Fusion start with the leadership of Xi Jinping?

06:48 What were the barriers to MCF’s successful implementation before Xi’s leadership?

09:50 – The comparison between attempts and successes of MCF in China and the U.S.

15:39 – Areas of focus of China’s MCF. Which areas offer the most significant possibility for success?

20:17 – A look at the perceived legal obligation of Chinese companies to participate in MCF

24:59 – The collaboration between Chinese and American researchers in light of MCF

31:00 – The awareness of Chinese policy-makers of the sensitivities associated with MCF by other nations

34:56 – Does MCF have the same place of prominence in the Biden administration 

that it did in the Trump’ administration?

37:20 – How should we approach the policy of MCF?

42:27 – Is the U.S. trying to “out-China” China?

A complete transcript of this podcast is available at TheChinaProject.com.

Recommendations:

Elsa: Translation State by Ann Leckie

Kaiser: A recipe for making homemade nuomi cha / genmai cha — green tea with roasted glutinous rice

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Sinica
Sinica Podcast
A weekly discussion of current affairs in China that looks at books, ideas, new research, intellectual currents, and cultural trends that help us better understand what’s happening in China’s politics, foreign relations, economics, and society. Join each week for in-depth conversations that shed more light and bring less heat to the way we think and talk about China.