antonharder.bsky.social
@antonharder.bsky.social
Academic researcher, teacher and consultant focused on China-India matters
China’s economy isn’t just slowing—it’s evolving. My new piece explores how Beijing’s innovation drive blends planning, experimentation, and ambition to defy Western economic logic.
Is inefficiency the price of sovereignty—or a new model in the making? www.antonharder.com/blog/travels...
China’s Alternative Logic: travels in an innovation economy — Anton Harder
In China recently, as part of a delegation engaging with counterparts from different quarters of the country’s tech space, I was struck by a paradox central to debates over the country’s economic futu...
www.antonharder.com
November 4, 2025 at 1:16 PM
We talk about U.S.–China rivalry in terms of power—but rarely about knowledge. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese study in America; barely a thousand Americans study in China. The result? A widening asymmetry in understanding and strategy. www.antonharder.com/blog/unequal...
Unequal Understanding: The Asymmetry at the Heart of U.S.–China Relations — Anton Harder
Sino-American competition is usually framed in terms of the balance of military, economic and technological power. But we less commonly think about the state of mutual knowledge. Just two weeks back, ...
www.antonharder.com
October 28, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Looking forward to being in New Delhi later this month for ORCA's Global Conference on New Sinology (23-24 September). Do come along and join the discussions if you are around - link below for details.

orcasia.org/pages/gcns2025

#GCNS #ORCA #Sinology #China-India #India-China
GCNS 2025
orcasia.org
September 11, 2025 at 8:19 AM
China’s path to modernity may echo its ancient encounter with Buddhism—foreign ideas, adapted and transformed, now reshaping the world. Sutras and solar panels, indeed. My new blog post here: www.antonharder.com/blog/moderni...

#China #Modernity #Buddhism #AdamTooze #KaiserKuo
Modernity with Chinese characteristics: a Buddhist analogy — Anton Harder
Talk of China innovating a new stage of human progress and modernity reminds me of the history of Chinese Buddhism. Like China’s history of modernity, the ‘Buddhist Transmission' also saw an initial r...
www.antonharder.com
September 4, 2025 at 2:25 PM
My new blog, 'China vs India: why history still matters - From literacy to land reform, the Maoist legacy behind China's economic lead'. One analysis of the possibility of India replicating China's manufacturing boom reminded me of key Mao-era positive legacies. www.antonharder.com/blog/china-v...
China vs India: why history still matters — Anton Harder
From literacy to land reform, the Maoist legacy behind China’s economic lead
www.antonharder.com
July 7, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Following the recent Indo-Pak conflict and discussion of China's role, I've written a short blog on the history of the India-Pakistan-China triangle drawing on research done for my forthcoming book on China & India in the Cold War

www.antonharder.com/blog/ayjojxyvxj11c9r4z7iciocusyv1mc
Before CPEC: When China and Pakistan Aligned Against India — Anton Harder
(Author’s note: the following post draws on research done for my forthcoming book on China and India in the early Cold War as well as the writing of other scholars on China and South Asia, notably Rud...
www.antonharder.com
June 9, 2025 at 10:19 AM
The Delhi-based Organisation for Research on China and India (ORCA) just re-published my thoughts on pilgrimage in the Himalayas and Sino-Indian relations: orcasia.org/article/1176...
PILGRIMAGE, POLITICS AND SOVEREIGNTY
Religious exchanges, especially pilgrimages to Mount Kailash, have long symbolized the fluid cultural ties and contested sovereignties between India, Tibet, and China. The recent reopening of the Kail...
orcasia.org
May 15, 2025 at 7:58 AM
It's not often one can link the Chinese Foreign Ministry with divine couplings in the Himalayas, but my latest blog post on the renewal of Indian pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet, announced this week, does just that. Check it out here: www.antonharder.com/blog/pilgrim...
Pilgrimage, politics and sovereignty: India, China and the return to Kailash — Anton Harder
Religious exchanges between India and Tibet have been thorny subjects in Sino-Indian relations for the last seventy-five years, not least because they recall the close historical and cultural ties bet...
www.antonharder.com
May 1, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Having finally submitted my book manuscript to my publisher last week 😁, I've been free to return to my blog. This entry examines China, India and the World Happiness Report: www.antonharder.com/blog/whose-h...
Whose happiness? China, India and the problem of the Western yardstick — Anton Harder
Last week, the World Happiness Report was published by Oxford University’s Wellbeing Research Centre. Much of the reception of this dwelt on the consistently high-ranking of the Nordic countri...
www.antonharder.com
April 1, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Recently I appeared on a podcast with Indian Think Tank, Organisation for Research on China and Asia (ORCA) to discuss the history of Sino-Indian relations, UN Security Council reform, and China's development and governance challenges. Check it out: orcasia.org/pages/orcafi...
ORCA | Organisation for Research on China and Asia
ORCA
orcasia.org
January 2, 2025 at 8:42 AM