For the third Gen A Roundtable of the 2025 Gen A – Young Leadership Program, we are excited to welcome John Lee, our 2025 TOY Senior Fellow, who will share his insights on the global semiconductor industry, with a particular focus on China's role. Join us for a discussion on the geopolitical implications of semiconductor supply chains, technological competition, and their broader impact on global trade and security. 

John Lee is the 2025 TOY Senior Fellow at Asia Society Switzerland and a Fellow at Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis. He is the Director of East West Futures, a consultancy specializing in China's high-tech industries, political economy, military capabilities, and international diplomacy. He holds two Master's degrees in International Law from the Australian National University and War Studies from King's College London.  

John was a Senior Analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin and previously served in the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australian Department of Defence. Currently, he is a researcher at the Leiden Asia Centre and a Visiting Fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, National University of Singapore. He co-leads the EU-China Semiconductor Observatory project funded by the European Union, and is a member of the European research consortium Digital Power China.  

His research focuses on China's influence on the semiconductor and automotive industries, telecommunications and the internet of things, and governance of cyberspace and the internet. He also works on defence sector matters, including military applications of artificial intelligence. His research has been published by leading academic and think tank publishers, and he has been featured and quoted in major international media outlets, including The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, South China Morning Post and Le Monde Diplomatique.  

A familiar face at Asia Society Switzerland, he has contributed to events such as the Oxford Debate LIVE: Will Asia’s Rise Lead to a New World Order? and Executive Roundtable on The Global Tech Tug-of-War in April 2024. In 2022, he spoke at our flagship STATE OF ASIA conference, discussing the global race for technological supremacy and its impact on Europe and Switzerland.