'Chinese Readings of EU Strategic Autonomy: Evidence, Trends, and Policy Implications (2017–2024)' with Professor Weiqing Song
Tuesday 24 March 2026, 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Venue
COS - County South D72 - View MapOpen to
All Lancaster University (non-partner) students, Alumni, Postgraduates, Public, Staff, UndergraduatesRegistration
Registration not required - just turn upEvent Details
This seminar is co-hosted by Lancaster University Confucius Institute, Lancaster University China Centre and Lancaster University Jean Monnet network.
How do Chinese IR scholars interpret the EU’s drive for European Strategic Autonomy (ESA), and what does it mean for China–EU relations? Drawing on Chinese-language publications from 2017 to 2024, this talk combines macro bibliometrics with close reading of key texts and symposium records. It traces a shift from early optimism to pragmatic ambivalence, showing how ESA is increasingly viewed through geopolitical and economic-security lenses—linking defense, technology standards, and supply-chain risk—rather than as a normative project. The talk examines how this discourse foregrounds the U.S. factor, complicates functional cooperation, and informs policy debates on differentiated engagement, conditional reciprocity, and calibrated openness.
Speaker
Professor Weiqing Song
University of Macau
Weiqing Song is Associate Professor of International Relations and Jean Monnet Chair in EU Foreign Policy at the University of Macau, Macao S.A.R., China. His research examines Chinese foreign policy, especially discourse and transnational norms, the European Union, Sino-European relations, critical geopolitics, and postcolonial studies. His work has been published in leading journals and edited volumes.
Contact Details
| Name | Lancaster University Confucius Institute |