The Fading Allure of Chinese Exceptionalism?
The Fading Allure of Chinese Exceptionalism?
Speaker
Prof. Dr. Benjamin Ho (S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Singapore)
Date and Time
November 11, 2025, 6.15 pm - 8 pm
Venue
Zürichbergstrasse 4, CH-8032 Zurich, Room ZUB-416
please register here
Abstract
In the first two decades of the 21st century, China underwent a remarkable transformation, emerging with newfound power, capabilities, and the identity of a rising superpower. In his presentation, Professor Benjamin Ho will explore how Chinese sense of exceptionalism has shaped the manner in which Beijing seeks to relate with the rest of the world. At the same time, the coronavirus pandemic and America’s full-throttle trade and tariff war has also blunted the ability of the Chinese to procure global influence. Drawing insights from his decade-long study of China from a Singaporean vantage point, he will assess the rising superpower's quest for a new identity and its global and regional ramifications. In addition, he will also share insights on the limitations of Chinese power and the extent to which China continues to think of itself as exceptional and its rise as being inevitable.
Organization
Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies - Chinese Studies