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Professor Shaun Breslin has recently given The Sir John Monash Lecture, titled "Where is China heading? Domestic uncertainties and global ambitions" at Monash University Malaysia.

When Xi Jinping took over the reins of power in China, he identified four major tasks. He needed to change the model of economic development; repair the relationship between the Communist Party of China (party) and the people; strengthen the party; and fill a moral and ethical void in society.

The environmental problems that hit Beijing was added as a fifth urgent task. Trying to deal with all of these at the same time has proved far from easy. The result has been uncertainty and unease over where China is going domestically - politically, economically and socially. Xi also moved on to consolidate China's global role, and to more clearly articulate a vision for China as a new type of Great Power.

This lecture traces the evolution of both of these domestic and international agendas, and tries to seek the ways in which they interact. It has a specific focus on the domestic sources (or otherwise) of Chinese power on the global scene.