Christopher K. Johnson

Senior Fellow (Non-resident), Office of the President
Christopher K. Johnson

Christopher K. Johnson is a senior fellow at CSIS. An accomplished Asian affairs specialist, Mr. Johnson spent nearly two decades serving in the U.S. government’s intelligence and foreign affairs communities and has extensive experience analyzing and working in Asia on a diverse set of country-specific and transnational issues. Throughout his career, he has chronicled China’s dynamic political and economic transformation, the development of its robust military modernization program, and its resurgence as a regional and global power. He has frequently advised senior White House, cabinet, congressional, military, and foreign officials on the Chinese leadership and on Beijing’s foreign and security policies.

Mr. Johnson worked as a senior China analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency, where he played a key role in the analytic support to policymakers during the 1996 Taiwan Strait missile crisis, the 1999 accidental bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, the downing of a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft on Hainan Island in 2001, and the SARS epidemic in 2003. He also helped shape senior officials’ understanding of the politics of the Jiang Zemin era, the successful leadership transition to Hu Jintao in 2002, and the preparations for the fall 2012 leadership succession. Mr. Johnson served as an intelligence liaison to two secretaries of state and their deputies on worldwide security issues and in 2011 was awarded the U.S. Department of State’s Superior Honor Award for outstanding support to the secretary and her senior staff. He also served abroad in a field site in Southeast Asia. Mr. Johnson graduated summa cum laude with bachelor’s degrees in history and political science from the University of California at San Diego (1994) and received his M.A. in security policy studies from the George Washington University (1996). He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

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US-China Innovation Forum: Setting the Agenda

Please watch as American and Chinese representatives from industry, finance, government and think tanks discuss how to best foster, protect, and advance innovation.

Event by Scott Kennedy , Christopher K. Johnson , and J. Stephen Morrison — April 10, 2019

Schieffer Series: China's Rise

China’s rise has become a key point of inquiry in discussion of the future of geopolitics and economy. This event will discuss China’s rise and its impact, both on the United States and globally. 

Event by Bob Schieffer , Christopher K. Johnson , Victor Cha , Michael Collins , and Margaret Brennan — March 20, 2019

Asia Forecast 2019

Watch CSIS experts for their annual preview of political, security, and economic developments across Asia. 

Event by Michael J. Green , Matthew P. Goodman , Victor Cha , Christopher K. Johnson , and Richard M. Rossow , William Alan Reinsch , Scott Kennedy , Stephanie Segal , Nicholas Szechenyi , Gregory B. Poling , Kartikeya Singh , Sue Mi Terry , Amy Searight , Patrick Gerard Buchan , Bonnie S. Glaser — January 23, 2019

Defusing the South China Sea Disputes

A new CSIS report “Defusing the South China Sea Disputes: A Regional Blueprint” presents a workable model agreement to manage the South China Sea disputes, reached by consensus among dozens of top experts from Asia, the United States, and beyond.

Report by Gregory B. Poling , Michael J. Green , Christopher K. Johnson , Murray Hiebert , Matthew P. Funaiole , Bonnie S. Glaser , and Amy Searight — October 11, 2018

Growing U.S.-China Commercial Tensions: The View from Shanghai

Watch us for an event featuring members of the American Chamber of Commerce, Shanghai for a frank and informative discussion about the state of American business in China. 

Event by Christopher K. Johnson , Scott Kennedy , Kenneth Jarrett , Eric Zheng , Han Lin , and Anita Wei — September 26, 2018

The Freeman Chair China Report, August 2018

Highlights a report written by Freeman Chair Christopher K. Johnson on U.S.-China trade relations and the importance for the U.S. to operationalize red lines in the current trade dispute.

Newsletter by Christopher K. Johnson and Scott Kennedy — August 17, 2018

Xi's Three Battles: China's Credit Risks

At the December 2017 Central Economic Work Conference, Chinese policymakers decided that China would focus on fighting three critical battles to achieve high quality development in the next three years, among them curbing financial risks.

Event by Christopher K. Johnson , Andrew Polk , and Gene Ma — May 14, 2018

Forty Years of U.S.-China Relations

CSIS is hosting a half-day event to discuss the twists and turns in the U.S.-China relationship over the last four decades and the challenges that lay ahead. The conference will feature key policy figures and experts from both the United States and China.

Event by John J. Hamre , Christopher K. Johnson , Scott Kennedy , and Bonnie S. Glaser — May 11, 2018