China's domestic debates, with Kristin Shi-Kupfer and Katja Drinhausen

Over the past decade, China’s party and state organs have increasingly censored media, academia and public debates and tightened digital platform regulations. However, there is still a diverse spectrum of opinion in China. A new project by MERICS and the China Institute at Trier University sheds light on Chinese domestic debates. China Spektrum is funded by the Friedrich Nauman Foundation for Freedom.

In this MERICS China Podcast, the project’s lead researchers Katja Drinhausen, Head of Program Public Policy and Society at MERICS, and Kristin Shi-Kupfer, Professor for Modern China Studies at Trier University introduce the project. In an interview with Claudia Wessling, Director Communications and Publications at MERICS, they present insights from the project's first analyses, touching upon debates on the war in Ukraine, controversies surrounding the Shanghai lockdown, women's rights and government action against IT companies.

• Project website
• China Spektrum Report: "Debates beyond the party line“