How China’s view of its past informs its choices in the present, with Rana Mitter

In this episode, Rana Mitter, S.T. Lee Chair in US-Asia Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School, joins Johannes Heller-John to discuss how China remembers its own history, the meaning of the “New Chinese Nationalism”, the current state of US-China relations, and Europe’s position within this geopolitical landscape. 

In his view, “the reality of a China that was on the backfoot globally, invaded, occupied, and unable to make its own choices shapes the way that China’s elite and policy makers and wider population today think about Chinese place in the world.” The Interview was recorded on May 13, 2026.