Hello and welcome! My name is Dylan Loh and I'm an assistant professor at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. I study China's foreign policy, international diplomacy and ASEAN regionalism.
Dylan MH Loh is an assistant professor at the Public Policy and Global Affairs programme, at NTU. He received his PhD in Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge.
His peer-reviewed articles have been published in journals such as International Affairs, International Studies Review, Cooperation and Conflict, Pacific Review, China Quarterly, Global Studies Quarterly, and the International Relations of Asia-Pacific.
His forthcoming book with Stanford University Press (‘China’s Rising Foreign Ministry’) examines Chinese assertiveness through its diplomats and its foreign ministry.
I am interested in various aspects of Chinese foreign policy in Southeast Asia. I hold a particular interest in its diplomats, diplomacy and foreign ministry.
My work is influenced by Bourdieu’s sociology and international practice theory. I contribute to the practice theory agenda in my work by expanding, challenging and refining its concepts and methods.
I am interested in, and am working on, ASEAN regionalism. I investigate what makes them ‘hang together’ and what stressors they are subject to.
I am, broadly, interested in international diplomacy. Specifically, I am interested in how non-state and liminal actors contest and reinforce ‘traditional’ diplomacy.
Defending China’s National Image and ‘Defensive Soft Power’: the Case of Hong Kong’s ‘Umbrella Revolution’
The ‘Chinese Dream’ and the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’: narratives, practices, and sub-state actors
‘China’s Rising Foreign Ministry’ (2024)
My book project examines Chinese diplomacy, diplomats and the foreign ministry since Xi Jinping came into power. The book illustrates the increasing influence that China’s MFA possess and highlights the representation role that it plays in constructing Chinese ‘assertiveness’.
This book is published by Stanford University Press in their ‘Studies in Asian Security’ series.
I regularly comment for the media on topics related to Chinese politics, Singapore’s foreign policy, ASEAN and U.S-China competition. My commentaries have appeared in The Diplomat, East Asia Forum, Today, The Nation and Global Times. I have been interviewed by 93.8 Live, Channel News Asia, Straits Times, Mothership, South China Morning Post, Bloomberg International, AFP, 焦点, and The Edge among others.