Weekly Forums

Is China an Exception to the Commercial Peace? Trade Interdependence and Chinese Uses of Military Force

Jack Zhang, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance, Princeton University

Contrary to commercial peace theories, which predicted that economic engagement would make possible China's peaceful rise, China seems to be engaging in more militarized disputes with its neighbors and trade partners…

Moving the Masses and the Officials’ Resistance in China

Yanhua Deng, Professor of Sociology, Nanjing University

This talk examines an episode of resistance initiated by Chinese officials against their higher-level government by way of mobilizing the masses. In 2005, Huangshi municipal government in Hubei province…

Recent Trends in Media and Communication in China

Chen Hong, Professor and Associate Dean, School of Communication, East China Normal University, Visiting scholar at the Annenberg School for Communication;Zhang Junfang, Professor, School of Journalism and Communication, Shanghai International Studies University, Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the Annenberg School;Fang Hui, Ph.D. candidate, School of Journalism and Communication, Renmin University of China, Visiting scholar at the Annenberg School;Zhou Ying, Ph.D. candidate, College of Media and International Culture, Zhejiang University, Visiting scholar at the Annenberg School

The Political Logic of Land Reform in Post-Mao China

Richard Zeng, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Political Science

Why do politicians create institutions that threaten to eliminate their own rent-seeking opportunities? This question is puzzling in a wide range of contexts, where citizens cannot hold policymakers accountable or…

In Pursuit of Monetary Sovereignty: China’s Financial Overhaul in the Global Realm

Mianzhi Francis Cao, Ph.D. Candidate, Faculty of Law, Frankfurt Goethe University, Visiting Scholar, Penn Law  

In an age when China openly declares global ambitions, what is the legal contemplation behind China’s financial overhaul？…

The State of Rights Protection Lawyers in China

Teng Biao

Human rights lawyering in China played  an important role in the human rights movement since 2003, but it is facing harsh crackdown since Xi Jinping took power. The rising of human rights lawyering reflected the…

China's Rise, International Relations Theory, and Security in a Maritime World

Brian Chao, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania; Hyun-Binn Cho, Pre-doctoral fellow, Institute for Security and Conflict Studies, George Washington University, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania.

The rise of China is shifting the geopolitical focus of international relations to the Indo-Asia-Pacific—a predominantly maritime region. Challenges to security in the maritime domain, however, differ in…

Taiwan’s Politics at the Mid-point of Tsai Ing-wen’s First Term

Shelley Rigger, Brown Professor of East Asian Politics, Davidson College

Shelley Rigger is the author of Why Taiwan Matters: Small Island, Global Powerhouse (Rowman and Littlefield, 2011) as well as two books on Taiwan's domestic politics, …

Strait and Narrower?: Beijing’s Flight Paths, Taiwan’s International Space, and Regional Security

Jacques deLisle, Scott Kastner, Wojtek Wolfe, Thomas J. Shattuck

Last month, China adopted new civilian aircraft flight paths over the Taiwan Strait, near Taiwan-controlled islands, without consulting Taiwan’s government.  Several months earlier, Beijing began dispatching…

The Legacy of Beijing’s Sunshine Policy with Chinese Characteristics: What are the Implications for the U.S. Policy towards North Korea?

Dr. John Park, Director, Korea Working Group, Harvard Kennedy School

The complex relationship between Beijing and Pyongyang remains largely under-examined. In the first part, this talk will explore how the Communist Party of China has been trying to rebuild its relationship with the…