Charles Parton is a senior associate fellow at MERICS. He served for 37 years in the UK diplomatic service, with over 20 of those years spent dealing with China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Among other things, he advised member states at the EU delegation in Beijing on how China's policies might affect their interests. At MERICS, Charles will closely follow the preparations for the 20th Party Congress and analyze its significance for Europe. He is also a member of the UK think tank Council on Geostrategy and the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies (RUSI).