Future Research

Future Research Projects

In the next few years, I plan to work on a number of new projects to continue my research interests on Chinese foreign policy, Taiwan’s economic statecraft, and discourse analysis. More specifically, I have developed these ongoing research agendas: The China-Hong Kong-Taiwan triangle, Discursive power in U.S.-China relations, and Comparative economic statecraft in Asia. They can not only make theoretical contributions to power politics and discourse analysis, but also help policymakers to better understand China’s re-emergence in terms of its economy and military capabilities in Asia and beyond.

 I. The China-Hong Kong-Taiwan Triangle

I am currently developing a book-length project on investigating the discursive linkages in the triangle of China-Hong Kong-Taiwan relations. Specifically, it includes three research themes on the social movements in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and their identity formations from 2014 to 2020.

1. Denial of Recognition

This study shows that explicit Chinese statements recognizing Hong Kong’s and Taiwan’s efforts in maintaining the rule of law and a democratic system have received positive approval in these places. This research proposal analyzes the dynamic of China’s political recognition: if China recognizes positively Hong Kong’s and Taiwan’s self-identities, then these two places are more likely to stick to their self-images and behave moderately.

On the other hand, if China grants denial of recognition toward Hong Kong and Taiwan, then political discourses in these two places might converge together to challenge China’s legitimacy. China’s continuous denial to these places might create unintended, yet significant, consequences that it did not anticipate in the beginning. The convergence of discourse on progressive values from Taiwan and Hong Kong has made China the negative reference point of everything that they do not and will not want to be.

2. Beijing’s Framing Strategy of Hong Kong’s Social Movements

The Umbrella Movement in 2014 and the Anti-extradition bill protests in 2019 were two major periods of social unrest in Hong Kong. However, Chinese people both at home and overseas felt little sympathy for Hong Kong’s quest for autonomy and the rule of law. Meanwhile, Beijing adopted similar language to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in framing the local movements.

Based on China’s official statements during these two social movements, archival documents of the Tiananmen Square incident, and media coverage in Hong Kong and the West, this project proposes the framework of strategic framing in understanding how an authoritarian regime delegitimizes social movements that demand civil liberties and the rule of law. It argues that China’s official stance in 1989 served as the meta-narrative in shaping both the domestic and foreign audiences’ understanding of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests in 2014 and 2019. This study engages the current literature on Chinese foreign policy, the mobilization strategy of social movements, and China-Hong Kong relations.

3. The “time analogy” in Hong Kong and Taiwan Discourse

A popular slogan in the region currently is “Today Hong Kong, Tomorrow Taiwan.” This indicates not only closer linkages between Hong Kong and Taiwan when faced with a stronger China, but also the convergence of political discourse in the activist communities. Specifically, this research project identifies several major patterns in which the political elites and social activists in both places appropriate this concept, and it reveals how the subsequent discourse informs the identities among the younger generations in Hong Kong and Taiwan from 2014 to 2021.

Based on recent survey results, public statements by the Hong Kong and Taiwan governments, and newspaper coverage, this study analyzes how the rhetoric of time in Hong Kong and Taiwan (past, present, and future) is framed and reinforces each other. This work seeks to identify the impact that the presence of Taiwan has on the discourse developments in Hong Kong, and how the social movements in Hong Kong shape its perceptions in Taiwan.

This book project seeks to answer these understudied questions in East Asian politics and provide a more systematic understanding on the role and influence of social movements and mobilization rhetoric in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Parts of the book project have been presented at the annual conferences of the Midwest Political Science Association and American Political Science Association.

II. Discursive Power in U.S.-China Relations

Supporting my research on U.S-China relations and discourse analysis, I have one major project in progress, a co-authored piece with Andrew Bennett, my Ph.D. advisor from Georgetown University, and we will prepare for submitting it to a top-tier journal. In this study, we will explore how China has sought to define its role in the world through the frame of a "peaceful rise," while at the same time selectively portraying itself as a “poor developing country” to try to win concessions in international negotiations and institutions. We will also examine how American leaders have tried to frame China as a growing power obligated to help provide global public goods.

In particular, these leaders introduced the term "responsible stakeholder" in 2005 to try to get China to conform to this role. Our work assesses how officials and scholars in both countries took up and contested these and other frames for China's role. We will focus on the mechanisms through which these frames have constrained Chinese and American foreign policies, particularly those on trade, environmental issues, Afghanistan, and U.N. Security Council votes.

III. Comparative Economic Statecraft

My research interests in Taiwan’s economic statecraft and power asymmetry have guided me to develop a project on comparative economic statecraft in Asia and beyond. As of now, I am conducting collaborative work with colleagues from my institute and researchers from Australia National University.

Over the last few decades, China has become one of the most important foreign investment destinations and centers of economic development in Asia. This collaborative project investigates the major factors that facilitate or constrain the role of a government agency of a weaker state in addressing the economic power of a stronger one. More specifically, what has been the purpose of Taiwan’s and Australia’s economic statecraft?

Based on official statements, regional trade data, and newspaper coverage in Chinese and English, this study investigates both positive and negative evaluations of China-Taiwan and China-Australia trade from 2009 to 2021. This work engages the current literature on economic statecraft, Chinese foreign policy, and Asian politics. It offers a framework of desecuritization and securitization in understanding Taiwan and Australia trade toward China, and it highlights how the political leaders in both countries attempt to find a balance between trade and security.