Case study

UK-China Strategic Communication Initiative

This initiative is designed to promote a richer dialogue between the policy and academic communities of the UK and China on foreign and security issues.

The project is based on the premise that a major obstacle to mutual understanding on these issues is simply the language barrier. As the vast majority of English language academic and official publications on foreign affairs are not translated into Mandarin, China’s foreign and security policy community is not exposed to a significant portion of foreign policy debates that occur in the West. Equally, Western audiences are rarely confronted first-hand with Chinese views on these issues.

By commissioning or translating selected articles into Mandarin, and making them available on our website, the British Embassy aims to engage China’s academic and policy community in debate on selected issues of mutual concern such as proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, cyber-crime, military rivalry in Northeast Asia, conflict on the Korean peninsula, China’s relationship with Africa, and future security challenges in the region. Where possible, the authors will also be invited to present their ideas to a Chinese audience in Beijing. Chinese policy-makers and scholars will also be invited to respond in detail, and their responses posted in English on the website.

If you have suggestions for articles that might be suitable for translation or publication on the website, please write to fsp.beijing@fco.gsi.gov.uk The Embassy regrets that it is unable to reply to every suggestion.

Understanding the Cultural Fabric: The Missing Piece in China’s outreach to bring peace to Afghanistan

This article analyses China’s approach to Afghanistan and offers thoughts on how this could change in the future. It is jointly written by Kane Luo, Vice President of Wakhan Abresham Consulting Service, who is based in Afghanistan, and Raffaello Pantucci, Director of International Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute.

The Applicability of the Laws of War to Cyberspace: Exploration and Contention

Xu Longdi is an Associate Research Fellow at the China Institute of International Studies. In this article he looks at the ongoing international debate on the applicability of the laws of war in cyberspace.

China, North Korea and the Spread of Nuclear Weapons

This article investigates China’s relationship with DPRK and, in particular, what that relationship means for nuclear proliferation in East Asia.

How to build a new model of major power relationship between China and the US

Professor Zhang Tuosheng from the China Foundation for International and Strategic Studies discusses how to build a new model of major power relationship between China and the US.

Decision time for Central Asia: Russia or China?

Li Lifan and Raffaello Pantucci discuss the options facing Central Asian countries as Russia attempts to draw them into its fledgling Eurasian Union. Li Lifan is an Associate Research Professor at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. Raffaello Pantucci is a Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

China as a Military Power 1700-2050

Jeremy Black is Professor of History at the University of Exeter. In this, the second of his two articles on the evolution of China as a military power over the last thousand years, Professor Black examines the impact of modernity and the West on China, and China’s reaction. Professor Black uses this as the basis to project forward to 2050 and to consider some of the possible implications of China’s military history for its future.

Issues in Sino-US Nuclear Relations: Survivability, Coercion and Escalation

Dr Wu Riqiang, Renmin University, is one of China’s leading experts on nuclear strategic issues. In this article he takes issue with two recent articles, published in the US, on China’s nuclear modernisation programme. Dr Wu highlights some important differences between Chinese and Western understandings of key concepts in nuclear strategy, and makes some constructive and important suggestions for how to address these misunderstandings and misperceptions.

Power shifts, economic change and the decline of the west?

In this, the eighth in our series of articles on international security issues commissioned for our Strategic Communication project, Professor Michael Cox of the London School of Economics asks the question: ‘Is the West down and out?’ He offers a sceptical take on the popular concept of the decline of the West, and the related notion of the rise of China. Professor Michael Cox is Co- Director of London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) IDEAS and Professor of International Relations at LSE.

China as a Military Power to 1700

Jeremy Black is Professor of History at the University of Exeter. Graduating from Cambridge with a starred first, he did postgraduate work at Oxford, and then taught at Durham, eventually as professor, before moving to Exeter in 1996. He is the author of over 100 books, especially on eighteenth century British politics and international relations. Recent publications include War and World 1450-2000 (Yale), The British Seaborne Empire (Yale), Maps and History (Yale), George III (Yale) and European Warfare in a Global Context, 1660-1815 (Routledge).

Comrades and Strangers: An Outsider’s Perspective on China-DPRK Relations in a Dynamic Environment

In this, the sixth in our series of articles on international security issues commissioned for our Strategic Communication project, Dr Euan Graham of Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies discusses China’s relationship with North Korea (DPRK).

This article formed the basis of seminar discussions with Chinese experts that were held in Beijing on 2nd July. Two Chinese experts who participated in those discussions, Professors Shi Yinhong and Cheng Xiaohe of Beijing’s Renmin University, kindly offered written comments on Dr Graham’s paper, that we have added to the text. The views expressed in the article are the authors’ own, and do not necessarily reflect those of the UK government.

Roundtable Report: China’s Engagement in Non-Traditional Security

This joint Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) – Nottingham University report explores opportunities for UK-China cooperation in non-traditional security sectors, such as post-disaster assistance, peacekeeping and anti-piracy. Bottom-up cooperation in these sectors can provide a way to bypass any obstacles caused by ideological difference. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect those of the UK government.

“Bridging the gap”: Analysis of China’s export controls against international standards

This report by Mr Chin-Hao Huang (a PhD researcher at the University of Southern California and an Associated Research Fellow at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) provides an analysis of China’s export controls against international standards. The report includes a set of policy implications and recommendations. This research was funded by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Strategic Programme Fund.

The United States and China in East Asia: Dynamics of A Volatile Competition

In the first article we have commissioned from a Chinese scholar for our Strategic Communication project, Professor Shi Yinhong of Renmin University gives his perspective on the recent developments in China’s relationship with the US. The views expressed in the article are the author’s own, and do not necessarily reflect those of the UK government.

Why Worry? Sino-American Relations and World Order

In this, the fourth in our series of articles on international security issues commissioned for our Strategic Communication project, Professor Colin Gray of Reading University discusses China’s relationship with the US, and assesses the degree to which we should be concerned about its future prospects. The views expressed in the article are the author’s own, and do not necessarily reflect those of the UK government.

Preventing nuclear proliferation: the role and interests of China

On 29 February 2012, Professor Wyn Bowen of Kings College London discussed the special role and interests of China in confronting problem of nuclear proliferation with a group of Chinese proliferation experts and scholars. The paper he presented at the seminar on ‘Nuclear Non-proliferation: China’s role and interests’ is the third in our series of articles on international security issues commissioned for our Strategic Communication project. The views expressed in the article are the author’s own, and do not necessarily reflect those of the UK government.

The Maps are Too Small: Geography, Strategy and the National Interest

In this, the second of our series of articles on international security issues selected for our Strategic Communication project, Dr Patrick Porter challenges some of the central underlying concepts of ‘the national interest’ that have underpinned UK foreign policy in recent years.

12th Annual Chief of Defence Staff Lecture

12th Annual Chief of Defence Staff Lecture: Speech delivered by Chief of Defence Staff at the Royal United Services Institute, London on Wednesday 14 December 2011

Support an economic transition in Afghanistan

Author: Stephen Hill, Second secretary in Political Section, Embassy Beijing

From the days of the Silk Road, China has a long and impressive history of commerce, stretching across the globe. This is no less true today. The Scandinavian furniture I brought from the UK for my flat here in Beijing was, in fact, made in China in the first place. The Chinese have business in their veins. Across the world such business brings with it many benefits, but even more so in China’s own neighbourhood.

The Freedom of the Seas: Why it matters

In late November 2011, Geoffrey Till, Professor of Maritime Studies at Kings College London, participated in embassy-sponsored discussions on the South China Sea with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and with Chevening alumni in Beijing. His article on ‘the Freedom of the Seas’ is the first in a series of articles on international security issues specially commissioned and translated for our UK-China Strategic Communication Project. The views expressed in the article are the author’s own, and do not necessarily reflect those of the UK government.

Published 27 June 2013
Last updated 23 April 2015 + show all updates
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