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

Whoever wins Tuesday's U.S. presidential election, one of the biggest issues facing lawmakers around the world will be how to deal with Chinese-owned social media sensation, TikTok. No more so than in Japan, where TikTok is one of the country's most popular social media apps, yet local regulators have serious concerns about the video-sharing platform's data protection for its citizens.
Aynne Kokas Nikkei Asia
China’s booming film market has become an essential consideration for the production of Hollywood movies. In an effort to take advantage of this audience, American entertainment conglomerates are increasingly partnering with Chinese studios, and producing products for the Chinese market. How will America’s entertainment powerhouses and China’s burgeoning film industry collaborate to build their global brand identities?
Aynne Kokas National Committee on U.S.-China Relations
Trans-Pacific View author Mercy Kuo regularly engages subject-matter experts, policy practitioners, and strategic thinkers across the globe for their diverse insights into U.S. Asia policy. This conversation with Aynne Kokas – Associate Professor of Media Studies at the University of Virginia; Senior Faculty Fellow, Miller Center for Public Affairs; and author of “Hollywood Made in China” (2017) – is the 243rd in “The Trans-Pacific View Insight Series.”
Aynne Kokas The Diplomat
Academics traveling to China have long made use of VPNs, but unauthorized internet connections are now illegal in China as well as in Russia, said Aynne Kokas, an associate professor of media studies at the University of Virginia.
Aynne Kokas The Chronicle of Higher Education
"We are seeing a redistribution in the market where a lot of smaller firms are failing because of the pandemic," said Aynne Kokas, author of "Hollywood Made in China" and a media studies professor at the University of Virginia. "Larger Chinese studios tend to be more conservative in their choices."
Aynne Kokas Nikkei Asian Review
Director Alfonso Cuarón told China Daily that the plotline was driven not by marketing concerns but by the small number of countries that had active space programs. “We had to base it upon elements in space at the time,” he said. “That may very well be true,” said Aynne Kokas, an associate professor of media studies at the University of Virginia and the author of “Hollywood Made in China.” But she notes that the notion of China as a benevolent space power is a narrative that resonates with the Chinese Communist Party.
Aynne Kokas The Intercept