OUS-London Presents China Rising: China’s new role in global politics and why it will matter for Britain

Delivered by Professor Rana Mitter
Oxford University Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China, Deutsche Bank Director of the University of Oxford China Centre and Fellow, St Cross College

Beijing’s policies continue to dominate the news in the Asia-Pacific region.  Will China and Japan confront each other in the seas of East Asia?   Will China be able to smooth tensions with the neighbours?  What will the rise of China mean for a post-Brexit Britain?  This lecture will explore how the battered and impoverished China of wartime became today’s superpower in the making – and why it will affect all of us for decades to come.

Fascinated by China since his youth, Rana Mitter read Chinese at Cambridge and developed an interest in the connection between Chinese nationalism and the experience of war and occupation. His research interests focus upon the emergence of nationalism in modern China, both in the early twentieth century and in the contemporary era, and in particular the impact of China’s war with Japan in the 1930s and 1940s on the development of Chinese politics, society, and culture.

Rana is a prolific writer of books and articles. His publications include The Manchurian Myth: Nationalism, Resistance and Collaboration in Modern China and A Bitter Revolution: China’s Struggle with the Modern World for which he was named Young Academic Author of the Year by the Times Higher Education Supplement in 2005 and Modern China: A Very Short Introduction. He also hosts, presents and contributes regularly to programmes on television and radio including the BBC’s Start the Week, Today, Night Waves, Brief Lives, Thinking Allowed, and The Sunday Feature. In 2011 he interviewed Henry Kissinger on the publication of his book On China and the topics stretched from Kissinger’s views of Truman and Eisenhower, through the Nixon visit, to contemporary issues of human rights and democracy and the future of US-China relations.

Following the lecture drinks and canapés will be served providing the customary OUS-London opportunity to meet with fellow alumni and guests.

There is an additional charge to join the post event reception, please contact info@chinaexchange.uk if you wish to join.

Event Schedule:

6:30pm: Arrivals
7:00pm: Lecture
8:00pm: Post event reception with refreshments