Panel discussion: China's economic statecraft as a tool of international influence

While economic diplomacy has been a key feature of China's foreign policy in the past, recent initiatives have led to the development of a more proactive form of economic statecraft. Chinese projects as part of the ambitious Belt and Road Initiative and its economic investments in regional infrastructure projects have generated significant interest. Join us for a discussion on China's economic statecraft with our four panelists:

Chair: Professor Evelyn Goh (Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University)

Speakers:

Professor Taylor Fravel (Department of Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology). China's BRI as a tool of international influence

Dr Alvin Camba (Assistant Professor, Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver). How the UFWD influences Southeast Asia's Informational Space

Mr Emirza Adi Syailendra (PhD Candidate, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University). Enduring China: How do Key Southeast Asian States Mediate Chinese Economic Influence in Southeast Asia despite the South China Sea dispute?

Evelyn Goh FBA FASSA is the Shedden Professor of Strategic Policy Studies at the ANU Strategic and Defence Studies Centre. She is also Director of the ANU Southeast Asia Institute. Goh's scholarship focuses on East Asian security and international relations, and she is a leading authority on Southeast Asian security strategies.

M. Taylor Fravel is the Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science and Director of the Security Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He studies international relations, with a focus on international security, China, and East Asia. His current research projects include a focus on China's BRI as a tool of international influence, US policy options in the South China Sea, the drivers of China's nuclear modernization, and power transitions amid territorial disputes. He has numerous research publications to his credit including the books, Strong Borders, Secure Nation: Cooperation and Conflict in China's Territorial Disputes, published by Princeton University Press in 2008 and Active Defense: China's Military Strategy Since 1949 published by Princeton University Press in 2019.

Alvin Camba is an Assistant Professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. He received his PhD in Sociology from the Johns Hopkins University. He is a faculty affiliate at the Center for International Environment & Resource Policy and the Climate Policy Lab at the Fletcher School at Tufts University. His research has been awarded multiple best research paper awards by several academic networks (International Studies Association, American Sociological Association, GRADNAS) and he has been published in top development and political economy journals (e.g., Review of International Political Economy, Development and Change, Energy Research and Social Science). He has also contributed to widely-circulated think tank policy papers (e.g. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the International Republican Institute, and Center for International Private Enterprise) on China's activities in Southeast Asia.

Emirza Adi Syailendra is a PhD Candidate at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre (SDSC), Australian National University (ANU), under the supervision of Prof. Evelyn Goh. His thesis investigates the persistence of maritime Southeast Asian countries' restraint towards China in the post-Cold War period despite China's increased assertiveness in the South China Sea. He is developing an innovative framework to unpack the negotiation of tacit understandings to help answer the puzzle of mutual restraint between China and Southeast Asia. For his thesis, Emir spent time in the field, including Indonesia and Malaysia, conducting interviews with the relevant elite.

Zoom information will be sent in the confirmation email.

For more information, contact the GRADNAS (The Graduate Research and Development Network on Asian Security) Coordinator, Dr. Stuti Bhatnagar at gradnas@anu.edu.au.

This event is the second in the GRADNAS Seminar series of 2023 that will showcase the cutting-edge academic research on Asian security by GRADNAS members. It presents an exciting opportunity for research exchange involving the network, providing a regular occasion for GRADNAS scholars to share and receive feedback on their ongoing and published research. Join us as we celebrate and showcase the excellent research by GRADNAS members and friends. Visit our website here.