Cristina joined King’s as a PhD student in October 2021. She is part of the joint PhD program with the National University of Singapore. Her research focuses on EU-China relations and the evolution of the EU’s role as a security actor in Asia.

Prior to joining King’s, Cristina worked at EsadeGeo, at the EU Institute for Security Studies (Asia desk) and at the EU Delegation to Australia. She is also a regular contributor to El Orden Mundial (EOM) and has collaborated with other think tanks and media, including the EU Centre in Singapore, Cadena Ser and El Español.

Cristina holds an MSc in Strategic Studies from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Singapore and a BA in International Relations from the Rey Juan Carlos University, Spain. Cristina speaks Spanish and English and has an intermediate level of French and Mandarin Chinese.

Research

• EU-China relations
• EU-Asia relations
• Geopolitical dynamics in East Asia
• ASEAN
• Interregionalism
• Soft balancing

PhD supervisors

Prof Ramón Pacheco Pardo and Dr Tomas Maltby (King's College London)

Prof Ja Ian Chong (NUS)

Latest publications

• Monika Sus, Marie Vandendriessche, Angel Saz-Carranza, Giovanni Gruni & Cristina de Esperanza, “Towards Effective, Coherent and Sustainable EU External Action: Laying the Ground for the ENGAGE White Paper,” Working Paper Series, December 2021, https://www.engage-eu.eu/publications/towards-effective-coherent-and-sustainable-eu-external-action
• Alice Ekman and Cristina de Esperanza Picardo, “China’s communication strategy towards the EU: increasingly sceptical reception”, in (ed.) Ties Dams, Xiaoxue Martin and Vera Kranenburg, China’s Soft Power in Europe Falling on Hard Times, European Think Tank Network on China, April 2021, https://www.clingendael.org/sites/default/files/2021-04/Report_ETNC_Chinas_Soft_Power_in_Europe_Falling_on_Hard_Times_2021.pdf
• Alice Ekman and Cristina de Esperanza Picardo, “towards urban decoupling? China’s smart city ambitions at the time of Covid-19,” European Union Institute for Security studies, May 14, 2020, https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep25030.