CHINESE STUDIES

The aim of this course is to introduce students to the contemporary challenges surrounding China’s rise. Over the past two decades, China has emerged as a major actor in the international arena, and its economy is expected to soon become the largest in the world. Since President Xi Jinping took office in 2012, China has pursued a more assertive and ambitious foreign policy. This global ascendance, however, coincides with growing challenges to the international community, including geopolitical tensions, economic fragmentation, and climate change. In this context, simplistic or one-sided narratives about China can be misleading and counterproductive. The course seeks to provide a more nuanced and comprehensive understanding of China’s role and ambitions on the world stage. To this end, the course is structured into three parts. First, it offers a foundational overview of China’s historical exceptionalism and the enduring influence of its civilizational worldview on its international relations. This background is essential for interpreting China’s contemporary behavior and strategic choices. Second, students will engage with key debates concerning China’s domestic development and internal challenges. For instance: Did China’s rapid economic growth alleviate or worsen inequality? How has the Chinese government addressed issues such as environmental degradation and climate change? Third, the course explores China’s evolving global role, analyzing its political, economic, and cultural engagement, as well as its bilateral and regional relationships.

None. This is an elective course designed to be valuable both to those with no background in the study of China and to those who wish to deepen an existing knowledge of China.

By the end of the course ‘Chinese Studies’, students should: 1) Knowledge and Understanding: Be familiar and be able to describe competing viewpoints and approaches in the analysis of China’s relevance in world affairs; Have an understanding of major theoretical frameworks used to explain political change and economic development about modern and contemporary China; Acquired the “cultural literacy” and the “mind-set” needed to understand from the ‘inside’ the peculiarities of Asian cultures, notably the Sino-centric exceptionalism of China 2) Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: The student will be able to gradually apply the knowledge in relation to the key empirical characteristics of major events and key figures in contemporary China as well as their impacts in world affairs through the practical activities foreseen during the on-campus lectures, such as participation in the working groups, classroom debates, seminars by experts/ guest speakers; the student will also be able to develop analysis and synthesis skills related to dealing with China’s relevance to international politics issues. In addition, students will have further improved soft skills in accord with the objectives of the Luiss Master's programs: they will have improved their knowledge about the emerging challenge of China's rise and developed their awareness of the intricacies of global politics. 3) Autonomy of judgement: The student will be able to critically discuss the most important Chinese ‘actors’; their relevance in relation to the foreign policy decision-making processes within and outside the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The student will also have developed the necessary critical awareness to differentiate the most appropriate sources with regards to debates dealing with contemporary China, namely by distinguishing between academic, policy-oriented and journalistic sources. 4) Communication skills: The student will have gained the ability to communicate the notions learned thanks to the transversal skills (critical analysis skills, synthesis skills, ability to organize team work and team building) acquired during the course.

1. The Sinic-Confucian World 2. Chinese Political Thought and Exceptionalism in a Global Context 3. Revolution and Transformation: From the Fall of Empire to the Rise of the CPC 4. The Mao Zedong Years and China in the Cold War 5. Reform and Opening: Deng Xiaoping’s China and the Globalization Era 6. The Chinese Communist Party and Elite Politics in Contemporary China 7. Civil Society, State-Society Relations, and Environmentalism in China 8. Foreign Policy and Public Diplomacy in a Changing Global Order 9. China and the Global South: Development Cooperation and the BRICS Coalition 10. Technology, Trade, and Strategic Rivalry: The China–US Relationship 11. China–EU Relations 12. China and Global Governance: Multilateralism, IFIs, and Normative Contestation 13. China and Regional Security: Indo-Pacific and the Taiwan issue

Readings: 1) David Shambaugh (eds.), China and the World, Oxford University Press, 2020 (selected chapters) 2) Lee Jones and Shahar Hameiri, Fractured China. How State Transformation is shaping China's rise, Cambridge University Press, 2021 (selected chapters) 3) Sources available on Luiss learn (readings, and government documents, videos & podcasts) 4) ConnectedChina by Reuters http://connectedchina.reuters.com/ Additional recommended readings: 1) Jilin Xu, Rethinking China's Rise (edited and translated by David Ownby), Cambridge University Press, 2018 2) William Callahan, China: The Pessoptimist Nation, Oxford University Press, 2009.

Lectures on campus; case study discussion; presentations and team work; guest lectures by experts/invited speakers

Group project work – 20% of the final grade Throughout the course, there will be short presentations (15 min) done by students in team. Topics for team presentations are discussed in class. The topic is assigned by the instructor, and the team selects some aspects/key issues (case-study analysis) to be discussed in class Weekly questions – 20% of the final grade Reading Reflection - 30% of the final grade (the list of available readings will be published on the MyLuiss platform at the beginning of the course) Final assessment – 30% of the final grade

Strong interest about Chinese domestic politics, China’s economic development, China’s role in Global Affairs.