LECTURE: China and Overseas Chinese

Chinese have been coming to the Netherlands since at least the late nineteenth century, growing into a large and highly diverse population of now almost 100,000 people. In this lecture, I will sketch the development of the Chinese communities in the Netherlands against the background of the fundamental shifts that have taken place in China and Chinese emigration in the last one hundred years. I will then turn to politics, outlining the main political fissures among the Chinese in the Netherlands and the role that the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party have carved out for themselves among the Chinese communities. I will end with an assessment of CCP influence and the way that Dutch society could and perhaps should work with the local Chinese population to mitigate the risks and use the opportunities that come with Chinese influence in the Netherlands.

Prof.dr. Frank Pieke is adjunct professor of Modern China Studies at the University of Leiden. He previously served as Director and CEO of the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin and has been connected to Leiden as lecturer, professor, and Chair since 1986. He also worked in Oxford as a lecturer between 1995 and 2010 where he set up and directed the University's China Centre. His research revolves around two long-term themes. The first focus is the anthropology of the state and socialism in modern Asia, investigating the rule and organization of the Chinese Communist Party in the context of China’s globalization and market reform. The second theme revolves around international migration, transnationalism and cultural diversity, including a long-term interest in Chinese migration and ethnicity in Europe and the emergence of international immigrant groups in China.

LECTURE: "In the Making: A World Order With Chinese Characteristics"

China’s growing global role and influence is affecting norms, rules and practices within the multilateral system and in other countries. The Chinese government and companies are changing the world in diverse ways, through the United Nations and its Belt and Road Initiative, and much in between. Growing Chinese influence is important for all countries, and particularly so for Western countries, including the Netherlands, which strives to maintain and strengthen the international legal order as a principal foreign policy aim. What characterises China’s strategy and tactics in the international domain? And are the Netherlands and the EU ready for a world order modelled by China?

Dr. Maaike Okano-Heijmans is a senior research fellow at the Netherlands Institute for International Relations ‘Clingendael’ in The Hague. She is also a visiting lecturer at the University of Leiden, where teaches on ‘Non-Western Diplomacy’ in the Master of Science in International Relations and Diplomacy (MIRD). She has more than 15 years’ experience in (policy-oriented) research and advice for Dutch, EU/European and Asian governments and institutions. Her main research interests are in connectivity and the geopolitics of high-tech in EU-Asia relations, with a special focus on China, Japan and the Indo-Pacific. An key question underlying much of her work is how the fourth industrial revolution reshapes international relations, and what this means for the EU and its member states – in particular the Netherlands.

SEMINAR: "The Past in the Present: Nation-Building in Modern China."

In 2019, China celebrated the 70^th anniversary of the People’s Republic, while this year marks the 100^th birthday of the Chinese Communist Party. On historic occasions such as these, Chinese leaders look back on their nation’s past and recount carefully crafted stories of hardship and success. How do current leaders see China’s place in the world? And why does the past leave such an important mark on Chinese policy views and objectives? Join Leiden University lecturer Dr. Vincent Chang for an engaging discussion about evolving Chinese world views and self-images, China’s mission of catching up and surpassing the West, and shifts in Beijing’s contemporary representations of the past.

Dr. Vincent K.L. Chang is a lecturer of modern Chinese history and international relations at Leiden University and a fellow of the LeidenAsiaCentre. A lawyer and historian by training, his research is concerned with China’s regional and global interactions at times of power shifts and conflicts, and the associated contestations over ideas and norms. He is the author of Forgotten Diplomacy: The Modern Remaking of Dutch–Chinese Relations, 1927–1950 and of several research articles on World War II and the post-war period, historical memory, and EU–China relations. He previously practiced law in Amsterdam and Hong Kong and taught Law and History courses in China.

SEMINAR: "Complexities in China's foreign policy"

A national sense of restoration and destiny, 14 neighbors, contiguous to nearly all regions in Asia, 1,4 billion citizens, one of the world’s most challenging maritime environments, one clashing superpower, four sizeable regional powers, one increasingly less-enthusiastic extra-regional power, complex new patterns of coupling and decoupling, a flurry of exclusive new geopolitical and geoeconomic groupings— how does China’s foreign policy interact with all these elements?

LAC Senior Fellow Richard Ghiasy is an advisor and researcher on Asian geopolitics and geoeconomics, often revolving around China foreign policy. He also examines EU strategic interests in Asia, international security affairs, and connectivity. In his 17-year career, he has provided policy advice to many international organizations and governments across Europe and Asia. Former SIPRI, he regularly presents at the world’s top 20 universities. Frequently, his work has a conflict-preventive nature