Chinese foreign policy in 2023: Stepping back from the brink
Trend Report 1 / January 2023 by Thomas Eder
Dr.
Thomas Eder
Post-Doc Researcher
Dr. Thomas Eder is a Post-Doc Researcher at the oiip. His research interests include: China’s foreign and security policy, China and international law, and European and US China policies. He has written two books and numerous articles and analyses on these topics and comments regularly in national and international media. Before joining the oiip, he worked at international think tanks, at the Universities of Vienna and Hong Kong, and in the Austrian Foreign Ministry. He studied at the University of Vienna, Peking University and the University of Hong Kong, was a guest scholar at Academia Sinica and NYU, and has conducted field research in China on several occasions.
Vita
Education
- PhD in International Law and International Relations, University of Vienna (2020)
- LL.M. in Chinese Law, Hong Kong University (2013)
- MA in Chinese Studies, University of Vienna (2013)
- Mag. iur. / LL.B. in Law, University of Vienna (2011)
- BA in Chinese Studies, University of Vienna / Peking University (2008)
Work Experience
- Guest Scholar (post doc), University of Vienna, Chinese Studies Department (2021-ongoing)
- Visiting Fellow, Institute of Human Sciences (IWM), Vienna (2020)
- MOFA Taiwan Fellow and Guest Scholar, Academia Sinica, Taipei (2020)
- Research Associate, Mercator Institute for China Studies, Berlin (2016-2020)
- Research Associate, University of Vienna, Department of International Law and International Relations (2014-2016)
- Junior Officer, Austrian Foreign Ministry (2014)
Publications
Monographs
- China and International Adjudication. Caution, Identity Shifts, and the Ambition to Lead, Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2021.
- China-Russia Relations in Central Asia. Energy Policy, Beijing’s New Assertiveness and 21st Century Geopolitics, Wiesbaden: Springer, 2014.
(Policy) journal articles
- ‘How Vienna and Prague Aim to Better Understand, Inform and Integrate Chinese Diasporas’, CHOICE, 11 June 2024.
- ‘Will China Save Russia’s Military in the Current War? What About Rebuilding It for the Next One?’, CHOICE, 23 April 2024.
- [Republished] ‘Will China Save Russia’s Military in 2023? – Chinese Expert Debates on China-Russia Relations and the Long War in Ukraine’, LSE Blog, 16 June 2023.
- ‘Will China Save Russia’s Military in 2023? – Chinese Expert Debates on China-Russia Relations and the Long War in Ukraine’, CHOICE, 23 February 2023.
- ‘Sovereignty and Non-Intervention: China Deserts its Principles on Ukraine’, Voelkerrechtsblog, 1 April 2022.
- ‘Partner und Konkurrent – China etabliert sich in der internationalen Sicherheitspolitik’, Internationale Politik, Januar/Februar 2019.
- ‘Belt, Road, and Sword’, Berlin Policy Journal, 3 January 2019.
- ‘China leans in on international adjudication – Why Beijing’s answer to defeat will be more forceful engagement’, European Journal of International Law (EJIL) Talk, 2 May 2018. [online publication, peer-reviewed]
- ‘Is China’s challenge to maritime law facilitated by Western neglect?’, Europe’s World, 20 June 2016 (with Hanns Maull).
- ‘Moscow’s Failed Pivot to China. And How it Benefits Europe’, Foreign Affairs, 17 April 2016 (with Mikko Huotari).
- ‘Sino-Russian Relations. The Impact of Central Asian Energy Resources’, 6 Vienna Journal of East Asian Studies 2014, 35-73. [academic, peer-reviewed]
Think tank studies and working papers
- ‘Die Geopolitischen Prioritäten der USA im Kontext der Präsidentschaftswahl’, oiip Working Paper, April 2024 (with Johannes Spaeth).
- ‘Die Rolle Chinas auf multilateraler Ebene – was verändert sich durch Chinas neue Strategiepapiere? Was sind die Auswirkungen auf Europa und Österreich?’, oiip Working Paper, January 2024.
- ‘Chinese foreign policy in 2024: crisis management and global governance’, oiiip Trend Report, January 2024.
- ‘Russland und China – wie beeinflusst der Krieg in der Ukraine die Beziehungen? Was sind die Auswirkungen auf Europa und Österreich?’, oiip Policy Analysis, October 2023.
- ‘Chinese foreign policy in 2023: Stepping back from the brink’, oiip Trend Report, January 2023.
- ‘China auf dem Westbalkan – Ein neuer geopolitischer Akteur und sein Einfluss auf die Demokratisierungsprozesse’, oiip Working Paper, April 2022.
- ‘Der Umgang Chinas mit der COVID-Krise und Auswirkungen auf die Stabilität des Regimes’, oiip Policy Analyse, March 2022.
- ‘Chinas außenpolitische Prioritäten post-COVID und sicherheitspolitische Auswirkungen auf Europa’, oiip Policy Analyse, August 2021.
- ‘Networking the “Belt and Road” – The future is digital’, MERICS Belt and Road Tracker, August 2019 (with Jacob Mardell and Rebecca Arcesati).
- ‘Powering the Belt and Road – China supports its energy companies’ global expansion and prepares the ground for potential new supply chains’, MERICS Belt and Road Tracker, June 2019 (with Jacob Mardell).
- ‘Chinas Marsch nach Westen – Aufstieg in Zentralasien und Afghanistan’, Arbeitspapier Sicherheitspolitik, No. 13/2018, Bundesakademie für Sicherheitspolitik.
- ‘The BRI in Pakistan: China’s flagship economic corridor’, MERICS BRI Tracker, 18 September 2018.
- ‘Mapping the Belt and Road Initiative’, MERICS BRI Tracker, 7 June 2018.
- ‘Chinese Approaches to the Eastern Neighborhood’, in Popescu/Secrieru (eds.), Third Powers in Europe’s East, EUISS Chaillot Paper, No. 144, March 2018, pp. 13-20.
- ‘China’s emergence as a global security actor – strategies for Europe’, MERICS Paper on China, June 2017 (with Mikko Huotari et al).
- ‘China’s global law enforcement drive – the need for a European response’, MERICS Monitor, January 2017 (with Bertram Lang and Moritz Rudolf).
- ‘Can Turkey play the Shanghai card? China’s take on Ankara’s Eurasian security endeavors and what it means for Europe’s security architecture’, Arbeitspapier Sicherheitspolitik No. 6/2017, Bundesakademie für Sicherheitspolitik.
Commissioned studies
- ‘EU-China energy investment opportunities and conditions – The state of play on investment, access, and reciprocity’, July 2021 [for DG ENER, European Commission].
- ‘Greening the Belt and Road: Action points for Western-based foundations’, December 2019 [for the MacArthur Foundation].
- ‘Making sense of China’s growing economic and political footprint in Noord-Brabant’, October 2019 [for the Province of Noord-Brabant, Netherlands].
Further short publications
- ‘China’s distinct path to engaging international courts. Not your ordinary BRIC’, IWM Post Summer 2021.
- ‘The BRI in Pakistan: Too big to fail’, MERICS Blog, 20 September 2018.
- ‘China’s New Foreign Policy Setup – How has Xi Jinping remade China’s foreign policy apparatus?’, The Diplomat, 1 August 2018.
- ‘Belt and Road reality check: How to assess China’s investment in Eastern Europe’, MERICS Blog, 10 July 2018.
- ‘Will China Replace Europe as Russia’s Main Gas Customer’, 116 IWM Post Fall/Winter 2015, 10.
Conference papers
- ‘China and international criminal tribunals’ prosecution of political leaders’, International Studies Association – Annual Conference, San Francisco, 04/2024.
- ‘China & Courts of International Criminal Law’, European China Law Studies Association – Annual Conference, Helsinki, 10/2023.
- ‘Sino-Russian Alignment and the Central Asia Factor’, Central Eurasian Studies Society – Annual Conference, Princeton, 11/2016.
- ‘From Isolation to Engagement – (Potential) PRC International Dispute Resolution Practice in Economic and Territorial Disputes’, Asian Society of International Law – Biennial Conference, Bangkok, 11/2015.
- ‘Chinese Academic Discourse on International Dispute Resolution and Sovereignty in Trade and Investment Disputes’, European China Law Studies Association – Annual Conference, Cologne, 10/2015.
Podcasts
- ‘Debunking Myths Around Sino-Russian Relations with Thomas Eder’, CHOICE, 1 May 2024.
All posts by Dr. Thomas Eder