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Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on Global Issues

September 15, 2026

Subversion and Seduction: China's Economic Statecraft

A Book Talk with Audrye Wong

Chinese Yuan

China has consistently sought to wield economic clout in its quest for global geopolitical influence. Yet, this use of economic statecraft has seen varying degrees of effectiveness, with results less successful than commonly assumed.

In her new book Subversion and Seduction: China’s Economic Statecraft (2026), Audrye Wong examines the reasons why economic statecraft only works some of the time, showing that outcomes depend on both the inducement strategy and the target country’s political setting. The book folds China's numerous economic inducements into two strategic categories—"subversive carrots" and "legitimate seduction"—and then examines how public accountability mechanisms in recipient countries can facilitate or impede the effectiveness of such inducements. By developing a theory of China’s economic statecraft, Wong sheds light on how and when China can use its economic might to reshape U.S.-China relations and the international system as a whole.

This event is co-sponsored by Georgetown University’s Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on Global Issues and the Asian Studies Programs at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.

Featuring

Audrye Wong is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute’s foreign and defense policy program. She was previously a professor at the University of Southern California and grand strategy, security, and a statecraft postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and MIT’s security studies program. Wong received her Ph.D. in security studies from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs.