China’s Multipolarity Discourse and US-China Rivalry

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Date: Tuesday, 6 June 2023
Time: 17:00 -18:00
Venue: MY 401 Murphy Building, VUW (map to the venue) Register: ChinaCentre@vuw.ac.nz

Abstract

The concept of polarity, a shorthand for the number of great powers in the international system, is of both practical and academic interest. The concept has been used by policy makers and diplomats to understand state behaviour, and by academics to explain a variety of important phenomenon, including the occurrence of war in the international system, the level of free trade, and alliance patterns. What is China’s view of polarity since 1949? Through the twists and turns of Cold War and post-Cold War international politics, the mainstream response from Chinese officials, policymakers, and academics has been clear. Specifically, the movement toward multipolarity is an inexorable and welcome development. This talk investigates the Chinese discourse on multipolarity and the related concept of multipolarisation. It then examines the divergence between this discourse and the reality of increasing US-China bipolar rivalry, with specific reference to the contemporary Indo-Pacific region

About the Speaker

Nicholas Khoo (PhD Columbia, MA Johns Hopkins, BA University of California) is Associate Professor in the Politics Programme at the University of Otago. His research focuses on Chinese foreign policy, great power politics, and Asian security. Nicholas has been a Visiting Fellow at the School of International Studies at Peking University, and a Visiting Professor at the Foreign Affairs College (both in Beijing, China). In addition, he has held positions at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (Singapore), the Council of Foreign Relations (Washington, D.C.), and the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (Washington, DC).

Nicholas’s single-authored publications include: Collateral Damage: Sino-Soviet Rivalry and the Termination of the Sino-Vietnamese Alliance (New York: Columbia University Press, 2011); Return to Power: China and East Asia Since 1978 (Edward Elgar, 2020). His co-authored publications include: Asian Security and the Rise of China: International Relations in an Age of Volatility (Edward Elgar,2013); Security at a Price: The International Politics of U.S. Missile Defense (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017); and Chinese Foreign Policy Since 1949: The Emergence of a Great Power (Routledge, 2022).