Asia Insight

From the National Bureau of Asian Research, an Asia Insight miniseries exploring the geostrategic significance of China’s borderlands, led by Nadège Rolland, Distinguished Fellow for China Studies at NBR.

Episode One: From Empire to Nation

When you look at the People’s Republic of China’s map today, you look roughly at the map of the Qing empire - with the notable exceptions of outer Mongolia, Taiwan, and portions of Siberia. Two hundred years ago, the Qing’s borderlands included the Manchu, Tibetan, Hmong, Mongol and Hui (Turkic-speaking Muslim populations of the western regions). Today, twenty neighbors share a land or a maritime border with China. 

In this first episode, with the help of Professor Nicola Di Cosmo (Institute of Advanced Study) and Maria Adele Carrai (NYU Shanghai), we travel back in time to better understand how the imperial borderlands have been integrated within China’s national territory at the turn of the 20th century.

Materials cited in the recording

• Joseph W. Esherick, How the Qing Became China, in. Esherick et. al. (Eds) Empire to Nation: Historical Perspectives on the Making of the Modern World (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006)
• Maria Adele Carrai, Sovereignty in China: A Genealogy of a Concept since 1840 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019)

This episode of Asia Insight was recorded directly after NBR’s annual Energy Security Workshop in Washington, D.C. on July 22, 2025, and features NBR Advisor and Energy Security Program Research Director Mikkal Herberg in conversation with Dr. Philip Andrews-Speed, Mr. Kurt Glaubitz, and Dr. Ken Koyama.

The four discuss takeaways from the workshop’s presentations on Asia’s LNG (liquified natural gas) landscape and its implications for regional energy and economic security, while also delving deeper into areas they plan to explore further ahead of NBR’s annual Energy Security Report release in late-2025.

Philip Andrews-Speed is a Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.

Kurt Glaubitz is the Co-Founder of the Asia Natural Gas and Energy Association and Former Corporate Affairs General Manager for the Chevron Corporation, Asia Pacific Exploration and Production.

Mikkal Herberg is a member of NBR’s Board of Advisors and the Research Director of NBR’s Energy Security Program.

Ken Koyama is Senior Managing Director and Chief Economist in charge of the Research Strategy Unit at The Institute of Energy Economics, Japan.

The project Documenting China's Borderlands is led by Nadège Rolland, Distinguished Fellow for China Studies at NBR. The project investigates how China invests in, engages with, and deepens its presence within its land and maritime border neighbors in an attempt to reshape its immediate periphery.

In this introductory episode hosted by NBR President Michael Wills, Rolland discusses what sparked this research effort, how the project defines China's borderlands, which areas of Chinese statecraft will be examined, and what our listeners can ultimately expect from this forthcoming Asia Insight miniseries.

The virtual dashboard mentioned in the conversation will be publicly available starting July 28, 2025.

Documenting China's Borderlands, led by NBR Distinguished Fellow, China Studies Nadège Rolland, investigates how China invests in, engages with, and deepens its presence within its land and maritime border neighbors in an attempt to reshape its immediate periphery.

This research effort is the second phase of NBR's Mapping China’s Strategic Space project (https://strategicspace.nbr.org/) which defined strategic space as a realm vital to the pursuit of China’s national economic and security objectives and to the enduring survival of the Chinese state.

The audio documentaries presented in this forthcoming Asia Insight miniseries are a part of a larger set of products from this research effort, which will include written publications, regional conferences, and a virtual dashboard visualizing key data on China's engagement with its borderland neighbors. The dashboard will be publicly available starting July 28, 2025.

In this episode of Asia Insight, NBR President Michael Wills is joined by Rear Admiral Mike Studeman (U.S. Navy, ret.) and Ms. Cathy Johnston as they assess the People's Liberation Army ahead of the Chinese Communist Party's goal to build a world-class military by 2049.

Cathy Johnston spent 33 years in the Intel Community mostly focused on Asia. Her last assignment was as the Deputy Director of Intelligence at the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

Mike Studeman is the former Commander of the Office of Naval Intelligence and a retired Rear Admiral. He is a member of NBR’s Board of Advisors.

Michael Wills is President of NBR.

In this episode of Asia Insight, NBR President Michael Wills sits down with Ms. Laura Rosenberger and Mr. Roy Kamphausen to discuss strategic outlooks for Taiwan. This discussion follows an NBR delegation trip to Taiwan led by retired U.S. Navy Admiral John Aquilino, the 26th Commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command, from April 28–May 2, 2025.

On this special episode of Asia Insight, NBR Distinguished Fellow for China Studies Nadège Rolland and NBR Senior Fellow for Asian Security Bates Gill discuss the May 12, 2025 white paper released by China’s State Council Information Office on China’s national security in the new era.

In this episode of Asia Insight, Doug Strub hosts a conversation with Michael Beeman and Daisuke Kawai on how the United States and Japan are bolstering their technological and economic security while navigating digital disruptions and supply chain vulnerabilities.

Michael Beeman served as Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Japan, Korea and APEC at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative from 2017–2023.

Daisuke Kawai is Director of the Economic Security and Emerging Technology Program and Project Assistant Professor at the University of Tokyo’s Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology. He is also a Nonresident Fellow at NBR.

Doug Strub is Senior Director of Research and Programs at NBR.

In this episode of Asia Insight, NBR President Michael Wills moderates a conversation with Robert Holleyman and Tami Overby on some of the insights and themes that arose during NBR's 2025 Pacific Technology Policy Conference. The conference took place in Seattle on March 13, 2025.

Ambassador Robert Holleyman served as Deputy United States Trade Representative from 2014-2017, responsible for U.S. trade and investment relations in Asia, including APEC, China, and India. He is a member of the Board of Advisors at NBR.

Tami Overby is a Senior Advisor in the East Asia & Pacific practice of Dentons Global Advisors-Albright Stonebridge Group. She is also a member of the Board of Advisors at NBR.

Michael Wills is President of NBR.

In this episode of Asia Insight, NBR Senior Director of Research and Programs, Mr. Doug Strub engages in conversation with Dr. Jungmi Cha, Mr. Charlie Vest, Dr. Michelle Rozo, and Ms. Hodan Omaar as they examine strategies and policies of the United States and the Republic of Korea in the pivotal areas of battery technology, biotechnology, and quantum technology.

This Asia Insight episode complements the NBR special report "U.S.-ROK Tech Cooperation: Batteries, Biotech, and Quantum Technologies" (March 2025) and was produced by the National Bureau of Asian Research with support from the Korea Foundation.