Hosted by the School of Political Science & International Relations (SPSIR) of Tongji University, the Dean’s Forum themed “China and the World in the Context of Coordinating Two Overall Situations” was successfully held at the Sino-French Center in Tongji University on the afternoon of May 19, 2019. Deans from 9 universities including Tsinghua University, Jinan University, East China Normal University, University of International Business and Economics, Shanghai International Studies University, East China University of Political Science and Law, University of Jinan, Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, and Tongji University attended the forum to explore a series of issues including China and the world, China-US relations and changes in the international order, China’s reform and opening up and balanced development, and building China’s discourse system of political theory. This forum was moderated first by Prof. Zheng Chunrong, Associate Dean of SPSIR, and then by Prof. Li Bin, Vice Chairman of the Academic Committee of SPSIR.

Prof. Bao Xinjian, Vice President of the Chinese Association of Political Science and Honorary Dean of the School of Political Science and Law at University of Jinan, gave a wonderful speech on the topic of “the international and strategic significance of comprehensively deepening the reform in a problem-oriented way in contemporary China”. He said that we should explore the socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era against the background of “the profound changes unseen in a century”, especially focusing on the dialectical unity between all-round reform and further opening up. At present, we must focus our research on China’s reform, opening up and development. There are three major issues that need to be addressed carefully: income disparity, the unmet needs of people’s livelihood, and the people’s needs for a better life. To solve these issues, we must handle the three pairs of relations: government-market relations, state-society relations, party-people relations.

Prof. Dai Changzheng, Dean of the School of International Relations at UIBE, considered how to build a new model of international relations from the judgment of “the greatest changes unseen in a century”. He believed that the current international system is changing drastically, because the nation-state system and the conceptual basis on which it relies have been challenged. Chinese scholars should develop Chinese political concepts and terms instead of carelessly borrowing those from the West, and think about building the conceptual basis and philosophical values of the Chinese nation.

Prof. Gao Qiqi, Dean of the Political Science Institute at ECUPL, shared his research progress on “global governance” and “artificial intelligence”. He pointed out that global governance, still state-driven, is facing a structural dilemma, which is mainly a product of conflict logic and hegemonic logic of Western civilization; and artificial intelligence is like a double-edged sword that has both advantages and disadvantages for global governance.

Prof. Guo Shuyong, Dean of the School of International Relations and Public Affairs at SISU, reflected on the “Theoretical Boundaries and Policy Significance of Cultural Internationalism”. He put forward several questions including how to better integrate into the international community, how to better lead the international community, and how China’s leadership can be recognized by the international community. This is essentially an issue of integrating Chinese culture with other cultures in the world. China is modernizing its culture, and its “cultural internationalism” must reflect the idea of internationalization and the concept of sovereignty. International cultural cooperation is key to the rise of China and the de-Westernization progress today, and building a global community of shared future has very important policy implications. Prof. Guo proposed three countermeasures: implementing more inclusive international education policies, promoting more independent and colorful urban diplomacy, and building multi-level diplomatic channels for the people.

Prof. Liu Jun, Dean of the School of Advanced International and Area Studies at ECNU, reviewed the 70-year history of changes in China-Soviet relations, and looked forward to the China-Russia relations in the new era. He pointed out that China-Soviet relations had evolved significantly since 1949, and that there was a major change in China-Soviet relations or China-Russia relations whenever the last digit of the year was “9”. 1949-1959 was the honeymoon period of China-Soviet relations; 1959-1969 was the public debate period; 1969-1979 was the confrontation period from debate to hostility; 1979-1989 was the adjustment & recovery period; 1989-1999 was the transition from China Soviet relations to China-Russia relations; 1999-2019 was a new stage for China-Russia relations as China started new construction. Looking back on the 70-year history, the biggest experience and inspiration comes from the status change of the two countries, in other words, we should value equality, respect, and mutual understanding.

Prof. Sun Xuefeng, Executive Deputy Dean of the Institute of International Relations at Tsinghua University, discussed “the logic of changes in regional security order” and the research on the rise of China. He pointed out that there is a little change in the current international order or the international liberal order. In fact, the three behavioral logics supporting the American order have changed: first, the US now emphasizes fair trade instead of free trade; second, Trump has little interest in promoting freedom and democracy; third, the US has withdrawn from several multilateral treaties and organizations. Then, Prof. Sun analyzed the impact of future changes in China-US relations on the regional security order, and noted the necessity of studying in depth China’s choices amid China-US rivalry.

Prof. Wang Weimin, Dean of the School of Government at SHUPL, discussed some “preliminary thoughts on China’s grand strategy towards the US”. In his opinion, we should carry out appropriate international mobilization or national education to prevent from domestic problems being exacerbated by economic issues. The US now wants to rebuild a unilateral order, implying a major change in the nature of its hegemony. He further pointed out that the US deems China an adversary, with a real aim to finding a national direction and uniting its people. Currently, the US is adopting a series of destructive policies. This highlights the importance of handling domestic affairs well, and there is still hope for coordination among major powers.

Prof. Wu Yun, Dean of the School of Foreign Languages at Tongji, analyzed the issue of “building China’s discourse system during the rise of China”. She said that China is still weak in building its discourse system globally, so it is common to see improper use of language especially when communicating important concepts and responding to major global events. She emphasized that a strong economy will not naturally translate into a strong voice in the world. The United Kingdom was an economic powerhouse in the 19th century, followed by the United States in the 20th century. However, it took more than half a century for the two countries to build economic security, economic order, and cultural and political influence before gaining a loud voice. She then offered policy recommendations on how China can make a strategic plan for building China’s discourse system globally.

Prof. Zhang Zhenjiang, Dean of the School of International Studies at Jinan University, discussed the issue of “China-world relations” from historical and cultural perspectives. In his view, it is theoretically and ideologically wrong to distinguish China from the rest of the world, but methodologically possible. He further pointed out that the stages and logic of Chinese history can be broadly divided into three aspects: the world in China’s eye, China and the world, and China in the world’s eye. He focused his analysis and explanation on the third one, believing that it is necessary to emphasize that China is a part of the world. If we revisit Chinese history, we will have a new understanding of the world and the China-world relations.

In the end, Dean Men explained the original intention of holding this Dean’s Forum: SPSIR is proud to commemorate its great progress in the past ten years, as part of the serial 10th anniversary celebrations, and the best way is to hold a heavyweight event to make these celebrations truly valuable and memorable in academic dimension. On behalf of SPSIR, Dean Men thanked all the deans for attending this meeting, and called for closer cooperation among sister universities so that we could build an academic community that would help facilitate academic exchanges and experience learning, and promote the development and academic progress of SPSIR.