'Head to Head': Mehdi Hasan & China insider Victor Gao | Al Jazeera

Be part of our TV recording at Conway Hall on July 9. Reserve your seats now.

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In this episode of Head to Head, Mehdi Hasan challenges political commentator Victor Gao, a Chinese Communist Party insider who once served as translator for Leader Deng Xiaoping and has been a staunch defender of CCP policies and leadership ever since.

In the course of just half a century, China has emerged as an economic giant knocking on the door of superpower status. While human rights groups have raised alarm about the treatment of dissidents and ethnic minorities at home, China under Xi Jinping has been gradually expanding its economic and political reach abroad, investing billions in developing countries in exchange for critical natural resources. The country’s increasingly assertive stance in the South China Sea, meanwhile, is causing friction with the US and regional neighbors alike, and casting doubts about its peaceful ambitions for development. Thirty-five years after the Tiananmen Square protests over economic reform and democracy, we ask:

• Is China aiming to change the world order?
• What is the cost of dissent in China?
• And is it building a fairer development model for the Global South, or establishing a new form of imperialism?

In recent years, Victor Gao made headlines threatening nuclear war against Australia and suggesting Taiwan be reunited with China by any means necessary. Still, as Vice president of the Beijing-based Center for China and Globalization, Gao holds firm that China's domestic and foreign ambitions are fundamentally peaceful.

Tickets are free of charge but must be booked on Eventbrite in order for you to gain entry. Seats will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. So please arrive by 6.30pm to avoid disappointment. The recording will begin at 7.30pm.

Please note, all attendees must be aged 18 or over and bags will be checked on entry.

This event is being recorded, and will be broadcast globally on the Al Jazeera Network at a later date. By being a member of the audience, you are agreeing to be a part of this international TV production.