Tomorrow at #BISA2026 - Meet Yuka Kobayashi of The China Quarterly at the Cambridge University Press display, 10:30-11:30am Friday the 5th of June 2026 cc @chinaquarterly.bsky.social#BISA2026

If you're at #BISA2026 please come and meet Yuka Kobayashi, co- editor of The China Quarterly. 10.30 am, Cambridge University Press stand.

Congratulations to Matthew Noellert and Xiangning Li who have been awarded the 2025 Gordon White Prize for their article "Internal Migration and the Continuity of Local Elites in North China, 1949–1965” (OA). doi.org/10.1017/S030...

Good to see the 1971 seminal article "On Photographs" by CQ founder Rod MacFarquhar cited here.

Excited to share our new open-access article in @chinaquarterly.bsky.social. With Meng U Ieong and Jiying Jiang, we examine legislative dynamics in Macau's Legislative Assembly. doi.org/10.1017/S030...

A big thanks to Chris Mittelstaedt for writing this very thoughtful review of Party's Interests for @chinaquarterly.bsky.social. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

In TAIWAN LIVES, Niki J. P. Alsford "has given Taiwan something many contested entities still lack: a history told from within," writes Mitchell Gallagher in a review for China Quarterly @chinaquarterly.bsky.social. Read the full review:

New: Huan He examines how downward delegation initiatives by the Chinese party-state could undermine everyday contention governance in China doi.org/10.1017/S0305741025101264

Ming-Hao Liu explores the CCP’s personnel control over central state-owned enterprise leaders from the Hu era to the Xi era. Through the dual-track system, the CCP aims to influence the career trajectories of SOE leaders & address conflicts of interest doi.org/10.1017/S0305741025101136

New article by Huirong Chen and Yangxin Bian: How do local officials in China initiate and sustain policy experiments within a bureaucratic system that often obstructs innovation? doi.org/10.1017/S030574102510115X

By analysing the eco-transformation of waste management through the framework of political steering theory, Victoria Zhou & Gunter Schubert present a nuanced avoidance strategy used by local governments to sidestep centrally mandated policies (Open Access) doi.org/10.1017/S0305741025101148

Through the lens of legal pluralism, Palden Tsering examines customary practices in Saga, a pastoral village in Amdo Tibet, where pastoralists develop rangeland practices to build wealth and gain access to rangeland and natural resources. doi.org/10.1017/S0305741025100908

New by Siyi Zhang, Lingna Zhong, Shu Keng and Baoqing Pang: "Parsing Factional Affiliations among Chinese Political Elites" doi.org/10.1017/S0305741025100957

My review of Chen Jie's new edited volume, #Taiwan and the Cause of Democratization in #China: Inspiration and Support, has been published in @chinaquarterly.bsky.social. Spoiler - it's a good book! Follow this link: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

In this article, @feiding418.bsky.social examines the impact of COVID-19 on labour governance and legal struggles faced by overseas Chinese workers. doi.org/10.1017/S0305741025100970

Through a detailed examination of the North-East China Tiger and Leopard National Park, Pei Zhang and Jiacheng Zhao identify a hybrid policy style that combines authoritarian environmentalism with policy experimentation doi.org/10.1017/S0305741025100945

Lei Yang, Yuanmin Sun & Changkun Cai explore grassroots officials' strategies to gain peasants’ consent to state policies and reconnect with them following the rural tax and fee reform in China in the 2000s doi.org/10.1017/S0305741025100714

A warm welcome to Dr Yuka Kobayashi (SOAS) who is joining the CQ team as co-editor. We would also like to thank Tim Pringle, who is stepping down after eight years of service.

Open Access: Analysing promotions in China’s Foreign Policy Bureaucracy, Tyler Jost & Yucong Li find that diplomats who spend a greater share of their careers in postings abroad are less likely to be promoted to higher ranks than diplomats who remain at home doi.org/10.1017/S030...

Open Access; Qi Song, Ling Han and Chengpang Lee's study explores explores an emerging group within the Chinese bureaucratic system: grassroots female civil servants. It delves into the work and life choices faced by female civil servants in local governments. doi.org/10.1017/S030...

Open Access: Pin-Hsuan Wu, Wen-Hsuan Tsai and Hsin-Hsien Wang take the charitable activities of the Shaolin Temple as a case study for their analysis of the CCP's management of religion under Xi Jinping doi.org/10.1017/S030...

New (OA) by Han-Wu-Shuang Bao and Peter Gries: "Biases about Chinese People in English Language Use: Stereotypes, Prejudice and Discrimination" #StopAsianHate #discrimination #socialComputing #NaturalLanguage doi.org/10.1017/S030...

New online. Hanzhi Hu finds that, while permanent migration within China does not adversely affect children’s education, return and multiple migrations do. Inter-provincial migration is more harmful than intra-provincial migration, and the impact is greater for boys. doi.org/10.1017/S030...

🔓Using a dataset of over 1.6 million judicial documents, Yuxia Zhang & John Zhuang Liu find evidence that the judiciary in China has become increasingly significant in checking the power of the government. They also examine the limits to this ascent in the face of politics. doi.org/10.1017/S030...

Congratulations to ‪@dr-frost.bsky.social‬ (of Copenhagen Business School) and Zeren Li (of NUSingapore) who have been awarded the 2024 Gordon White Prize for their article "Markets under Mao: Measuring Underground Activity in the Early PRC” (OA). doi.org/10.1017/S030...

Delighted to have a new article, co-authored with Lize Yang, published in @chinaquarterly.bsky.social We examine how aggressive journalistic questioning may have fueled the rise of China's "wolf warrior diplomacy". The article is open access. Feel free to dive in! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Jieren Hu, Xuan Gong and Yun Zhao explore how, under pressure from their superiors, local officials 'performatively' handle grievances and disputes raised through the new CCP digital petition platform. #网上信访 doi.org/10.1017/S030...

Feng Yang, Airan Liu and Wangyang Li's research finds Chinese citizens often overestimate the likelihood of equal opportunities for children from families with differing educational backgrounds, but there are signs of emerging pessimism.#代际流动 doi.org/10.1017/S030...

Read "Remembering Li Keqiang: Policy Divergence in Zhongnanhai and Its Economic Consequences," by Asei Ito (2023-24), Jaehwan Lim, and Hongyong Zhang, in the latest @chinaquarterly.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1017/S030...

🔓Based on fieldwork in Kenya, Ethiopia, Zambia and China between 2014 and 2023, Hangwei Li and Yuan Wang analyse how Chinese state companies and governments react to international resistance to the Belt and Road Initiative #BRI doi.org/10.1017/S0305741025000025

My review of Switching Diplomatic Recognition Between Taiwan and China: Economic and Social Impact edited by Chien-Huei Wu (Routledge, 2024) is published by The China Quarterly @chinaquarterly.bsky.social

🔓 @nicolewu.bsky.social and Zhongwei Sun's research uses qualitative and quantitative data to explore workers' responses and exit options in the face of increasing automation in manufacturing, finding greater anxiety amongst local workers than migrants. #机器换人. doi.org/10.1017/S030...

🔓New online, Asei Ito, Jaehwan Lim & Hongyong Zhang use machine learning to explore convergences and divergences between the economic policy orientations of Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang #李克强 doi.org/10.1017/S030...

New: Chris K.K. Tan & Miao Li explore "cancel culture" in China, through the case of #BL fiction featuring the idol Xiao Zhan 肖战 , which allegedly led to the banning of fan fiction website AO3, and a subsequent backlash against him. doi.org/10.1017/S030...

🔓 Eyck Freymann & Calvin Heng analyse PRC strategies to counter financial wars with the US, namely partial RMB internationalization: keeping the capital account tightly regulated while encouraging trade partners to sign up for RMB settlement platforms. doi.org/10.1017/S0305741025000037

Delighted that my review of Translation, Disinformation, and Wuhan Diary: Anatomy of a Transpacific Cyber Campaign by @bairuiwen.bsky.social is now available via @chinaquarterly.bsky.social. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

New: Han Tao on "Credit Data, Banks, 'Packaging Agencies' and the Promise of Digital Lending to Small Businesses in China" doi.org/10.1017/S030...

Analysing 1,761 editorials about the US published between 2003–2022 in People's Daily, @chriscarothers.bsky.social & Joshua B. Freedman investigate CCP messaging about the US in the contemporary era. doi.org/10.1017/S0305741024001528

Using the scandal surrounding Jackson Lee (易烊千玺) as a case study, Jian Xu & Ling Yang examine what happens when state-endorsed celebrities are caught up in a scandal. doi.org/10.1017/S0305741024001589

New online: Zhou Zhou, Yangxuan Zhou, Meng Yuan and Anni Tang assess how the Chinese state's anti-corruption measures have affected public perception of local government performance since 2012. #反腐败努力 doi.org/10.1017/S030574102400167X

Our December issue is now out and free to access for two weeks. Enjoy! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

🚨New Publication! 🚨 This is a special one for me because it’s in @chinaquarterly.bsky.social but also because it looks at the key question that motivated me to do a PhD in the first place! What’s the point of having authoritarian institutions that by design cannot constrain? A short 🧵

New (OA) @felixwiebrecht.bsky.social analyses how government departments respond to suggestions from provincial People's Political Consultative Conferences, finding that inclusive institutions in #China can provide a forum for expertise to inform policy-making. doi.org/10.1017/S030...

A reminder that the deadline is coming up this Friday (13th) for submitting proposals to participate in our Symposium on Knowledge Production in mid-June 2025. See below for details. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

🔓Franziska Fröhlich explores the soft side of "environmental authoritarianism", analysing the eco-civilization discourse on food & eating found in policy documents and guidebooks that aim to help consumers support the state's goal of an ecological civilization. doi.org/10.1017/S030...

Drawing on data gathered from qualitative interviews with Chinese students, Zhe Wang & Xuerui Hu explore the international higher education fever gripping China's middle-class families #China #HigherEducation doi.org/10.1017/S030...