Oxford Debate LIVE: Will Innovation Made in China Change the World?

ZURICH, April 7, 2025 – In this live Oxford Debate, participants are debating whether innovation made in China will change the world. Arguing for the motion are James Kynge, writer on Chinese technology, the economy and geopolitics; and John Lee, TOY Senior Fellow at Asia Society Switzerland. Arguing against the motion are Antonia Hmaidi, Senior Analyst at the Mercator Institute for China; and Yuka Kobayashi, British Academy Global Innovation Fellow in DGAP's Center for Geopolitics, Geoeconomics, and Technology. Asia Society Switzerland Executive Director Nico Luchsinger moderates the debate.

About Oxford Debates

The Oxford Debates at Asia Society Switzerland are a format to address 'big' questions that have no one answer or solution but are inviting many conflicting views. Four renowned experts in the field form teams of two, one team arguing for the motion, the other against it.

The Oxford-style format is broken down into four sections: opening remarks, rebuttals, a moderated question-and-answer session, and closing remarks. Before and after the debate the audience is polled whether they agree with the motion or not. The voting breakdown is not shared publicly until the end of the debate. The greater percentage change between the first and second votes determines the debate's winning team.

Disclaimer: Positions presented in the debate do not necessarily represent the speakers' views

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all pictures by André Hengst

Motion: Innovation Made in China Will Change the World
Arguing in favor of the motion:

James Kynge is a writer on Chinese technology, the economy and geopolitics. His forthcoming audiobook, Global Tech Wars: China's Race to Dominate, is due to be published by Pushkin in April. He spent 28 years at the Financial Times reporting on China, mostly as Global China Editor. From 1998 to 2008, he was based in Beijing, reporting on China's rise as an economic and geopolitical force. His prize-winning 2009 book, China Shakes the World, was a bestseller translated into 19 languages.

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. 

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Arguing against the motion:

Antonia Hmaidi is a Senior Analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) in Berlin. She works on the geopolitics of technology, China's pursuit of tech self-reliance (especially in areas like semiconductors, operating systems and internet infrastructure), China's cybersecurity and hacking campaigns. Hmaidi also develops modelling and big data analysis tools and leads MERICS' data task force.

She gained experience as a project manager at the Bertelsmann Stiftung, worked at the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ), as a journalist in Asia and at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). Antonia holds a bachelor's degree in East Asian Politics and Economics from Ruhr University Bochum and Renmin University of China, and a master's degree in International Relations from the Graduate Institutes of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva and New Delhi.

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Dr. Yuka Kobayashi is a British Academy Global Innovation Fellow in DGAP's Center for Geopolitics, Geoeconomics, and Technology. She is on leave from SOAS, University of London where she is senior lecturer (associate professor) of China and international politics. Previously, she was a junior research fellow at Oxford University, a visiting scholar at the World Trade Organization, and a visiting research professor at Nankai University.

At DGAP, Kobayashi conducts research on Germany and Europe's response to Chinese investments and links this work to broader questions related to China and world order/disorder. She has advised various governments and international organizations on these issues. She was appointed as specialist advisor to the UK government in 2021 and served as an advisory board member of Stiftung Asienhaus from 2019 to 2021.

Kobayashi studied law with a specialization in public international law at Kyoto University and read for an MPhil and DPhil in international relations at Oxford University. Her research brings together international relations and international law with fieldwork to examine the influence of China's political economy at the regional and global level. She has conducted various research projects on China's global governance and China’s economic activities abroad in Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Island states.

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Will Innovation Made in China Change the World?

Time and again, China’s innovations catch businesses, governments, and analysts in Europe and the U.S. off guard. It's not just AI, EVs and solar. With massive investments in quantum computing, biotech, and nuclear technology, what's next?

About Oxford Debates

Oxford Debates

With Oxford Debates we are addressing ‘big’ questions that have no one answer or solution but are inviting many conflicting views. Four renowned experts in the field form teams of two, one team arguing for the motion, the other against it.