New Books in Chinese Studies Dylan Loh, "China's Rising Foreign Ministry: Practices and Representations of Assertive Diplomacy" (Stanford UP, 2025)
Jan 7, 2026
Dylan Loh, an Associate Professor at Nanyang Technological University and author of a book on Chinese diplomacy, dives into the assertive tactics of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He discusses the intriguing rise of 'wolf warrior' diplomacy and how these practices reflect Beijing's evolving identity on the world stage. Loh also shares insights from his extensive interviews and emphasizes the importance of diplomats in shaping policy. Plus, he teases his future work on China's discourse power and its implications for global relations.
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Diplomats' Practical Impact
- Diplomats matter because they operate within a latitude of action that shapes how China's foreign policy is implemented.
- Dylan Loh shows the Ministry of Foreign Affairs exercises consequential discretion under but aligned with top leadership direction.
Access Via Guanxi And Snowballing
- Dylan Loh conducted extensive fieldwork in 2016–2018 and used snowball sampling and guanxi to secure interviews.
- He collected 104 interviews with 84 informants, relying on introductions and repeated requests to access diplomats.
Study What Practitioners Do
- Use practice‑sensitive methods to study diplomacy by focusing on what people actually say and do.
- Dylan Loh advises grounding IR analysis in empirical interviews and routines rather than abstract state-centric theorizing.
