
The end of Germany’s China illusion with Janka Oertel
Mark Leonard welcomes Janka Oertel to discuss her new book “End of the China illusion” and the West’s biggest misconceptions about China
Director, Asia programme
Senior Policy Fellow
Europe-China relations, US-China relations, Security in East Asia, Chinese Foreign and Security Policy, Geopolitical Dimension of Emerging Technologies
German, English, French (conversational), Chinese (fair)
Dr Janka Oertel is director of the Asia programme and a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Oertel previously worked as a senior fellow in the Asia programme at the German Marshall Fund of the United States’ Berlin office, where she focused on transatlantic China policy including on emerging technologies, Chinese foreign policy, and security in east Asia. Prior to joining the GMF, she served as a programme director at Körber Foundation’s Berlin office. She was also a visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP Berlin) and worked at United Nations Headquarters, New York, as a Carlo-Schmid fellow. She has published widely on topics related to EU-China relations, US-China relations, security in the Asia-Pacific region, Chinese foreign policy, 5G and emerging technologies, as well as climate cooperation.
She has testified before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the German Bundestag, and is frequently quoted in leading media outlets such as the Financial Times, the New York Times, The Economist, Süddeutsche Zeitung, El Confidencial, Berlingske, and many more. Her new book “Ende der China-Illusion. Wie wir mit Pekings Machtanspruch umgehen müssen” was published in August 2023 with Piper in Germany.
Oertel holds a PhD from the University of Jena. Her dissertation focused on Chinese policies within the United Nations.
Mark Leonard welcomes Janka Oertel to discuss her new book “End of the China illusion” and the West’s biggest misconceptions about China
The German government has shed most of its illusions about the future political and economic relationship with China. How it navigates the implementation of its new approach will have significant implications for the EU and other member states
Mark Leonard welcomes Duan Jiuzhou to talk about China’s role in the MENA region
Janka Oertel welcome Wang Dong, to talk about the current tensions between Washington and Beijing
Numerous European leaders are beating a path to Beijing’s door. ECFR Asia director Janka Oertel and the German Marshall Fund’s Andrew Small reflect on European wishful thinking, clever tactical manoeuvres, and long-term strategic choices.
Mark Leonard welcomes Janka Oertel and Alicja Bachulska, to discuss China-Russia relations
Janka Oertel and Liu Hongqiao discuss China’s role at COP27 and the outlook of the country’s energy transition
Introducing our new podcast mini-series In:Sight China. Subscribe now!
How do chips decide power in today’s geopolitical competition?
Europeans risk over-dependence on China for the green technologies needed to build the low-carbon economy of the future. They should take steps to reduce their exposure – while recognising they will have to work with Chinese suppliers in some instances.
The EU urgently needs to incorporate the concept and reality of the ‘protected home market advantage’ into its thinking on China
As climate action becomes more material to economic interests, Europe and China will both compete and cooperate with each other, against the backdrop of an overarching systemic rivalry
Europe should upgrade its security activities, and seize the moment to push multilateral institutions up the agenda. But it will be Europe’s connectivity agenda that provides the golden thread running through its foreign policy and its other objectives in the region.
The Trump years galvanised Europeans’ efforts to strengthen their own sovereignty; they now need to agree concrete offers they can make to the new administration
The EU should move quickly to consider and adopt a suite of tools to protect and enhance European sovereignty in the geo-economic sphere
In its remaining months, the German Council presidency could use this momentum to create institutional structures to improve the EU’s capacity to act
The EU cannot continue to rely on its regulatory power but must become a tech superpower in its own right. Referees do not win the game.
The German government has shed most of its illusions about the future political and economic relationship with China. How it navigates the implementation of its new approach will have significant implications for the EU and other member states
Numerous European leaders are beating a path to Beijing’s door. ECFR Asia director Janka Oertel and the German Marshall Fund’s Andrew Small reflect on European wishful thinking, clever tactical manoeuvres, and long-term strategic choices.
In a new world of strongmen and power politics, German policymakers should look beyond existing feminist foreign policy guidelines to develop a new China policy
The SCO is often seen as the anti-NATO, but Putin will struggle to convince the other members – especially the Central Asian states – that his war is more important than Chinese investment
Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan is no deviation from established protocols as China claims. Rather, it is a sign of a fundamental change in lawmakers’ ability to support democracy.
To address the systemic challenge China poses, the EU will also need to address the fallout in the global south of Russia’s war on Ukraine
Asia’s three largest powers all have a stake in the Russia-Ukraine crisis. China hopes to change the global order, Japan aims to resist this effort, and India is eager not to alienate Russia or the West.
Beijing and Moscow are unlikely to rush to each other’s aid during a military escalation, be it in Ukraine or over Taiwan. But the enabling environment of their mutual diplomatic support matters greatly.
ECFR’s Janka Oertel and Andrew Small discuss how the new government in Berlin will adjust Germany’s approach to China
Germany will find it increasingly hard to maintain its current level of prosperity – and security – without charting a new course on China. Fortunately, German voters seem ready for change.
Mark Leonard welcomes Janka Oertel to discuss her new book “End of the China illusion” and the West’s biggest misconceptions about China
Mark Leonard welcomes Duan Jiuzhou to talk about China’s role in the MENA region
Janka Oertel welcome Wang Dong, to talk about the current tensions between Washington and Beijing
Mark Leonard welcomes Janka Oertel and Alicja Bachulska, to discuss China-Russia relations
Janka Oertel and Liu Hongqiao discuss China’s role at COP27 and the outlook of the country’s energy transition
Introducing our new podcast mini-series In:Sight China. Subscribe now!
How do chips decide power in today’s geopolitical competition?
In this week’s episode, Jeremy Shapiro joins an all-star ECFR panel of experts to discuss the SCO summit’s geopolitical implications
German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, is facing criticism for not meeting the expectations he created with his Zeitenwende speech. But how fair is this criticism?
This event is part of the German Forum on Security Policy, organised by the Federal Academy for Security Policy (BAKS).
Rhodium Group are delighted to invite you to the virtual launch event of our new policy paper “Circuit Breakers: Securing the Green Energy Supply Chain”
NBR, Institut Montaigne (IM), and ECFR partner for a joint virtual event to discuss China’s global digital strategy
In collaboration with the Embassy of Japan in Madrid, ECFR has organised a public virtual debate to explore how the EU and the Indo-Pacific can build a strategic alliance and how the EU-Japan relationship can drive this process
This Oxford-style debate is part of ECFR’s Re:shape Global Europe project supported by Stiftung Mercator
How will the new administrations in Germany and Japan impact the EU’s and Japanese Indo-Pacific strategy and China policy?
Dans le cadre de La Fabrique Défense, l’ECFR Paris présentera une table-ronde en personne
Over the course of the day, we will discuss how Europe and Asia can redefine the Indo-Pacific in terms compatible with their mutual interests. The 3 sessions will look specifically at trade, connectivity, and the Green Transition.
Where do China and India converge and diverge on climate governance? How do their geopolitical tensions impact their climate diplomacy?
How can the EU and its member states take on this role and enact change to advance climate ambitions in a practical way?