How the Media and the Internet are Changing Chinese Politics

Susan Shirk, professor of political science at the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California, San Diego, discussed how the Internet and media are changing Chinese politics and vice versa during a National Committee program on April 25.

Dr. Shirk is director of the University of California system-wide Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation and Ho Miu Lam Professor of China and Pacific Affairs. She first travelled to China in 1971 and has been doing research there ever since. From 1997 to 2000, Dr. Shirk served as deputy assistant secretary of State in the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs, with responsibility for the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Mongolia. In 1993, she founded the Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue (NEACD), an unofficial “track two” forum for discussions of security issues among defense and foreign ministry officials and academics from the United States, Japan, China, Russia, South Korea, and North Korea.

Speaker Bio

Susan Shirk is director of the University of California system-wide Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation and Ho Miu Lam Professor of China and Pacific Affairs in the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California, San Diego.

Dr. Shirk first traveled to China in 1971 and has been doing research there ever since.

During 1997-2000, Dr. Shirk served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs, with responsibility for the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Mongolia.

She founded in 1993 and continues to lead the Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue (NEACD), an unofficial “track-two” forum for discussions of security issues among defense and foreign ministry officials and academics from the United States, Japan, China, Russia, South Korea, and North Korea.

Dr. Shirk’s publications include her books, China: Fragile Superpower; How China Opened Its Door: The Political Success of the PRC’s Foreign Trade and Investment Reforms; The Political Logic of Economic Reform in China; and Competitive Comrades: Career Incentives and Student Strategies in China. Her edited book, Changing Media, Changing China, was published by Oxford University Press in January 2011.