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China’s US Experts Must Focus on Internal Conflicts to Navigate Rivalry, Scholar Argues
🇨🇳 China /Conflict & Security

China’s US Experts Must Focus on Internal Conflicts to Navigate Rivalry, Scholar Argues

From South China Morning Post · (6m ago) English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • A top Chinese scholar argues that Chinese experts on the US must focus on internal American conflicts to aid Beijing's rivalry with Washington.
  • Ni Feng suggests that Chinese research on the US needs to be updated to include shifts in political culture, racial tensions, economic unsustainability, protectionism, and populism.
  • He advocates for an autonomous, China-centered knowledge system of the US, driven by China's national interests and security concerns, rather than following Western academic agendas.

In the escalating 'great power game' between China and the United States, a leading academic voice from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is calling for a strategic recalibration of how China studies America. Ni Feng, a researcher and former director at the Institute of American Studies, asserts that Chinese scholars must move beyond superficial analyses and delve deeper into the internal fissures that are fundamentally reshaping the United States.

Without updating our knowledge base on these issues, it will be difficult to achieve a breakthrough in constructing a new research paradigm.

— Ni FengExplaining the need for updated research on internal US conflicts.

Ni's argument, published in the Journal of the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, highlights critical areas that demand greater scholarly attention: the volatile shifts in American political culture, the persistent and heightened racial tensions, the inherent unsustainability of the US economic and fiscal model, and the pervasive influence of protectionism and populism. He contends that without a comprehensive update to our knowledge base on these internal dynamics, China will struggle to develop a truly effective research paradigm to navigate the complexities of US-China competition.

Since 2017, when Washington officially designated Beijing as a 'strategic competitor,' the field of American studies in China has been tasked with serving the national interest in this intensifying rivalry. Ni emphasizes that this competition has transcended mere trade disputes, evolving into a broader struggle for global influence. To meet this challenge, Chinese academics must cultivate an autonomous, China-centered system of knowledge about the US.

entered a new stage serving the great power game

— Ni FengDescribing the evolution of American studies in China since 2017.

This requires scholars to first clarify their own identity and purpose: 'who are we' and 'why are we studying the US?' Ni insists that the research agenda must be driven by China's national interests and security concerns, rather than passively adopting the topics and frameworks set by American academia. He observes that current Chinese research on the US remains too superficial, lacking the penetrating structural insights necessary to inform Beijing's strategic decision-making. This shift is crucial for China to effectively understand and counter US strategies in this new era of competition.

driven by China’s national interests and security concerns

— Ni FengAdvocating for the direction of Chinese research on the US.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by South China Morning Post in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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