Tonghua Li

Research

Title of research:

The High Politics of Trade: Discourse, Institutions, and International Realignments in the Trump Era

Brief overview of research topic:

I am currently doing a PhD in Politics, supervised by Professor Tony Heron and Dr Tomaz Fares. My research examines how contemporary geopolitical dynamics and institutional configurations shape the politics of international trade, using US agricultural trade policy as the principal empirical case. More broadly, I analyse the role of discourse, institutional constraints, and evolving power structures within a changing global order.

Funding

CSC(China Scholarship Council)- University of York joint-funded PhD Scholarship

Research interests

International political economy of Trade, Political Narratives, U.S.–China relations, Food regime analysis

Qualifications

Qualifications

• Master of Science in International Relations (Distinction), University of Glasgow, UK
• Bachelor of Management in Agricultural & Forestry Economics Management, Yunnan Agricultural University (Co-operation Programme with New Zealand Lincoln University), China and New Zealand

Teaching

• Research Skills and Project Design (ENV00048I), 2025–2026 Semester 2
• Global Challenges: From Theory to Practice (POL00012C), 2025–2026 Semester 1
• York Policy Lab (POL00016C), 2024–2025 Semester 2
• Introduction to Comparative Politics (POL00013C), 2024–2025 Semester 1

Conference Presentations

Trade, Power, and Discursive Instability: Political Rationales in Trump’s Trade Policy

• ISA (International Studies Association) 67th Annual Convention Presentation, Columbus, Ohio, USA, Mar 22–25, 2026
• Central European University 21st Annual Doctoral Conference, Vienna, Austria, April 27–29, 2026
• BISA (British International Studies Association) 2026 Conference, Brighton, UK, Jun 3-5, 2026
• PSA (Political Studies Association)2026 American Politics Summer Conference Oxford, UK, Jun 25-26, 2026
• ECPR (European Consortium for Political Research) 2026 General Conference, Kraków, Poland, Sep 8–11, 2026

Global Growth and Domestic Stability: Discursive Contestation in China’s Food Security Governance During the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan

• BISA (British International Studies Association) 2026 Conference, Brighton, UK, Jun 3-5, 2026
• ECPR (European Consortium for Political Research) 2026 General Conference, Kraków, Poland, Sep 8–11, 2026

The Political Economy of Food Trade in the US-China Trade Dispute: Soybean and Biofuels Policy During Trump’s First Term

• PPE Society London Annual Conference, London, UK, Jul 17-18, 2025
• WRDTP Annual Conference 2025, Sheffield, UK, Jun 17, 2025

Power, Trade and Environmental Governance: The Water Politics of Transnational Governance in the Mekong River Basin

• Green Trade Lab 2025 Annual Workshop, York, UK, Jul 3-4, 2025

Food Security and Green Trade in the Shadow of Geopolitics – A Case Study of the US-China Trade Dispute 

• Green Trade Lab 2024 Annual Workshop, Leuven, Belgium, Jun 8-9, 2024