Second of three series of lectures by Chisako T. Masuo, Associate Professor at Kyushu University. The other two will take place on 5 October and 17 December.
In 2003, the Hu Jintao administration optimistically argued that China would achieve a ‘Peaceful Rise’ in the global order and promoted cooperative multilateral diplomacy. However, when Hu Jintao retired as General Secretary of the Communist Party in 2012, China was surrounded by hostile neighbours across the sea, who were deeply suspicious about China’s maritime ambitions. The change in situations was brought about by the regular law enforcement activities in the South and East China Sea carried out by the China Marine Surveillance under the State Oceanic Administration (SOA). The SOA was a small, low-profile organisation in the late 1990s but grew rapidly in the 2000s by inflaming anti-Japanese nationalism over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Island issue in China. This seminar will review the SOA’s organisational history until its dismantlement in 2018 and discuss how domestic factors can affect external relations in China.
Speaker: Chisako T. Masuo (Kyushu University)
Organiser: Giulio Pugliese (University of Oxford and European University Institute)