Type National Officer in charge Lin Xiaoke Vice-president Prof. Guo Huimin Founded 1949 | Established 1949 Chairman Prof. Liu Hui Phone +86 10 6286 1310 Chairperson Liu Hui | |
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Former names Institute of International Relations Notable alumni Similar China Foreign Affairs Un, China Youth University, University of Internatio, Beijing Electronic Science a, Beijing Foreign Studies U | ||
University of International Relations (UIR; simplified Chinese: 国际关系学院; traditional Chinese: 國際關係學院; pinyin: Guojì Gūanxì Xúeyuàn) is an institute of higher education located in Beijing that was first established in 1949 to train foreign affairs cadres. The University's role within the bureaucracy of the People's Republic of China is subject to some debate: Chinese government sources and the University's website maintain that it operates under the Ministry of Education, but other sources contend that the University is affiliated with Chinese intelligence agencies along with Jiangnan Social University, namely the Ministry of State Security (MSS), and that its purpose is to train intelligence personnel. According to the private intelligence company Stratfor, the University is where most of the Ministry of State Security's intelligence agents receive their training, having been recruited out of high school on the basis of high test scores, language ability, and a lack of prior international travel or contacts.
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The University is located adjacent to the Summer Palace and the Old Summer Palace in Beijing. UIR offers undergraduate and graduate programs in International Politics, International Economics and trade, Law, English, French, Japanese and Public Administration. It currently offers a total of 13 undergraduate programs, and eight master's degree programs. Its former English name is translated as "Institute of International Relations." It is also colloquially known as "Guoguan" (国关 Guó Gūan).
History
The University of International Relations was founded in 1949 to train foreign affairs cadres for the newly created People’s Republic of China. In 1961, the school merged with the Foreign Affairs College.
In 1964, then-Premier Zhou Enlai ordered the creation of colleges and university departments to focus on international affairs. Several government agencies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the International Liaison Department, established their own institutes for the study of international affairs. The University of International Affairs in Beijing was formally brought under the control of the Ministry of Public Security in 1965, and was charged with training intelligence agents for the Investigation Department (a precursor to the Ministry of State Security) and for Xinhua News Agency.
Like many schools in China, the University of International Affairs was shuttered during China's Cultural Revolution, and reopened in 1978. It was among the first institutions of higher education authorized by the Chinese government to offer academic degrees in China.
The Ministry of State Security was created in 1983 under Deng Xiaoping, and assumed the functions that previously belonged to the Central Investigation Department of the Ministry of Public Security. According to Stratfor Global Intelligence and the conservative think tank the Jamestown Foundation, the University is now bureaucratically subordinate to the Ministry of State Security.