“ The Power of the Past? Historical References and Chinese Public Support for Foreign Aid” by Austin Strange (Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Hong Kong), October 27th, 15:10-

The WINPEC Seminar

We will be holding a WINPEC Seminar, so please feel free to join us！

Date and Time: October 27th, Tuesday, 15:10-16:10

Venue: Conference Room 1, 10th Floor, Building No. 3, Waseda University

Speaker: Austin Strange (Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Hong Kong)

Title: The Power of the Past? Historical References and Chinese Public Support for Foreign Aid

Abstract:
To what extent can governments reference the past to legitimate foreign policies at home, particularly for potentially controversial policies? A large literature across political science and other fields documents how states draw on past events and narratives in pursuit of greater popular support. However, few studies clearly conceptualize or demonstrate how such efforts may work, particularly outside of crisis management scenarios. We theorize two forms of general historical messaging aiming to steer observers away from immediate policy outcomes: “strategic return” that uses past events to emphasize long-term strategic value, and “civilizational identity” that situates contemporary policies within a longstanding group tradition. To test these strategies, we implement an original survey experiment focused on attitudes toward outgoing foreign aid and administered to a highly representative sample of Chinese respondents. The findings show that historical messages can increase support for aid projects and in some cases for more general policy views. Messages emphasizing strategic return have the largest effects and generate stronger appreciation for aid’s long-term strategic benefits. Civilizational identity messages generate weaker effects on support for aid, but strengthen positive perceptions of the government. The findings contribute to international relations research on public opinion, foreign aid, international development, and Chinese development finance.

Bio: 
Austin Strange is an Associate Professor of International Relations in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Hong Kong, where he directs the Master of International and Public Affairs (MIPA) program. He researches and teaches international relations, international development, and Chinese foreign policy. He is the author of Chinese Global Infrastructure (Cambridge University Press) and co-author of Banking on Beijing: The Aims and Impacts of China’s Overseas Development Program (Cambridge University Press). At HKU he received the Early Career Teaching Award in 2022, Research Output Prize in 2023, and Outstanding Young Researcher Award in 2024. With colleagues Austin was awarded the Best New Dataset Award from the International Political Economy Society for developing AidData’s Global Chinese Development Finance Dataset. Austin earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University, an M.A. from Zhejiang University, and a B.A. from College of William and Mary.