Zhang Weiwei (professor)

Zhang Weiwei (simplified Chinese: 张维为; traditional Chinese: 張維為; pinyin: Zhāng Wéiwèi) is a Chinese political scientist and writer, a professor of international relations at Fudan University, and the director of the China Institute of this university.[2][3] Zhang is also an Internet celebrity,[4] spreading his political ideas through online video platforms such as Xigua Video, Bilibili, TikTok and YouTube.[5]

Zhang Weiwei
张维为
Zhang Weiwei in 2021
Born (1958-12-25) December 25, 1958
Alma mater
Notable workThe China Wave: Rise of a Civilizational State
SchoolNew Confucianism, Chinese exceptionalism
InstitutionsChina Institute, Fudan University
ThesisIdeological Trends and Economic Reform in China, (1978-1993) (1994)
Doctoral advisorGilbert Etienne
Main interests
Developing nations
Governance
International political economy
Nation-building and democratization
Strategic and security issues
Notable ideas
Arab Winter
The End of the End of History[1]

Early life

Zhang is the youngest of six siblings in his family. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), his older siblings all went to the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps while he stayed in Shanghai because of a policy. In 1975, at the age of 17, he was recruited into the No.2 Shanghai Carving Factory (上海雕刻二厂) as a worker and jade carving apprentice.[6]

Education

Soon after, the college entrance examinations resumed with the end of the Cultural Revolution, and in 1977 Zhang was admitted to the foreign languages department of Fudan University, where he persuaded the dean to sit in on courses in international politics. From 1981 to 1983, Zhang was a postgraduate student at Beijing Foreign Studies University, studying translation.

In 1988, Zhang went to the University of Geneva's Graduate Institute of International Studies for a master's degree in international relations (1990) and then pursued a PhD, which he received in 1994. The title of his doctoral thesis is Ideological Trends and Economic Reform in China, (1978-1993).[7]

Career

Interpreter

From 1983 to 1988, Zhang was an English interpreter of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, worked for some Chinese leaders, including Deng Xiaoping[8][9] and Li Peng, in the mid-1980s.[10] In 1999, he published China's first monograph on English-Chinese simultaneous interpretation.

Academia

He was a senior fellow at the Centre for Asian Studies, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (1998-2010), and a visiting professor at the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations (2004-2010).[11]

Zhang has written extensively in English and Chinese on People's Republic of China's economic and political reform, China's development model and comparative politics. He expanded on the concept of a civilization state with his book The China Wave: Rise of a Civilizational State (2012).[12]

Zhang Weiwei first predicted Arab Winter in his June 2011 debate with Francis Fukuyama, who believed Arab Spring might be spread to China.[13] "My understanding of the Middle East leads me to conclude that the West should not be too happy. It will bring enormous problems to American interest. It is called 'Arab Spring' for now, and I guess it will soon turn to be the winter for the Middle East."[14][15]

Politics

Zhang is a high-ranking ideologist in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

On May 17, 2016, Zhang attended the National Symposium on the Work of Philosophy and Social Sciences chaired by Xi Jinping and spoke as a representative of the field of political science on topics such as theoretical innovation, Chinese discourse and a new type of think tank.[16]

On May 31, 2021, Zhang gave a lecture to the Politburo of the CCP on strengthening China's international propaganda.[17][18][19] Some commentators have therefore argued that Zhang has become the new Guoshi (国师), a person with the ability to influence the decisions of China's political elites.[20][21]

TV

Since 2019, Zhang has been the host of "This is China" (这就是中国), a Chinese political talk show launched by Dragon Television, a state-owned TV channel.[22]

Political Views

External video
video icon Is Democracy Wrong for China? (Al Jazeera, 2015)
video icon Is China an Alternative to Western democracy? (The Nexus Institute, 2018)
video icon - Dialogue between Kishore Mahbubani and Zhang WeiWei (Guan Video, 2018)
video icon - Dialogue with Zhang WeiWei (The Munk Debates, 2020)
video icon - Self-Confidence Matters: A Chinese Perspective on The Rise of China(Zhang Weiwei, 2021)

According to Zhang, the concept of political party in the Western context does not apply to the CCP. The CCP is a ruling group that follows Chinese political traditions and represents the interests of a nation as a whole.[23][24]

Affiliations

  • Zhang is the director of the Institute of China Studies, Shanghai Academy of Social Science.
  • Zhang is a Senior research fellow at the Chunqiu Institute, a Shanghai-based think tank.

Works

Books

  • Zhang Weiwei (1996). Ideology and Economic Reform under Deng Xiaoping. London: Kegan Paul. ISBN 9780710305268.
  • Zhang Weiwei (1999). 英汉同声传译 [English-Chinese Simultaneous Interpretation]. Beijing: China Translation & Publishing Corporation. ISBN 9787500105824.
  • Zhang Weiwei (2000). Transforming China: Economic Reform and its Political Implications. London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781349408474.
  • Zhang Weiwei (2006). Reshaping Cross-Strait Relations: Ideas and Reflections. Geneva: CAS.
  • Zhang Weiwei (2008). 中国触动全球 [China Touches the World]. Beijing: Xinhua Press. ISBN 9787501185306.
  • Zhang Weiwei (2012). The China Wave: Rise of a Civilizational State. World Century Publishing Corporation. ISBN 978-1938134012.
  • Zhang Weiwei (2012). New Challenges and Perspectives of China: Where is China Going?. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press. ISBN 978-7119073613.
  • Zhang Weiwei (2015). The China Horizon: Glory and Dream of a Civilizational State. World Century Publishing Corporation. ISBN 978-1938134739.
  • Zhang Weiwei, ed. (2015). 国际视野下的中国道路和中国梦 [The Chinese Way and the Chinese Dream in an International Perspective]. Beijing: Xuexi Chubanshe. ISBN 9787514705348.
  • Zhang Weiwei (2017). 中国人,你要自信 [Chinese, Be Confident]. Beijing: CITIC. ISBN 9787508678894.
  • Zhang Weiwei, ed. (2020). 中国特色社会主义 [Socialism with Chinese Characteristics]. Shanghai: Shanghai People's Publishing House. ISBN 9787208159778.
  • Zhang Weiwei (2020). 中国战疫! [China Fight the Pandemic!]. Shanghai: Shanghai People's Publishing House. ISBN 9787208164857.
  • Zhang Weiwei (2021). 新百年 新中国 [China in the New Era]. Beijing: Dongfang Chubanshe. ISBN 9787520719032.

Articles

Essays

References

  1. Zhang, Weiwei (2012). The China Wave: Rise of a Civilizational State. World Century Publishing Corporation. pp. 139–175. ISBN 9781938134012.
  2. Sarah Tilton. "Zhang Weiwei Talks About His New Think Tank, U.S.-China Relations And Why He Loves Bhutan". Forbes.
  3. "Analysis: Xi's 'lovable' China is wolf in sheep's clothing". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
  4. "从学者到内容创作者,陈平、张维为用深入浅出的解读获百万网友点赞". 北晚新视觉. Retrieved August 31, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. Bjerke, Magnus Lomax (2021). China's New Discourse: The Confidence of Unlimited Responsibility. A case study of Professor Zhang Weiwei's ideas and his call for a new discourse of Chinese confidence in the book and TV show China Now (PDF). University of Oslo.
  6. 刘雅婷. "邓小平翻译:我们为什么不够自信?". 海外网. Retrieved June 15, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. Zhang, Wei-Wei (1994). Ideological trends and economic reform in China, (1978-1993). Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  8. "贴身翻译谈邓小平:从未见过这么精彩的人". 中新网. Retrieved June 16, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. Zhang, Weiwei (August 25, 2014). "My Personal Memories as Deng Xiaoping's Interpreter: From Oriana Fallaci to Kim Il-sung to Gorbachev". HuffPost. Retrieved June 18, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. 刘雅婷 (2015). "邓小平翻译:我们为什么不够自信?". 海外网. Retrieved June 14, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. "张维为(院长)". China Institute, Fudan University. Retrieved June 14, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. "The China Wave: Rise of a Civilizational State". South China Morning Post. Retrieved June 14, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. Zhang, Weiwei. "Looking back at the debate with Fukuyama six years ago [回望六年前与福山的那场辩论]". Guancha (in Chinese).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. Fukuyama, Francis; Weiwei, Zhang. "The End of What? -- Fukuyama and Zhang Weiwei in a Debate on the "Chinese Model" [谁的终结?——福山与张维为对话"中国模式"]". Guancha (in Chinese). Retrieved August 2, 2018. 而且我自己对中东的了解使我得出这样的结论,西方千万不要太高兴,这会给美国的利益会带来很多的问题。现在叫中东的春天,我看不久就要变成中东的冬天。{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. Fukuyama, Francis; Zhang, Weiwei (2011). "The China Model: A Dialogue between Francis Fukuyama and Zhang Weiwei". New Perspectives Quarterly. 28 (4): 40–67. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5842.2011.01287.x.
  16. "哲学社会科学工作者谈习近平总书记在哲学社会科学工作座谈会上的重要讲话-新华网". www.xinhuanet.com. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
  17. Shirley Ze Yu (June 12, 2021). "How China is seeking promote its world view and roll back Westernisation". South China Morning Post. Retrieved June 14, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. Chen, Kimball (June 9, 2021). "The Politburo's recent study session: who is Zhang Weiwei?". U.S.-China Perception Monitor. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  19. "张维为给政治局上课 可忧可忧?". RFI - 法国国际广播电台 (in Simplified Chinese). June 4, 2021. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  20. 穆尧 (June 4, 2021). "新晋国师张维为". 多维新闻 (in Simplified Chinese). Retrieved June 14, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  21. "习近平要塑造"可爱"中国 新晋"国师"张维为能胜任吗?". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  22. Kladensky, Konstantin (September 22, 2020). "China as a Moral Superpower in "This is China"". das Reispapier. Retrieved June 16, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  23. Zhang, Weiwei. "The key to China's success is the advantages of its political system [政治制度优势是中国成功的关键]". 人民网 (in Chinese). Retrieved June 15, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  24. "Zhang Weiwei: The Party's Leadership Added into the First Article of the Constitution Shows China's Confidence in its Political System". China Today. Retrieved June 22, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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