Beyond the Belt and Road: Anastasia Lin on China's expansionist vision with Tom Switzer

In this conversation, former Miss World Canada and human rights advocate Anastasia Lin delivers a stark warning about China's strategic ambitions and what they mean for Australia's future. Drawing from her thirteen years of experience growing up in communist China, where she was once tasked with indoctrinating fellow students, Lin offers an insider's perspective on the Chinese Communist Party's worldview.

Lin articulates how initiatives like Belt and Road and Made in China 2025 are not merely economic programs but components of a carefully orchestrated strategy to achieve global dominance. She challenges the prevailing narrative that Australia must choose between economic prosperity and democratic values, arguing that the country's dependency on a one-party authoritarian state represents a dangerous vulnerability rather than a pragmatic necessity.

Particularly disturbing is her account of China's forced labour camps, where political and religious prisoners produce goods that undercut Western manufacturing. Lin explains how this system, combined with intellectual property theft and predatory investment practices, has enabled China to hollow out Western industrial capacity while extending its influence globally.