ICS-IKMAS-EAIR FORUM

Authoritarianism in Thailand and the China Factor

Speaker : Dr. Enze Han
Associate Professor,
Department of Politics and Public Administration, The University of Hong Kong
Thursday, 30 November 2023

Time: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Venue: ICS Seminar Room, University of Malaya

Registration: https://bit.ly/Forum_EnzeHan

TALK SYNOPSIS
This talk examines the relationship between authoritarianism in Thailand and what role China plays in it. Instead of asking whether it is Beijing’s support that directly assisted the power longevity of the military authoritarian rule in Thailand, this talk argues that a “China factor” works through existing domestic political divisions within Thailand. Specifically it argues that China’s influence is filtered through domestic political divisions in Thailand between those who support authoritarianism and those who support democracy. For those who support authoritarian rule, they overall praise the Chinese model of development, welcomes Chinese investments in Thailand, and would like see more of Chinese influence at the expense of the United States in Thailand. On the contrary, people who have more democratic values would have the opposite preferences. Indeed, often whether support for China or the United States in the country’s foreign policy can be interpreted as a form of domestic political contestation between those who support the military government and those who do not.

SPEAKER’S PROFILE
Dr. Enze Han is Associate Professor at the Department of Politics and Public Administration, The University of Hong Kong. His recent publications include Asymmetrical Neighbors: Borderland State Building between China and Southeast Asia (Oxford University Press, 2019), Contestation and Adaptation: The Politics of National Identity in China (Oxford University Press, 2013), and various articles appearing in International Affairs, World Development, The China Quarterly, Security Studies, Conflict Management and Peace Science, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies among many others. During 2015-2016, he was a Friends Founders’ Circle Member of the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, United States. Dr. Han received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the George Washington University, and he was also a postdoctoral research fellow in the China and the World Program at Princeton University.