The Politics of Nuclear Commemoration in Asia: The China Case
In the study of China’s foreign affairs, historians like to suggest that the past is always present. A ‘Century of Humiliation’ in the nineteenth century or fighting the Japanese in the 1930s and 1940s are often referenced. Yet another historic development, namely China’s development of nuclear weapons in the 1950s and 1960s, is often absent from this assessment. In contrast to many other nuclear weapons states, China has largely been quiet about its nuclear past. Only in the last years of former leader Hu Jintao (2003‒2012) and now the current leader, Xi Jinping (2013‒) has China started to commemorate its nuclear weapons development more seriously. This talk sets out to understand both the nature and timing of this commemoration within China but also the wider implications of nuclear commemoration for regional and international security. Ultimately, under Xi Jinping, China’s nuclear past is finally becoming present.
Date: 2 December 2021, 10:00 (Thursday, 8th week, Michaelmas 2021)
Venue: Online
Speaker: Nicola Leveringhaus (King's College London)
Organising department: Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
Organiser: Professor Todd Hall (University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address: information@chinese.ox.ac.uk
Part of: International Relations of China
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=G96VzPWXk0-0uv5ouFLPkXpePWtgPbxBg3az3qj5undUM1FYTEpKOExTVFUyNFlRS1RKTjA1WFFOQy4u
Cost: Free
Audience: Public
Editor: Clare Orchard