What Do Chinese Scholars Think About IR? — Ferran Pérez Mena

5. 6. 2024

This episode of The IR thinker examines the main contemporary schools of Chinese international relations theory with Dr Ferran Pérez Mena, focusing in particular on the Shanghai and Tsinghua schools, their theoretical foundations, key concepts such as moral realism and Chinese exceptionalism, and the ways in which they draw on traditional Chinese philosophy. The discussion explores how these ideas shape Chinese debates on economic statecraft, soft power, security and civilisational identity, and considers what this means for the future direction of China’s foreign policy and IR scholarship.

Ferran Pérez Mena

Dr Ferran Pérez Mena is Assistant Professor in International Relations of East Asia in the School of Government and International Affairs at Durham University in the United Kingdom. His research focuses on transnational connections between Chinese and Western non state actors, the formation of non Western transnational elite networks, and the relationship between Chinese IR scholars, the Chinese state and the development of Chinese ideas about world politics and international order.

Publications:

Contender States and Modern Chinese International Thought: From the Republican era until the ‘Chinese School of International Relations’

Farewell to revolution: the ‘Chinese School of IR’ and the depoliticisation of IR theory in post-Mao China

Content

00:00 - Introduction
02:41 - Major Contemporary Schools of Thought in Chinese International Relations
04:47 - Importance of Shanghai and Tsinghua Universities
05:45 - Acceptance of the Shanghai School of IR in China
07:43 - Theoretical Foundation of the Shanghai School of IR
11:10 - Key Actors in the Shanghai School of IR
12:14 - Key Figures and Contributions of the Shanghai School
14:49 - Overview of the Tsinghua School of IR
16:22 - Influence of Yan Xuetong
16:50 - Other IR Schools in China
18:03 - Integration of Traditional Chinese Philosophy in IR Theories
20:04 - Concept of Moral Realism
21:53 - Application of Chinese Moral Realism Internationally
23:38 - China’s Definition of Morality
25:22 - Chinese Exceptionalism
28:42 - Critique and Overlaps between Chinese and Western IR Theories
34:10 - Role of Economic Statecraft in IR
35:36 - Background of Economic Statecraft in China
37:39 - Tsinghua School of IR and Soft Power
39:21 - China’s Most Interesting Soft Power Instruments
41:41 - Security in Chinese IR Schools
44:14 - Publishing Security Issues in China
45:38 - Civilizational Identity
49:34 - Influence of Concepts and Theories on Chinese Foreign Policy
53:30 - Ferran’s Book on Chinese IR Schools
58:57 - Accessing Chinese Sources for the Book
01:00:23 - Future of Chinese IR Schools