Section S07: Diplomacy – Past and Present Panel: “Diplomacy without diplomats”: the role of think tanks and universities in public and science diplomacy at regional and global levels Reference authors on political science are often presented as divided in between two groups: those who maintain that the states remain the most important actors in international relations and those who develop multi-centric approaches who may analyze capitalist globalization as reducing the power of sovereign nation-states. Our study focuses on one type of non-state actors and it shows the paradiplomatic role of French think tankers specialized on China related issues is not monolithic nor simple. We aimed to bring on a qualitative description of the second-track activities of the leading French think-tankers interested in IR, security studies, Asia and China. We analysed their perception regarding their meetings and exchanges with Chinese think-tankers but also how they manage their public image and discourse, mainly when they respond to French journalists’ questions during interviews. French think tankers personal strategies as regards to their participation in second-track diplomacy and related buffer situations was one of our key underlying research interest. These think tankers share a common taste for Chinese history and culture, many have developed private and friendly relations with Chinese diplomats and think tankers, which make their work more difficult since China’s dark wolf diplomacy and internal politics as regards to human rights are both worrying.