Is China’s ascendance to world leadership an unstoppable force or a challenge we can overcome? On August 10 Axios reporter Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian comes to Intelligence Squared to sound the alarm about the extent of China’s strategies to position itself as leader in the game of nations.

For several decades Chinese ascendancy has been supported by an astonishingly broad and deep portfolio of quiet coercion. The stories are breathtaking – Chinese-sponsored reporting in national newspapers and academia; the gagging of sports stars and huge Western brands; Hollywood self-censorship; utilisation of private companies for surveillance.

Allen-Ebrahimian will also dissect the arsenal of tactics China has used to exploit Western weakness: authoritarian economic statecraft; internationally harmful tariffs; online disinformation operations; use of private companies to spy on global users; leverage of vaccines; and the crushing of democracy in Hong Kong. With these weapons and dextrous manoeuverings during the global pandemic, China has now positioned itself, she will argue, to take its place at the apex of world powers.

Join us for a revealing analysis that will dissect this seismic significant shift in the world order, and set out what steps the West must take to prevent the loss of freedoms we take for granted.