A recent graduate of our department and budding China specialist, Ashley Feng, published an article in Foreign Policy this week entitled "We Can't Tell If Chinese Firms Work for the Party."

Since China's passage of two laws, the National Security Law (2015) and Cyber Security Law (2016), outside observers and policy makers in the West have become increasingly skeptical of Chinese firms' independence from the Communist Party. In the piece, Feng argues that although the lines between private enterprises and the Party are blurred, the interests between the two still diverge in many ways. She admonishes against automatically assuming that Chinese businesses are agents of the Party and proposes some commonsense measures US policy makers can take to bring greater transparency to this issue.

Ashley graduated from UMD three years ago with a BA in government and politics and geographical sciences. She currently works as a Research Assistant for the Energy, Economics, and Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, focusing on East Asia and China. For more information, see her bio.