China Blocks International Democracy Promotion Only When It Perceives a Challenge to Regime Survival at Home

In "Democracy promotion and China: blocker or bystander?" SPP Visiting Professor Katrin Kinzelbach and co-author Dingding Chen explore why it is that although China "has the ability to employ military and economic leverage to hinder democratization in its immediate neighbourhood," it does not necessarily choose to do so. They argue that China blocks EU and US democracy promotion efforts only when the party-state fears democratic spillover to China. "Where this is not the case, Beijing is likely to focus on protecting its economic and strategic interests abroad, regardless of regime type."

The article appears in the current issue of Democratization, which focuses on the theme of democracy promotion and the challenges of illiberal regional powers.