Interview with Kevin Rudd for CEVRO University: On China, Asia and the Future of Europe

Former Australian Prime Minister and President of Asia Society Kevin Rudd visited CEVRO University for the debate China, Europe and the Future of the Global Order, organised by the Centre for Asia-Pacific Studies (CAPS). Before his keynote speech, he sat down for an interview with American journalist Richard Lui. They discussed Rudd's path to China, the work of Asia Society, Xi Jinping’s thinking and Europe’s place in a changing world.

Rudd is one of the world’s foremost experts on China. He speaks fluent Mandarin and studied Xi Jinping’s ideology for a doctorate at Oxford, which he began at the age of 59. In the interview, he recalls growing up on a farm in rural Australia and reading books about China as a boy. His mother told him back then: “China will change your world.”

The work of Asia Society also got plenty of attention. Rudd describes it as both a think tank and a “do tank” that looks for places where countries’ interests and values overlap and offers governments practical solutions. Examples include US–China relations and rules on the use of artificial intelligence. In his view, research centres like CAPS help explain how the rise of Asia is changing the global balance of power. He also warns Europe against seeing Asia as one uniform whole.

He summed up Xi Jinping in a single sentence: “He sees himself as a man of history.” According to Rudd, China’s leadership thinks through three lenses: the classical Chinese tradition, Marxism-Leninism, and the realism of Sun Tzu’s Art of War. His advice to Europe is to stop debating and start implementing the Draghi report.

His advice to students is to never stop learning, to keep asking what they believe in and why, and to approach the world with humility about how complex it is.

You can watch the full interview by clicking here.