Edited by Chi Zhang & Jingxuan Zhuge (Class of 2025)
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact worldwide, and China has been at the forefront of developing vaccines to combat it. Shedding light on China’s global engagement in this critical context, Dr. Pippa Morgan, Lecturer in Political Science at Duke Kunshan University, has recently published an insightful book titled “China’s COVID-19 Vaccine Supplies to the Global South.” In her book, Dr. Morgan shares invaluable insights into the evolving role of China in the Global South, the intricacies of COVID-19 vaccine diplomacy, and the wider implications for China’s global engagement. With her expertise in the political economy of China’s foreign relations, China-Africa relations, and a strong teaching background in global governance, political economy of institutions, and China and the Global South, Dr. Morgan brings a unique perspective to her research and teaching at DKU. We had the privilege to sit down with Dr. Morgan and delve into her research, teaching, and her recently published book.
Hello, Dr. Morgan. Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today about your research and your recently published book, “China’s COVID-19 Vaccine Supplies to the Global South”. We are excited to learn more about your insights and perspectives on this important topic. Firstly, could you provide an overview of this book? What inspired you to conduct research on China’s global engagement and COVID-19 vaccine diplomacy? What motivated you to write your book on this topic?
The book explores the political and economic forces that shaped China’s supplies of COVID-19 vaccines to the Global South. It essentially argues that rather than a representing a grand strategy of geopolitical competition with the West, China’s vaccine provisions to other countries were determined by a complex set of commercial interests, domestic politics, and traditional political relationships.
Much of my previous work has been focused on China’s aid to and trade with the Global South, so when vaccine supplies became a crucial commodity it seemed natural to start a project on this topic. Broadly speaking, my goal was to provide a more nuanced understanding of where Chinese COVID-19 vaccines went and why.
Your research has been centered on South-South economic engagement. What initially sparked your interest in this field and drove you to explore it further?
To be honest, I fell into the field of South-South economic engagement somewhat by accident. I started out with an interest in China’s foreign economic relations as a PhD student, and when looking for a PhD dissertation topic, I realized that not much research had been done about how China’s historical experiences as an aid donor shaped its contemporary engagement with Africa. I decided that this would be a good “gap” to fill, and so wrote my PhD dissertation on this topic. After that, I kept going with research on China and the Global South because the field is interesting and has both academic and practical relevance, but I broadened out beyond foreign aid to study topics such as China’s foreign direct investment, trade, and labor migration in the Global South.
As a political scientist specializing in Chinese foreign relations and China-Africa relations, what are some of the key challenges and opportunities you observe in the dynamic relationship between China and the Global South? Additionally, how do you foresee this relationship influencing the international political and economic landscape in the future?
I see both major opportunities and big challenges. In terms of challenges, in recent years we have seen China become more internally-focused, and less willing to provide funding for infrastructure and other projects in the Global South. On the other hand, however, as China’s economy becomes more innovative and less focused on light manufacturing, there is a lot of scope for business moving from China to the Global South (including via Chinese investment). For example, Ethiopia and Vietnam are two countries that have attracted a lot of Chinese FDI as companies move out of Chinese provinces like Guangdong due to rising costs. Essentially, it creates opportunities for other countries to follow a development model that is somewhat similar to China’s – moving from a primarily agricultural economy to an industrial one.
In light of the rapidly evolving political and economic landscape of today’s world, what are the directions you envision for your research moving forward?
Moving forward, I plan to broadly speaking remain working in the field of South-South economic engagement. However, one of the main changes I would like to make is methodological. During the pandemic, I primarily focused on quantitative research that could be done remotely / at a desk. However, now that travel is returning to normal, I would like to (re)begin doing the kinds of qualitative fieldwork projects I used to undertake before the pandemic. Secondly (sparked initially by my work on Chinese vaccine supplies), I am also becoming increasingly interested in the political economy of China’s role in Global Health. China has long been involved in providing healthcare in other countries through the Chinese government’s Chinese Medical Team (CMT) program, but I am interested in how other actors such as Chinese companies are increasingly important players in this space as China’s economy develops.
You are also involved in teaching courses on global governance, political economy of institutions, and China and the Global South. How do you incorporate your research findings into your teaching, and what are some of the key topics and discussions you engage in with your students in these courses?
I love talking with students about research, and my China and the Global South course naturally involves sharing a lot of personal research experiences with students. For example, I might kick off a discussion about public opinions in African countries on China by sharing an anecdote about a chat I had with a taxi driver about China while doing research in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Likewise, in Global Governance, we discuss the bureaucratic politics of foreign aid, and I use my experiences both as a former bureaucrat and a researcher of foreign aid to start discussions with students. In Political Economy of Institutions, one of our core themes is the political and institutional foundations of economic development, and we talk about why using foreign aid to “transplant” institutions from one society to another has often failed in practice.
Do you have any ongoing research projects that involve students in your team? If so, could you share more about the roles students play in these projects, and from your perspective, what do you believe they can learn or benefit from being engaged in these roles?
In fact, my book on China’s COVID-19 Vaccine Supplies to the Global South started out as a summer research project with students. I led a team of four students to collect quantitative data on Chinese vaccine supplies overseas from (mostly) Chinese open-source materials. That data became the foundation for the book. This summer, I will start another COVID-19 related project on the political economy of pandemic travel restrictions. The role of students in this project is slightly different from the previous one in that in addition to collecting data, our main goal is to write an academic paper on this topic, and students will also be involved in writing the literature review, developing the analytical framework, and analyzing the data. Through these experiences, students not only learn about “how research works” in practice, but also skills such as teamwork, project management, and communication.
In your experience, what are some of the key skills or competencies that students should cultivate in order to excel in the field of political science, especially in the context of studying China’s foreign relations and global governance?
For students seeking to pursue graduate study in these areas, I would definitely recommend developing quantitative methodological skills, which are highly prized by PhD programs. For students looking to work in NGOs, think tanks, or international organizations, I think building the ability to work well with others in teams, as well as project management and written and oral communication skills are key. Finally, for any non-Chinese native speaker interested to work on China, I strongly recommend learning Chinese to a high standard as early as possible. While translation software is basically acceptable for everyday communication, to really immerse yourself, build people-to-people connections, and deeply understand China, strong Chinese language abilities are really important (personally, I did not start properly learning Chinese until I was in my mid-twenties in graduate school, and regret that “lost time”).
What are some potential career pathways or opportunities for students interested in studying China’s political economy, international relations, or related fields? Could you provide any insights or advice on how students can leverage their academic knowledge and skills to pursue meaningful careers in these areas?
Essentially, I would encourage students to do whatever makes sense for them to broaden their experiences of different cultures and their adaptability. In particular in the context of the rapid development of technology, I think the ability to adapt to new situations, new tools, and new places and people will be more important than subject-specific knowledge learned from books and articles for career success over the long term. For foreign students, I personally think that staying in China for graduate study is a good option for those with a strong interest in career that requires China expertise. However, for DKU students, I would encourage them to go outside of the Kunshan/Suzhou/Shanghai area to appreciate the vast internal diversity in China. I would definitely suggest students interested in these fields to consider graduate programs such as the Schwarzman Scholars program or the Yenching Scholars program. For Chinese students, I might suggest that pursuing graduate study overseas would be a valuable opportunity to develop “Rooted Globalism” and understand China’s international relations from the outside (although Schwarzman and Yenching are also both great options for Chinese students too).
To find more about Dr.Morgan’s research, please visit her website: https://pippamorgan.org/.
