Via Zoom
U.S.-China relations are at a stalemate. Commentators describe the current state of bilateral relations as a Cold War 2.0. As decoupling accelerates, what are possible bridges to repair the relationship between the world’s two largest powers, one democratic and the other authoritarian? A critical social group is China’s Gen-Z and millennials—about 300,000 of whom are studying in the United States. What roles do China’s youth play in advocating for social and political change in and outside of its borders? How are we to understand Chinese youth's political engagement in the context of ongoing social movements? Drawing on over a decade of research on civil society and contentious politics, Dr. Fu will discuss the diverse ways that China’s youth are politically engaged and offer thoughts about their role in thawing bilateral relations.
This event is part of the Considering China webinar series.
About the Speaker
Diana Fu is associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto and director of the East Asia Seminar Series at the Asian Institute. She is a non-resident fellow at Brookings Institution, the Wilson Center, and the National Committee on US-China Relations. Her research examines civil society, popular contention, state control, and diaspora politics, with a focus on China. She is author of the award-winning book Mobilizing Without the Masses: Control and Contention in China (Cambridge, 2018). Dr. Fu regularly comments on Chinese politics in international media including BBC, Bloomberg, CBC, CNN, Economist, Financial Times, and The New York Times, among others. She was host of the TVO documentary series “China Here and Now” and POLITICO China Watcher. Dr. Fu received her doctorate in Politics form Oxford University, where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar, and her B.A. from the University of Minnesota.