2019 China Debate - Speaker Biographies

2019 China Debate - Speaker Biographies

David M. Lampton (Johns Hopkins-SAIS and Stanford University)

David M. Lampton is Hyman Professor and Director of China Studies Emeritus at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, where he currently is a Senior Fellow. Since January 2019 he is also the Oksenberg-Rohlen Fellow and Research scholar at Stanford University’s Asia Pacific Research Center. Having started his academic career at The Ohio State University, Lampton is Chairman of the The Asia Foundation, former president of the National Committee on United States-China Relations, former Dean of Faculty at SAIS, as well as founding director of the China Policy Programs at The American Enterprise Institute and at The Nixon Center (now the Center for the National Interest).

He was educated at Stanford University, and was a recipient of various honours.  They include an honorary doctorate from the Russian Academy of Sciences, the inaugural Scalapino Prize (the National Bureau of Asian Research and the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars), and the “2016 Lifetime Achievement Award for Contributions to US-China Relations” (the Committee of 100). He is the author of: Same Bed, Different Dreams: Managing U.S.-China Relations, 1989-2000 (2001); The Three Faces of Chinese Power: Might, Money, and Minds (2008); and, The Making of Chinese Foreign and Security Policy (editor, 2001). His newest book, Following the Leader: Ruling China, from Deng Xiaoping to Xi Jinping , was published in January 2014 and reissued in paperback in March 2019. His current main project focuses on Beijing’s effort to build high-speed and other rail lines to Singapore from South China and involves interview and field research in eight countries.

Evan S. Medeiros (Georgetown University)

Dr Evan S. Medeiros is the Penner Family Chair in Asia Studies in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. His research and teaching focuses on the international politics of East Asia, U.S.-China relations and China’s foreign and national security policies. He has published several books and articles and regularly provides advice and commentary to global corporations and the international media.

Evan's expertise is a unique blend of research expertise and practical experience. He previously served for six years on the staff of the National Security Council as Director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia - and then as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Asia. In the latter role, Evan served as President Obama's top advisor on the Asia-Pacific and was responsible for coordinating U.S. policy toward the Asia-Pacific across the areas of diplomacy, defense policy, economic policy, and intelligence. He was actively involved in all aspects U.S.-China relations for six years, including several U.S.-China summits.

In recent years, Evan advised multinational companies on Asia in his role as Managing Director for Asia-Pacific at Eurasia Group, the global political risk consultancy. Prior to joining the White House, Dr. Medeiros also worked for seven years as a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation. From 2007-2008, he also served as policy advisor to Secretary Hank Paulson working on the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue at the Treasury Department.

Evan holds a Ph.D. in international relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science, in addition to an M.Phil degree in international relations from the University of Cambridge (where he was a Fulbright Scholar), a M.A. degree in China studies from SOAS, University of London, and a B.A. degree in analytic philosophy from Bates College in Maine. He is married to Bernadette Meehan and they have a daughter, Amelia.

Katherine Morton (University of Sheffield)

Katherine Morton is Chair and Professor of China’s International Relations and Associate Fellow in the Energy, Environment and Resources Programme at the Royal Institute of International Affairs. Her research addresses the domestic and international motivations behind China’s changing role in international politics and the implications for foreign policy and the study of International Relations. A particular focus is upon Chinese responses to global challenges such as climate change, food security, or internal conflicts that require new institutional mechanisms, forms of governance, and collective norms to regulate behaviour. In the field of International Relations she has a strong interest in contemporary questions relating to the changing international order, regional security, and transnational governance.

Katherine has published widely on global governance, transnational security, environment and climate change, civil society, and regional security. Prior to her appointment at the University of Sheffield she was the Associate Dean for Research at the College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University and a Senior Fellow in the Department of International Relations, ANU. She has held visiting fellowships to Columbia University, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Peking University, China Foreign Affairs University, and Senior Associate Memberships to St Antony’s College, University of Oxford. She is also a regular participant in Track II security dialogues and policy briefings on the Asia Pacific.

She speaks Mandarin, French, Italian, and basic Japanese and Spanish.

Zhu Feng (Nanjing University)

Professor Zhu Feng is currently the Executive Director at the China Center for Collaborative Studies of the South China Sea, and the Institute of International Relations, both at Nanjing University. He sits on a number of editorial boards of scholarly journals and was a member of the Beijing Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. He is also a senior research fellow at the China Institute of Peace and Development. He writes extensively on regional security in East Asia, the North Korean nuclear issue, U.S. national security strategy, and the military and security dimensions of China-U.S. relations. His books include Ballistic Missile Defense and International Security; International Relations Theory and East Asian Security ; China’s Ascent: Power, Security, and the Future of International Politics (co-edited with Robert S. Ross)), and US, China and Struggle for the World Order (co-edited with G. John Ikenbery and Wang Jisi). Professor Zhu began his undergraduate studies in the Department of International Politics at Peking University in 1981 and received his Ph.D. there in 1991.

Moderator

Steve Tsang (SOAS China Institute)

Professor Steve Tsang joined SOAS in 2016 as Director of SOAS China Institute.  His research interests focus on Twentieth-century Chinese history; Chinese foreign policy; China's 'peaceful rise' strategy; China's rising military might; China's soft power; China-UK relations; China-EU relations; China-US relations; China-Taiwan relations; China-Asia relations; Chinese politics; nature of political system in China; the Chinese Communist Party and democracy; human rights in China; Taiwan politics; Taiwan's external relations; Taiwan's democratisation; Taiwan's security; US-Taiwan relations; Hong Kong politics; Hong Kong's relations with mainland China; colonial history of Hong Kong.

Steve is a frequent commentator for the BBC, including for programmes like Newsnight, BBC One News, BBC News Channel, Today, BBC World Service's various programmes such as Newshour and World Tonight. He has also appeared on Sky News, Channel 4 News, Channel 5 News, Voice of America, France 24, Channel News Asia, CNBC, Al Jazeera and Russia Today.