China Knowledge Network
The Dutch China Knowledge Network (CKN) is a network established to connect China experts and disseminate knowledge within the government of the Netherlands and beyond.
Standardisation with Chinese Characteristics?
The International Law of the Sea and the South China Sea Disputes
Internationalization of the RMB: Status, Options and Risks
Latest Reports
Events
Latest CKN Knowledge Sessions Recordings
Inside the CCP’s New Social Work Department
Inside the CCP’s New Social Work Department
The Chinese Communist Party has launched a powerful new institutional tool – the Central Department of Social Work – tasked with reaching into the very heart of society: private companies, NGOs, community groups, and even volunteers. But what does this tell us about the Party's grip—and its doubts? Dr. Frank Pieke tells us all about this new phenomenon in the new CKN Knowledge Session.
Cutting Edge: Governing the ‘Ungovernable’ Generative AI in China
In this talk, Dr He will share insights from his current research on how Chinese large language models (LLMs) like DeepSeek and Wenxin Yiyan handle politically sensitive prompts. By collecting and analyzing prompts that the Chinese LLM DeepSeek refuses to respond to—and comparing how similar prompts are treated across multiple Chinese models—this study offers a rare empirical glimpse into the boundaries of content moderation in generative AI.
Latest CKN Report Presentations
CKN Report Presentation - Standardisation with Chinese Characteristics? by Alexandre Gomes
This China Knowledge Network (CKN) report argues that Europe must see standardisation not as a niche technical field, but as a key site of geopolitical contestation and opportunity. Europe has historically occupied a central position in international standardisation. China has aligned industrial champions, state institutions and global diplomacy behind a shared objective: embedding Chinese standards in the global economy of tomorrow. This report proposes a blueprint for action on standardisation along programming, promoting, protecting, partnering and process. These parallel paths should help reorient the stance of the EU and its Member States on standardisation.
CKN Report Presentation - The International Law of the Sea and the South China Sea Disputes by L.N. Nguyen and A.G. Oude Elferink
The development of the law of the sea in the second half of the 20th century – and in particular the extension of coastal State jurisdiction beyond the territorial sea through the regimes of the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf – has radically transformed the geopolitics of the ocean. The South China Sea is a key example of the way in which the development of the law of the sea has impacted on the geopolitics of the ocean. This development has been accompanied by competing interpretations of the law of the sea that have radically diverging implications for the legal and political division of the South China Sea. In addition, the South China Sea is characterized by a number of territorial disputes that add to the complexity of its geopolitical seascape.
Latest CKN Interviews
Alexandre Gomes on Standardisation with Chinese Characteristics?
Alexandre Gomes is a Research Fellow at the Netherlands Institute for International Relations ‘Clingendael’ in The Hague. His research focuses on the role of technology in geopolitics. In this interview he explains how China has pushed to shape global standards and why Europe must treat standardisation as a geopolitical priority. You can read the report on the CKN website and watch the report presentation here.
Kun He on how Chinese AI models handle politically sensitive prompts
Dr. Kun He, postdoctoral researcher at the Tilburg Law and Economics Center (TILEC) at Tilburg University, talks about Chinese Large Language Models (LLM's) and how they handle politically sensitive prompts. Watch the full presentation here.
Bert Hofman on the Internationalization of the RMB
In this interview, Bert Hofman, adjunct professor at the East Asian Institute (EAI) of the National University Singapore (NUS), discusses his new CKN report 'Internationalization of the RMB: Status, Options and Risks'. You can read the full report here.