China’s global internet ambitions: Finding roots in ASEAN The Internet is central to the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) economic and governance ambitions. By 2017, China was home to more than 731 million Internet users, already the largest internet population in the world, and with millions more having followed since. Its technology giants are now global leaders in e- commerce, internet finance, communication, artificial intelligence, and so on, and now makeup four out of the top 10 internet companies in the world. The aspiration of building itself into a ‘strong internet power’ has assumed central importance within the CPC leadership’s...