Publications

What Tiananmen Square Can Teach Us About COVID-19

June 2, 2021 Michael Sobolik Newsweek

For most of the world, the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre recalls familiar yet macabre vignettes of hopeful students and the iron tanks that crushed them, along with their cries for freedom. In China, however, there is nothing to recall on June 4th because, as far as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is concerned, nothing happened.

Countering China’s Global Great Game

April 30, 2021 Michael Sobolik The National Interest

Washington’s instinctual response to compete with the Belt and Road Initiative dollar-for-dollar is a losing proposition that plays into China’s long game. But with an offensive framework, American policymakers could turn the tables and transform the BRI into an albatross for the Communist Party.

Indo-Pacific Monitor No. 16

April 21, 2021 Michael Sobolik, Lydia Long

Burmese military leans on Chinese, Western surveillance tech;
Taiwan's alliance politics collide with "vaccine diplomacy";
Bangkok moves ahead with military facilities for Chinese-procured equipment