Research

Selected Publications

Book: 

• Harmony and War: Confucian Culture and Chinese Power Politics (New York: Columbia University Press, 2011).
  [Reviewed in at least 14 journals, including Foreign Affairs, Journal of Asian Studies, China Quarterly, China Review, Asian Politics & Policy, Global Asia, Journal of Chinese Military History, Journal of International and Global Studies, Survival, Journal of Chinese Political Science, H-Diplo/ISSF Roundtable, Journal of Song-Yuan Studies, Perspectives on Politics, and International Journal of the Asia-Pacific.]
  
  

Journal Articles:

• "China's Economic Statecraft in the Taiwan Strait," Asian Security, forthcoming. (pdf)

• “The Strange Journey of the Tributary System,” Millennium: Journal of International Studies, Vol. 50, No. 1 (September 2021), pp. 267-277. (pdf)

• “The Durability of a Unipolar System: Lessons from East Asian History,” Security Studies, Vol. 29, No. 5 (October-November 2020), pp. 832-863. (pdf)

• "Great Power Relations and East Asia: A Realist Perspective,” The Korean Journal of Security Affairs, Vol. 24, No. 2 (December 2019), pp. 20-42. (pdf)

• “Explaining the Tribute System: Power, Confucianism, and War in Medieval East Asia,” Journal of East Asian Studies, Vol. 13, No. 2 (May-August 2013), pp. 207-232. (pdf)
  
  

• “Taiwan Public Opinion on Cross-Strait Security Issues,” Strategic Studies Quarterly, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Summer 2013), pp. 93-113. (pdf)
  
  

• “Managing Regional Hegemony in Historical Asia: The Case of Early Ming China,” Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Summer 2012), pp. 129-153. (pdf)
  
  

• “China’s Response to the Unipolar World: The Strategic Logic of Peaceful Development,” Journal of Asian and African Studies, Vol. 45, No. 5 (October 2010), pp. 554-567. (pdf)
  
  

• “Offensive Realism and the Rise of China,” Issues & Studies, Vol. 40, No. 1 (March 2004), pp. 173-201. (pdf)
  
  

• “Taiwan's Democratization and Cross-Strait Security," Orbis, Vol. 48, No. 2 (Spring 2004), pp. 293-304. (pdf)
  
  

• “Leguan de xianshi zhuyi: guoji guanxi shoushi xianshi zhuyi zhi pingxi” (“Optimistic Realism: An Appraisal of Defensive Realism in International Relations”), Guoji guanxi xuebao (Journal of International Relations), Vol. 18 (December 2003), pp. 40-54. [in Chinese] (pdf)
  
  

• “Preserving Peace in the Taiwan Strait,” Chinese Political Science Review, Vol. 33 (June 2002), pp.149-174. (pdf)
  
  

• “Toward A Synthesis of the Theories of Peripheral Nationalism: A Comparative Study of China’s Xinjiang and Guangdong,” Asian Ethnicity, Vol. 2, No. 2 (September 2001), pp. 177-195. (pdf)
  
  

Book Chapters:

• “International Order and Change in East Asian History,” in Huiyun Feng and Kai He eds., China’s Challenges and International Order Transition: Beyond the “Thucydides’s Trap” (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2020), pp. 141-160. (pdf)

• “Rethinking U.S. Security Commitment to Taiwan,” in Wei-chin Lee ed., Taiwan’s Political Re-Alignment and Diplomatic Challenges (New York: Palgrave, 2018), pp. 245-270. (pdf) 

• “Power and the Use of Force,” in Timothy Brook, Michael van Walt van Praag, and Miek Boltjes eds., Sacred Mandates: Asian International Relations since Chinggis Khan (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2018), pp. 70-75. (pdf) 

• “The Historical Legacy of Chinese Security Policy,” in Lowell Dittmer and Maochun Yu eds., Routledge Handbook of Chinese Security (New York: Routledge, 2015), pp. 21-33. (pdf)
  
  

• “The Myth of Chinese Exceptionalism: A Historical Perspective on China’s Rise,” in Vinod Aggarwal and Sarah Newland eds., Responding to China's Rise: US and EU Strategies (New York: Springer, 2015), pp. 51-74. (pdf)
  
  

• “Zhonggong zai meiguo anquan zhanlue zhong de jiaose,” (China’s role in American security strategy), in Yann-huei Song ed., Zhongmei guanxi zhuanti yanjiu: 2001-2003 (Topics on Sino-American Relations, 2001-2003) (Taipei: Institute of European and American Studies, Academia Sinica, 2006), pp. 97-120. [in Chinese] (pdf) 

Book Reviews:

• “Review of Steve Chan, Thucydides’s Trap? Historical Interpretation, Logic of Inquiry, and the Future of Sino-American Relations,” H-Diplo/ISSF Roundtable XII-2 (November 9, 2020).

• "Author’s Response,” in Harmony and War: Confucian Culture and Chinese Power Politics, H-Diplo/ISSF Forum, Vol. IV, No. 3 (October 15, 2012), pp. 25-31.

• “The End of Chinese Realpolitik?” Asia Policy, No. 8 (July 2009), pp. 175-178. Book review of Yong Deng, China’s Struggle for Status: The Realignment of International Relations (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008).

Other Publications:

• “The Ukraine War and China’s Second Strategic Opportunity,” H-Diplo Essay 427 (March 31, 2022).

• “The US-China Rivalry: A Survival Guide for Taiwan,” Taiwan Insight (March 13, 2019).

• “The ‘Realist’ Call for Strengthening US-Taiwan Relations,” Taiwan Insight (September 21, 2018). 

• “The Flaws of Abandoning Taiwan,” Defense Security Brief, Vol. 5, No. 4 (December 2015), pp. 3-9.

• “Qing China and Regional Hegemony,” The Review of Northeast Asian Studies, Vol. 6, No. 1 (April 2014), published by the Asiatic Research Institute, Korea University at http://asiaticresearch.org/index.php?document_srl=2425946

• “Managing Hegemony in East Asia: China’s Rise in Historical Perspective,” EAI Fellows Program Working Paper Series, No. 38 (May 2013), published by the East Asia Institute at http://www.eai.or.kr/type/panelView.asp?bytag=p&code=eng_report&idx=12166&page=11

• “The Myth of Chinese Exceptionalism,” guest blog post on Steve Walt’s Foreign Policy website, http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/03/05/the_myth_of_chinese_exceptionalism

• "China's Growing Strength, Taiwan's Diminishing Options," Taiwan-U.S. Quarterly Analysis, Vol. 2, No.1 (November 2010), published by the Brookings Institution at http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2010/11_china_taiwan_wang.aspx

• “China’s Grand Strategy and U.S. Primacy: Is China Balancing American Power?” Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies, The Brookings Institution, July 2006, a working paper published at http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2006/07china_wang.aspx