Yaolong Xian
Xian Yaolong is a Doctoral Researcher at PRIF's Research Department Intrastate Conflict. His research focuses on rebel governance, state-rebel relations, and legitimacy in conflict settings, with a geographic focus on Myanmar.
CV
| since 2023
Doctoral Researcher at PRIF
| 2020–2023
Joint master's degree in International Humanitarian Action, Ruhr University and Uppsala University, Erasmus Mundus Scholarship
| 2021
Research intern at the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, Cambodia
| 2017–2019
Research assistant at SWUFE Institution, China
PhD Project
This PhD project examines how China engages with Myanmar’s fragmented conflict order through a multi-actor approach. Rather than treating China as a unitary state actor, it disaggregates the roles of government agencies, private firms, and quasi-state intermediaries. Across three interrelated papers, the project investigates: (1) the evolution of China’s relations with rebel groups; (2) how Chinese private firms navigate conflict-related risks and embed themselves within local contexts; and (3) how China sustains engagement in Myanmar while formally upholding its principle of non-interference.Together, the study shows how China’s regional influence emerges through distributed, adaptive, and layered participation rather than centralized strategy.
Publications
- Common Threats, Flexibility, and Internal Constraints
| 2023
Xian, Yaolong (2023): Common Threats, Flexibility, and Internal Constraints. : A new framework to understand the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee in Myanmar, Journal of Mekong Societies, 19: 1.
- The Strait of Hormuz in Perspective: One Global Chokepoint, Multiple Vulnerabilities, Compounded Effects
| 2026
Birchinger, Sophia; Flamm, Patrick; Abb, Pascal; Al-Wally, Mariam; Driedger, Jonas J.; Kebede, Sandra; Koyier, Hilda; McKee, Sarah; Michelini, Sidney; Peters, Dirk; Sebgo, Jean-Baptiste; Simon, Hendrik; Standke-Erdmann, Madita; Stühlen, Christin; Trpkovic, Mina; Warnck, Skollan Elisabeth; Witt, Antonia; Xian, Yaolong (2026): The Strait of Hormuz in Perspective: One Global Chokepoint, Multiple Vulnerabilities, Compounded Effects, PRIF blog, Frankfurt/M..
Publication - Staging Law & Order: Public Trials and Rebel Legitimacy in Northern Myanmar
| 2026
Xian, Yaolong; Kubandt, Jan (2026): Staging Law & Order: Public Trials and Rebel Legitimacy in Northern Myanmar , PRIF Blog.
Publication - How Crisis Crosses Borders: Myanmar’s Civil War Shattered a Chinese Border Boomtown
| 2025
Xian, Yaolong; Duan, Huaijiang (2025): How Crisis Crosses Borders: Myanmar’s Civil War Shattered a Chinese Border Boomtown, PRIF Blog.
Publication - Ruili on Edge: A Chinese Border City Loses Its Mojo
| 2025
Xian, Yaolong; Yang, Mingyue (2025): Ruili on Edge: A Chinese Border City Loses Its Mojo , The Diplomate.
Publication - Good Rebels or Good Timing?: Myanmar’s MNDAA and Operation 1027
| 2024
Xian, Yaolong (2024): Good Rebels or Good Timing?: Myanmar’s MNDAA and Operation 1027, The Diplomat.
Publication - How Myanmar’s United Wa State Army Responded to COVID-19
| 2022
Xian, Yaolong (2022): How Myanmar’s United Wa State Army Responded to COVID-19: The Diplomat.
Publication - Cooperation, Reconciliation and Self-reflection
| 2022
Xian, Yaolong (2022): Cooperation, Reconciliation and Self-reflection. A few thoughts on the NUG and ethnic minorities in post-coup Myanmar: Hurights Osaka.
Publication - EAOs & China: Two Letters from Northern Myanmar to the CCP
| 2021
Xian, Yaolong (2021): EAOs & China: Two Letters from Northern Myanmar to the CCP: New Mandala.
Publication - The People’s Call for R2P: To Be or Not to Be?
| 2021
Xian, Yaolong; Yaday, Parveen Kumar (2021): The People’s Call for R2P: To Be or Not to Be?: New Mandala.
Publication