By Michelle Houghton, Communications & Events Coordinator
In late November, the ‘rare’ public protests against China’s strict zero-covid lockdowns were generating extensive coverage across international news outlets. In response, the Centre’s Professor Bill Hurst, Chong Hua Professor of Chinese Development, tweeted:
I’ve been studying various aspects of #protest & contentious #politics in #China for 25 years. What’s happening now is novel, interesting, & potentially quite important. But we need to be careful about drawing conclusions or making predictions. 1/22…Click here to view the full thread on Twitter
As of mid-December, the post has generated over 50,000 engagements and 1.2 million views – truly viral proportions.
Bill’s expert views on the public protests in China were subsequently sought by media around the world and, to date, he has written bylined articles for Barrons, Daily Telegraph, and TIME MAGAZINE, as well as ‘Chinese protestors are out in record numbers. What Changed? for the Washington Post. Bill has also given:
- 33 press interviews, including ABC (Australia), New York Times, Der Tagesspiegal (Germany), The Times of India, La Stampa (Italy), and the Guardian
- 10 broadcast interviews, including BBC World Service, Al Jazeerah English, Sky News, Deutsche Welle, France 24, and NPR (National Public Radio (USA)
- 5 Podcast interviews, including International Horizons (CUNY Graduate Center), The Little Red Podcast (Australian National University), and the Centre’s On Geopolitics.
Congratulations to Bill for the far-reaching impact of this work – an excellent example of the Centre’s mission to apply historical analysis, political science, area studies and the experience of practitioners to confront major problems of conflict and world order, past, present and future.
