PhD Graduate, International Relations
Thesis title: Timing Matters: China’s contestation of human protection norms in South Sudan and Myanmar
BIO
Dr. Ruoxi Wang holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of St Andrews (UK), with her thesis receiving a “No Corrections” outcome for the PhD Viva. Her research utilizes constructivist norm contestation theory and elite interviews to analyze China’s differing engagements with UN refugee protection norms in Myanmar and UN peacekeeping protection of civilians norms in South Sudan.
This work contributes both theoretically and empirically to scholarship and policymaking, shedding light on the conditions under which rising Global South states like China are more cooperative or reluctant to integrate into existing global normative frameworks.
Prior to her PhD, Dr. Wang earned a Master of International Law from the University of Sydney Law School, graduating with Distinction, and a Bachelor of Law with a focus on international politics from Renmin University of China 中国人民大学 in Beijing.
Dr. Wang’s expertise lies in policy research, digital project management, and teaching in multicultural environments. She has contributed to research projects at institutions such as Peking University Australian Studies Center in Beijing, China, the Center for Independent Studies in Sydney, Australia, AliResearch of Alibaba in Hangzhou, China, and the Center for Global Law and Governance in St Andrews, UK.
She has also been a fully funded trainee for one year in Ethiopia, working on Africa’s digital development projects at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN’s Specialized Agency for Information and Communication Technologies.
Dr. Wang’s research interests include China’s foreign policy, digital data privacy and ethics, human rights, China-Africa relations, and China-Myanmar relations. You can find her on LinkedIn.
Selected Publications:
· Wang, Ruoxi, Chi Zhang, and Yaxiong Lei. “Justifying a Privacy Guardian in Discourse and Behaviour: The People’s Republic of China’s Strategic Framing in Data Governance.” The International Spectator (2024): 1-19.
· Westphal, Theo, and Ruoxi Wang. “Artificial Intelligence with Chinese Characteristics: National Strategy, Security and Authoritarian Governance.” International Affairs (2023): 410-411.