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AsiaCentre

Founded in 2005, Asia Centre is an independent research institute that holds debates and issues publications on matters relating to international, strategic, economic relations, as well as the political and social transformations underway in the Asia-Pacific region. At the crossroads of university research as well as public and private decision-making, Asia Centre researchers identify critical regional issues and analyse them in-depth, taking into consideration both local and global dimensions. Asia Centre’s programs are developed with a vast network of partners, companies and major specialist centres in Europe, North America and Asia. The Centre carries out joint operations with these groups, for a better interpretation of ideas and issues. The conclusions of these meetings, such as the results of the work carried out using original sources by our researchers, are widely distributed through the Centre’s publications as well as through international journals, books and media.

Other analyses

Taiwan cooking oil scandal: Why Isn’t Beijing Adding Fuel to the Fire? • Isabelle Feng

31 July 2026 No Comments

In this new piece, Isabelle Feng looks back at the tainted cooking oil scandal that has affected Taiwan for several weeks, and at Beijing’s measured response to the affair. She examines the protests held in Taipei on 25 July, the coverage of the event by Chinese state media, and reactions observed on Chinese social media. She puts this episode in perspective alongside the history of food safety scandals in mainland China and the question of freedom to protest on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

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Memo – Tibet in China’s Diplomacy: The Implications of the Trojan Horse Hypothesis

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Roundtable n°9 of the China Observatory, 6 April, 2016, with Pr. Robert Barnett (Columbia)

The Trojan Horse scenario occurs when a country conceals a major demand within a minor issue in order to obtain disproportionate advantage from another country. The recipient country misreads the demand as a minor issue and miscalculates the cost of concessions. These concessions then expose the country to disproportionate vulnerabilities beyond the original issue and that country’s potential for negotiation becomes more limited. Professor Barnett argues that since 1989, China has used minor issues related to Tibet as Trojan Horses towards competitor states, especially Western countries such as France, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States, in order to enhance its position at a global level.
In this context, what is the role of Tibet in China’s foreign policy towards the West? In focusing on the particular mechanisms involved in China’s Tibet diplomacy, this report aims at defining alternative diplomatic choices for the West and promoting a more rational international decision-making process.

  • The Trojan Horse Hypothesis
  • The High Costs of Concessions
  • The Conceptual, Political and Economical Factors for Concessions
  • Effectiveness of a Trojan Horse
  • The Strategic Foreign Policy Purpose of China’s Trojan Horses
  • Responding to a Trojan Horse
  • Conclusion
  • Questions and Answers
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