Why China studies scholars in the West have been left in ‘crisis’ mode

As China’s global influence grows, the landscape of China studies is undergoing a profound transformation.

Scholars both within China and internationally are confronting new challenges, from escalating geopolitical tensions and mutual distrust – especially between Washington and Beijing – to increasingly limited access, making research and academic collaboration more difficult than ever.

Some have also urged a shift beyond Western-centric frameworks towards more field-based research and a truly open global dialogue.

Against this backdrop, Beijing has in recent years engaged in an intense war of narratives with Washington, pushing to build soft power, promote its model of governance and “tell China’s story” in its own way.

The situation has left China studies scholars facing what one of them described as a “crisis”, as researchers grapple with deep uncertainty and dwindling interest among the next generation of would-be sinologists.

Rana Mitter, S.T. Lee Chair in US-Asia Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School, said restricted access as well as tighter control over data and fieldwork had made China studies more complicated for Western researchers.