Lecture Abstract:

With the rapid rise of China’s economic and military power, the question of a possible Chinese hegemony in East Asia is no longer a fanciful one. This seminar will take a look at China’s traditional hegemony in East Asian history when imperial China was the undisputed regional hegemony. It will then explore whether it’s possible for China to achieve a hegemonic status in contemporary East Asia, assuming that hegemony is a possible goal of Chinese foreign policy in the years ahead.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Feng Zhang is a Fellow in the Department of International Relations, Australian National University. He is currently a visiting research fellow at the East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore. His research focuses on Chinese foreign policy, East Asian international relations, and international relations theory. He is the author of Chinese Hegemony: Grand Strategy and International Institutions in East Asian History (Stanford University Press, 2015). He also writes regular commentaries on Chinese foreign policy for several major media outlets.