Building a Path Forward: Peking University’s Yu Tiejun on U.S.-China Scholarly Recoupling

On this episode of China Field Notes, Scott Kennedy speaks with Yu Tiejun, Professor and President of Peking University’s Institute of International and Strategic Studies (IISS). This conversation accompanies a new report and event culminating a two-year initiative of the CSIS Trustee Chair and IISS to avoid U.S.-China scholarly decoupling and restore ties amongst scholars, students, universities and think tanks. Yu and Kennedy recount the benefits and surprises of their exchanges between Beijing and Washington, the background that led to Yu to study international affairs, the role of IISS in China, and the importance of renewed collaboration in the current environment.

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Yu Tiejun is a professor at Peking University’s School of International Studies and president of the university’s Institute of International and Strategic Studies (IISS). He was a Fulbright visiting scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s security studies program (2018–19), a visiting scholar at Stanford University and Harvard University (2005–06), and a student at the University of Tokyo (1998–2000). Yu is executive editor-in-chief of the China International Strategy Review and has written extensively on international security, East Asian international relations, and China’s foreign and defense policy. He was awarded Peking University’s Excellent Teaching Award and Distinguished Research Award in 2010 and 2017, respectively.