On December 6, 2022,the 38th lecture of Fudan - LSE lecture series was held online. Professor Rosemary Foot from Oxford University gave a lecture on “China, the United Nations and Human Protection: Beliefs, Power, Image”. The lecture was moderated by Professor Yijia Jing, Director of the Institute for Global Public Policy, Fudan University, and Professor Jiejin Zhu and Dr. Xueying Zhang from the School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University served as discussants. The lecture attracted nearly 100 students and teachers from Fudan University and other universities in China and abroad. 

Professor Rosemary Foot first introduced the current academic literature of the study on “China and the United Nations”, arguing that the interpretation of China's role in the UN in terms of a revisionist state or status quo state is inadequate and introduced her own research question. Prof. Foot is more interested in explaining how China engages with the UN than in explaining why China is more active in the global governance system and UN governance, with a particular focus on the interaction between China's interpretation and articulation of human protection and the official UN position in that engagement. She analyzed China's active involvement in human protection at the UN, noting that China has made substantial contributions and has begun to provide models and take the lead in some areas. Prof. Foot originally proposed a triadic model to summarize China's global human protection vision and the considerations behind it. In Prof. Foot's view, development, social stability, and a strong state are the logical starting points for the Chinese government's consideration of human protection and determine China's understanding of different concepts such as sovereignty, security, and human rights. Prof. Foot argues that China's influence is increasing due to several factors, including the changing power constellations, China's growing importance to the UN, and the evolution of the UN's own agenda on human protection.

   After Prof. Foot’s speech, Prof. Jiejin Zhu and Dr. Xueying Zhang made wonderful comments in turn and had a deep and rich discussion with Prof. Foot on the responsibility to protect (R2P), the relationship between economic development and human protection, the power dynamics behind the institutional design of international organizations, the impact of the Trump administration's withdrawal and the return of the Biden administration on the United Nations, and other issues.

On behalf of the Institute, Prof. Jing presented Prof. Foot with a Fudan bear as a gift and looked forward to Prof. Foot's future visit to Shanghai. The lecture ended in a lively seminar atmosphere.