The presidency of Donald Trump has given China fresh opportunities to increase its influence on the international stage. China has long been seeking to expand its role in global governance, proposing initiatives on issues ranging from development and security to the regulation of the internet and AI. It’s also founded the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and is a prime mover in groups including the BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. At the recent annual China Development Forum, its premier Li Qiang told an audience of international executives that China was a ‘haven of stability’ in a volatile world. And Beijing, along with Pakistan, has now proposed a peace plan for Iran and the Middle East. Yet China also continues to assert what it sees as its core interests on issues including Taiwan, Hong Kong and the South China Sea, and in its tariff clashes with the US. And many observers have argued that China’s rise makes a conflict with the United States almost inevitable — in line with concepts such as power transition theory and the Thucydides trap. But a new article by two academics proposes an alternative analysis of China’s international role — as the leader of a ‘global opposition campaign’. Its co-authors, Todd Hall, professor of international relations and director of the China Centre at Oxford University and author of the book ‘Emotional Diplomacy - Official Emotion on the International Stage’, and Hannah Bailey, assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University and a specialist on Chinese global influence campaigns, join us to discuss China’s global ambitions, and the tensions between what they describe as the nation’s overlapping and sometimes contradictory personas.

Photo credit: kremlin.ru / CC BY 4.0

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The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are those of the speakers and are not necessarily those of the SOAS China Institute.
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