Speakers

Find a short biography of each paper presenter below:


Paper presentation 1: David Kerr - 'Taking - or avoiding - the path to China-US rivalry: European perspectives and responses'

David Kerr teaches Chinese politics and Asian international relations at Durham University, UK. His research specialises in three areas: Chinese foreign policy, the politics of Inner Asia, and relations between China and Europe. He is currently editing a volume China’s Many Dreams: comparative and historical perspectives on China’s search for national rejuvenation for publication by Palgrave in 2014. A previous edited volume was The International Politics of EU-China Relations, OUP 2007.

Paper presentation 2: Christopher Lamont -'Promoting Multilateralism in East Asia? Air Defense Identification Zones and Unraveling Security in East Asia'

Christopher Lamont is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at the University of Groningen. Recently, Dr. Lamont was a research fellow at the Tekijuku Commemoration Center and taught at the Osaka School of International Public Policy (Osaka University). Dr. Lamont’s research interests focus on international law and transitional justice. He has published widely in these fields. His publications in include his book International Criminal Justice and the Politics of Compliance (Ashgate 2010) and contributions to a number of edited volumes and journals.

Paper presentation 3: Tobias Burgers - 'History Reversed: The West should starting copying the East. What and why the EU should learn from military and security developments in East-Asia'

Tobias J. Burgers is a doctoral candidate at the Otto-Suhr-Institute for Political Science, Free University Berlin, where he researches on the rise of cyber and robotic warfare. His dissertation research is on the (possible) application of cyber robotic systems in (UN) peace operations. In addition, he researches on cyber and robotic warfare in East-Asian security affairs and just finished a 6 month tenure as visiting researcher at the Center for Security Studies, Department of International Relations, National Chengchi University, Taipei, ROC. Additionally, he works part-time as a researcher for CRISP Berlin, conducting research and writing on conflict simulation scenarios.

Paper presentation 4: Chang Kyung-Sup - 'Asianization of Asia: Asia’s Integrative Ascendance through a European Aperture'

Chang Kyung-Sup, a PhD from Brown University, has taught sociology at Seoul National University since 1991. He currently serves as president of the Association for North Korean Social and Cultural Studies and director of the Institute for China Studies at Seoul National University. His research interests include institutional sociology, comparative political economy, post-socialism, social theory, etc. His recent books include: South Korea under Compressed Modernity: Familial Political Economy in Transition (Routledge 2010), Contested Citizenship in East Asia: Developmental Politics, National Unity, and Globalization (coedited with Bryan S. Turner, Routledge, 2012), Developmental Politics in Transition: The Neoliberal Era and Beyond (coedited with Ben Fine and Linda Weiss, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), South Korea in Transition: Politics and Culture of Citizenship (edited, Routledge, 2014), etc. He is currently writing Developmental Politics in South Korea: From Developmental Liberalism to Neoliberalism (Palgrave Macmillan) and preparing, as a general editor, Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Theory (with Bryan S. Turner, et al.).

Paper presentation 5: Daniel Hammond - 'Weak politics – A Strategic or Cultural Misunderstanding? An Analysis of Chinese Priorities in Sino-EU and Sino-ASEAN Relations under the Xi and Li regime'

Daniel R Hammond took up the post of Lecturer in Chinese Politics and Society at the University of Edinburgh in September 2011. His research focuses primarily on Chinese policy making in a number of areas including urban and rural social assistance, perceptions of poverty, and animal welfare in Asia. He also works with others on research in Sino-EU relations, Sino-ASEAN relations as well as relations between China and particular SEA states, and the South China Sea.

Paper presentation 6: Garrie van Pinxteren - 'European Journalists in China: Caught between a Rock and a Hard Place'

Garrie van Pinxteren is a sinologist, journalist, researcher and university lecturer whose professional involvement with China spans a period of over thirty years. She has lived in China for more than ten years. She first came to Beijing in 1982 as a student of ancient Chinese history in Shanghai. After obtaining an MA in sinology from Leiden University in 1988, she was an interpreter and an advisor on cultural exchanges with China. She moved to China in 1998 to become the first director of the Dutch Business Support Office in Hangzhou. In 2001 she moved to Beijing, where she was the China-correspondent for the newspaper NRC Handelsblad, for the national Dutch broadcasting corporation NOS and for Radio Netherlands Worldwide. In 2007, she published a book about the growing Chinese tendency to set its own international standards. Since returning to the Netherlands in 2009, she is senior research fellow at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael, lecturer on journalism at Groningen University and lecturer on the media and China at Leiden University. She acts as panel chair for China-related seminars and debates, writes columns and essays on China and regularly appears as China-specialist in the media. She is presently preparing a Ph.D. on journalists in China.

Paper presentation 7: Justyna Szczudlik-Tatar - '16+1 As a New Format of China-Central and Eastern Europe Cooperation?'

Justyna Szczudlik-Tatar is an analyst at the International Economic Relations and Global Issues Programme at the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM), a leading think-tank in Poland and Europe. She graduated from the Institute of Political Science, Faculty of Social Science at the University of Wroclaw (Poland) and the Chinese Studies Department, Faculty of Oriental Studies at the University of Warsaw (Poland). She studied Chinese language at the Beijing Language and Culture University in Beijing (China) and the National Chengchi University in Taipei (Taiwan). She was also a recipient of the Taiwan Fellowship 2013 and under this program she was a visiting fellow at the Institute of International Relations, National Chengchi University in Taipei. Her research in PISM focuses on China’s foreign policy, Sino-Polish relations, China-Central and Eastern Europe relations as well as Cross-Strait relations.

Paper presentation 8: Werner Pascha - 'Overcoming Economic Weakness in Japan and the EU: The Political Economy of Reforms and Lessons for Mutual Learning'

Werner Pascha is Professor of East Asian Economic Studies/Japan and Korea at the Mercator School of Management and the (university-level) Institute of East Asian Studies of the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany. He has studied economics at the University of Freiburg, Germany, at the London School of Economics and Political Science and at Nagoya University, Japan. Recent visiting positions include Doshisha University, Kyoto (JSPS Invitation Fellowship) in 2011 and Busan National University in the Republic of Korea in 2013. Among honorary activities, he is a member of the Steering Group and of the Executive Board of EastAsiaNet (European Research School Network of Contemporary East Asian Studies) and co-editor in chief of the Asia Europe Journal, published by Springer. In 2011-13, he was a core member of the EU-Korea Public Diplomacy project funded by the European Commission. His research interest includes the political economy of institutional change in East Asia, particularly Japan and Korea, and international economic relations of the East Asian region.

Paper presentation 9: Maaike Okano-Heijmans - 'The Asian Development Bank: What’s in it for Europe?'

Maaike Okano-Heijmans is a senior research fellow at the Netherlands Institute for International Relations ‘Clingendael’ in The Hague. Her research interests are in economic diplomacy and international relations in East Asia (with a special focus on Japan) and on consular affairs and diplomacy. She regularly lectures on these themes at policy-oriented institutes and universities. Maaike obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Antwerp, Belgium and holds Master degrees from the University of Amsterdam and Waseda University in Tokyo. She is a co-editor of the book review section of The Hague Journal of Diplomacy (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers) and a Dutch member of CSCAP-EU (Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific, the track-two organisation promoting security dialogue in Asia). Maaike’s most recent book is Economic Diplomacy: Japan and the Balance of National Interests (Martinus Nijhoff, July 2013). She contributed research articles to the European Journal of East Asian Studies, the International Spectator, the Hague Journal of Diplomacy, and the Pacific Review.

Paper presentation 10: Herman Voogsgeerd - 'Legalization and Trade Relationships in East Asia: Does Globalization Lead to Higher Legalization?'

Herman Voogsgeerd holds degrees in public international and EU law and in contemporary history. His PhD from 2000 is in EU internal market law. He presently works as a Senior Lecturer in International Political Economy at the department of International Relations and International Organization (Faculty of Arts) and in (International and European) Company and Labour law (Faculty of Law), both at the University of Groningen. His research interests focus on balancing social and economic rights, corporate governance of large firms and the rise of Asia. He is publishing right now a.o. a book chapter on the role of civil society and trade unions in Japan and co-editing a book on comparative regionalism and regionalization EU-East Asia, a cooperation project between the Universities of Groningen and Osaka (Japan).

Paper presentation 11: Oliver Bräuner - 'Regional Security in East Asia: Maximizing the EU’s Limited Influence'

Oliver Bräuner joined SIPRI in April 2010. He currently works as a Researcher for the China and Global Security Programme at SIPRI. He holds a Masters Degree in Chinese Studies, Law and Political Science from Heidelberg University, Germany. His research interests include Chinese foreign and defence policies, EU-China relations and the impact of European transfers of militarily relevant technologies on the modernization of the Chinese PLA.

Paper presentation 12: David Fouquet - 'Options for the EU in Asian Maritime Disputes'

David Fouquet had a long career as a journalist covering foreign, security and economic relations for leading publications, such as The Washington Post, Newsweek and Janes Defence Weekly in Washington, London and Brussels. He then became a consultant for major international companies, lecturer and writer concentrating on European-Asian relations since the mid-1990s. He has been involved in EU-sponsored international projects, lectured and participated in conferences throughout Asia and Europe. Mr Fouquet is Senior Associate EIAS Brussels.

Paper presentation 13: Sanne Kamerling - 'The EU and East Asian Security: Opportunities and Challenges in Maritime Security Governance'

Susanne Kamerling is a Researcher and Lecturer at the International Relations and International Organization Department of the University of Groningen and an Associate Fellow at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’ in The Hague. She is a PhD Candidate working on a dissertation about the role and self-perception of China and India in international security issues. She worked at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’ for five years before coming to the University of Groningen. She has a background in Political Science (International Relations) and Social Geography (International Development Studies) at the University of Amsterdam and Science Po in Paris, France.

Her research interests are international security issues, the role of China and India in international security, their security and defense polies, maritime security and counter-piracy, and EU’s Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP) and External Relations with Asia.

Paper presentation 14: Frank Gaenssmantel & Feng Liu - 'Same Name, Different Substance? Exploring the Impact of Issue Perceptions on China-EU Relations'

Feng Liu is an Associate Professor and the Vice Chair of the Department of International Relations, Zhou Enlai School of Government at the Nankai University. His research interests focus on international relations theory, East Asian security, and Chinese foreign policy. Dr. Liu Feng is the author of The Logic of Balancing: Structural Pressure, Hegemonic Legitimacy and Great-Power Behavior (2010), and co-editor of China’s Rise & World Order (2011). He is also an editor of The Chinese Journal of International Politics.

Frank Gaenssmantel is Assistant Professor in the Department of International Relations and International Organisation at the University of Groningen. He has previously held a position as Research Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Studies on Contemporary China (Centro di Alti Studi sulla Cina Contemporanea, CASCC) in Turin (2008-2010) and taught at the School of Advanced International and Area Studies at East China Normal University in Shanghai (2004-2006). His research interests include China-EU relations, as well as Chinese and EU foreign policies. He received his PhD from the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence with the thesis “How international actors interact – Explaining China’s Engagement with the EU, 2002-2007”(defended in September 2009). He also holds an MA from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Bologna and Washington, DC, and a licence from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva.

Paper presentation 15: Nadya Stoynova - 'How are Norms Resisted? Insights from China’s Engagement in Regional International Organizations'

Nadya Stoynova comes from Sofia, Bulgaria. She graduated a Bachelor in International Relations and International Organizations at the University of Groningen. Currently, she is following two Masters programmes - Global Criminology at the University of Utrecht and International Security at the University of Groningen. Her main interest lies in transnational security issues and the formation and diffusion of international norms. She has worked extensively on the national drug policies and the international drug control regime. She is also interested in power configurations on both the international and domestic stages. The European Union formed an integral part of her studies and it was covered by numerous subjects. During her studies she has worked mostly on post-Soviet Russia.  More recently, she acquired an interest in China’s growing role in world politics and she took part in the “China and Europe” Research Seminar as part of the International Security MA.

Paper presentation 16: Ding Chun - 'Sino-EU Economic Relations and the Impact of the European Sovereign Debt Crisis'

Mr. Chun Ding, Professor of Economics, Jean Monnet Chair, director of Centre for European Studies as well as Dutch Study Centre of Fudan University in Shanghai, China, is specialized in European integration, European Economy, mode of European welfare state and social protection system. He is the vice president and chief secretary of Chinese Society for EU Studies, the senior researcher of Institute of European integration studies (ZEI) at Bonn University, Germany, AB member of Centre of European studies, Gothenburg University, Sweden and Member of global Agenda Council on Europe of World Economic Forum. He acts as the editor in chief of World Economy Outlook and Chinese Annual Report on European Economic Development. He has published over 150 articles, theses, and treatises on academic periodicals and journals home and abroad. His monograph, Comparative Studies on Performances of Major Four Health Care Systems in the World, has won academic award in China.

Paper presentation 17: Hiromasa Kubo - 'The EU and East Asia'

Prof. Dr. Hiromasa Kubo was born in Osaka, Japan, in 1949. He graduated from the Faculty of Economics, Kobe University in 1973, and joined Marubeni Corporation, which is one of largest Japanese trading firms in the same year. Then, he was seconded to the Directorate-General for Economic and Monetary Affairs, the European Commission as a trainee in 1979 and afterwards to Marubeni London Office, where he was in charge of economic analysis of European integration. In 1989, he published a book, “The Single European Market” from the Japan Economic Journal (NIKKEI), the best-seller book on the EC in Japan. After working for the Company for five years as an economist, he started his academic career as a professor at Kobe University in 1999. He has been Professor of “Economics in the European Union” at the University. He published an academic book on “The Theory of European Integration” and he got “Doctor of Economics” by this book from Kobe University in 2004.

When the “EU Institute in Japan-Kansai” was created with financial assistances by the European Commission, he had been appointed President of the Institute until 2010. He was awarded “Jean Monnet Ad Personam” from the European Commission in 2009. He is also now Director of the Kobe University EU Centre of Research and Education and also Director of Kobe University Brussels European Centre. During the period between April 2011 and March 2013, he had been Chairperson of the EU Studies Association-Japan. He has also been a member of the Science Council of Japan since 2011.

Paper presentation 18: Elisa Hörhager - 'Scenarios of EU Engagement in South East Asia: Between Regional Integration and Security Dynamics'

Elisa Hörhager is a research fellow at the Goethe University in Frankfurt in the interdisciplinary project ‘Protecting the Weak’. After having studied Applied Political Science in Germany and France and Sinology in France and China, she is writing her PhD thesis on social movements and disaster management in China. She is currently completing a postgraduate Masters at the College of Europe in EU International Relations and Diplomacy, with a focus on EU-Asia relations. Her publications in this area are on the Internet and youth in South East Asia as well as on civil society exchanges.

Paper presentation 19: Silja Keva - 'Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership – Just a Talking Shop or a Tool for More Participatory Asia-Europe Relations?'

Silja Keva works as a University Teacher at the Centre for East Asian Studies at the University of Turku. Keva is currently conducting research on the Asia-Europe parliamentary dialogue within the wider Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) process as part of her doctoral dissertation. In 2005-6 she acted as a researcher in the Ten Years of ASEM –research project, commissioned by the Ministries for Foreign Affairs of Finland and Japan. In 2006 she also participated in the ASEM6 summit preparations at the ASEM6 Secretariat of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. Keva has previously researched the human rights and civil society dialogues of the ASEM process.