“China and Zhoubian Countries” and “Chinese Military History”

ASIA FORUM with Captain Zhang Chi and Mr. Zhang Heng

 

“Historical Changes on the Relations Between China and Zhoubian Countries (1949 – 2012)”

&

“Characteristics of the Chinese Military Culture: From a Historical Perspective”

Thursday, November 28, 2012, 10:00 – 12:00

 

Historical Changes on the Relations Between China and Zhoubian Countries (1949 – 2012)

 

The concept of “Zhoubian” (the surrounding area) plays a unique role in China’s foreign policy. It is important to China’s foreign relations, since good relations with Zhoubian countries is significant in the development of China. Looking back in history, China has experienced three separate phases of relations with Zhoubian countries. In these three phases, Chinese leadership has proposed different Zhoubian diplomatic policies according to the domestic and international situations. Though at present, with the increasing economic development of China, there have been some noticeable changes that will challenge China’s dealing with its Zhoubian countries. This presentation will provide perspectives on these questions.

Captain Zhang Chi is an assistant research fellow from Department of War Theory and Strategic Studies, Academy of Military Science, People’s Republic of China. He got his first bachelor degree of communication engineering in June 2006 and the second bachelor degree of infantry commanding in June 2007. He was admitted by the Graduate Department of AMS to study China’s ancient military thoughts in September 2009, and got his master degree in June 2012. He concentrates his research efforts on international relationship and international security issues as well as the application of Chinese ancient thoughts on the contemporary war. He has published several articles, such as “Peace Shield – the Application of Sun Tzu the Art of War in the MOOTW”, “Summary of the United States Arms Control and Disarmament Trends in 2010”, “Construction of Russian Military Information Technology”, “the Influence of Libya War to the International Security” and “the Application of Sun Tzu the Art of War in Contemporary Warfare”

“Characteristics of the Chinese Military Culture: From a Historical Perspective”

Military culture influences military thinking and strategy. Due to geographical and historical reasons, the Chinese military culture has its own unique roots. The development and continuation of their “traditional” military cultures makes China’s armed forces distinctly different from other countries. Therefore, the study on the traditional characteristics of Chinese military culture is beneficial for better understanding the Chinese armed forces today. This presentation will discuss the influences and expressions of traditional military culture in the Chinese armed forces. It will also discuss how the traditional Chinese military culture has developed and reformed up to the present time.

Mr. Zhang Heng is a doctoral candidate at the Academy of Military Science (AMS) PLA, majoring in military theory. He holds a master’s degree in international politics and has published on Sino-U.S. military relations, international hot topics and on national defense policy in various journals and newspapers. He is currently focusing on the study of military culture.

Location: ISDP, Västra Finnbodavägen 2, Stockholm-Nacka. For a map and directions, please go here.

To attend: RSVP to Ms. Ebba Mårtensson at emartensson@isdp.eu