News

Mark R Thompson, AIS head/SEARC director gave a lecture on the state of electoral democracy in Southeast Asia at the the Colloquium Politicum at the Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg in Freiburg Germany.

Prof. Mark R. Thompson, AIS head/SEARC director, gave a talk on the problems of electoral democracy in Southeast Asia to the Insitut fuer Asien und Afrika Wissenschaft, Seminar for Southeast Asian Studies, Humboldt University, Berlin on July 7, 2016. For more details: please click here.

Dr. Chan Yuk Wah, SEARC board member, was interviewed by Linkage, published by CityU, in June 2016, to share about "Eat organic, eat smart". 

Dr. Sean Starrs, SEARC board member, debated whether Brexit is part of a global uprising against globalization, in a live boardcast programme 'Backchat' regarding 'Brexit and Globalization' at RTHK on 30 Jun 2016. 

Prof. Mark R. Thompson, Acting Head of AIS/SEARC director, co-authored a commentary titled “Thompson and Teehankee -- Duterte victory a repudiation of Aquino" about the recent Philippine election in the Neikkei Asian Review.

Prof. Mark R Thompson, acting head of AIS/director of SEARC, co-authored a piece with Prof. Julio C. Teehankee titled "Duterte and the politics of anger in the Philippines" on today's presidential elections in the Philippines in the East Asia Forum. He was also quoted in a Los Angeles Times article about the election titled "Philippines presidential candidate draws comparisons to Trump".

Prof. Mark R. Thompson, SEARC Director/Acting head of AIS co-authored an article "Will populism prevail in the Philippine presidential election?" on the forthcoming Philippine presidential elections in the East Asia Forum on April 8, 2016.

Prof. Mark R. Thompson, SEARC director, gave an invited seminar at the East Asia Foundation "Switching Sides: China, the US, and Political Change in Southeast Asia" on March 3, 2016. Please click here for the video.

Prof. Mark R. Thompson, acting head of AIS/SEARC director published an article, "2nd presidential debate: Reinforcing narratives", with Prof. Julio C. Teehankee about the upcoming May presidential elections in the Philippines in Rappler, the leading politics blog about this Southeast Asian country.

Prof. Mark R. Thompson, director of SEARC, gave the keynote speech "Learning Authoritarian Modernity" at the Asian Political and International Studies (APISA) Conference, New Authoritarianism in Asia, co-hosted by the Fredrich Ebert Stiftung at the Ewha Womans University on March 4 in Seoul, South Korea. He also gave an invited seminar at the East Asia Foundation "Switching Sides: China, the US, and Political Change in Southeast Asia" on March 3, 2016.

The Assessment Panel recommended a total of HK$2,161,078 in funding for 14 projects. Among them, two are led by SEARC board members:

“2016 Hong Kong Rugby Sevens Green Ambassador Scheme”

Dr. LI Wanxin (POL), Dr. Yanto CHANDRA (SEARC board member) & POL Students - Mr. Alaric HUI, Mr. Steven HO & Ms. Regine CHEUNG​

“Sustainable Cultural Development: Heritage Governance and Cultural Resource Management”

Dr. CHAN Yuk Wah (SEARC board member) (AIS)

Prof. Mark R Thompson, acting head of the Department of Asian and International Studies (AIS)/Director of the Southeast Asia Research Centre (SEARC) recently published an article “Philippine ‘People Power’ Thirty Years On” on the ambiguous legacy of Philippine "People Power" as the 30th anniversary of the peaceful overthrow of the dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos is commemorated in that Southeast Asian country in the Diplomat online magazine. Thompson was also quoted in a Deutsche Welle article “Who are the Philippines' top presidential candidates?” about upcoming presidential elections in the Philippines.

Dr. Sean Starrs published an article entitled 'China's Rise is Designed in America, Assembled in China' in “China's World” (Vol. 2, Issue 2 2015).

Dr. Jonathan London was interviewed by Ming Pao for his views on the recent Party Congress in Vietnam as well as its implications for Vietnam’s relationship with the U.S. and China.

Dr. Jonathan London was quoted an article entitled "Vietnam Communist leader sees off challenge of reformist PM” in the Guardian on January 27, 2016.

Dr. Jonathan London, was quoted in an article entitled “Vietnam chooses stay-the-course leader over more reform-minded challenger” in the USA Today on January 27, 2016.

Dr. Jonathan London was quoted in an article entitled "Political intrigue and power struggles as Vietnam chooses new leader" in the CNN on January 26, 2016.

Dr. Jonathan London was quoted in an article entitled "Vietnam Prime Minister Withdraws From Contest for Party Chief" in the Wall Street Journal on January 25, 2016. 

Dr. Jonathan London was quoted an article entitled In Vietnam tobt ein Machtkampf (raging power struggle in Vietnam) in the Tages-Anzeiger (a Swiss German-language national daily newspaper published in Zurich, Switzerland) on January 23, 2016.

Dr. Jonathan London was quoted in an article entitled "Vietnam Objects to Chinese Oil Rig in Disputed Waters" in the New York Times on January 20, 2016.

Dr. Jonathan London was quoted in an article entitled "3 Things You Need to Know About Vietnam’s Communist Party Congress" in the Time on January 20, 2016.

Dr. Jonathan London was quoted in an article entitled "Mandarin gegen Kapitalist" (Mandarin against capitalist) in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung (the largest German national subscription daily newspaper) on January 20, 2016.

Dr. Jonathan London was quoted in an article entitled "Vietnam eager to capitalise on opportunities presented by TPP but ban on trade unions may need to be scrapped as part of reforms" in SCMP on January 17, 2016.

Prof. Jan Servaes, SEARC board member, wrote a blog on Connect4Climate for the Communication and Culture for Sustainability and Climate Change Conference.

Prof. Felipe Cucker, SEARC board member, has been selected as a recipient of The President’s Awards (TPAs). TPAs recognise exemplary contributions to research and professional education as shown in the RAE performance and QS rankings. The accomplishments of the awardees reflect the excellence in research and professional education that has distinguished CityU in local and global recognition exercises.

SEARC core member Dr Stephan Ortmann and SEARC director Prof Mark R Thompson published an article "China and the Singapore Model" in the January 2016 issue of the Journal of Democracy. 

A delegation from the Politics and Governance program of Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand visited SEARC on 2016 January 14 for an academic exchange.

Dr. Jonathan London, SEARC board member, published an article on Vietnam's succession struggle: "Vietnam’s Leadership Succession Struggle" in the prestigious internet portal "The Diplomat".

Dr. Yuk Wah Chan, SEARC board member, received a grant for conference and seminar from The Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange (CCKF) for a “Workshop on ‘Asian Migration and Diasporas: Mobility, Diversity and Development’ -- Expert Meeting and Book Series Launch."

Dr. Bradley Williams, SEARC board member, wrote an article entitled "Freedoms under challenge in democratic East Asia" in the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on 22 December 2015.

Thompson, Mark R. "Democracy with Asian Characteristics." The Journal of Asian Studies 74, no. 04 (2015): 875-887.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0021911815001187

The latest version of the program is uploaded here.

SEARC board member, Dr. Bradley Williams' work was cited in an article entitled "Secrets Law, One Year Later" in the Japan Times on 11 Dec 2015.

"Markets and Development: Civil Society, Citizens and the Politics of Neoliberalism” presents a series of critical contributions focused on the political relationship between citizens, civil society, and neoliberal development policy’s latest form.

For Updated Conference Program and Book of Abstracts, please click here.

Dr. Stephan Ortmann, SEARC board member, was interviewed by the Global Journalist. The interview was featured in an article entitled "In Hong Kong, Occupy Central lingers a year later" on December 5, 2015.

Prof. Mark R. Thompson, SEARC director, published an article, "Why dynastic female leaders win elections in Asia", comparing Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar to other female dynastic leaders in Asia in the East Asia Forum.

Dr. Tom Patton, SEARC associate director, just returned from Atlanta, Georgia where he presented a paper at the American Academy of Religion Conference, entitled, “Intimate Bonds Between a Buddhist Saint and His Burmese Devotees.”

SEARC associate director, Dr. Tom Patton’s most recent article, “The Wizard King's Granddaughters: Burmese Buddhist Female Mediums, Healers, and Dreamers,” has just been published in theJournal of the American Academy of Religion. You can download it here.

Roger Huang, visiting researcher at SEARC, published an article: "Myanmar still has a long way to go", on Myanmar's political transition after Aung San Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy's landslide electoral victory.

Please check our website for regular updates. The latest version of the conference schedule and program is being uploaded as well.

International Conference: “Communication/Culture and The Sustainable Development Goals (CCSDG): Challenges for a New Generation", 17-21 December 2015, UNISERV, Chiang Mai University, Thailand 

Tentative schedule: Download

IMPORTANT DATES:

Early Bird Registration Deadline: 1 November 2015

For details, please click here. 

Prof. William Case, SEARC board member, wrote an article entitled “Civil Society in Southeast Asia: Not All It’s Cracked Up to Be” on the website of Middle East Institute. 

Mark R Thompson, Acting Head of AIS/Director of SEARC, co-authored an article “Mar Roxas as default candidate of the elite” in the leading Philippine news blog "Rappler" on presidential candidate Manuel "Mar" Roxas. He co-authored another article “Grace Poe attempts to break the wheel” last month on another Philippine presidential candidate Grace Po. 

A Roundtable and Public Forum on "Enhancing Trade in Education Services: Education Hubs, Student Mobility, and Policy Challenges was held at CityU on September 16, 2015. For the press release (in Chinese), please click here. 

Prof. Mark R. Thompson, in his capacity as a member of the executive board of the Asian and Political International Studies Association (APISA), attended the 9^th APISA Annual Congress in Phnom Penh from 11-12 September 2015. Prof. Thompson participated in the APISA board meeting and presented a paper comparing Thailand and the Philippines.  

Prof. William Case was interviewed by The Straits Times (Singapore) and spoke about "PAS is a key factor in any opposition equation" on 10 September 2015.

Dr. Stephan Ortmann, SEARC board member, wrote an article entitled “Politics, not elections, will change Singapore” in the East Asia Forum on 2 September 2015.