Yuge Liang

Yuge Liang is a doctoral researcher in Country and Area Studies, with a primary focus on German and European Union foreign policy. She is currently pursuing her doctorate at Tongji University in Shanghai and conducting research as a visiting doctoral researcher at the University of Cologne under the supervision of Professor Michael Bollig. She hold master’s degrees in Intercultural German Studies from Beijing Foreign Studies University and the University of Göttingen.

• China–EU and China–Germany relations 
• Germany’s engagement with the Global South 
• German foreign policy analysis 
• EU foreign and security policy

As a visiting doctoral researcher, I greatly value the stimulating and welcoming research welcoming research environment at GSSC. It brings together scholars from diverse disciplinary backgrounds and different regions of the world, creating valuable opportunities for academic exchange, dialogue, and collaboration. Through its regular seminars, public lectures, workshops, and conferences, GSSC offers exposure to inspiring research questions and a wide range of theoretical and methodological approaches. These academic encounters have broadened my perspective and greatly enriched my research experience at the University of Cologne.

My doctoral research examines Germany’s evolving leadership role in European Union foreign and security policy against the backdrop of the profound changes in Europe’s security environment since 2022. I am particularly interested in how Germany defines and communicates its responsibilities in Europe, how these understandings are translated into foreign and security policy practices, and how German leadership is received, negotiated, and constrained within the EU. Drawing on role theory and leadership studies, I explore the relationship between political discourse, policy action, and interaction with European partners. By examining continuity and change across recent German governments, my project seeks to contribute to a better understanding of Germany’s changing position in Europe and the broader evolution of EU foreign and security policy. As the project is ongoing, its analytical framework and empirical findings remain under development.

• Liang, Yuge & Jiang, Hong (2024): An Action Research on two-way cultural teaching for beginners majoring in German under the concept of exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations: Taking enabling for example, Foreign Language Education in China, Vol. 7.
• Zheng Chunrong & Liang, Yuge (2025): The EU’s Strategy for Enhancing Competitiveness and Its Impact on China, Peace and Development, Vol. 5. 

• Zheng, Chunrong & Liang, Yuge (2026): Research on the Construction of a “Concave-Convex” Competency Model for Talents in Country and Area Studies, Foreign Language Learning Thoery and Practice, Vol.3.