The goal of Interpret: China is to enable a more objective understanding of China through the translation and analysis of primary source material.
The project seeks to transform how policymakers, companies, researchers, journalists, and the broader public understand China, by providing noncommercial, educational access to translated articles, speeches, policy documents, and other important materials. Interpret: China was established in February 2022 with generous support from the Ford Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
The Interpret: China team works closely with subject matter experts to ensure that documents are chosen because they offer key insights into a given topic of focus. Criteria for evaluating document translation include:
- The organizational and governmental affiliations of the publisher, platform, and author(s) as well as their professional reputations and notable activities;
- How widely cited a document is;
- Whether the document offers insight into the spectrum of debate on a given topic;
- Whether the document represents the “official line,” or whether it offers a novel argument that might impact the policymaking process;
- If a document is intended to “signal” a given position to domestic and international audiences;
While we take every care to ensure our translations are accurate and precise, translation often requires subjective judgments, and phrases or words can be interpreted in multiple ways. If you spot an error or have a suggestion on how to improve a translation, please contact us at interpret@csis.org.
Interpret: China is co-directed by Jude Blanchette, CSIS Freeman Chair in China Studies, and Seth Jones, Senior Vice President and Director of the CSIS International Security Program, supported by Lily McElwee, Fellow with the Freeman Chair in China Studies. Alexandra Chopenko oversees program management.
Its advisory board is comprised of the following scholars and experts:
- James Bellacqua, CNA
- Bill Bishop, Sinocism
- Hal Brands, SAIS
- John Culver, US National Intelligence Council (retired)
- Fiona Cunningham, University of Pennsylvania
- Taylor Fravel, MIT
- Mike Green, United States Studies Centre
- Sheena Greitens, University of Texas at Austin
- Matt Goodman, Council on Foreign Relations
- Jim Hunt, Lavrock Ventures
- Elsa Kania, CNAS
- Isaac Kardon, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Scott Kennedy, CSIS
- Manoj Kewalramani, Takshashila Institution
- Bonny Lin, CSIS
- Dan Mattingly, Yale University
- Evan Medeiros, Georgetown University
- Alice Miller, Stanford University
- Rana Mitter, Harvard Kennedy School
- Norm Roule, National Intelligence Manager for Iran (retired)
- Susan Shirk, UC San Diego
- Holly Snape, University of Glasgow
- Joel Wuthnow, National Defense University
Development Team
The website for Interpret: China was created by the Andreas C. Dracopoulos iDeas Lab, the in-house digital, multimedia, and design agency at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.