China Series: China’s Military System

Join us for our next China Series discussion, this time with Dr. Bates Gill, Executive Director of Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, Alice Ekman, Senior Analyst in charge of the Asia portfolio at the European Union Institute for Security Studies, Philippe Le Corre, Senior Fellow on Foreign Policy, ASPI’s Center for China Analysis, Visiting Professor at ESSEC Business School and Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, and Arnaud Favry, Director of Public & Governmental Affairs and Patient value strategy at bioMérieux, to deep dive into China’s military system, its evolution, perspectives, challenges, and future.  

Alice Ekman 

Alice Ekman is the Senior Analyst in charge of the Asia portfolio at the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS). She covers foreign policy and security developments in the Asian region – including in China, the Korean Peninsula, Japan, India and ASEAN. At the EUISS, Alice also manages regular ‘Track 1,5’ dialogues with the EU’s partners in Asia.

Alice was formerly Head of China Research at the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri) in Paris. She has also been Visiting Scholar at Tsinghua University (Beijing), at National Taiwan Normal University (Taipei) and at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies (Seoul). She holds a Master in International Relations, Economics, and Anthropology (China focus) from the London School of Economics and a PhD in International Relations from Sciences Po and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. Among her publications: “Rouge vif – l’idéal communistechinois” (Ed. de l’Observatoire, Geopolitical book of the year 2020), “Dernier vol pour Pékin” (Ed. de l’Observatoire, 2022), “China’s Global Security Initiative – when the process matters more than the content” (EUISS Brief, March 2023).

Arnaud Favry 

Arnaud Favry started his career as a political advisor in the cabinet of the French Minister of Health & Sports (2008-2010), then of the Minister of Social Affairs (2010-2011).In 2011, he joined Institut Mérieux, in charge of the family holding’s institutional and public relations in China, based in Beijing. In 2017, he joined bioMérieux as Asia Pacific Strategic Initiatives Manager based in Singapore. In 2019, he took over the commercial development of the company in Indonesia.

Since September 2020, Arnaud is based in Lyon , in charge of the Patient Value Strategy as well as of the Public & Governmental Affairs of the company. Since 2011, he helps with the development of Mérieux Equity Partners in Asia, the investment fund of Institut Mérieux. Arnaud is also the co-founder of the Marco Polo Institute, a think tank active in Beijing & Shanghai from 2012 to 2016, aiming at identifying innovative public policies and corporate practices in China. Arnaud graduated from Harvard Business School (MBA, 2016) and Sciences Po Paris(Bachelor, 2008; Master in Public Affairs, 2010). He also holds a bachelor degree in Chinese language and civilization from the National Institute of Oriental Studies in Paris (INALCO).

Dr. Bates Gill 

Dr. Bates Gill is Executive Director of the Center for China Analysis at the Asia Society Policy Institute and a Senior Associate Fellow with the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London. He has a 30-year international career as an institution leader, policy advisor, consultant and educator. An academically-trained and internationally-respected specialist on China and Indo-Pacific affairs, he has led a global top-ten think tank (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI), held senior research and academic positions at world-leading public policy research institutions and universities in the United States, Europe, and Asia, and consulted for governments, businesses, and philanthropies.  Through this work, he has been an author and editor of eight books and more than 200 other publications and regularly appears in the international media. His most recent book, Daring to Struggle: China's Global Ambitions under Xi Jinping, was published in 2022 by Oxford University Press.  He has lived three years in China and Taiwan, 12 years in Europe (France, Sweden, Switzerland), and 10 years in Australia.  Dr. Gill received his Ph.D. in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia.  

Philippe Le Corre

Philippe Le Corre is Senior Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis and a Senior Advisor on Geopolitics to Asia Society France. He is also a Visiting Professor at ESSEC Business School and a Lecturer at the French Military Academy of Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan, also affiliated with the French Institute for East Asia (IFRAE-Inalco). Since 2017, he has been a Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, focusing on China-Europe relations, Chinese overseas investment and transatlantic relations. He is a former Fellow with The Brookings Institution and The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Philippe previously served as Special Advisor to the French Defense Minister and has also worked as a journalist in East Asia for many years. He is the author of several books including China’s Offensive in Europe (Brookings Press, 2016), Quand la Chine va au marché and Après Hong Kong. He is a contributor to The China Questions 2 (Harvard University Press, 2022) and to various other edited volumes.