3 Toward Area Studies with Chinese Characteristics: Nature of the Discipline, Disciplinarity, and Development Path

by Xie Tao,Chen Yue,Dai Changzheng,Zhao Kejin,Zhai Kun&Li Wei

【Abstract】On December 28,2021,the School of International Relations and Diplomacy of Beijing Foreign Studies University held a symposium attended by wellknown Chinese scholars to discuss the discipline development and student cultivation of area studies.Presented below is a careful selection of some of their remarks.A consensus that emerges here is that with the increasing comprehensive national strength of China,it is an urgent task to build and deepen area studies.Given the country’s strategic needs and the laws governing disciplinary development,it is both necessary and feasible to promote area studies as a first-level discipline with Chinese characteristics.We should further clarify the disciplinary coverage,basic theories,research subjects,research methods,approaches to disciplinary development and student cultivation,and evaluation standards.We need to build up teaching staff,and give full play to the innovative power of inter-disciplinary cross-fertilization by promoting the integration of area studies with neighboring disciplines such as law,foreign languages and literature,and world history.Once area studies is recognized as a first-level discipline,it will be necessary to further explore the establishment of its subfields,strengthen the research on theories and methods,and focus on issue areas such as the politics,economy,history,law and society of great powers or developed countries,neighboring countries,and developing countries and regions.This will broaden knowledge in area studies to meet the needs of national security and development,contribute to the building of new international relations,and help China to take the lead in the reform of global governance system and in building a community with a shared future for mankind.

【Key Words】area studies,country and regional studies,international studies,regional studies,discipline development,interdisciplinarity,student cultivation

36 A Community with a Shared Future for Mankind and the Transformation of the International Order: An International Institutionalist Perspective

by Wang Mingguo

【Abstract】The construction of the international order is a major issue in international politics that has the uttermost global and strategic implications.As an order based on institutions,rules and organizations,the international order can,through institutional coordination,promote and regulate the interaction of countries on a global scale.Therefore,the international institutionalist perspective can help examine the crisis and the trend of the international order.The current international order is a composite order consisting of a liberal institutional order dominated by the west,an international order based on the Charter of the United Nations,and an emerging international order based on the “Belt and Road Initiative” practices.China and the international institutional order are in a profound transition.The community with a shared future for mankind,which outlines the blueprint and vision of the future international order,is the vision that guides China’s effort to promote the transformation of the international order.At present,the international institutional order has begun to gravitate away from a liberal institutional order based on western rules towards a new multilateral institutional order based on the community with a shared future for mankind.The latter is something for which the international community should work together.

【Key words】international institutional order,institutional transformation,community with a shared future for mankind,international institutions,global governance

55 The “Great Digital Game” Among China, the US and the EU in the Context of US Digital Hegemony

by Zhu Zhaoyi&Chen Xin

【Abstract】Relying on its first-mover advantages,vast pool of talent and technological edge,the United States has taken the lead in establishing industrial standards for the internet and the digital economy,which have gained acceptance in much of the international market.This has led to US “digital hegemony”.However,this hegemony is being challenged with the continuous rise of China’s digital economy and the EU’s gradual awakening to its “digital sovereignty”.In response,the US tries to prevent the expansion of Chinese digital companies in the US and beyond by using both domestic law and long-arm jurisdictions.It adopts a hybrid approach of both co-optation and suppression with regard to the EU.On one hand,it strengthens economic and technological cooperation with the EU to keep China down;on the other hand,it prevents the EU states from realizing their legitimate digital rights by creating divisions among them.With the intensifying “great digital game” among China,the US and Europe,the competition and cooperation of the three parties in the digital field are having great impact on the global digital economy,which is getting more pronounced and complex with the COVID-19 pandemic.China needs to maintain its late-mover advantage in digital technology and advantages of scale in population and market size,and seek opportunities for cooperation despite the prevailing competition.It needs to secure greater international space for China’s digital economy by seeking greater digital cooperation with the EU,and recognizing the long-term nature of its digital competition with the US,and work to expand market shares in other developing countries.

【Key Words】digital hegemony,tripartite game,digital economy,digital sovereignty

72 Norm Advocacy and Crisis Response: A Study on the WHO Performance in Global Health Governance

by Zhao Yang

【Abstract】In global health governance,the World Health Organization (WHO) has been relatively successful in shaping and promoting international norms concerning people’s health,but far less so in dealing with global health crises.This raises an important question: what accounts for the WHO’s contrasting performance in different issue-areas?Drawing on the theory of epistemic community,this article contends that the WHO is functionally similar to an epistemic community as it promotes effective global health governance using institutional persuasion mechanisms to shape consensus among member states.Through a comparative analysis,this article argues that as a norm entrepreneur,the WHO has successfully promoted the acceptance by the states of the right to health as a basic human right,while it has been incapable of coordinating national actions and providing effective guidance to national governments in the face of a crisis such as COVID-19.The root of the problem lies with the nature of an epistemic community,since its competence in promoting policy coordination rests on its professional knowledge rather than forceful means.While the WHO is able to effectively shape international consensus on long-term,normative issues through persuasion,it is unable to do so when facing a sudden crisis that demands immediate action.

【Key Words】the World Health Organization,global health governance,epistemic community,international consensus,international norms

95 Promoting China’s Maritime Discourse Power amid the Great Changes: Objectives, Constraints and Strategies

by Wang Xue

【Abstract】The great changes unseen in a century have great impact on not only China’s external strategic environment,but also its maritime security,and highlight the salience of the “maritime factor” for China’s national security.In this context,the development,progress and sustainability of China’s maritime cause require not only strong maritime military force for deterrence,but also persuasive discourse power to tell China’s “maritime story” consistent with the logic of “a community with a shared future.” China’s maritime discourse power is both an important component of its international discourse power,and an important factor affecting its maritime discourse security environment and its role in global maritime governance.It involves a number of dimensions including discourse control,persuasiveness,and contribution.The promotion of China’s maritime discourse power mainly concerns three aspects: interests (i.e.,the representation and preservation of its rights),values (i.e.,equal cooperation and mutual trust),and responsibilities (i.e.,institutional complementarity and improvement).At the same time,the promotion of China’s maritime discourse power is facing constraints arising from discourse fields,discourse interlocutors,and the country’s maritime discourse power itself.China’s unique political system,development path and the particular phase of its development also mean that it will face greater pressure from overseas public opinion when it is transforming itself from a great land power into a maritime great power.In response,China can improve the external discourse environment in many ways,such as adopting a differentiated approach toward different interlocutors,a systematic approach to enhancing maritime discourse power,and improving the ways in which its maritime discourse is disseminated.

【Key Words】great changes unseen in a century,maritime great power,maritime discourse power,maritime community with a shared future for mankind,international communication

114 The China Narratives of the German Green Party

by Lu Jiaojiao&Wu Jiang

【Abstract】Influenced by the “narrative turn” in the humanities and social sciences,narrative policy analysis has developed into an important approach to policy analysis.Narratives are seen as a central means in influencing policy processes and outcomes.Applying this approach to the analysis of the German Green Party’s China policy,this article sorts out its five types of China narratives in the past 16 years: the narratives of liberal values,European integration,China as a backward country,global challenges and global justice.Among them,the first three types of narratives account for 51.1%,viewing China as a “competitor” while the latter two types make up 48.9%,perceiving China as an “equal partner” and “cooperation partner”.The polarized narratives faithfully reflect the split in the German Green Party’s perceptions of China.As the Green Party has joined the German coalition as the second largest party,this will also directly influence the new German government’s China policy.Given this “narrative split”,we can make tailored narrative responses.On the one hand,we can compete with the Green Party for international narrative using the strategy of narrative diversification.On the other hand,we should help the Green Party transform its “values diplomacy” into “pragmatic diplomacy”by forging a narrative coalition with it,using the narrative of “community with a shared future for mankind” and the narrative of shared values.In addition,the status of the German Green Party as a ruling party is conducive to Sino-German narrative cooperation and the promotion of a discourse alliance between China and Germany.

【Key Words】China narratives,the German Green Party,Narrative Policy Analysis,foreign policy,China-Germany relations

132 Party Polarization, Democratic Crisis and the Failure of the US Government’s Handling of COVID-19

by Xing Yue&Liu Xiaoxin

【Abstract】Since the global outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020,the United States has been the country worst hit by the virus,and the US government’s handling of the pandemic is no doubt a failure.Many people blame this on President Trump or the inherent flaws of federalism.However,a careful review of federal policies shows that the Trump administration’s responses to COVID-19 differed over time.Facing the first wave of COVID-19,the administration achieved its policy goals by declaring the pandemic a national emergency,showing that Trump once had the will and federalism has the ability to manage the pandemic.However,since Trump did little in the two subsequent,more severe waves,his policies eventually failed.The presidential election was the main factor that led the administration to shift from proactive containment to passive response.During the election,the consultation and cooperation required for governance were abandoned,and the government was functionally paralyzed since it and even the whole political system were all geared towards the election.Even after the election was over,this competition and confrontation continue to affect the political system,making it difficult for the Biden administration’s pandemic measures to be effective.Fundamentally speaking,the failure of American pandemic governance is the result of the decline in governance capacity brought about by a deep crisis of American democracy.This crisis,which is caused by party polarization and triggered by the presidential election,is so severe that confrontation and winning the election become the mainstay of politics,effectively eclipsing compromise and governance.How to deal with the impact of party polarization on the democratic system is a major challenge for American democracy.

【Key Words】COVID-19,the US government,party polarization,democratic crisis,national emergency