[Updated 3 October 2021: For those who might have missed this webinar, here are the webcast, the accompanying slides, and the photos.]
Webinar
Friday, 1 October 2021, 19:00–20:30 PDT
The Chinese and Hong Kong Diasporas in the U.S.-China Conflict
Prof. Y. Joseph Lian, International College of Liberal Arts, Yamanashi Gakuin University
via Zoom
A City Reassembled event
Registration required
The United States—and the West in general—and China are on a collision course, and both the Chinese and Hong Kong diasporas are caught in the crossfire. What could we expect? Two developments from the past are of relevance: the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and the rise of McCarthyism in the 1950s. Though an exact repeat is unlikely, some variations on the theme are gaining traction, especially given the real and perceived threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party. In this talk, Prof. Lian will explore the relevance of the two past developments in question as well as how members of the Chinese and Hong Kong diasporas (which, in the foreseeable future, cannot be fully disassociated) could prepare themselves.
Professor Y. Joseph Lian 練乙錚 was born and raised in Hong Kong. He obtained his B.A. (magna cum laude) in mathematics from Carleton College, Minnesota, and his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Minnesota, where he wrote his dissertation under Edward E. Prescott, a 2004 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences. Prof. Lian was a senior policy advisor and speech writer for the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR Government from 1998 to 2004, when he was summarily dismissed for openly supporting the pro-democracy movement in the city. He was also, for four years, a chief editor and lead writer of the Hong Kong Economic Journal, the city’s then premier business newspaper.
Prof. Lian taught at Tulane University, the University of California, Riverside, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and was a visiting professor at the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok, Russia. Since 2010, he has been teaching in Japan, first at Akita International University and now at Yamanashi Gakuin University, on the foothills of Mount Fuji. Professor Lian has published widely in academic and professional outlets and has written extensively on Hong Kong and China-related issues for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank based in Washington, D.C. He was also a member of the International Council of the Asia Society.
Prof. Lian has been a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times since 2014. Married with one child, Professor Lian loves classical music, biking, and the marine sports. Among his many books written in Chinese is a travelogue of his round-Taiwan cycling trip. An avid ocean sailor, he skippered his own sailboat from Auckland, New Zealand, to Akita, Japan, and then Hong Kong.
This webinar is organized by the UBC Hong Kong Studies Initiative and co-sponsored by: Department of Asian Studies, Department of History, Centre for Chinese Research, Centre for Migration Studies, Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies, Public Humanities Hub, and the Interdisciplinary Histories Research Cluster.
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