Government
Current Research
While the Fairbank Center has a long, proud tradition of inquiry into Chinese history, it also has a commitment to the study of contemporary China. The Center holds a variety of events throughout the year focusing on contemporary Chinese policy, economy, and the historical underpinnings behind the China of today. Recently, a faculty panel responded to questions concerning President Xi Jinping and his plans for China’s future.
Expertise

Daniel Koss 古大牛
Lecturer in East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Daniel Koss researches political parties and East Asian politics, with a particular interest in history. His first book, published in 2018, is about the role of political parties under authoritarianism and investigates the Chinese Communist Party. Asking why the ChineseRead More

Steven Goldstein 戈迪溫
Sophia Smith Professor of Government, Emeritus, Smith College
Research interests: Chinese domestic and foreign policy, mainland China-Taiwan relations and US-Taiwan relations.
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Alastair Iain Johnston 江忆恩 Copy
Governor James Albert Noe and Linda Noe Laine Professor of China in World Affairs
Alastair Iain Johnston is the Gov. James Albert Noe and Linda Noe Laine Professor of China in World Affairs in the Government Department at Harvard University. He has written on socialization theory, identity and political behavior, and strategic culture, mostlyRead More

Yuhua Wang 王裕华
Assistant Professor of Government
Yuhua Wang is assistant professor in the Department of Government at Harvard University. His research focuses on state institutions and state-business relations in China, and he is the author of Tying the Autocrat’s Hands: The Rise of the Rule ofRead More

Nara Dillon 温奈良
Senior Lecturer on Government
Nara Dillon received her B.A. in history from Williams College and her Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley. From 2003 to 2007 she taught Chinese politics and comparative politics as an Assistant Professor at Bard College.
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Elizabeth J. Perry 裴宜理
Henry Rosovsky Professor of Government; former Director of the Fairbank Center
Elizabeth J. Perry is Henry Rosovsky Professor of Government and Director of the Harvard-Yenching Institute. She is a comparativist with special expertise in the politics of China. A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the recipientRead More

Meg Rithmire 任美格
F. Warren McFarlan Associate Professor of Business Administration
Meg Rithmire is F. Warren McFarlan Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Business, Government, and International Economy Unit at Harvard Business School, where she teaches the course of the same name in the MBA required curriculum.
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Anthony Saich 托尼·赛奇
Daewoo Professor of International Affairs
Anthony Saich is the director of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation and Daewoo Professor of International Affairs, teaching courses on comparative political institutions, democratic governance, and transitional economies with a focus on China.
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Ezra F. Vogel 傅高义
Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences, Emeritus, former Director of the Fairbank Center
Professor Vogel succeeded John Fairbank as second Director (1972-1977) of Harvard's East Asian Research Center (now the Fairbank Center) and second Chairman of the Council for East Asian Studies (1977-1980).
Read MoreResearch Projects
Ci Jiwei Democracy and China: Philosophical-Political Reflections Lecture Series
In partnership with a number of other schools and centers, the Fairbank Center hosted the first of Professor Ci Jiwei’s five part lecture series on democracy and China. Professor Ci Jiwei gave his first talk of the series, entitled “Must China Be Faulted for Its Political System?”, at the Fairbank Center, and examined the political, ideological, and normative stakes in political-system hostility and discussed, as a matter of global justice, what approach to political-system differences is most conducive to peace and democracy.
Xi Jinping Symposium
As China’s President, Xi Jinping, made his first official visit to Washington, U.S.-China relations entered a challenging period. Issues of the economy, cyber security, the South China Sea, human rights, the rule of law, and the environment are all prevalent in today’s relations between U.S.-China, and President Xi’s visit was a pinnacle event for the U.S. diplomatic calendar.
In this town-hall style event, the audience posed anonymous questions they would have asked President Xi had he visited Harvard. The Center’s expert panelists Ezra Vogel, William Kirby, Meg Rithmire, and Ya-Wen Lei, chaired by the Fairbank Center’s former Faculty Director Mark Elliott, debated what President Xi’s answers might look like.
opens in a new windowRead selected quotes from our panelists here
Latest News
Exhibition: Elegy to a Uyghur Dreamscape قەسىدە: ئۇيغۇرنىڭ ئۇيقۇسىز چۈشلىرى
A new photography exhibition at Harvard University depicts everyday life in Xinjiang, China’s westernmost region. The photographs, taken by Lisa Ross, depict beds and their occupants outside in the open air. Sleeping outdoors is a traditional means to keep cool in the...
Podcast: Human Rights in China and the United States, with Carroll Bogert
In our latest podcast interview for the "Harvard on China" podcast, the Fairbank Center spoke with Carroll Bogert (AB '83, AM '86), current president of The Marshall Project and previously deputy executive director at Human Rights Watch. Before joining Human Rights...
Resources at Harvard
- opens in a new windowAsh Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation
- opens in a new windowRajawali Foundation Institute for Asia, Ash Center
- opens in a new windowChina Public Policy Postdoctoral Fellowships, Ash Center
- opens in a new windowDepartment of Government
- opens in a new windowHarvard Kennedy School – China: Empirical Research & Criminal Justice Policy Reform