Experts

Aynne Kokas

Fast Facts

  • Director, UVA East Asia Center
  • Non-resident scholar, Rice University’s Baker Institute of Public Policy
  • Member, Council on Foreign Relations
  • Fellow in the National Committee on United States-China Relations’ Public Intellectuals Program
  • Expertise on U.S.-China relations, cybersecurity, media industry

Areas Of Expertise

  • Foreign Affairs
  • Asia
  • Domestic Affairs
  • Media and the Press
  • Science and Technology

Aynne Kokas is the C.K. Yen Professor at the Miller Center, director of UVA's East Asia Center, and a professor of media studies at the University of Virginia. Kokas’ research examines Sino-U.S. media and technology relations. Her award-winning book Trafficking Data: How China Is Winning the Battle for Digital Sovereignty (Oxford University Press, October 2022) argues that exploitative Silicon Valley data governance practices help China build infrastructures for global control. Her award-winning first book Hollywood Made in China (University of California Press, 2017) argues that Chinese investment and regulations have transformed the U.S. commercial media industry, most prominently in the case of media conglomerates’ leverage of global commercial brands. 

Kokas is a non-resident scholar at Rice University’s Baker Institute of Public Policy, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a fellow in the National Committee on United States-China Relations’ Public Intellectuals Program.

She was a Fulbright Scholar at East China Normal University and has received fellowships from the Library of Congress, National Endowment for the Humanities, Mellon Foundation, Social Science Research Council, Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, Japan’s Abe Fellowship, and other international organizations. Her writing and commentary have appeared globally in more than 50 countries and 15 languages. In the United States, her research and writing appear regularly in media outlets including CNBC, NPR’s MarketplaceThe Washington Post, and Wired. She has testified before the Senate Finance Committee, House Foreign Affairs Committee, Congressional-Executive Commission on China, and the U.S. International Trade Commission.

Aynne Kokas News Feed

As we enter the fourth week of the Ukraine conflict, the dynamic between China and Russia has shifted. The rise of the China-Russia alliance has been complicated by competing domestic interests in China. Despite the Chinese government’s support for Russia and heavily controlled media, Chinese social media posts are not unified on the Ukraine question. New research led by Stanford’s Jennifer Pan has found mixed public opinion about the Ukraine conflict on Chinese social platforms. This suggests a softening of censorship of critical views of Russia, as well as domestic popular opinion pressuring Chinese leaders to contend with efforts to collaborate with Russia.
Aynne Kokas Miller Center Russia-Ukraine blog
Aynne Kokas, media studies professor at the University of Virginia, warns in her latest book that China is winning at what she calls “data trafficking.” This concept describes “an exploitative process that leverages fragmented corporate data security policies that have limited user consent or acknowledgment of how the data has been shared”. In this way, data from the US and elsewhere can be “exploited and taken across borders” to China.
Aynne Kokas Financial Times
International relations scholars pay close attention to the relationship between China and Russia, particularly China's reluctance to condemn Russian actions in Ukraine. China's international relations doctrine focuses on maintaining territorial sovereignty, a tenet violated in Russia's Ukraine attack. China and Russia have a clear interest in allying across various issues, from technical standards to pushing back against human rights sanctions from Western democracies. However, they are unlikely – and not credible - partners in the era still mired in the politics of COVID-19.
Aynne Kokas Miller Center Russia-Ukraine blog
When tech entrepreneur Elon Musk enabled his Skylink satellite internet service in Ukraine, Ukrainian officials hailed him as a hero. But as a “free speech absolutist” he also noted he would not close off access to Russian state-run news sources, a well-documented source of disinformation about the war. Meanwhile, Apple paused product sales in Russia and has limited the use of Apple Pay and other services.
Aynne Kokas Miller Center Russia-Ukraine blog
"I think it's really important to note that the reason why Eileen Gu is attracting so much attention is not strictly because of her skill as a skier, but [because] American brands have also amplified her presence and her power because of their interest in entering the Chinese market," said Aynne Kokas, a media studies professor at the University of Virginia and the author of "Hollywood Made in China."
Aynne Kokas Nikkei Asia
The United States and China face shared challenges for the future as the global climate crisis looms and the two countries’ economies remain entwined. Yet competing views about global standards for technology, freedom of expression, and territorial claims, among other areas, challenge democratic values and institutions. What role should a commitment to these democratic values and institutions play in the relationship between the two states?
Aynne Kokas Miller Center Presents