21 March 2018, 3:30-5pm.

Location: Room 711, Adam Smith Building, University of Glasgow.

Abstract: In order to foster a favourable international environment to promote Belt and Road Initiative, the Chinese government has invested considerable effort and resources in constructing and disseminating its strategic narratives. However, these efforts have been undermined by its domestic politics. This talk will show how the formation process of OBOR has led to a variety of policy narratives in China. When combining with enormous economic interests, local political actors within the authoritarian regime have deployed their preferred narratives to influence, reshape and even challenge Beijing. These competing narratives have made it very difficult for Beijing to unify and project strategic narratives in its will at international stage. This domestic competing dynamic represents an increasingly challenge for Beijing to foster effective international communication.

Speaker biography: Jinghan Zeng is Deputy Director of the Centre for Politics in Africa, Asia and the Middle East (AAME) and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Relations at Royal Holloway, University of London. His research lies in the field of Chinese politics with more specific interests in domestic politics of China's rise. He is interested in how China perceives its role and the impact of domestic politics on this perception. He is the author of The Chinese Communist Party's Capacity to Rule: Ideology, Legitimacy and Party Cohesion (2015). His academic papers have appeared in Journal of Contemporary China, International Affairs, JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, Contemporary Politics, Australian Journal of International Affairs among others. He frequently appears in the media including the BBC, ABC Australia, Al Jazeera, Russia Today (RT) and China Global Television Network (CGTN). He has written op-ed articles for The Diplomat, BBC(Chinese), The Conversation, Policy Forum among others. Before his academic career, he worked for the United Nations’ Department of Economic and Social Affairs in New York City.

First published: 6 January 2018

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