The Politics of China’s Global AI Governance

Variation in their preferences leads to discordant policies as each pursues distinct agendas, generating the observed incoherence in China’s GAIG posture. The model’s fit is tested over two case studies using discourse analysis and process tracing methods: China’s development of AI safety and AI access policy. In each case, sub-state actors heavily influence the GAIG guidelines issued by the central government.

The central government briefly reasserts authority through these guidelines, steering priorities and scoping discussion. Sub-state actors then selectively interpret or ignore these guidelines according to their prior convictions, before enacting their ideas in domestic and international contexts. To understand China’s approach to GAIG, we must look under the hood of the Chinese state to the political dynamics and domestic actors driving their approach.

The thesis ends by discussing its implications for China’s GAIG and GAIG as a whole.</strong></p>