China’s New Military Commanders Reflect Xi Jinping’s Naval Ambitions
Andrew S. Erickson is Visiting Professor, Government Department, Harvard University; Professor of Strategy, U.S. Naval War College (NWC) China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI); and Fairbank Center Associate in Research. The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and…
A Scholar’s Journey Through Rural China’s History: Michael Szonyi reflects on his first trip back to China in four years
Cross-posted from the Harvard China Fund. Michael A. Szonyi is the Frank Wen-Hsiung Wu Memorial Professor of Chinese History at Harvard University. I arrived in China in August 2023 after an almost four-year absence, the longest in my professional career…
Taiwan Elections 2024 Recap: Democracy prevailed, and now the DPP has work to do
Fairbank Center experts weigh in: Michael A. Szonyi, Frank Wen-Hsiung Wu Memorial Professor of Chinese History, Harvard University; Steven M. Goldstein, Director, Taiwan Studies Workshop, Harvard University; Ya-Wen Lei, Professor of Sociology, Harvard University; Wei-Ting Yen, Assistant Professor of Government,…
A Pilgrimage, Twenty-Five Zhejiang Villages, and Gorillas in Rwanda
Profiling Recipients of Summer Research Grantsfrom the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies This summer, Harvard Graduate School of Design student Robin Albrecht spent two weeks traveling the Taiwan countryside with nothing more than a backpack. “It was fairly small,” he…
Remembering Merle Goldman: Giant Among Scholars, Lifelong Friend of the Fairbank Center
Reengaging with Chinese Universities – Professor Peter K. Bol Takes the China Biographical Database (CBDB) on the Road
In late October and November, as part of the initiatives by the Harvard China Fund and the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies to reengage activities in China, the China Biographical Database (CBDB) project traveled to universities all across the country…
Critical Issues Confronting China Series featuring Economist Yao Yang – Reversing the “Dire Consequences” of 40 Years of Reform
China’s Economic Odyssey in the Contemporary Era: Yao Yang gives a broad-ranging talk assessing the unintended consequences of four decades of economic reform For the first talk of the fall 2023 semester’s Critical Issues Confronting China series, the Fairbank Center…
Negotiating the Gap: Communism and Confucianism—What the Struggle Between China’s Two Competing Social Philosophies Tells Us About the Country’s Future
In a special talk with Confucian expert Daniel A. Bell, three scholars consider the evolving role of Confucianism in China During the Cultural Revolution, Chairman Mao and his Red Guards discredited Confucianism and denounced it as an encouragement of “bad…
Fairbank Center Student Grants for China and Taiwan Studies, 2023-2024
The first deadline for undergraduate Winter Term student grants and graduate students Taiwan Studies grants is October 30! Are you considering doing work in China or Taiwan during the Winter Term break or the Spring 2024 semester? If your answer…
China’s Economic Growth Is Slowing Down—as Arthur Kroeber Tells It, That Was Always Part of Xi’s Plan
Arthur Kroeber reflects on the downturn of China’s economy The title of the Fairbank Center’s recent China Economy Lecture asks a direct question: Has China’s Economy Hit the Wall? A number of China analysts have responded to recent negative economic…