East-West Residency Program

Yan Xuetong: A European Residency on Global Leadership

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Berggruen Institute Europe is proud to present its second residential fellow. Yan Xuetong is distinguished Professor and Honorary President of the Institute of International Relations of Tsinghua University, Beijing, and one of China's most influential foreign policy thinkers. As part of Berggruen Institute Europe's flagship bespoke residency program, Yan will join public and closed-door discussions in various European cities.

As the most-cited Chinese political scientist globally, Professor Yan offers a rare, unfiltered perspective on China's worldview at a pivotal moment in global politics. Professor Yan has been writing about the role of leadership and the nature of the global order for decades. He is known for combining realism with a moral outlook, often revisiting ancient Chinese political thinkers to provide insightful interpretations of contemporary events.

Faced with accelerating technological, climatic, and geopolitical change, both Europe and China are called to exercise political and moral leadership and sail through unchartered waters. As planetary challenges multiply, the relationship between two of the world's oldest civilisations will represent a critical factor in shaping the new world order.

TOUR:

30 April | Vienna | IWN | 6pm
China, Europe and Global leadership With Yan Xuetong, Niccolò Milanese, Ivan Vejvoda

02 May | Bruxelles | Politico | 2pm
China's worldview in the second age of Trump With Yan Xuetong, Jamil Anderlini

05 May | Paris - Jacques Delors Institute
Workshop (Closed door)

05 May | Paris | Sciences Po | 6pm
China, Europe and Global Leadership With Yan Xuetong, Arancha Gonzalez, Pascal Lamy and Niccolo Milanese

13 May | Milan | ISPI
Workshop (Closed door)

14-15 May | Venice | Università
Ca' Foscari TBC

Zhang Xudong

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24 March
Modernism in Europe and China
Lorenzo Marsili in Conversation with Annie Cohen-Solal and Zhang Xudong

25 March
Universalism and Cosmopolitanism
Lecture by Zhang Xudong with a response by Annie Cohen-Solal

In connection with the opening of the exhibition Affinità Elettive, the Berggruen Institute Europe hosted conversations and lectures at the Casa dei Tre Oci, inaugurating the institute's program and giving a first taste of the themes that will be explored over the year.

On day one, and starting from a contextualization of the works in the exhibition Affinità Elettive, Annie Cohen Solal and Zhang Xudong addressed the theme of European modernism and "other modernities", notably through an account of the lives and activities of two key figures: the European artist Pablo Picasso and the Chinese writer Lu Xin.

On day two, Zhang Xudong presented a lecture on the question of “Universalism”, one of the leading themes for this year’s program of the Berggruen Institute Europe. Starting from the thesis that “the Universal is always an overstatement of the particular”, and analyzing the issue through concrete examples seen throughout history, Professor Zhang conveyed the need to adopt a "conversational translational model," allowing for an effective dialectic between the narratives of the "particulars."