Will a rising China challenge the existing global order? Does status drive the tension between China and the United States? An assertive China demands greater accommodation of its core interests, and a shirking China urges international audiences to see a still poor developing country. Using the metaphor of rebranding to understand China's varying displays of status, Xiaoyu Pu analyzes China's challenges and dilemmas on the global stage. As competing pressures mount across domestic, regional, and international audiences, China must pivot between different representational tactics. The book demystifies how China represents its global position by analyzing recent military transformations, regional diplomacy, and international financial negotiations. Drawing on a sweeping body of research, including original Chinese sources and interdisciplinary ideas from sociology, psychology, and international relations, this book puts forward an innovative framework for interpreting China's foreign policy.
PU Xiaoyu is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Reno. Previously he was a postdoctoral fellow in the Princeton-Harvard China and the World Program and a Stanton fellow at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV, Brazil). He received his Ph.D. from Ohio State University in 2012. He is the author of Rebranding China: Contested Status Signaling in the Changing Global Order (Studies in Asian Security Series, Stanford University Press, 2019). His research has appeared in academic journals such as International Security, International Affairs, The China Quarterly, Chinese Journal of International Politics, Asian Affairs, World Economics and Politics, and Foreign Affairs Review. He is an editor of Chinese Journal of International Politics and an editorial board member of Foreign Affairs Review (Beijing).