About the Working Group

Introduction

Southeast Asia Research Centre

The Southeast Asia Research and Cooperation (SEARC) working group in the Department of Public and International Affairs (PIA), City University of Hong Kong was established in October 2025. The successor organization to the Southeast Asia Research Centre (SEARC) at the City University of Hong Kong from 2001 to 2025, it is the only academic working group devoted exclusively to the study of this region in Hong Kong. It aims to promote academic research on public and international affairs in the region while engaging in cooperation through community outreach (including to the several hundred thousand Southeast Asians living in the Special Administrative Region) and cultural exchange. It holds regular Southeast Asia-related research events: talks, roundtables, and workshops.

SEARC is a member of the Consortium of Southeast Asia Research in Asia (SEASIA), the only university in Hong Kong and only one other in mainland China.

We are open to international collaboration and will be holding a number of events this academic year (2025/26).

Three members of the working group, professors Mark R. Thompson, Renaud Egreteau, and Diego Fossati are editors of the Routledge/CityU Southeast Asia Series. The series publishes cutting edge research on the region and is open to submissions globally for scholarly manuscripts about the region with a focus on contemporary issues such as domestic politics, international relations, political economy, development, and environmental issues.

Our research concerns many contemporary issues in Southeast Asia such as political economy, comparative politics, international relations (including ASEAN), public policy, environmental sustainability, migration, anthropology, and political theory.

Four working group members, professors Egreteau, Fossati, Yin Nor Tjia, and Thompson currently hold eight major externally funded Southeast Asia-related research grants:
*Hong Kong Research Grants Council, General Research Fund (GRF): “To Share or Not to Share: China’s Technology Transfer to Thailand” - TJIA, Y. N. (Principal Investigator / Project Coordinator) & BHANDHUBANYONG, P. (Panyapiwat Institute of Management, Co-Investigator), to start Jan. 2026;
*GRF: “Sara Duterte-Carpio and a Softer Face for Illiberalism: Gender Performativity, Political Dynasties and Illiberal Politics in the Philippines” - THOMPSON, M. R. (Principal Investigator / Project Coordinator) & PARMANAND, S. (LSE Co-Investigator), began Sept. 2025;
*GRF: “Competing Nostalgias: The Rise of the Marcos ‘Golden Age’ and the Decline of the EDSA” - THOMPSON, M. R. (Principal Investigator / Project Coordinator), HOLMES, R. D. (De la Salle University, Co-Investigator) & TEEHANKEE, J. C. (De la Salle University, Co-Investigator), began Sept. 2024;
*GRF: “Legislators as Foreign Policy Actors during Democratisation. Insights from Myanmar (2011-2021)” - EGRETEAU, R. (Principal Investigator / Project Coordinator), began Oct. 2023;
*GRF: “Unhealthy Populism: COVID-19 in Southeast Asia” - FOSSATI, D. (Principal Investigator / Project Coordinator), THOMAS, N. D. (CityUHK Co-Investigator) & THOMPSON, M. R. (Co-Investigator), began Jan 2022;
*GRF: “Learning Soft Power: Chinese and Japanese Aid Projects in Mongolia” -TJIA, Y. N. (Principal Investigator / Project Coordinator), FOSSATI, D. (Co-Investigator) & Lim, G. (Co-Investigator), began Jan 2023;
*GRF: “How Does Backsliding Affect Pushback? Comparing Opposition to Autocratization in the Philippines and Thailand” - THOMPSON, M. R. (Principal Investigator / Project Coordinator), CHENG, E. (CityUHK, Co-Investigator) & PRAJAK, K. (Thammasat University, Co-Investigator), began Oct 2021.
*Research Research Grants Council, Early Career Scheme (ECS) grant: “The Meaning of Democracy and Democratic Consolidation in Indonesia” - FOSSATI, D. (Principal Investigator / Project Coordinator), Jan. 2021.
Please contact us via Kevin Agojo (knagojo2-c@my.cityu.edu.hk) if you are interested in learning more about the PIA working group on Southeast Asia.

Mission

SEARC’s mission is to continue to build on its strong international reputation as a centre of excellence for the study of political, social, economic, and cultural issues in contemporary Southeast Asia. Great attention is given to theoretical and cross-disciplinary analysis which addresses real-world challenges in political systems, economic development, social change religious issues, gender relations, migration, disaster management, etc. SEARC seeks to attract further competitive external grant funding, to collaborate internationally with other institutions, to conduct disciplinary-based and cross-disciplinary research in compelling academic debates in the social sciences, to generate high-quality research publications, and to reach the public through open events and media engagement. Engaging Hong Kong citizens, and in particular civil society organizations and the media, it aims to enhance understanding of the region within CityU, Hong Kong and beyond.

Objectives

The objectives of the Southeast Asia Research Centre are:

  • to advance the Centre's international reputation and City University's standing by researching political, economic, and social developments in contemporary Southeast Asia;
  • to obtain competitive external grant funding;
  • to extend links to scholars and institutions researching other parts of the developing world, especially China and Northeast Asia, whose concerns resonate with those of the Centre;
  • to conduct disciplinary-based and cross-disciplinary research;
  • to address major debates in comparative politics, political economy, and comparative sociology;
  • to produce high quality research publications on contemporary Southeast Asia;
  • to engage Hong Kong citizens, especially civil society organizations, through open forums and media engagement; and
  • to enhance the study of Southeast Asia in Hong Kong and to increase understanding of the region within the CityU and Hong Kong communities.

For more details, please click here