Xiaojun (pronounced “shee·ow ji·win”) received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Stanford University and joined the department in 2013. He is currently Associate Professor of Political Science at UBC and non-resident scholar at the 21st Century China Centre at UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy. He has also held visiting positions at Harvard University’s Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies (2014-2015), Fudan Development Institute (2016), the East-West Center (2018), and the ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute (2021).

His previous and ongoing research on international and comparative political economy can be broadly divided into three research programs that investigate (1) the impact of domestic politics on the process and content of foreign economic and security policies, (2) the impact of global supply chains on trade and investment, and (3) the political economy of trade liberalization in developing and post-communist countries. In all of these research programs, he uses China as the primary case of inquiry and employs a variety of methods, including interviews, archival research, survey experiment, and large-N analysis.

His recent books include Token Forces: How Tiny Troop Deployments became Ubiquitous in UN Peacekeeping (Cambridge University Press 2022), Fragmenting Globalization: The Politics of Preferential Trade Liberalization in China and the United States (University of Michigan Press 2021), and How China Sees the World: Insights from China’s International Relations Scholars (Palgrave 2019). His articles have appeared in general political science journals such as Journal of Politics and Political Science Research and Methods, internatioanl relations journals such as International Affairs and International Studies Quarterly, area studies journals such as Asian Survey, China Quarterly, and Pacific Affairs, as well as interdisciplinary journals such as Business and Politics, Regulation and Governance, and Studies in Comparative International Development. His research has received grants and awards from such organizations as the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the National Science Foundation of the United States, the American Political Science Association, the International Studies Association, the Association of Chinese Political Studies, and the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation.

At UBC, he offers undergraduate and graduate courses in international political economy, international relations of the Asia-Pacific, Chinese politics and Development, China in the World, and Quantitative Methods. For more information on his published and ongoing research, please visit his personal website.

Recent Books

Fragmenting Globalization

The rapid increase in intermediate trade through global value chain (GVC) linkages means that foreign value added constitutes an increasingly larger share of final goods in many countries and sectors. This book asks: What are the implications of growing GVC linkages for individual firms in today’s global trading system, which is increasingly fragmented by the rise of preferential trade agreements (PTAs)? Drawing on extensive fieldwork, firm-level surveys, and case studies of the patterns of corporate support for regional trade liberalization in both China and the United States, as well as analyses of the pattern of PTA formation among WTO members, this book documents how the fragmentation of global production, trade, and investment activities is reshaping business preferences and political strategies and, as a result, shifting the political economy of trade liberalization away from the traditional divide between export-oriented and import-competing industries.

Order: https://www.press.umich.edu/10147077/fragmenting_globalization

Use code UMS21 for 30% off!

How China Sees the World

Insights From China’s International Relations Scholars

Palgrave Macmillan, December 2019

https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9789811504815

Order through Amazon.

This book intends to make sense of how Chinese leaders perceive China’s rise in the world through the eyes of China’s international relations (IR) scholars. Drawing on a unique, four-year opinion survey of these scholars carried out at the annual conference of the Chinese Community of Political Science and International Studies (CCPSIS) in Beijing from 2014–2017, the authors examine Chinese IR scholars’ perceptions and their changes over time of key issues related to China’s power, its relationship with the United States and other major countries, and China’s position in the international system. Furthermore, the authors complement the surveys with a textual analysis of the academic publications in China’s top five IR journals. By comparing and contrasting the opinion surveys and textual analyses, this book sheds new light on how Chinese IR scholars view the world as well as how they might influence China’s foreign policy.

• First book that systematically examines Chinese scholars’ perceptions of international relations
• Includes findings from a four-year survey research study (2014-2017) in Beijing, designed as a semi-longitudinal study in order to gauge the changing attitudes and perceptions of Chinese scholars
• Part of a multi-year project, “Understanding China’s Rise through the Eyes of Chinese IR Scholars,” funded by the MacArthur Foundation

BOOK REVIEWS

“This short, well-crafted volume takes a significant step forward in providing a systematic review of how Chinese international affairs specialists assess contemporary issues in Chinese foreign relations and particularly Chinese relations with the United States.” — Robert Sutter, Pacific Affairs

1. Informing the Misinformed, under contract with UBC Press.
2. A Comparative Study of Territorial Disputes in Asia (with Songying Fang), under contract with Cambridge University Press.
3. Token Forces: How Tiny Troop Deployments became Ubiquitous in UN Peacekeeping (with Katharina Coleman), forthcoming, Cambridge University Press (Cambridge Elements in International Relations).
4. Fragmenting Globalization: The Politics of Preferential Trade Liberalization in China and the United States (with Ka Zeng), University of Michigan Press (Michigan Studies in International Political Economy), March 2021.
   – Book review: Choice, Journal of Chinese Political Science
   – Order from University of Michigan Press (Use code UMS21 for 30% off)
5. How China Sees the World (with Kai He and Huiyun Feng), Palgrave Macmillam, December 2019.
   – Book review: Pacific Affairs, Journal of Chinese Political Science, The China Journal
   – Order through Palgrave or Amazon.

Peer-Reviewed Articles

1. ““A Security-Economics Tradeoff? Public Support for the Quad in South Korea” (with Songying Fang and Soyoung Lee), forthcoming, Journal of East Asian Studies. 
2. “Erosion of International Organizations’ Legitimacy under Superpower Rivalry: Evidence on the International Court of Justice” (with Enze Han), Canadian Journal of Political Science (2024), Volume 57, Issue 1, pp. 21–42. [Open Access Link]
3. “Understanding Public Perceptions of Chinese Law and Legal System: Judicial Experience Matter” (with Lu Xu), China: An International Journal (2024),  Volume 22, Issue 1, pp. 164–181. [Open Access Link]
4. “Assessing Public Support for (Non-)Peaceful Unification with Taiwan: Evidence from a Nationwide Survey in China” (with Adam Liu), Journal of Contemporary China (2024), Volume 33, Issue 145, pp. 1–13.
   • version published as UCSD 21st Century China Center Research Paper No. 2023-1 [download]
   • Covered by The Economist, South China Morning Post (Hong Kong).
5. “Belief in Territorial Indivisibility and Public Preferences for Dispute Resolution” (with Songying Fang, Daina Chiba, and Atsushi Tago), Political Science Research and Methods (2022), Volume 10, Issue 4, pp. 759–775. [Open Access Link]
6. “Firms as Revenue Safety Net: Political Connections and Returns to the Chinese State” (with Jean Oi and Chaohua Han), China Quarterly (2022), Volume 251, pp. 683–704. [Open Access Link]
7. “Fine Me If You Can: Fixed Asset Intensity and Environmental Regulation Actions in China” (with Xun Cao, Qing Deng*, and Zijie Shao), Regulation and Governance (2022), Volume 16, Issue 4, pp. 983–1004 (Lead Article). [download]
8. “Southeast Asia under Great-Power Competition: Public Opinion About Hedging in the Philippines” (with Songying Fang), Journal of East Asian Studies (2022), Volume 22, Issue 3, pp. 481–501. [download]
9. Unpacking “the West”: Divergence and Asymmetry in Chinese Public Attitudes towards Europe and the United States (with Songying Fang and Adam Liu), Journal of Current Chinese Affairs (2023), Volume 52, Issue 1, pp. 119–133. [download]
   • Covered by South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), Deutscher Welle (Germany), Politiken (Denmark), Le Grand Continent (France), PIME AsiaNews (Vatican), Huanqiu (China), Central News Agency of Taiwan, The News Lens (Taiwan), China Press (Malaysia)
10. “Who Benefits? Global Supply Chains and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership”, Asian Review of Political Economy. [Open Access Link]
11. “Chinese Public Opinion about US–China Relations from Trump to Biden  (with Songying Fang and Adam Liu), Chinese Journal of International Politics (2022), Volume 15, Issue 1. https://doi.org/10.1093/cjip/poac001.
    • Covered by South China Morning Post, 文汇报Wei Hui Bao, Central News Agency of Taiwan, VOA Chinese.
12. “Public Opinion, International Reputation, and Audience Costs in an Authoritarian Regime” (with Dingding Chen), Conflict Management and Peace Science (2021), Volume 38, Issue 5, pp. 543–560. Open Access Link: https://doi.org/10.1177/0738894220906374.
13. “More than Meets the Eye: Understanding Perceptions of China beyond the Favorable-Unfavorable Dichotomy”, Studies in Comparative International Development (2021), Volume 56, Issue 1, pp. 68–86. [Open Access Link]
    • Part of the Special Issue on “China in the World”
14. “Durability of China’s Lawmaking Process under Xi Jinping: A Tale of Two Foreign Investment Laws”, Issues & Studies – A Social Science Quarterly on China, Taiwan, and East Asian Affairs (2021), Volume 57, Issue 1, pp. 1–22.
15. “What Drives Consumer Activism during Trade Disputes? Experimental Evidence from Canada” (with Adam Liu), International Journal (2021), Volume 76, Issue 1, pp. 68–84. [Open Access Link]
16. “Anticipating Exclusion: Global Supply Chains and Chinese Business Responses to the Trans-Pacific Partnership” (with Robert Gulotty), Business and Politics (2020), Volume 22, Issue 2, pp. 253–278.  [download]
    • Nominated for the 2021 David P. Baron Award for the best article published in Business and Politics in 2020
17. “Historical Ownership and Territorial Disputes” (with Songying Fang), Journal of Politics (2020), Volume 82, Issue 1, pp. 345–360. Open Access Link: https://doi.org/10.1086/706047.
18. “Brexit Identities and British Public Opinion on China” (with Wilfred Chow and Enze Han), International Affairs (2019), Volume 95, Issue 6, pp. 1369–1387. Open Access Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiz191.
    • Blog: The Asia Dialogue
19. “Geopolitics, Nationalism, and Foreign Direct Investment: Perceptions of the China Threat and American Public Attitudes toward Chinese FDI” (with Ka Zeng), Chinese Journal of International Politics (2019), Volume 12, Issue 4, pp. 495–518. [download]
20. “Misperceptions of Chinese Investments in Canada and Their Correction: Evidence from a Survey Experiment” (with Yingqiu Kuang* and Linting Zhang*), Canadian Journal of Political Science (2019), Volume 52, Issue 2, pp. 285–302. [download]
21. “Business as Usual? Economic Responses to Political Tensions between China and Japan” (with Adam Y. Liu*), International Relations of the Asia-Pacific (2019), Volume 19, Issue 2, pp. 213–236. [download]
22. “To Join or Not to Join? State Ownership, Commercial Interests, and China’s Belt and Road Initiative” (with Ka Zeng), Pacific Affairs (2019), Volume 92, Issue 1, pp. 5–26 (lead article). [download]
    • Op-ed: Washington Post/Monkey Cage
23. “China’s Evolving Motivations and Goals in UN Peacekeeping Participation” (with Songying Fang and Fanglu Sun), International Journal (2018), Volume 73, Issue 3, pp. 464–473. [download]
24. “Unpacking the Patterns of Corporate Restructuring during China’s SOE Reform”  (with Jean C. Oi), Economic and Political Studies (2018), Volume 6, Issue 2, pp. 118–134. [download]
25. “The Face of Internet Recruitment: Evaluating Labor Markets of Online Crowdsourcing Platforms in China” (with Weiyi Shi and Boliang Zhu), Research and Politics (2018), Volume 5, Issue 1, pp. 1–8. Open Access Link: https://doi.org/10.1177/2053168018759127.
    • Blogged by: UCSD China Data Lab
26. “Public Perceptions of International Leadership in China and the United States” (with Stefano Burzo*), Chinese Political Science Review (2018), Volume 3, Issue 1, pp. 81–99. [download]
27. “Individual Preferences for FDI in Developing Countries: Experimental Evidence from China” (with Ka Zeng), Journal of Experimental Political Science (2017), Volume 4, Issue 3, pp. 195–205. [download]
28. “Does Conditionality Still Work? China’s Development Assistance and Democracy in Africa”, Chinese Political Science Review (2017), Volume 2, Issue 2, pp 201–220. Open Access Link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41111-017-0050-6.
    • Op-ed: Washington Post/Monkey Cage
    • Media mention: BBC, CNN, Quartz
29. “Chinese Citizens’ Trust in Japan and South Korea: Findings from a Four-City Survey” (with Dingding Chen and Jianwei Wang), International Studies Quarterly (2016), Volume 60, Issue 4, pp. 778–789. [download]
30. “Measuring Local Corruption in China: A Cautionary Tale”, Journal of Chinese Political Science (2016), Volume 21, Issue 1, pp. 21–38. [download]
31. “Who Pollutes? Ownership Type and Environmental Performance of Chinese Firms” (with Chris Chan*), Journal of Contemporary China (2016), Volume 25, Issue 98, pp. 248–263. [download]
    • Blogged by CNPolitics (政见): 哪种中国企业更“敢于”污染？
32. “Understanding China’s Behavioral Change in the WTO Dispute Settlement System: Power, Capacity and Normative Constraints in Trade Adjudication”, Asian Survey (2012), Volume 52, Issue 6: 1111–1137. [download]
33. “U.S. Military Aid and Recipient Country Cooperation” (with Patricia Sullivan and Brock Tessman), Foreign Policy Analysis (2011), Volume 7, Issue 3: 275–294. [download]
    • Reprinted in Helen V. Milner and Dustin Tingley (eds.) Geopolitics of Foreign Aid. Vol. II. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2013.
34. “Social Rewards and Socialization Effects: an Alternative Explanation to the Motivation behind China’s Participation in International Institutions”. Chinese Journal of International Politics (2010), Volume 3, Issue 3: 347–377. [download]
    • Reprinted in Xuefeng Sun, Matt Ferchen and M. Taylor Fravel (eds.) China’s Rise and International Norms. Oxford University Press, 2012.

1. “国际关系中的国内观众成本: 实验研究” (translation of “Domestic Audience Costs in International Relations” by Michael Tomz), in Songying Fang (ed.) 国际关系中的理性主义: 美国国际关系实证主义研究代表性文献选集 (2022), Beijing, China: The Commercial Press (商务印书馆).
2. “Regulating China’s Inward FDI: Changes, Challenges, and the Future”, in Jacques deLisle and Avery Goldstein (eds.) To Get Rich Is Glorious: Challenges Facing China’s Economic Reform and Opening at Forty (2019), Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.
3. “Environmental Management, Financing and Performance in Chinese Firms: Evidence from a Nationwide Survey”, in Bingqiang Ren and Huisheng Shou (eds.) Governing the Chinese Environment in a Changing Society: Dynamics, Challenges, and Prospects (2013), Palgrave Macmillan.
4. “Learning and Socialization in International Institutions: China’s Experience with the WTO Dispute Settlement System”, in Mingjiang Li (ed.) China Joins Global Governance: Cooperation and Contentions (2012). Rowman & Littlefield: Lexington Books.
5. “Reciprocity and Adaptation in U.S-China Foreign Policy Behaviors”, in Robert Grafstein and Fan Wan (eds.) A Bridge Too Far?: Commonalities and Differences between China and the U.S. (2009), Rowman & Littlefield: Lexington Books. [download]

1. “How Public Opinion Shapes China’s Foreign Policy“, LSE China Dialogue, May 20, 2022.
2. “Global Supply Chains and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership: Who Benefits?”, ISEAS Economics Working Paper No. 2021 – 06.
3. “Unpacking China’s Merchandise Trade with ASEAN during the Global Pandemic”. ISEAS Perspectives 2021 No. 93.
   • Reprinted by Fulcrum Long Reads.
4. “Facing the Ire of 1.4 Billion Chinese Consumers: Cottoning on to Supply Chain Risks”, Fulcrum, April 7, 2021.
   • Reprinted by ThinkChina, “Facing the ire of 1.4 billion Chinese consumers: Multinational companies cottoning on to supply chain risks”, April 13, 2021.
5. “What Do Chinese People Think of Developed Countries? 2021 Edition” (with Songying Fang and Adam Liu), The Diplomat. March 13, 2021.
6. “Singapore in the Eyes of the Chinese: Amity and Likability” (with Jian Qiang Kwek and Adam Liu), Fulcrum, January 28, 2021.
   • Reprinted by ThinkChina, “Survey shows 70% Chinese have favourable view of Singapore”, February 2, 2021.
7. “What do Chinese people think of developed countries?” (with Adam Liu and Songying Fang), The Diplomat, December 18, 2020.
8. “What do Canadians think of China and the United States?” (with Paul Evans and Pascale Massot), Policy Options, December 12, 2019.
   • French Version
9. “Beijing is counting on its massive Belt and Road Initiative. But are Chinese firms on board?” The Washington Post/Monkey Cage, May 14, 2019.
10. “China is offering ‘no strings attached aid’ to Africa. Here’s what that means.” The Washington Post/Monkey Cage, September 27, 2018.
11. “Les Québécois Positifs et Pragmatiques Face à la Chine” (with Paul Evans and Pascale Massot), Les Affaires, May 20, 2018.
12. “Quebec Survey Respondents Positive, Pragmatic about Ties with China” (with Paul Evans and Pascale Massot), The Hill Times, May 18, 2018.
13. “Xi’s China a source of worry and wonder for Canadians” (with Paul Evans), The Globe and Mail, October 26, 2017.
14. “Pragmatism admist Anxiety: Canadian Opinions on China and Canada-China Relations” (with Paul Evans), Institute of Asian Research, October 17, 2017.
    • Media Coverage: National Post, UBC News, Global Times (in Chinese), Xinhua News
15. “China as a Trading Superpower“, in Nicholas Kitchen (ed.) China’s Geoeconomic Strategy, LSE IDEAS Special Report 12, London School of Economics, London, UK., 2012.
16. “Legalizing Nuclear Abandonment: When Do States Enter Nuclear Weapons Free Zones?” (with Matthew Fuhrmann) , Harvard Kennedy School Managing the Atom Project, March 14, 2008.
17. “China and Multilateral Export Control Regimes: A Case of Socialization Effects in International Institutions”, The Monitor (2006), Volume 12, Issue 1: 10-14, Center for International Trade and Security.

Work In Progress (Selected)

1. “Gender and Use of Force”, under review.
2. “Ain’t No Rally”, under review.
3. “Hositility”, under review.
4. “Trade Negotiation during WTO Accession”, working paper
5. “China and UN peacekeeping”, in progress.
6. “Peacekeeping downsizing”, under review.
7. “Refugee Receptivity in the Global South”, under review.
8. “Blame Attribution”, under review.
9. “Inconsistency Problem in Conjoint Experiments”, under review.
10. “Chinese Manufaturing Firms under GSC Pressure”, in progress.

PhD Students:

1. Parker Li, PhD supervisor, 2019-present.
2. Nathan Peng, PhD Dissertation Committee Member, 2020-2023.
3. Stephano Burzo, PhD co-supervisor, 2018-2023.
4. Yoel Kornreich, PhD Dissertation Committee Member, 2015-2018.
5. Linting Zhang, PhD Dissertation Committee Member, 2015-2018.

MA students:

1. Justin Yau, MA 2022, supervisor.
   • Thesis: “The Wild, Wild Web: Explaining Variation in ASEAN Member-State Cyber Policy”
2. Louis Zheng, MA 2022, supervisor.
   • Thesis: “The Hunting Target: Interpreting the Continuing US Economic Sanctions on Huawei as a Non-state Actor”
3. Charles Bain, MA 2017, Thesis Examiner.
   • Thesis: “The Greening of Self-Interest: Why is China Standing Firm on its Climate Commitments Despite US Regression?”
4. Miaofeng Zhang, MA 2016, Thesis Examiner.
   • Thesis: “To Reform or Not to Reform: China’s Hukou Reform at the Local Level”
5. Wan-Ting Lu, MA 2016, Thesis Examiner.
   • Thesis: “Financial Reforms, Divided Interests, and Tipping Point Policy-Making: Renminbi Internationalization as a New Catalyst for Structural Reforms in China”

Personal Website: http://www.xiaojunli.com