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

Aynne Kokas, Abe fellow and associate professor of media studies at the University of Virginia who specializes in U.S.-China media and tech relations, noted in an interview that the proposed ownership structure as detailed by ByteDance is short of previous executive branch statements around ownership.
Aynne Kokas S&P Global Market Intelligence
This week on “Plugged In with Greta Van Susteren" for September 16, 2020: “China vs. Hollywood.” The China factor and Hollywood’s high stakes battle for your entertainment dollars. Is the live action remake of the Disney classic “Mulan” a sign of things to come? Media and entertainment experts weigh in on China’s growing clout as they talk to Greta about what Hollywood is prepared to do to own a slice of the lucrative Chinese movie market.
Aynne Kokas VOA News
“The way the villains are discussed, the placeless-ness of the west of China, the sumptuousness and the perfection of the imperial city — there’s this rewriting in order to fit a very specific imperial narrative,” Aynne Kokas, the author of “Hollywood Made in China,” said in a telephone interview. “Hollywood has a very illustrious history of making faceless, Turkic villains itself, so it’s almost the perfect collaboration.”
Aynne Kokas The New York Times
Aynne Kokas of the University of Virginia says in China, Disney basically acts like a Chinese company, and its response to the "Mulan" controversies has been in character.
Aynne Kokas NPR "All Things Considered"
“Disney is not alone, it’s just that they have to try and preserve their family-friendly brand issue,” said Aynne Kokas, an assistant professor at the University of Virginia and author of Hollywood Made in China. “If you have President Trump saying that the Uygur camps are not that big a deal, if you have corporations taking their lead from the US presidents, it’s the sort of decision they’ll make.”
Aynne Kokas South China Morning Post
“In L.A., there’s a focus on freedom of expression,” said University of Virginia media studies professor Aynne Kokas, author of the book “Hollywood Made in China.” “Then we cross borders, and the democracy struggle in Hong Kong is erased, as are the human rights abuses in Xinjiang.”
Aynne Kokas Los Angeles Times