Askan Weidemann

Askan Weidemann is a doctoral researcher at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) since October 2021, with a focus on the politics of the People's Republic of China, digital governance, public participation, and central-local relations. He has held a doctoral research fellowship at the School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University (Beijing) during 2023.

• M.Sc. in Contemporary Chinese Studies, University of Oxford (DAAD scholarship)
• BA in Liberal Arts and Sciences, University College Maastricht and UC Berkeley, USA
• One-year language studies, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

His research explores how information and communication technologies (ICT) reshape authoritarian governance mechanisms, particularly through China's petitioning system. He investigates the digital mass line concept, merging political accountability with technological innovation in public participation frameworks.

Recent publications include Risk management in scientific cooperation with China (2022), analyzing cross-border research ethics and geopolitical challenges, and his dissertation Towards a Digital Mass Line: ICT Enactment in the Chinese Petitioning System (2023), examining technological mediation in authoritarian public administration.

Scientific achievements include holding the DAAD scholarship during his M.Sc. studies, contributing to major policy briefs on China-EU cooperation, and maintaining affiliations with leading institutions in Asian studies and digital governance.

Contact: askan.weidemann@giga-hamburg.de