Keeping pace with China: a conversation with Meridian’s Rising Leaders Council

On May 28, 2019, the Meridian Rising Leaders Council hosted a discussion with Kara Swisher, Executive Editor of Recode, Dean Cheng, Research Fellow for Chinese Political and Military Affairs at the Heritage Foundation, and Scott Carpenter, Managing Director for Jigsaw at Google, on keeping pace with China in the midst of the rapid information era.

According to the speakers, comprehensive national power, including military and economic power, is what the Chinese strive most for, and information is central to every component. The U.S. has dominated much of the information age due to the country's invention of the internet, but governments are now focusing on the ethics and regulations surrounding the web. The popular app Tik Tok was China's first successful crossover into the global internet culture, and the tech giants in China are now focusing on consumer taste to grow their influence on the rest of the world.