Does China See Itself as a Great Power?

In July the Chinese Communist Party turns 100. From humble beginnings in a small building in Shanghai's French Concession, the party would go on to seize power, retaining it into the present day, and fundamentally alter the course of China's history. 

A century ago, the CCP's founders would probably not have been able to imagine the influence they would wield and the modern country their party would forge, even if they might have hoped for it.  China in 1921 was fracturing, impoverished, and often found itself at the mercy of the era's great powers. 

But today's China is a global economic behemoth; and its international political influence is inexorably on the rise too, seen in its growing power in multilateral institutions like the UN. Many would argue that it's seen by the world's leading superpower, the United States, as its main rival. 

But is China what we might call a great power? And crucially - whilst we certainly know a lot about what everyone else thinks about this - how does China perceive itself?  

To answer these very big questions, we've assembled some of the biggest brains in the field. 

The incomparable Rana Mitter, Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China at the University of Oxford, is our guest host for this episode. He's joined by Professor Shaun Breslin of the University of Warwick and Suyan Pan, Associate Professor at the Education University of Hong Kong. 

As ever - you can find out more on our website, www.asiamatterspod.com