Renowned for his coverage of China’s elite politics and leadership transitions, sinologist and veteran China journalist Willy Wo-Lap Lam is the author of five books analyzing China’s political front figure since Zhao Ziyang. His most recent book, “The Rise of Xi Jinping and the Closing of the Chinese Mind”, explores how a relatively undistinguished regional official became one of the most powerful and charismatic leaders in the history of the People’s Republic.
Dr. Lam describes Xi’s personal history and his fascination with quasi-Maoist values, the factional politics through which he ascended, the configuration of power of the Fifth-Generation leadership, and the country’s likely future directions under the charismatic “princeling.”
Dr. Lam’s book has received a large volume of media coverage and reviews such as Chinese Politics in the Era of Xi Jinping and Book Review: Chinese Politics in the Era of Xi Jinping by By John Berthelsen. An interview with Dr. Lam can also be read on the New York Times.
About the Speaker
With more than 30 years of experience in writing and researching about China, Dr. Willy Wo-Lap Lam is a recognized authority on areas including the Chinese Communist Party, public administration, foreign policy, the People’s Liberation Army, as well as the country’s economic and political reform. Dr. Lam has worked in senior editorial positions in international media including Asiaweek newsmagazine, South China Morning Post, and the Asia-Pacific Headquarters of CNN.
Dr. Lam is a Senior Fellow at The Jamestown Foundation. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Center for China Studies, the History Department and the Program of Master’s in Global Political Economy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
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Sponsor: Centre for Chinese Research, Institute of Asian Research
By: Dr. Willy Wo-Lap Lam
Type: Discussion
