Bonny Lin

Director, China Power Project and Senior Adviser
Bonny Lin

Bonny Lin is director of the China Power Project and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Previously, she was the acting associate director of the Strategy and Doctrine Program of RAND Project AIR FORCE and a political scientist at the RAND Corporation, where she analyzed different aspects of China’s foreign and defense policy and U.S. competition with China, including China’s use of gray zone tactics against U.S. allies and partners. Her research advised senior leaders in the Department of Defense, including military leaders at U.S. Pacific Air Forces and U.S. Army Pacific. Dr. Lin also served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense from 2015 to 2018, where she was director for Taiwan, country director for China, and senior adviser for China. Dr. Lin has testified in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee, House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and an adjunct at the RAND Corporation and Institute for Defense Analysis (IDA). Dr. Lin holds a PhD in political science from Yale University, a master’s degree in Asian studies with a focus on China from the University of Michigan, and a bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard College.

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ChinaPower

Trump’s Indo-Pacific Strategy: A Conversation with Mr. Ivan Kanapathy

In this episode of the ChinaPower Podcast, Mr. Ivan Kanapathy joins us to discuss what Donald Trump’s second administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy may look like and the ways in which Trump redefined the U.S. relationship with China during his first term.

Podcast Episode by Bonny Lin — November 22, 2024

CSIS ChinaPower

Employing “Non-Peaceful” Means Against Taiwan

China’s 2005 Anti-Secession Law (ASL) is an important piece of legislation that Beijing invokes to pressure Taiwan and justify the potential use of force against Taiwan. This report unpacks the ASL and analyzes how China uses it as an evolving tool of legal warfare.

Report by Bonny Lin and I-Chung Lai — October 15, 2024

Crossroads of Commerce: How the Taiwan Strait Propels the Global Economy

This report provides an unprecedented look at the Taiwan Strait’s role in global trade, revealing that over one-fifth of all maritime commerce passes through this vital waterway. China possesses a range of non-kinetic options it may employ to coerce Taiwan, which could significantly disrupt this trade.
 

Digital Report by Matthew P. Funaiole, Brian Hart, David Peng, Bonny Lin, and Jasper Verschuur — October 10, 2024

The Global Impact of the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election

Please join us for the inaugural event of the CSIS Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department to discuss a collection of essays by CSIS scholars assessing the meaning of the election for Europe, Russia, Eurasia, the Indo-Pacific, the Americas, Africa, and the Middle East. 

Event — September 26, 2024