Chinese Politics Mini-Conference: China on the Global Stage: Policies and Reactions

Session Submission Type: In-Person Created Panel

Part of Mini-Conference

• 2021 APSA Chinese Politics In-Person Mini-Conference

Session Description

China has rapidly emerged as a global power, and China’s rise has generated various reactions in different parts of the globe. This panel examines China’s global emergence from multiple perspectives. Using primary Chinese-language documents and interviews with former Chinese officials, Ketian Zhang analyzes the characteristics and effectiveness of Chinese economic sanctions. Presenting a theoretically and empirically informed framework, Oriana Mastro advances the research of China-Russia relations and alliance theory in international relations more broadly. Maria Repnikova critically and empirically examines China’s governance training programs for African elites. Her research underscores the limitations of the “China authoritarian export” narrative and draws our attention to the importance of China’s symbolic politics in the Global South. Haifeng Huang shows with survey experimental evidence that the Chinese overwhelmingly overestimate the extent to which China has a positive global image. His research has implications for our understanding of misinformation and misperceptions related to China’s rise. With innovative ideas and original empirical evidence, this panel will advance our understanding of China’s rise.

Sub Unit

• Division 13: Politics of Communist and Former Communist Countries

Individual Presentations

• Just Do It: Characteristics and Effectiveness of Chinese Economic Sanctions - Ketian Zhang, George Mason University

• China’s Training of African Officials as a Soft Power Mechanism - Maria Repnikova, Georgia State University

• Posing Problems without Shacking Up: Sino-Russian Relations & Regional Security? - Oriana Skylar Mastro, Stanford University

• Triumphalism and Inconvenient Truth: National Self-Image in a Rising Power - Haifeng Huang, University of California, Merced

Chair

• Xiaoyu Pu University of Nevada, Reno

Discussants

• Thomas J. Christensen Columbia University

• Robert S. Ross Boston College