Minran Liu

Dr Minran Liu is a Lecturer in International Relations in the School of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Queensland, within the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. He earned his PhD from the Department of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney, with a thesis titled 'Making Sense of the State Identity-Foreign Policy Nexus,' and holds a BA. Before joining UQ, Liu was a Lecturer in International and Political Studies at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, UNSW Canberra, at the Australian Defence Force Academy. He previously served as a Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Sydney, where he also acted as Degree Director for the Master of International Security program. His research specializations encompass Asia-Pacific security, East Asian politics, Chinese politics and strategy, particularly examining dynamics between major powers amid evolving regional orders.

Liu's scholarly contributions include the forthcoming monograph State Identity Politics and the Making of East Asia: Perspectives from China and Japan (Routledge, 2026), adapted from his doctoral work. Notable journal articles are 'Imagined Weakness: The Peaceful Riser Identity and Beijing's Policy Overcorrection in the South China Sea' (International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, 2025, with Edward Sing Yue Chan) and 'Identity-Policy Discrepancy: Crisis Perception, Third-Order Change and the Shifting Foreign Policy Trajectories of China and Japan toward Northeast Asia' (Contemporary Politics, 2024). Additional works comprise the book chapter 'Confidence Building, Early Warning and Fact Finding in Sino-ROK Disputes: Can Preventive Diplomacy Work in a Bilateral Context?' (2022, with Jingdong Yuan) and his translation of Charles C. Ragin's Comparative Methods into Chinese (2022). At UQ, he serves as Integrity Officer and supervises PhD candidates on topics including Chinese economic statecraft and Cold War cinema. Liu holds positions as Member-at-Large on the Executive Committee of the International Studies Association Asia-Pacific, Adjunct Fellow at the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney, and Honorary Member of the University of Sydney's China Studies Centre. He frequently offers expert commentary on international relations to outlets such as ABC, SBS, Sky News, CNA, The Straits Times, China Daily, and Het Financieele Dagblad.

Professional Email: minran.liu@uq.edu.au