Under Xi Jinping, Chinese politics has become more authoritarian and centralized around one person. Xi Jinping has abolished many of the policies introduced by Deng Xiaoping, including term-limits and age criteria for holding leading positions. He has also abolished Deng’s policy of the separation of Party and government resulting in the CCP taking over state functions and solidifying its presence in all companies and organizations. Externally Xi Jinping has pursued a more aggressive foreign policy in an attempt to push back US influence in the East Asian region as well as globally.

Japan’s foremost China-scholar, Professor Akio Takahara will deliver a lecture discussing these issues. The lecture will be followed by comments from Professor Kjeld Erik Brødsgaard, CBS.

Professor Takahara is former Professor at the Graduate School of Law and Politics and former Dean of the Graduate School of Public Policy at The University of Tokyo. He is also former Director of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Ogata Sadako Institute for Peace and Development. He is currently a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Tokyo Woman’s Christian University. His many publications include Japan-China Relations in the Modern Era.

The lecture is organized by the EU China Horizon project “Dealing with a Resurgent China”* in cooperation with the Danish Foreign Policy Society.