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.
The annual Munich Security Conference was themed “Westlessness”, defining “a widespread feeling of uneasiness and restlessness in the face of increasing uncertainty about the enduring purpose…
Bipartisan US pressure over China is rubbing Europeans up the wrong way. But the Americans are right that hard choices await
Last week the European Commission published its EU Toolbox on 5G Cyber Security, with the aim of aiding the member states in evaluating the risks associated…
The EU’s new 5G toolbox is an important component in strengthening its technological sovereignty – and its array of defence mechanisms vis-à-vis China.
A decision looms for Britain on 5G and Huawei. London’s choice will signal whether it wishes to stay close to Europe when dealing with Beijing – or to go its own way
Janka Oertel on the rivalry between China and the US
Janka Oertel on Europe’s relations with China during Trump’s presidency
You have the worst of all worlds if you wait, but everyone is afraid to make the wrong move
Janka Oertel on the US tariffs and the impact they will have on Europe and the global markets
They used to be everything at once. Now they are no longer our friend and that is the fundamental change of recent years
Janka Oertel on who China is for Europe
The EU needs to know where China’s weaknesses and strengths are, and hit them there so that it hurts
Janka Oertel on EU-China relations
