Marina Rudyak 卢玛丽

Very happy to share that we've launched the new edition of the Decoding China Dictionary — and officially launched ourselves as a non-profit organisation!

W/t @dbandurski.bsky.social, Katja Drinhausen, @jerkerhellstrom.bsky.social, @malinoud.bsky.social

Follow us here @decodingchina.bsky.social!

"The humanities really are a resource — a confidence for living in our times.” Dean Sara Guyer on the modern utility of humanities degrees This interview originally appeared on the Division of Arts

"While other universities report that the humanities are shrinking, at Berkeley, the opposite is true. The music major is the fastest-growing major on campus. We are finding bigger classrooms because film is exploding. English is back to the numbers we saw 15 years ago. We are hiring" bit.ly/4ohKuOe

FALTER Radio: Soll die EU weg von den USA - und hin zu China? - #1503 Kann Europa stärker auf China zugehen, wenn sich die USA unter Donald Trump abwenden?

(FT) Hörtipp | Soll die EU weg von den USA - und hin zu China?

Es diskutieren: @rudyakmarina.bsky.social​ (Uni Heidelberg), Felix Lee, @salx.bsky.social​ (ORF) und Jörg Wuttke

Absolutely agree on BMWE, though there the radio silence is not only on China but pretty much on everything, including pressing intra-German reform issues. 🤷‍♀️

Very much second what @rudyakmarina.bsky.social writes here (and in the thread). I don't think it's a smart idea to cancel visits because of disagreements - for me, that's not a sign of strength but rather closes the doors for better understanding and smart engagement.

Missed opportunity for diplomacy: Why the German foreign minister should have traveled Johann Wadephul’s canceled trip to China is emblematic of the lack of direction in Germany’s China policy. In a time of global power shifts, Berlin is squandering valuable opportunities to build trust...

To sum it up: in my view, the mistake is not in the SPD side. It is a problem that - as legitimate as the reasons may be - there was still not official visit to China. Here I absolutely agree with what @maximilianiras.bsky.social wrote in China.Table:
table.media/en/china/opi...

Not to mention that the people he wanted to meet in Beijing except Wang Yi are physically not there these dates, but are either meeting Trump or EU-counterparts in Brussels - meeting whom is clearly (and understandably) deemed more important than meeting the German FM.

Here, I disagree, again. Diplomacy is sometimes like a thread mill: you don’t get anywhere but it’s still a good exercise. As for Wadephul, it’s a legitimate question why an FM to FM meeting at this point was apparently unacceptable (Bluesky is not an ideal platform to discuss this).

I disagree and believe that a multi-leveled and multi-stakeholder approach that utilizes a broad instrument toolkit serves German interests best. I see no benefit and a lot of harm in lack of direct high-level communication with China. I also think it was wrong for Wadephul to cancel the tip.

Klingbeil spielt Ersatz-Außenminister und plant Chinareise Wie der Vizekanzler Johann Wadephul düpiert.

It was long known in German policy circles. The party dialogue is always in autumn, taking turns. Germany last year, China this year.
But also, since 2 days in German news, e.g.

archive.is/xXfP8

www.thepioneer.de/originals/ha...

Why the conclusion that party-to-party talks mean a risk to become a “pawn”? The people who lead the dialogue on the SPD side are neither naive nor stupid. More so, especially now, closing (or destroying) a long-standing and working communication mechanism would be no most unwise thing to do.

Why is this a scoop? It was planned and known for a long time.

‘I wanted to do something more meaningful’: the Chinese nationals fighting for Ukraine Volunteers defy their government and public opinion in China to risk their lives for an adversary of Beijing’s main geopolitical partner

Glad to be quoted in this report about Chinese citizens fighting for Ukraine (yes, there are many Chinese sympathetic towards Ukraine, 22% by our estimate). Special thanks go to @davidstroup.bsky.social for the referral.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

YouTube video by WEIMER MEDIA GROUP China verstehen – diese 200 Seiten helfen

Vielen Dank an Thorsten Giersch und die Weimer Media Group für diese Rezension meines Buchs

"Dialog mit dem Drachen: Wie uns strategische Empathie gegenüber #China stärken kann"

-- und die Empfehlung des Buchs für Führungskräfte.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbKz...

📖 www.campus.de/buecher-camp...

Der Österreichische Rundfunk (ORF) hat unseren Dialog im Journal Panorama unter dem Titel "Chinas Aufstieg zur Supermacht und die Folgen" zusammengefasst und eine ganze Sendung daraus gemacht. Nachzuhören unter: oe1.orf.at/player/20251...
#China #Europa

Was passiert, wenn zu viele den Glauben daran verlieren, dass man durch harte Arbeit aufsteigen kann? Wenn es gar nicht mehr in den Glauben geht, sondern schlichtweg unmöglich wird?

YouTube video by Bruno Kreisky Forum für internationalen Dialog Raimund Löw, Jörg Wuttke, Alexandra Siebenhofer, Marina Rudyak, Felix Lee: OPTION CHINA?

Ich hatte das Vergnügen, im Kreisky Forum mit Joerg Wuttke, Felix Lee und Alexandra Siebenhofer über Europas Handlungsspielräume zwischen Kooperation, Abhängigkeit und strategischer Distanz zu diskutieren.
Moderiert von Raimund Löw.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=47DI...
#China #Europe #Geopolitics

Aber wenn das Manuskript dann mal abgegeben ist… 🕺🏼💃🏼☀️

Kenya and China have agreed to restructure the East African country’s loan portfolio by converting an estimated $3.5 billion of outstanding debts from U.S. dollars into Chinese yuan.

These trends clearly indicate that Chinese companies are increasingly cautious, fearing possible secondary sanctions. However, this does not mean they will refrain from finding ways to circumvent them — for example, through third countries.

Overall, in the first eight months of 2025, trade between the two countries decreased by almost 9%, amounting to around US$145 billion. Russian exports to China fell by 8.8%, while Chinese imports to Russia declined by 8.2%.

At the same time, China has quietly halted deliveries of high-precision machine tools from China, Moscow Times reports (lnkd.in/emRQrU5r). According to Chinese Customs, in August 2025 Chinese exports to Russia fell by 16.4% year-on-year — twice the decline recorded in July, when the drop was 8.6%.

The answer is that China is, ultimately, on its own side. It will support Russia just enough to ensure the war in Ukraine continues—but not enough for Russia to win. In that sense, the Chinese envoy to the Un was right to note that if China had fully supported Russia, the war would already be over.

Had the opportunity to share my thoughts with the Poland-based Russian-language news service Vot Tak (vot-tak.tv) on the recent leak suggesting that China is providing intelligence to Russia regarding the war in Ukraine. The fundamental question remains: whose side is China on?

ChatGPT just hallucinated a paper I didn't write but probably should:
Rudyak, M. (2023). On China’s selective policy learning from DAC and Paris Club practices

🔋 Beijing’s recent decision to restrict exports of critical materials—such as graphite and rare earth magnets used in electric vehicles—has added to the anxiety.

🚗 “There’s growing alarm about Chinese EV overcapacity being dumped on the EU market at prices European manufacturers can’t match,” I told Al Jazeera. “The fear is that subsidised Chinese exports will crowd out Europe’s industrial backbone.”

Unlike the U.S., where the trade conflict with China is often framed as a strategic rivalry over global dominance, Europe’s concerns are more structural. The focus is on safeguarding core industries from being undercut.

Trade is another flashpoint. ⚖️
The EU has long accused China of overproduction & dumping. Now the focus is on EVs: Europe fears subsidised Chinese overcapacity is crowding out its core industries. 🚗

📌 In short: China’s position is not just pro-Russia or anti-West—it’s about maintaining a strategic balance that serves its own regional priorities.