The “International Order and the Shaping of China’s Diplomacy” academic seminar was held on February 1st, 2013, at National Chengchi University. The participants of this seminar were dissertation publishers as well as young scholars from the diplomatic history research team, where high-quality papers were produced each year with continuous support provided by Center for Humanities Research.

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Diretcor Whei-Ming Chou stated that although the issues of
modern Chinese diplomatic history were relatively important,
they have not been brought into focus and taken in respect
in academia. After the Namamugi Incident, Japan started to
learn international law, and attempted to transform and
modernize the country. However, even such incidents were of
high frequencies in China, the Chinese government did not
act and reflect on the essence of problems like its Japanese
counterpart did.

The topic of today’s seminar was “International Order and
the Shaping of China’s Diplomacy,” which aimed to discuss
and focus on the process of Chinese modernization. This
seminar, presenting the fruitful results of former seminars
since last year, 2012, was conducted by Young Scholars of
Diplomatic History research team supported by the “Aim for
the Top University Project: The Shaping of Modern China”
under Center for Humanities Research, National Chengchi
University. The Young Scholars of Diplomatic History,
consisted of young Ph.D. students or assistant professors
from different fields, was an ambitious and energetic
research team with a great passion for academic research.
The team has published China's Diplomacy from Multiple
Perspectives in 2011 and The Interpretation and Application
of International Law in China in 2012.

The “International Order and the Shaping of China’s
Diplomacy” academic seminar was held on February 1st, 2013,
at seventh floor second conference room of Administration
Building, National Chengchi University. The seminar
centering on international order analyzed China’s feedback
on and attitude toward foreign affairs since the late Qing
Dynasty.

This seminar, presenting the fruitful results of former
seminars since last year, 2012, was conducted by Young
Scholars of Diplomatic History research team supported by
the “Aim for the Top University Project: The Shaping of
Modern China”under Center for Humanities Research, National
Chengchi University. The Young Scholars of Diplomatic
History, consisted of young Ph.D. students or assistant
professors from different fields, was an ambitious and
energetic research team with a great passion for academic
research. The team has published China's Diplomacy from
Multiple Perspectives in 2011 and The Interpretation and
Application of International Law in China in 2012.

The seminar invited experts in diplomatic history home and
abroad, including Professor Chi-Hua Tang from the Department
of History of Tunghai University, Professor Chiu-Chun Lee
from the Department of History of National Taipei
University, Researcher Li Chang and Chi-Hsiung Chang from
the Institute of Modern History of the Academia Sinica,
Professor Kawashima Shin from the Graduate Department of
Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies of the University of
Tokyo in Japan, Assistant Professor Jian-Biao Ma from the
Department of History of Fudan University in Shanghai and
Researcher Wen-Hao Lu from the Institute of Modern History
of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Meawhile, the seminar
also invited Professor Chih-yu Shih from the Department of
Political Science of National Taiwan University and
Assistant Professor Hsuan-Lei Shao from the Department of
East Asian Studies of National Taiwan Normal University so
as to enhance interdisciplinary communication as well as the
variety of seminar discussions.

Nine articles were expected to be released for academic
references in the seminar this year. For example, in China’s
Efforts to Return to the International Community: Centering
on the Inspections of Problems of the Emperor’s Return,
Adjunct Assistant Professor Shen-Hua Lu analyzed the
emperor’s role and the process of restoring order after the
Incident of Gengxin, as well as the efforts of Chinese
diplomats and complicated international factors involved. In
Participation in Civil Order: The Analysis of China’s
Establishment of Internment Camps, Ph.D. Student Zhen-Feng
Tsai discussed the measures taken by the Chinese government
against prisoners of war and its participation in
international law and world order during World War I. And in
Shifting Direction of the British Governement’s Policy of
Pirate Suppression in Guangdong Province in the 1920s,
Associate Professor Chun-Hao Ying brought up the problems,
measures, ways of cooperations and solutions between the
Guangdong Provincial Government and the Government of Hong
Kong during the British rule. Although priate problems were
considered issues of maritime security, and though
eventually the two parties had no choice but to give up
cooperative works, the problems of pirate suppression, with
the unfolding of First United Front political event, somehow
made the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office take a more
prudent attitude toward these issues, which again manifested
the subtle connections between China’s foreign policy and
its goal to maintain harmonious maritime order.

The three articles mentioned above centered on different
topics and issues; however, they all displayed modern
China’s responses to world order. After the success of
National Revolutionary Army’s Northern Expeditions,
conflicts of different views on East Asian order between the
Republic of China and Japan occurred. The Attempt of the
Nationalist Government to Seek International Mediation
during the Sino-Soviet Conflict written by Director Wen-Lung
Wang, Shifting Historical Glitches: The Post-War Inspection
of Chinese Customers (1945-1946) written by Assistant
Researcher Chih-Yun Chang, and The Post-War East Asian Order
and the Policy of the Republic of China toward the Ryukyu
Islands: Centering on Political Movements of the Ryukyuan
People in Taiwan written by Adjunct Researcher Tzu-Chen Yang
also discussed the problems of maintaining East Asian order
from different aspects, as well as displayed the conflicts
and compromises of international law, expatriate policies
and customer appointments.

As World War II came to an end and new world order was being
established, China participated in the ideal order
established by the United Nations, and also got itself
involved in the Cold War Frame dominated by two strong
powers, the United States and Russia. The study of China’s
Complaint to the United Nations against the United States’s
Invasion of Taiwan in 1950 written by Assistant Professor
Tao-Chung Hsiao, and The Full Story of China’s Right of
Representation at the World Health Organization (1948-1972)
presented by Ph.D. Student Feng-Yuan Hsu, respectively
discussesed, by studying the ways the United Nations and its
principal organs work, how China had participated in the
post-war world order maintenance and had consolidated its
own power. In addition, The Third Qingdewan Incident and
East Asian Order in the Cold War Era: The Remote Causes of
the Problems of Senkaku Islands, presented by Ph.D. Student
Tian-Hao Jen, also discussed the authority and development
issues of the islands in East China Sea, catching the
public’s full attention and providing a different
perspective on such issues nowadays.

The nine articles mentioned above analyzed the process of
transformations that China had undergone when it gradually
got itself involved in the international community through
various events at different times and from different
perspectives. And these articles also provided relatively
persual and careful observations for understanding the
shaping of Modern China’s diplomacy.

Diretcor Whei-Ming Chou stated that the diplomatic history
research team has been doing research for several years, and
high-quality papers were also produced each year with
continuous support provided by Center for Humanities
Research. He also stated that although the issues of modern
Chinese diplomatic history were relatively important, they
have not been brought into focus and taken in respect in
academia. After the Namamugi Incident, Japan started to
learn international law, and attempted to transform and
modernize the country. However, even such incidents were of
high frequencies in China, the Chinese government did not
act and reflect on the essence of problems like its Japanese
counterpart did. And therefore, through today’s
“International Order and the Shaping of China’s Diplomacy”
seminar, it is hoped that further discussions and analyses
could be made regarding the process of Chinese
modernization.