Securing China

The book talk places Xi Jinping’s policy shift regarding national security in historical and international contexts and traces its implications across territorial security, counterterrorism, and cultural security, developing a research agenda that transcends the Eurocentrism of International Security Studies.   

When President Xi Jinping took over the leadership of China, he spearheaded a policy shift placing national security at the heart of the political project. This process has led to an unprecedented expansion of the security agenda, a strengthened and centralised security apparatus, and a series of laws codifying Xi’s own ‘total national security’ concept. It filters into all areas of, and levels of, policy, transforming China’s international relations, domestic policy, and everyday life. Securing China argues that total national security represents a shift in the governance of China, a move with global ramifications. Based on Dr. Nyman’s forthcoming book, Securing China: Worlding Security Studies (Oxford University Press, Autumn/Winter 2026), this talk places this shift in historical and international context and traces how it shapes contemporary policy across three areas: territorial security, counterterrorism, and cultural security. In the process it draws out five core characteristics at the heart of Xi’s concept and sets out where these have similarities and/or differences with concepts found elsewhere. Building on postcolonial theory, Securing China uses an analysis of security politics in the PRC to develop an agenda for Worlding Security Studies that transcends the Eurocentrism at the heart of International Security Studies. It does so through a double move that challenges two binaries that structure the field: similar/different, and local/global. In contrast to conventional security studies, it argues that there is no universal concept of security, but rather a series of concepts that have both similarities and/or differences that shape policy around the world. The book therefore reimagines the theory and practice of security through an original study of China. 

Speaker: 

Dr. Jonna Nyman is a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Sheffield. Her research centres on security politics, China, and energy/climate issues. She has published a series of research articles in world leading journals and a previous monograph with Oxford University Press, titled The Energy Security Paradox: Rethinking energy (in)security in the United States and China (2018). Her research has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, the Leverhulme Trust, and the Academy of Finland. 

Moderator: 

Dr. Sebastian Biba is a GIGA Associate. 

Registration:

Please register. All registered participants will receive further information with details of the online event and a link to participate.      

Zur Veranstaltung (LINK)