Research

I am interested in the IR Theories, Political Communication, Public Diplomacy, and EU-China Relations. In particular, I focus on the "narrative" turn in IR and analyse the power of narratives which is different from the conventional understanding of soft power. I am interested in how narratives, especially the strategic narratives, are formed, projected, and perceived. More importantly, I take a bottom-up and non-state-centric approach to unpack the dynamics within the daily communication and communication practice. 

• Strategic narratives between the EU and China 

• Normative power 

• De-Eurocentrism 

• The Global IR and the Chinese IR school 

• Chinese diaspora communities in Europe

• Democracy and social inequality 

Peer-review journal article: 

• Huang, V., & Mo, F. V. (2025). Local or bubble: Uses of mobile phone apps, IT identity and adaptation of non-local students in Hong Kong and the UK. Global Media and Communication, 21(1), 31-47. https://doi.org/10.1177/17427665251319727  

• Tran Sautedé, E., Mo, F. V. (corresponding author), & Tang, J. (2025). China and the Ukraine war: Global Times’ strategic narratives. Global Media and Communication, 21(1), 65-89. https://doi.org/10.1177/17427665251328117

• Tran Sautedé, E., & Mo, F. V. (2025). Digital diplomacy with Chinese characteristics: Evolving narratives, strategies and global impact. Global Media and Communication, 21(1), 3-7. https://doi.org/10.1177/17427665251340222

Book chapter: 

• Tran, E. & Mo, F. V. (2024). Chinese International Students and Europe: Push, Pull and Mooring Factors. In Handbook of Chinese Migration to Europe. Brill Publishers. https://brill.com/display/title/63002 

• Huang, V., Yang, Y., & Mo. F. V. Overseas Chinese podcast and the formation of an emerging diasporic community. In Palgrave Handbook of Humanities Podcasting. Palgrave, forthcoming in August 2025. 

Conference papers: 

• Mo, F. V. (2021). Reconsider Normative Power. ECPR General Conference 2021. 

• Mo, F. V. (2020). Chinese Economic Nationalism in Hong Kong. International Association for Political Science Students World Congress 2020 (Vienna). 

• Mo, F. V. (2023). The Role of EU Cultural Policy in the EU-China Relationships. The European Union in International Affairs Conference 2023 (Brussels). 

• Mo, F. V. (2023). De-globalising IR. ECPR General Conference 2023 (Prague). 

• Mo, F. V. & Tang, J. W. (2023). The avoided memory between China and Hungary. Workshop: Bridging Emotions and Memory Politics: A New Angle on European Foreign Policy 2023. 

• Wong, M. H. Y. & Mo, F. V. (2024). Social Polarisation and the Belief of Democracy and Redistribution. IPSA 75th Anniversary Conference (Lisbon) 

• Mo, F. V. & Tang, J. W. (2024). The comradeship narratives disappeared: The identity politics between China and Hungary. IPSA Research Committees Colloquium (Chișinău) 

• Mo, F. V. (2024). The public diplomacy of Confucius Institutes: Textbook analysis in Austria. The 74th Annual International Communication Conference (Gold Coast)