Casper is a sinologist, Japanologist, and university lecturer in East Asian Studies at Leiden University. He focuses on the geopolitics of China, Japan, and Taiwan, as well as the EU’s relations with this region. Previously, he worked at the universities of Cambridge and Tübingen. In Leiden, he developed a special course on the growing influence of authoritarian states within the international system. In addition, he regularly engages in public debates about geopolitics, EU-China/Taiwan/Japan relations, and the threat posed by authoritarian regimes.
Media appearances
NPO Radio 1 – Dr. Kelder & Co
📅 20 september 2025
China’s influence & soft power under the microscope
BNR Nieuwsradio
📅 8 september 2025
Japanese prime minister steps down, leadership battle flares up
BNR Nieuwsradio
📅 2 september 2025
U.S. trade tariffs are actually making China “great again”
NPO Radio 1
📅 26 augustus 2025
The bomb is no longer taboo in Japan
BNR Nieuwsradio
📅 5 augustus 2025
Aging hits hard: “Digitalization in Japan is progressing extremely slowly”
NPO Radio 1 – Vroeg! (Podcast)
📅 28 juli 2025
Why are relations between China and Europe deteriorating?
VRT
📅 20 juli 2025
Japanese ruling coalition loses its majority in the Upper House: “This is quite dramatic”
NU.nl (video)
📅 16 jul 2025
Chinese invasion draws closer: this is how Taiwan prepares its citizens
NPO Radio 1
📅 13 juli 2025
“A Chinese invasion could happen soon”
Vroeg! – NPO Radio 1 (Podcast)
📅 5 juni 2025
“China is investing like crazy in green energy”
NPO Radio 1
📅 21 mei 2025
Minister Veldkamp visits China: Strengthening economic ties or being critical of human rights?
BNR Nieuwsradio
📅 21 mei 2025
Minister Veldkamp talks in China, but Beijing offers little in return
Bureau Buitenland – NPO Radio 1
📅 21 april 2025
Japan’s growing need for a strong defense
NRC
📅 11 april 2025
Opinion | Europe could learn from Japan
NPO Start – Bar Laat
📅 9 april 2025
Bar Laat
De Volkskrant
📅 26 maart 2025
Opinion: Europe must take over the free media that Trump is now recklessly dismantling
Red Pers
📅 17 maart 2025
The Netherlands lacks a geopolitical compass as the world order falters
NU.nl
📅 23 februari 2025
Trump creates chaos and unintentionally helps China become a world power
Trouw
📅 12 februari 2025
Opinion: Our amoral attitude gives China a major military advantage
NRC
📅 30 januari 2025
Opinion | In their idealism, pacifists deny the danger of authoritarian aggression
Vroeg! – NPO Radio 1 (Podcast)
📅 23 januari 2025
Chinese delegation visits Prime Minister Schoof and the King
NPO Radio 1
📅 16 januari 2025
Chinese government acts as matchmaker
De Volkskrant
📅 14 november 2024
Opinion: Education cuts are a symptom of the Netherlands’ geopolitical carelessness
EenVandaag
📅 14 september 2024
It was tense aboard frigate Tromp when a Chinese helicopter came dangerously close
NPO Radio 1 – Vroeg! (Podcast)
📅 9 september 2024
Mao Zedong: Influence 48 years after his death
NRC
📅 8 september 2024
Opinion | The Netherlands must support Taiwan’s participation in the UN
NPO Radio 1 – Vroeg! (Podcast)
📅 27 augustus 2024
Japan and its political apathy
De Volkskrant
📅 25 augustus 2024
Opinion: We might end up missing Japanese Prime Minister Kishida
NU.nl
📅 10 juni 2024
China changes hundreds of Uyghur place names: “Our history is being erased”
NU.nl
📅 24 mei 2024
Taiwan surrounded: What is China trying to achieve?
BNR Nieuwsradio
📅 3 januari 2024
“The fear of earthquakes remains part of Japanese life”
De Morgen
📅 25 september 2023
EU Commission takes a tougher stance toward Beijing: “Fewer and fewer reasons to stay friends with China”
De Volkskrant
📅 7 september 2023
Opinion: With all those billions in fossil fuel subsidies, we’re playing into China’s hands
de Volkskrant
📅 23 augustus 2023
#Barbenheimer fantastic? In Japan, they think a bit differently
Universiteit van Nederland
📅 9 juli 2023
Why should you worry about China and Taiwan?
Vroeg! – NPO Radio 1 (Podcast)
📅 6 juli 2023
China and the West: Why are tensions rising?
EU-China Climate Cooperation
📅 4 juli 2023
EU-China Climate Cooperation in an Age of Geopolitical Rivalry
Universiteit van Nederland
📅 14 juni 2023
How our sneakers contribute to the erasure of a culture
RTL Nieuws
📅 14 april 2023
Japanese people don’t want children, so the population continues to age
NRC
📅 11 april 2023
Opinion | Europe must clearly defend democracy against China
NPO Radio 1 – Vroeg! (Podcast)
📅 29 maart 2023
What will happen to Taiwan? (Casper Wits)
de Volkskrant
📅 13 oktober 2022
Opinion: Europe must start taking China’s soft power seriously
RTL Nieuws
📅 2 augustus 2022
Will Taiwan conflict escalate with Pelosi’s visit? “China sees this as an attack”
NRC
📅 19 juli 2022
Opinion | The EU’s China policy must protect democracy
POLITICO
📅 20 juni 2022
The Uyghurs: Europe’s complicity and entanglement with China
RTL Nieuws
📅 21 april 2022
China stubbornly clings to its zero-COVID policy, but anger over lockdowns grows
Mare Online
📅 17 februari 2022
Our people are dying out, and you’re celebrating
NOS
📅 21 januari 2022
China funds human rights research at VU
POLITICO
📅 23 december 2021
Europe’s ideological tug-of-war with Beijing
NRC
📅 25 oktober 2021
Opinion | Doubts about Enlightenment ideals play into China’s hands
Follow the Money
📅 3 juli 2021
Even in Dutch classrooms, the Party is listening
de Volkskrant
📅 10 mei 2021
Conflict between Taiwan and China draws closer. The Netherlands must help the progressive democracy
NRC
📅 29 maart 2021
Opinion | China is a threat to the democratic rule of law
