Jude Blanchette is one of the country's most respected China scholars, and currently holds the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington. His work has focused on China’s political environment, the workings of the Communist Party and its impact on foreign companies and investors. His 2019 book, China’s New Red Guards, examined the revival of support for Maoism and nationalism in contemporary China. Blanchette hosts a regular podcast, Pekingology, in which he discusses Chinese politics with a variety of scholars. In this lightly edited interview, he discussed the leadership of Xi Jinping, as well as the realities of researching Chinese politics in the current climate.
Jude Blanchette.Illustration by Lauren Crow
Q: How did you come to work on China? Is there a particular anecdote which encapsulates your intellectual engagement with China?
A: I spent a year studying abroad in China in 2001 right before the WTO [Wo
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