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Instructor: Dr. Willy Lam

Willy Lam has a Master’s in Buddhist Studies, an M.A. in Asian Studies and a PhD in Economics. He was a foreign correspondent in Beijing and an editor at the South China Morning Post. He has taught China-related courses in Japan and Hong Kong. He is a research fellow at the Asia-Pacific Program of the University of Victoria, and the author of ten books on China, the most recent of which is From Confucius to Xi Jinping: The DNA of Chinese Politics (2025).

Week 1:
Dr Lam will give an overview of the deepening China–U.S. systemic competition. He will touch on the issue of tariffs (scaled down drastically since the April 2 talks) and discuss different aspects of the Chinese economy as it faces unprecedented challenges from the U.S. You will learn about the Xi Jinping leadership’s Soviet-style industrial policy, for example, its pouring of hundreds of billions of US dollars into high-tech sectors such as AI, quantum-computing, EVs, and pharmaceuticals. Dr Lam will also address corruption and bureaucratic inefficiencies in China—including the arrest of top entrepreneurs and high-tech leaders who are beneficiaries of various big chip funds. The speaker will also discuss the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) military modernization: for example, it now has the largest naval fleet in history. There will be time for questions and answers.

Week 2:
Dr Lam will discuss values and soft power. Is the Trump administration giving up human rights, democracy, and the rule of law as elements of foreign policy? How successful is China in taking advantage of Washington's current unilateralism and isolationism to become the world leader in establishing new standards in trade, currencies and international intercourse? Dr Lam will also contrast Beijing's goal of a world based on a "common destiny,” with the CCP’s increasing aggressiveness in the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea, the North Pole, Australia, etc. The Trump administration’s new foreign-policy imperative of balancing “geopolitical, policies-oriented pursuits” with human rights and rule of law will be tested in its China policies. And the Xi Jinping leadership seems to be given increasing leeway in its suppressive policies toward Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong and Taiwan.