2 CWP alums named Transpacific and Asian Dialogue Fellows for the Penn Project on The Future of the US-China Relations
China’s rise on the world stage has prompted novel and complex challenges for policymakers across the Asia-Pacific to address. The Transpacific and Asian Dialogue on China aims to contribute to those deliberations by incubating and then amplifying concrete recommendations, rooted in specialized knowledge, developed by twenty-two leading next generation scholars and experts on China selected from throughout the region.
This initiative builds on the earlier Transatlantic and European Dialogue on China that likewise has been mobilized by the Penn Project on the Future of U.S.-China Relations. Both initiatives embody the Penn Project’s core mission of highlighting academically-informed, policy-relevant analysis from next generation experts on China and its role in the world.
In mobilizing the Transpacific and Asian Dialogue on China, the Penn Project has drawn upon senior advisors from the Asia-Pacific region for relevant guidance, and is partnering with key institutions in the region — namely, the East Asian Institute of the National University of Singapore, the East Asia Institute of Korea, and the Australian Centre on China in the World at the Australian National University — who will host in-person workshops in their respective countries, beginning in June 2026.
Ja-Ian Chong is Associate Professor of Political Science at the National University of Singapore and a non-resident scholar at Carnegie China. He is also an editor of AcademiaSG, which promotes Singapore-related research. Ian’s research examines the intersection of international and domestic politics, focusing on major power competition, nationalism, regional order, and security in Northeast and Southeast Asia. His current work investigates how non-leading state behavior collectively intensifies major power rivalries, with particular attention to U.S.-China dynamics. Ian’s book, External Intervention and the Politics of State Formation: China, Indonesia, Thailand, 1893-1952 (Cambridge University Press, 2012), received the International Studies Association International Security Studies Section’s 2013 Best Book Award. He received his PhD in politics from Princeton University, and was a postdoctoral fellow in the (now) Columbia-Harvard China and the World Program.
Courtney Fung is Associate Professor in the Discipline of Security Studies at Macquarie University. She is a non-resident fellow at LSE IDEAS, the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University, Asia Society Australia, and the Lowy Institute. Her research focuses on how rising powers address norms and provisions for global governance and international security, with a primary focus on China within the UN system, including status, international civil service personnel contributions, and human protection issues. Her book, China and Intervention at the UN Security Council: Reconciling Status (Oxford University Press, 2019), was shortlisted for the BISA LHM Ling Outstanding First Book Prize. Courtney was a Fulbright Scholar at Georgetown University in 2024. She holds a PhD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tuft University, and was a fellow in the (now) Columbia-Harvard China and the World Program.
Photo Credit: https://web.sas.upenn.edu/future-of-us-china-relations/international/transpacific-and-asian-dialogue-on-china/
