The Art of State Persuasion: China’s strategic use of media in interstate disputes
Key information
- Date
- Time
-
5:00 pm to 6:30 pm
- Venue
- Russell Square: College Buildings
- Room
- RB01
- Event type
- Seminar & Event highlights
About this event
Why do nations actively publicize previously overlooked disputes, and why does domestic mobilization sometimes fail to lead to aggressive policy?
The Art of State Persuasion explores China’s strategic use of state propaganda during crises, revealing why certain disputes are amplified while others are downplayed. This variation depends on the alignment, or lack thereof, between Chinese state policy and public opinion. When public sentiment is more moderate than the government’s foreign policy objectives, a “mobilization campaign” is initiated. Conversely, when public opinion is more hawkish, a “pacification campaign” is deployed to mollify public sentiment.
Wang’s research, utilizing medium-N and case-study analyses alongside textual analysis, interviews, and archival data, elucidates the mechanics of these campaigns and help discern state foreign policy intentions. It underscores the importance of managing fluctuating public sentiment through diverse discursive tactics, challenging the conventional view of China’s propaganda as uniformly aggressive.
About the speaker
Prof. Frances Y. Wang is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Colgate University. Her research agenda covers international security, authoritarian media and public opinion during interstate conflicts, and Chinese foreign policy. Her book with Oxford University Press, The Art of State Persuasion: China’s Strategic Use of Media in Interstate Disputes, investigates China’s media statecraft throughout its foreign conflicts.
Dr. Wang’s research has been published in peer-reviewed academic journals such as Security Studies, Journal of Contemporary China, International Studies Quarterly, as well as general publications such as The Diplomat, South China Morning Post, and The Independent. She received her PhD from the University of Virginia. She was previously an Assistant Professor at the Singapore Management University, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Notre Dame’s International Security Center, a Minerva-United State Institute of Peace Scholar, a predoctoral fellow at the Institute for Security and Conflict Studies of the George Washington University, and a senior editor at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Chair: Professor Steve Tsang, Director, SOAS China Institute
Registration
This event is free to attend, but registration is required. Please note that seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.
This event is taking place on campus and will not be recorded or live-streamed.
Organiser
Contact
- Email: sci@soas.ac.uk
