Mission
The China Governance Lab based at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy serves as a hub for students and faculty interested in China-related governance issues to discuss ideas and generate research for the scholarly and policy communities. The Lab is led by Professor Lynette Ong, who is the Distinguished Professor of Chinese Politics at the University of Toronto.
The lab aims to serve the UofT and larger communities by engaging in research relevant to China’s authoritarian system and its impact on Canada and western democracies, as well as by holding public events to disseminate our research findings.
Professor Lynette Ong is a political scientist and China expert at the University of Toronto. She is the University Distinguished Professor of Chinese Politics. Her research lies at the intersection of authoritarianism, contentious politics, and political economy of development. She is the author of three monographs: Outsourcing Repression (Oxford University Press, 2022), The Street and the Ballot Box (Cambridge University Press, 2022), and Prosper or Perish (Cornell University Press, 2012). Her research has won multiple accolades from APSA, ASA, ISA, and CPSA.
Her research has been featured in The New York Times Editorial Board Opinion, The New Yorker, The Economist, The Washington Post, and CBC. For more information, visit her personal website.
If you’re interested in getting involved with the lab, please feel free to reach out at lynette.ong@utoronto.ca.
Shilin Jia is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the China Governance Lab, University of Toronto. He was previously a Shorenstein postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University and received his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Chicago. He specializes in computational methods and studied Chinese politics from organizational and cultural perspectives.
Mary Hertz is a PhD student in Political Science. She holds a master's degree in China Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research focuses on contentious politics and state–business relations in China, with a current emphasis on China’s AI expansion and its growing global technological influence.
Mary Hertz
David Chen a PhD candidate in Sociology at the University of Toronto. His research spans the fields of economic sociology, political sociology, and international political economy (IPE), with a specific focus on Chinese corporations and networks, state institutions, environmental and urban policy, and China’s changing role in the international order.
David Chen
Wu Yang is a graduate from the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy where he holds a Master in Global Affairs, specialising in global security, global policy and East and Southeast Asian studies. His research interests include Chinese ideology, diaspora politics and foreign policy
Wu Yang
Alireza “Mani” is a Ph.D. student in Political Science at the University of Toronto, specializing in international relations and comparative politics. His research examines great-power competition, authoritarian governance, and emerging technologies, with a particular focus on China’s global influence and strategic partnerships with authoritarian and sanctioned states, including Iran.
Alireza (Mani) Nouri
Ted Allen-Rawding is a researcher specializing in Eurasia, including China and the post-Soviet space. His research examines authoritarian politics, nationalism, and historical memory, with particular interests in China and Central Asia.
Ted Allen-Rawding
2025-2026 Annual Report Published
The China Governance Lab is proud to present our annual report, which features a message from the director, event highlights, and more!
