EVENTS

The year 2024 marks the 60^th anniversary of China’s first nuclear test and the adoption of its no-first-use policy. Long before China joined the nuclear club in 1964, Mao Zedong famously dismissed nuclear weapons as a “paper tiger.” Yet, in the years that followed, nuclear weapons became increasingly integral to China’s security calculations and strategic positioning. As China’s global influence expands, its approach to nuclear weapons has garnered growing scrutiny. With the credibility of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) increasingly questioned, and nuclear-weapon states resisting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), the Chinese nuclear strategy becomes more complex. This seminar offers insights into China’s position within the global nuclear landscape, drawing on international discourse and systematic investigations of China’s involvement in nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament frameworks.

About the Speaker

Renu Rana is a faculty member (International Studies) in the Department of Social Sciences at FLAME University. She holds a Doctorate in International Politics from the School of International Relations and Public Affairs at Fudan University. She was awarded the India-China bilateral Senior Scholar fellowship for 2015-16 by the Ministry of Education and the Outstanding International Student Award by the Ministry of Education in China in 2018. She was a Graduate Fellow at the Nuclear Nonproliferation Education and Research Centre at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea. With nearly a decade of academic and professional experience in various capacities in China, her experience includes positions at Shenzhen University, the BRICS Centre at Fudan University, Tecnológico de Monterrey, and the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi. Her research interests span international politics, Chinese politics and diplomacy, India-China relations, disarmament, and nuclear non-proliferation.

About the Chair

M. S. Prathibha is an Associate Fellow at the East Asia Centre in MP-IDSA and a member of the Editorial Board of Strategic Analysis (Routledge). She received her doctorate for her work on “China’s Nuclear Policy and Strategic Conduct, 1992-2008” from the Chinese Studies Division, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. She holds a Master's in International Studies and a Bachelor's in Mathematics. Previously, she studied Political Theory and Mandarin at the School of Marxism, Beijing Normal University, on a scholarship sponsored by the Government of China. Her research interests include China’s nuclear policy and strategy, China’s elite politics, military and strategic force modernization, and East Asian security dynamics.

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