In his studies of Chinese politics, Indian researcher Manoj Kewalramani felt that national reportage and discourse often overlooked the analysis of primary source materials and open source Chinese language materials. This was the impetus behind his work on reading the People’s Daily and putting it in the public domain in the form of a daily blog. He will talk about the different lenses through which he views the newspaper and what are some of his learnings from this process. And also, why he feels it is important to develop an Indian perspective on the threats and opportunities that China’s rise brings.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER: Manoj Kewalramani is the Chairperson of the Indo-Pacific Studies Programme at the Takshashila Institution, a centre for public policy education based in Bengaluru, India. His research interests range from Chinese politics, foreign policy and approaches to new technologies to addressing questions of how India can work with like-minded partners to deal with the challenges presented by China’s rise. Manoj is the author of Smokeless War: China’s Quest for Geopolitical Dominance, which discusses China’s political, diplomatic, economic and narrative responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to joining Takshashila, he spent over a decade working as a journalist in India and China, where he helped set up digital newsrooms and train young journalists.