Podcast Summary: New Books Network

Episode Title: Dylan Loh, "China's Rising Foreign Ministry: Practices and Representations of Assertive Diplomacy" (Stanford UP, 2025)
Host: Duncan McCargo
Guest: Dylan Loh
Release Date: January 7, 2026

1. Episode Overview

This episode features host Duncan McCargo in conversation with Dylan Loh, Associate Professor at Nanyang Technological University, about Loh’s new book China’s Rising Foreign Ministry: Practices and Representations of Assertive Diplomacy (Stanford UP, 2025). The discussion centers on the evolving role of China’s diplomats and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) amid China’s broader rise on the world stage. Loh’s fieldwork-based, theory-informed study challenges prevailing assumptions about the relative unimportance of diplomats, exploring how their practices, networks, and behaviors shape Chinese foreign policy in more consequential ways than commonly assumed.

2. Key Discussion Points & Insights

Diplomats Matter: Challenging the Literature

[02:34]

• Mainstream international relations (IR) literature tends to discount the agency of diplomats, especially in China’s case.
• Loh argues diplomats have notable "latitude" in interpreting and implementing policy – “they do play quite a consequential role in Chinese foreign policy” (Dylan Loh, 03:36).

Methodology: Extensive Qualitative Fieldwork

[04:00]

• Loh conducted 104 interviews, including 47 with Chinese diplomatic actors.
• He describes the challenges of access and the importance of leveraging positionality (Singaporean, ethnically Chinese, Cambridge PhD) and guanxi (personal connections) to reach informants.

“Essentially I relied a lot on snowmobile sampling, I relied a lot on people making introductions, I relied a lot on Quanxi... I was thick skinned enough to quite repeatedly ask them to introduce me to this person and that person and that really set the ball rolling.” (Dylan Loh, 05:18)

• Non-Chinese diplomats based in Beijing also provided crucial outside-insider perspectives on Chinese diplomatic practices.

Theoretical Framing: Practice Theory and Bourdieu

[09:16]

• Loh brings in Bourdieu’s concept of “practice theory” to IR, emphasizing analysis of what diplomats do and say, not just abstract state behavior.
• The Ministry and diplomats gain importance as active shapers rather than passive implementers.

“We need to actually go back to the humans that make international politics.” (Dylan Loh, 10:19)

The Evolving Power of the Foreign Ministry under Xi Jinping

[12:14]

• The MFA’s influence has fluctuated but has notably grown under Xi Jinping, especially since 2009 and after Xi’s rise in 2012–13.
• Upgrading institutional status (e.g., Foreign Policy Commission), elevating individuals like Wang Yi, increasing budgets, and emphasizing foreign policy goals have raised the MFA’s profile.
• Diplomats are now empowered to act assertively, though always within strategic parameters set by top leadership.

The “Field” of Diplomacy: Competition and Cooperation

[15:34]

• Loh uses the concept of the diplomatic “field” (per Bourdieu) as a layered space of actors—MFA, think tanks, academics, politicians—who both compete and cooperate for influence.
• The classic image of a tightly hierarchical, leader-dominated process is too simplistic; Loh’s “onion-shaped” diagram illustrates these dynamic relationships, hierarchy, and mutual reliance within the field.

China’s Influence in ASEAN: Leveraging Weakness

[18:52]

• ASEAN is institutionally weak, requiring unanimity on decisions, giving China leverage via bilateral relationships with specific members.
• China exploits ASEAN’s structures to exert indirect influence.

“China doesn't actually need all of ASEAN to follow or be aligned with its interests. It just needs one or two or three.” (Dylan Loh, 19:55)

Institutional Habitus: The MFA’s Culture and Discipline

[21:41]

• “Institutional habitus” is deeper than organizational culture: it includes routines, rituals, historical memory, internal discipline (presence of Party Secretaries), and selection for ideological loyalty as much as ability.
• Even subtle shifts—like swap in employee code wording to put duty before rights—signal demands for self-sacrifice and prioritization of party/state needs.

Twitter (X) Diplomacy and “Wolf Warrior” Behavior

[24:58]

• High-profile, combative (“wolf warrior”) use of social media by diplomats (e.g., Zhao Lijian) coincided with assertive Chinese foreign posturing.
• Despite Twitter/X being banned in China, select diplomats were authorized to use it to aggressively shape narratives, sometimes engaging in personal attacks and orchestrated amplification.
• Recent trend has been a scaling down of such rhetoric as the government recognizes limitations and possible backlash.

“There was a period of time where they seem to be trying to outdo each other … but by no means is it [wolf warriorism] dead, but it has definitely scaled down…” (Dylan Loh, 25:31)

• Other authoritarian governments have adopted similar tactics, learning from these Chinese practices.

Shifting Presentation: From Defensiveness to Assertiveness

[28:37]

• The assertive posture is not brand new, but the scale and visibility have increased as China’s global footprint has grown.

“As China's role and interests becomes not just regional but global, then it kind of makes sense that it requires much more people, much more resources in China's diplomacy taking on a more assertive posture to defend its global interests.” (Dylan Loh, 29:47)

3. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On fieldwork and access:

  “Nationality matters, ethnicity in some ways matter as well...it helped at least in opening up the possibilities and in helping me appear friendlier.” (Dylan Loh, 07:35)

• On theory and practice:

  “We need to actually go back to the humans that make international politics. We need to actually study what they're doing, rather than simply look at states as being able to act on their own as if they were persons themselves.” (Dylan Loh, 10:19)

• On China’s tactics in ASEAN:

  “China doesn't actually need all of ASEAN to follow...it just needs one or two or three.” (Dylan Loh, 19:55)

• On internal discipline at the MFA:

  “You are sending a signal by saying you expect it to be self sacrificial and you must always place the interests of the party and the state before your personal interests.” (Dylan Loh, 24:12)

• On social media diplomacy:

  “There was a period of time where they seem to be trying to outdo each other [on X].” (Dylan Loh, 25:33)

• On assertive diplomacy as a logical outgrowth of China’s rise:

  “It kind of makes sense that it [China] requires much more people, much more resources in China's diplomacy taking on a more assertive posture to defend its global interests.” (Dylan Loh, 29:47)

4. Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:42 – Why diplomats matter in international relations and China
• 04:00 – Conducting interviews and fieldwork challenges
• 07:05 – Positionality and gaining access to informants
• 09:16 – Theoretical approach: practice theory and Bourdieu
• 12:14 – MFA’s growing power under Xi Jinping and recent political changes
• 15:34 – Layers of the diplomatic field (“onion-shaped” diagram)
• 18:52 – China and ASEAN: exploiting institutional weaknesses
• 21:41 – “Institutional habitus” and internal culture of the MFA
• 24:58 – Twitter/X diplomacy and “wolf warrior” behavior
• 27:29 – Host’s anecdote: early assertiveness in Chinese diplomatic style
• 30:36 – Loh’s next research project: China’s “discourse power”

5. What’s Next?

[30:36]
Loh shares plans for his next book project, focusing on the concept of “discourse power”—how China aims to reshape international narratives and legitimacy, countering perceived Western dominance in defining global norms and language.

“There has been a concerted effort to increase China's discourse power...The book that I'm writing essentially tries to look at the motivations for increasing discourse power and how this horsepower, when you exercise it, what does it look like?” (Dylan Loh, 31:21)

Conclusion

This episode provides a rich, empirically grounded, and theoretically insightful exploration of China’s diplomatic apparatus. Loh’s research breaks new ground in showing how diplomats are both empowered and disciplined actors, operating in a complex field where access, networks, and social media play critical roles. The book and the conversation offer valuable correctives to simplified narratives about Chinese foreign policy being exclusively leader-driven, highlighting the day-to-day work and evolving strategies of China’s rising diplomatic cadre.