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The China Solution has become one of the key elements of China’s new(ish) discourses on international relations and global order. First proposed as a solution for global governance reform, it has subsequently developed a second meaning as well in the form of a solution for national development strategies. Both strands of the China Solution contain a strong element of “occidentalism”; the juxtaposition of China and its values against an essentialised understanding of “the West”. One question that arises is whether China’s position on the promotion of ideas, norms and models is now shifting to the point that China is ready to promote its own development model as something for others to follow? The answer, based on a wide reading of Chinese academic and policy papers, is a rather cautious yes, as at least some Chinese scholars now see China’s successes as something more than just an example of what you can do if don't do it the western way.

About the Speaker

Shaun Breslin is Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick and one of the editors of The Pacific Review. He currently holds a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship to study the nature of China as a Great Power, that focuses on the inter-relation between domestic and global levels of analysis.