Distinguished international specialists are to speak on China’s growing global influence at the launch conference of the Scottish Centre for Chinese Social Science Research at the University of Glasgow.

Professor David SG Goodman, Contemporary China Studies at Sydney’s University of Technology will deliver the keynote lecture at the ‘China as a global player: the Beijing Olympics and beyond’ conference in the Sir Charles Wilson Building, Glasgow on Friday 6 June.

Professor Goodman believes that the image of China as being insular is outdated. He said: “China is seen as having limited cultural outreach, being more concerned with restricting the inward movement of external influences, and having little involvement with the Chinese diaspora. Such conclusions are only sustainable if the party-state is seen as the only source of cultural activity, and if no distinction is made between the influence of the People’s Republic of China in East Asia and in the wider world.

“It is arguable not only that Chinese culture does have considerable influence beyond the boundaries of the People’s Republic of China, particularly in East Asia, but also that a significant part of the global impact of the government of the People’s Republic of China is derived from Chinese cultural influence in that region.”

Lectures on ‘Social Change in a Globalizing China’ by Professor Guan Xinping of Nankai University (China) and ‘China’s Changing International Relations’ by Professor Ian Taylor of the University of St. Andrews will be followed by separate roundtable discussions on China’s environmental policies and the Beijing Olympics.

Professor Jane Duckett, Director of the Scottish Centre for Chinese Social Science Research, said: “The Scottish Centre for Chinese Social Science Research, which was established in August last year, brings together China researchers across a range of social science disciplines from four Scottish universities: St. Andrews, Dundee and Heriot-Watt as well as Glasgow where the Centre is based. It aims to promote understanding of contemporary China by making the very best research accessible to the community in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK.”
The launch conference of the Scottish Centre for Chinese Social Science Research in the Sir Charles Wilson Building, University of Glasgow on Friday 6 June is free and open to all.

There will be a collection at the conference for victims of the recent earthquake in Sichuan. Members of the Centre and its participating universities would like to convey their sympathies to all those affected by the earthquake.