The Diplomat | Author
Zhuoran Li
Zhuoran Li is a Ph.D. candidate in China studies and a research assistant at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University. His work has been featured in The Diplomat and the National Interest, and he has appeared on Vox News.
Zhuoran Li is a Ph.D. candidate in China studies and a research assistant at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University. He received his BA at the University of Virginia and MA at SAIS. His research interests include Chinese politics, Japanese politics, and East Asian security and diplomacy. His works have been featured in The Diplomat, SAIS China Studies Review, and the National Interest, and he has appeared on Vox News.
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June 02, 2022
What Does ASEAN Centrality Mean to China?
By Zhuoran Li
Beijing pays frequent lip service to the idea, but it also poses significant challenges to China’s Southeast Asian ambitions.
May 28, 2022
Despite High Ambition, China’s Media Influence Operation Is Far From Successful
By Zhuoran Li and Gavin Xu
A case study of CGTN reveals how bureaucracy and a flawed incentive structure is holding the state media outlet back from true influence power.
May 10, 2022
Will China Learn From Its Biggest COVID-19 Mistake?
By Zhuoran Li
Amid the Shanghai lockdown, government efforts to silence and prosecute critics have received more public attention – and sparked increasing outrage.
March 22, 2022
What Keeps China’s Zero-COVID Policy Going
By Zhuoran Li
The CCP's approach to pandemic management incentivizes officials to double down on extreme measures without regard for the costs.
March 17, 2022
What Doomed China’s Much-Anticipated Property Market Reform Plan?
By Zhuoran Li
Once again, China’s government failed to approve a property tax law, seen as a key part of reforming the real estate sector.
February 05, 2022
The Rise and Fall of Democracy With Chinese Characteristics
By Zhuoran Li
Despite Beijing’s recent attempts to sell its own version of democracy, China’s “consultative democracy” has been on a downslide since Xi came to power.
December 28, 2021
What is the Future of China’s Vocational School Drive?
By Zhuoran Li
China’s technical schools cannot fulfill the government’s target of training a skilled workforce without much-needed reform.
December 17, 2021
What’s Behind China’s Crackdown on Celebrities?
By Zhuoran Li
There can only be one superstar in China, and that's the Communist Party.
November 19, 2021
The Sixth Plenum and the Rise of Traditional Chinese Culture in Socialist Ideology
By Zhuoran Li
The CCP is turning to traditional culture to bolster its rule and guard against the spread of Western values.
October 28, 2021
North Korea’s Food Shortage Is a Lesson for US Policymakers
By Zhuoran Li
If North Korea’s extreme self-inflicted COVID isolation isn’t enough to break the Kim regime, external sanctions have no chance.
September 14, 2021
The Logic and Limitation of China’s Zero-COVID Policy
By Zhuoran Li
China’s strategy of mass mobilization can be astonishingly effective – but only for a short period of time.
September 06, 2021
How Successful Was China’s Poverty Alleviation Drive?
By Zhuoran Li
China eliminated extreme poverty, a monumental achievement. But the root causes of poverty persist.