In this episode of China Considered Quick Takes, Elizabeth Economy, Hargrove Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, explains why reclaiming what Beijing views as lost territory—from Taiwan to the Himalayas and the South and East China Seas—sits at the core of Xi’s vision for the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” China currently faces territorial disputes with at least ten countries, making sovereignty a defining feature of its foreign and security policy. So, for example, when the Philippines brought China to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 to contest China’s claims in the South China Sea, China simply refused to appear. Named by Politico as among “the ten names that matter in China policy,” Economy served as senior adviser for China in the US Department of Commerce in 2021–23 and is the author of several influential books on Chinese politics and policy, most recently The World According to China.
Author: February 24, 2026
Published at: 2026-02-24 00:00:00
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