Pang Ruizhi

Pang Ruizhi

PhD Candidate, Boston University

Pang Ruizhi is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science, Boston University. His research interests include geopolitics and international stability, China-US relations, and China's foreign policy. He is also interested in the origin of war literature and Chinese history in the imperial period.

People wearing face masks, following the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, hold China flags attend a flag-raising ceremony at Tiananmen Square on National Day to mark the 71st anniversary of the founding of People's Republic of China, in Beijing, China, 1 October 1, 2020. (Carlos Garcia Rawlins/REUTERS)

The problem of inappropriate language in China's diplomacy

In today’s complex world of international relations, it seems that China has much to learn about the art of diplomacy. Boston University PhD candidate Pang Ruizhi says that China needs to stop using coarse, overly hostile and inappropriate diplomatic language, or risk diminishing, rather than growing its influence.
US President Donald Trump attends a bilateral meeting with China's President Xi Jinping during the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, 29 June 2019. (Kevin Lamarque/REUTERS)

China wants a multipolar world order. Can the world agree?

As China takes pole position in the international constellation of countries, Pang Ruizhi argues that the reality China faces in the new decade is not so much a rising bipolarity of global influence as some posit, but an uneasy multipolarity in which it must manage its relations with countries within its geopolitical region and beyond wisely. Only then can it reap the utmost benefits and continue on its path of progress.
A family portrait with the writer (front row, left).

[Chinese New Year Special] Family rituals of a Shandong Spring Festival

Chinese New Year customs and practices can be different depending on where one is, whether within or outside of China. Young academic Pang Ruizhi describes his Chinese New Year as a child in Shandong, northern China.
A statue of Confucius at the Imperial Academy in Beijing. (iStock)

China’s Confucianist path to soft power

Pang Ruizhi argues that apart from making reforms to its political and government systems, China needs to find strength in its good cultures and traditions. He feels that a revival and remake of Confucianism — a key tenet of Chinese philosophy and thoughts — will be a key booster shot to building a new Chinese culture and strengthen China’s soft power on the international stage.
China is too big to be average. (AFP)

China cannot be large and average: Strategic positioning of the PRC

Being a country of 1.4 billion people and forming a sizeable part of Asia all on its own, China is inherently positioned to play a significant role in the world. As it finds its place on the world stage, it has to consider other countries - its immediate neighbours, as well as the US. Pang Ruizhi makes one point clear: China is too large to be average.
The US began to show excessive confidence; that their country should be second to none turned into the new political correctness for Americans after the Cold War. (iStock)

Part I: The exceptionality of US geopolitics and the current predicament of China-US relations

Pang Ruizhi, a young Chinese PhD candidate pursuing further studies at Boston University, shares his views on how China can conduct itself on the world stage as a rising power in a two-part article. He suggests that China should be humble, but should also strike hard when its opponent initiates a fight.
However, in view of mutual interest in the domain of trade and economy, as well as the PRC’s national power, the US is unlikely to attempt military confrontation. (iStock)

Part II: The exceptionality of US geopolitics and the current predicament of China-US relations

Pang Ruizhi, a young Chinese PhD candidate pursuing further studies at Boston University, shares his views on how China can conduct itself on the world stage as a rising power in a two-part article. He suggests that China should be humble, but should also strike hard when its opponent initiates a fight.