Zeit

Apr 29, 2023

World power China – between desire and reality: European colloquium with the “echo of the times” Martin Aldrovandi (Radio SRF, left) and Ralph Weber (European Institute, right) discussed on the podium of the Europe Colloquium. Simone Hulliger (Echo der Zeit, Radio SRF, middle) was the moderator. Martin Aldrovandi (Radio SRF, left) and Ralph Weber (European Institute, right) discussed on the podium of the Europe Colloquium. Simone Hulliger (Echo der Zeit, Radio SRF, middle) was the moderator. Martin Aldrovandi (Radio SRF, left) and Ralph Weber (European Institute, right) discussed on the podium of the Europe Colloquium. Simone Hulliger (Echo der Zeit, Radio SRF, middle) was the moderator. Institute Director Madeleine Herren (left) opened the event and introduced the participants of the Europe Colloquium: Martin Aldrovandi (Radio SRF) and Ralph Weber (Europe Institute) discussed the issue. The moderator was Simone Hulliger (Echo der Zeit, Radio SRF). Protests against corona measures, the democracy movement in Hong Kong, criticism of human rights violations in Xinjiang: These are just a few of the current challenges facing China. How the regime will behave in the future was discussed at the European colloquium by Prof. Dr. Ralph Weber (Europainstitut) and Martin Aldrovandi (Radio SRF) as well as moderator Simone Hulliger (Echo der Zeit, Radio SRF). The Europainstitut organized the debate together with the SRF program “Echo der Zeit”. It took place on December 8, 2022 in the auditorium of the University of Basel. The recording of the event is now available as a podcast. The discussion initially focused on the recent protests against the zero-Covid strategy of the state and party leadership. Ralph Weber and Martin Aldrovandi cited this as an indication of people’s dissatisfaction with the regime, which is particularly evident in extreme situations. The regime, in turn, is basically out to stay in power and uses propaganda for this purpose. In this context, Ralph Weber considered a military escalation in the Taiwan question to be unlikely. The panel participants also discussed how the West should behave towards the newly strengthened China. Decoupling is not the right solution here. Rather, one must introduce instances to monitor cooperation partnerships with Chinese actors and to be able to react intelligently. About the participants Martin Aldrovandi is the foreign editor at Radio SRF with a focus on East Asia. From 2016 to 2022 he worked as China correspondent for Radio SRF, before that he lived in Taiwan for several years, where he worked as a freelance journalist. Martin Aldrovandi started learning Chinese over 20 years ago, he studied communication at Chengchi University in Taipei and journalism in Hamburg and Lucerne. Simone Hulliger has been a presenter on “Echo der Zeit” since December 2017. She has been working for Radio SRF since 2003, initially as a moderator, including the morning show and the show “Treffpunkt”. From 2012 she was the interviewer and producer of the discussion program «Forum». She studied history, political science and economics at the University of Bern and graduated in 2004 with a degree. Ralph Weber is Associate Professor for European Global Studies at the Europainstitute of the University of Basel. Among other things, he researches the global influence and power politics of the Chinese party state. His other areas of interest include methodological and conceptual aspects of cross-language and cross-cultural research, comparative philosophy, Chinese political philosophy and Confucianism. About the organizers The event was organized together with the SRF radio show “Echo der Zeit”. “Echo der Zeit” is the oldest political background program on Radio SRF: Since 1945, the program has been providing the most important news, reports, reports, interviews and analyzes of current affairs on a daily basis. The Europainstitut, founded in 1993, is an interdisciplinary research institute of the University of Basel and examines the development, history, present and future of Europe and Switzerland in a global context. Further information