Infrastructures of Data
China’s techno-political progress is particularly visible in the digital sector, where the success of Chinese platform companies raises attention and concerns alike. The international expansion of Huawei, ByteDance, Tencent, Alibaba, SenseTime and others prompts economic, geopolitical and ethical questions, most of which are discussed with reference to the global systemic competition. Conceptually, however, a further step is needed in order to characterize the dual nature of their global effects more systematically. How to understand the relationship between the contradictory dynamics of integration and fragmentation without winding up at digital orientalism? This project focuses on the influence of Chinese data infrastructures, such as the “Great Firewall” and “Digital Silk Road” on the changing Internet governance as a whole as well as on individual digital applications. How are states, societies and companies affected by flourishing practices of “data localization”, the development of new technological standards, and intensifying digital geopolitics? To what extent does the diffusion of Chinese governance discourses (e.g. “digital sovereignty”) not only shape the fragmented nature of data streams and product innovations, but also impact the connectivity created by technological globalization across both authoritarian and democratic political systems? What are the consequences and policy options from a European perspective? And could the strength of Chinese platform companies lead to China’s “digital hegemony”?
Media
- “Angriff auf den US-Dollar - Leitwährung unter Druck“, Maximilian Mayer at SWR 2 Wissen (27 April, 2022)
- "Vulnerabilities Disclosure mit chinesischer Prägung: Nutzen und Gefahren", Nicolas Huppenbauer and Julian-Ferdinand Vögele, Inside IT (01 Februar, 2022)
- Deutsche Welle: China drangsaliert Tech-Konzerne, Podcast, (06 July, 2021)
- Deutsche Welle: Warum China gegen seine Tech-Elite vorgeht (06 July, 2021)
Publications
Special Issue: China’s Cyberpower and its Impact
Maximilian Mayer & Josef Gregory Mahoney (Ed.)
Journal of Chinese Political Science, Vol. 28, 1/2023
Assessing the Financial and Geoeconomic Implications of China’s Digital Currency
Maximilian Mayer & Amir Elalouf
In: Tim Rühlig (ed.). Europe's Strategic Technology Autonomy from China. Assessing Foundational and Emerging Technologies. DGAP, 2023.
Infrastructuring Cyberspace: Exploring China’s Imaginary and Practices of Selective Connectivity
Nicolas Huppenbauer, Ying Huang & Maximilian Mayer
International Quarterly for Asian Studies, Vol. 53, 3/2022
Cyberspace Fragmentation from the Perspective of Technology Trends
Ying Huang
The Journal of International Studies, 4/2022 [Chinese only]
Power in the Age of Datafication: Exploring China's Global Data Power
Ying Huang & Maximilian Mayer
Journal of Chinese Political Science, 2022
Europe has harldy recognized the consequences of its digital dependence
Yen-Chi Lu & Maximilian Mayer
Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V., 2022
Digital currencies, monetary sovereignty, and U.S.–China power competition
Ying Huang & Maximilian Mayer
Policy & Internet, 2022
Europe’s Digital Autonomy and Potentials of a U.S.-German Alignment toward China
Maximilian Mayer
American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS), 16. Dezember 2021
China’s Authoritarian Internet and Digital Orientalism
Maximilian Mayer
In: Feldner D. (eds.) Redesigning Organizations. 2020. Springer, Cham.
Donald Trump’s campaign against Huawei is a symptom of digital orientalism, ignoring similarities in Chinese and Western surveillance
Josef Gregory Mahoney & Maximilian Mayer
South China Morning Post, 18. Januar 2020
Geopolitics and the Global Race for 5G
Xuewu Gu, Christiane Heidbrink, Ying Huang, Philip Nock, Hendrik W. Ohnesorge & Andrej PustovitovskijCenter for Global Studies. CGS Global Focus. 2019
Events
Online conference
17. December 2017
Fourth AECAIR International Conference on Global Governance of Artificial Intelligence
The fourth AECAIR (Asia-Europe Consortium for AI Research) International Conference on Global Governance of Artificial Intelligence took place both in Shanghai and online on December 17th, 2021.
Online conference
17. – 18. September 2021
Online-Conference on Digital Fragmentations and Digital Sovereignty
Recently, there has been a steady global trend towards “digital sovereignty” and “data localization”. Tensions are therefore rising between the vision of an open, global Internet and state tendencies to invoke sovereignty in cyberspace.
Webinar
07. July 2021
China's Growing Data Power - Implications for Europe
With the rapid rise of Chinese Internet companies such as Tencent, ByteDance, Alibaba, and the resulting increase in technological competition, the collection and use of data is becoming an arena for geoeconomics and geopolitics. The question of which national strategies should be used to respond to this intensification is becoming increasingly important.
Online panel
June 2021
Comparative Analysis of Platform Governance in the US and China
Workshop
8. December 2020
China as Digital Superpower: An American-German Workshop on Digital Infrastructure and Digital Security
This workshop surveys top priorities and concerns in Berlin and Washington regarding digital challenges from China and how they are being translated into policy initiatives to rethink digital infrastructure and strengthen digital security on both sides of the Atlantic. With the insights and expertise of our participants, we addresses how the United States and Germany (as well as the EU) can best manage these challenges while facing a China that increasingly aspires to leadership in global digital innovation and transforming digital governance to suit Beijing’s values and interests.
Online seminar
27. November 2020
Framing the Future of AI – Policy Dilemmas and Solutions
For some time now, China has been preparing to become a leading technology power. China has already made considerable progress in the field of artificial intelligence. In view of this, an exchange with China on design issues in artificial intelligence is essential. The new AECAIR network, which was founded by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung together with German and Asian partners, provides a forum to strengthen exactly this exchange.
Online seminar
22. June – 06. July 2020
Innovation in Health Governance and AI - AECAIR online seminar series on experiences with AI-related technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
AECAIR partners used the COVID 19 situation as an opportunity to discuss, in a three-part online seminar series, what specific actions have been taken in different countries in Europe and Asia to address the pandemic with AI-related applications, and what lessons learned and approaches can be expected for dealing with AI in the future.
