The China Observatory seeks to watch, monitor and evaluate the evolution, behaviour and actions of the Chinese Communist Party. Together with experts and legislators, the Observatory aims to guide HM Government in the formulation of a coherent ‘China policy’ through research-led, non-partisan analysis from a British vantage point.
Latest research
China Observatory research
Earlier research on China
Opinion
From an archived version of Britain’s World, our online magazine. For more up to date content, click here.
News
The Council on Geostrategy launches the China Observatory
The Council on Geostrategy is delighted to announce the launch of the China Observatory together with leading China experts and legislators.
Experts
Elizabeth Lindley
Policy Fellow, China ObservatoryAreas of expertise: Politics of the People’s Republic of China, cross-Taiwan Strait relations, expansion of the People’s Liberation Army, and British-Chinese relations
Elizabeth Lindley is a Policy Fellow at the China Observatory. She holds a BA in Chinese Studies (First Class Hons.) from the University of Cambridge, which included a year of advanced Mandarin study in Taipei. Previously, she worked in Taiwan as a political analyst and translator, and has written for Chinese human rights defenders.
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 0044 (0) 20 3915 5629
Advisory Board
Alicia Kearns
Chair of the Advisory BoardAlicia Kearns has been the Member of Parliament for Rutland and Melton since 2019. Alicia was the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from October 2022 until the dissolution of Parliament in May 2024. Prior to being elected as an MP, Alicia worked in counter-terrorism at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and then as an independent consultant across the Middle East and North Africa, Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans.
Charles Parton OBE
Chief Advisor to the China ObservatoryCharles Parton was a long-serving career diplomat in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, spending 22 out of his 37 year career working in or on the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. In his final posting, he was seconded to the European Union’s Delegation in Beijing as First Counsellor until late 2016. In 2017, he was chosen by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee in the House of Commons to act as Special Advisor on China. Presently, he is a Distinguished Fellow at the Council on Geostrategy, and a fellow at Royal United Services Institute and Mercator Institute for China Studies.
Isabel Hilton OBE
Member of the Advisory BoardIsabel Hilton was a founder of the China Dialogue Trust in 2006 where she now works as a Senior Advisor. Isabel studied Chinese in Edinburgh and China before embarking on a career in broadcast and print journalism which included authoring and co-authoring several books, working for The Sunday Times, The Guardian, the BBC, STV, The Independent, The New Yorker and many others. She is a Visiting Professor at the Lau Institute, King’s College London, serves as a Senior Advisor to the China Council, and holds two honorary doctorates.
George Magnus
Member of the Advisory BoardGeorge Magnus is a Research Associate at the China Centre at the University of Oxford and at the School of Oriental and Africa Studies in London. He is also author of Red Flags: Why Xi’s China is in Jeopardy. He served as the Chief Economist and later Senior Economic Adviser at the Union Bank of Switzerland during a period spanning over 20 years, having previously worked in an economics capacity at SG Warburg, Bank of America, and Lloyds Bank.
Rana Mitter
Member of the Advisory BoardRana Mitter is ST Lee Chair in US-Asia Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School. He has authored several books, including Forgotten Ally: China’s World War II which won the Duke of Westminster’s Medal for Military Literature in 2014, and was named a Book of the Year in the Financial Times and Economist. In 2020, he was awarded the Medlicott Medal for Service to History by the UK Historical Association. Previously, he taught at Oxford, and is a Fellow of the British Academy.
Except where otherwise indicated, the views expressed in our publications are the sole responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the China Observatory’s Advisory Board.
Donate
The Council on Geostrategy is a non-partisan and non-profit organisation. We accept general and project-based funding from institutions, companies and individuals who share our mission and accept our intellectual independence.
Subscribe
Subscribe to all our updates: