Born in the 1960s - Shen Dingli, 52
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Program Code: 0909346130905001
Shen Dingli, 52, an expert in international relations, believes in the power of ideas. His dream is to make China a more respected member of the family of nations.
As a professor and associate dean of the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University, Shen writes some 200 public articles every year and gives lectures around the world, choosing themes aimed at increasing world understanding of China.
“My version of the Chinese Dream is to build a country that is prosperous, secure, benign and strong,” Shen says. “Economic wealth is only part of the dream. China must develop a bigger capability to generate great ideas, must be more willing to give and must create a broader sense of security for its people.”
Shen is a busy man. He is on the global council of the Asia Society, a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the world especially America about Asia. He is vice president of Chinese Association of South Asian Studies, Shanghai Association of International Studies, and Shanghai Association of American Studies, among others.
Shen is also an opinion shaper. He writes commentary for People’s Daily and other Chinese media, and for international outlets such as Foreign Policy and Washington Quarterly. In 2002, he advised the then United Nation Secretary-General Kofi Annan on strategic planning for his second term.
Shen’s research areas cover China-US security relationship, nuclear arms control and nonproliferation, foreign and defense policy of China and the US, regional security and international strategy..
Last year, he participated in an online debate hosted by the Economist magazine on the subject if China’s defense buildup poses threat to East Asia, becoming the first Chinese mainlander invited to this high-profile event which drew a large international crowd. He won that debate.
Better understanding of China
“It was at a subtle point of time when territorial disputes were brewing between China and some of our neighbors,” Shen says. “China needs someone to explain why it has to modernize its defense and make its purposes clear, while reassuring the world that it is not a threat.”
Shen argued that China, in terms of international collaboration on anti-terrorism and non-proliferation, was a key player in helping to stabilize a number of critical regions.
“The purpose of the argument was to set the reasonable base for the debate and to facilitate the world better understand my country,” Shen says.
He calls himself a patriot but not a blind one. He says he knows China has its limitation. “Scholars by definition have to be critical,” Shen says. “Serious scholars tend not to flatter the government, as by definition the authority should well serve the people. While being critical, responsible scholars offer constructive alternatives,” he points out.
In his opinion, constructive criticism is the responsible form of loyalty to the nation. Some call him feng qin, or “angry youth.”
Shen is also a nationalist, but not a narrow-minded one. Commenting on India’s successful launch of its first domestically built aircraft carrier, Shen says China should extend its sincere congratulations.
“China will launch its first indigenously made aircraft carrier someday and we certainly hope others including Indians send their congratulations. By the same token, why China shall not extend its magnanimity in the first place? Nations compete inevitably, but they need to compete constructively. Ideally Asians shall be happy for what they attain, and let China be a great power to this positive trend — great in capacity and heart.”
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” — the traditional Chinese wisdom of Confucius — is Shen’s guiding light when looking at international issues.
Born in 1961, Shen is a Shanghai native. His father, a police officer, was very strict with his upbringing, and his mother was an actress with the Yueju Opera, a traditional Chinese theater popular in Shanghai and its vicinity, who nurtured him with story of Yue Fei, a renowned Chinese general who defended Southern Song nine centuries ago.
Shen has been an avid reader since childhood. Even during the days when books were hard to come by, Shen managed to borrow tomes about the world history and political system, which fueled his initial interest in international relations and diplomacy.
His idol was the late Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. To emulate Zhou and address the need for building a stronger China, Shen studied hard in a wide array of subjects, from natural sciences and social sciences to technological science.
He received a PhD in physics in 1989 from Fudan University. His supervisor was then school President Xie Xide. Shen was sent to Princeton University in the US from 1989-91 for post-doctoral study in arms control and was awarded an Eisenhower Fellowship in 1997 for leadership development.
His first trip to a Western country, in 1988, was to Trieste, Italy, to participate in a research program at International Center for Theoretical Physics.
“I was shocked,” Shen says, recalling the visit. “There were so many products stacked up neatly in the supermarkets, people didn’t seem to work that hard but to live a comfortable life and folks were quite civilized — all in sharp contrast to China at that time.”
The stark difference between the reality of the developed world and what has been taught about it back home prompted Shen to think, and to think independently.
“It was my strong desire to see my country stronger and my countrymen living better lives one day, because we shall be a good nation worthy of glory,” Shen says.
Unlike other Chinese students who stayed in the US after completing studies there, Shen returned to China.
“I want to serve my country,” he says. “That is my dream.”
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