Our Team
Yawei Liu, Ph.D.
Yawei Liu, Ph.D. is the Senior Advisor on China at The Carter Center and an adjunct professor of political science at Emory University. An expert on U.S.-China relations and Chinese grassroots democracy, he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the associate director of the China Research Center in Atlanta. He is regularly invited to speak about Chinese public opinion, and his previous engagements include the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Brookings Institution, the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences, and the Institute for China-America Studies.
Michael B. Cerny
Michael B. Cerny is a Program Associate in the Office of the Vice President for Peace Programs. Cerny received his Master of Philosophy in Politics (Comparative Government) from the University of Oxford, where he specialized in Chinese political economy and quantitative research methods. At The Carter Center, he edits the U.S.-China Perception Monitor website and researches the intersection of public opinion and U.S.-China relations for the China Focus. In addition, Cerny advises the Peace Programs on research design and data-driven program evaluation under the Peace Programs’ Data Scientist.
Xin Tong
Xin Tong is a graduate assistant for the Carter Center’s China Focus. She is a second-year Master of Public Policy student at UC Irvine. She graduated from the Communication University of China with a Master’s in Translation and Interpreting. Xin will start her Ph.D. in political science studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, concentrating on comparative politics and international relations. Her research interests focus on social movements, Chinese citizen activism on social media, and U.S.-China relations.
Kristy Bryant
Kristy Bryant is the Assistant Editor of The Carter Center’s U.S.-China Perception Monitor. She is a doctoral candidate in Area Studies (China) at the University of Oxford, where she specialises in public opinion and anti-Western sentiments on China’s social media. More broadly, her research interests include concepts and expressions of identity, ethnicity, and transnationalism, particularly in the context of East Asia.
Yuan Wang, Ph.D.
Yuan Wang, Ph.D. is a contributing writer and volunteer for the Carter Center’s China Focus. She received her PhD from the University of Georgia, specializing in comparative democratization, media politics, political communication, public opinion, and online nationalism. Dr. Wang’s peer reviewed publications, book reviews and other writings can be found in the Journal of Chinese Political Science, International Studies Review, and more.
Chavi Hillman
Chavi Hillman is an intern for the Carter Center’s China Focus and graphic designer for the U.S.-China Perception Monitor. She is a senior at Agnes Scott College, soon to graduate with a Bachelor’s in International Relations with a focus in Asian Studies. Hillman spent her fall semester abroad attending Tokyo International University, where she further contributed to her major with their Japanese Studies Program.
Cole Walker
Cole Walker is a graduate of Duke University, where he double majored in Public Policy and Chinese. He is a a recipient of the 2021 Critical Language Scholarship and a Huayu Bilingual Exchanges of Selected Talent Scholar. He currently works as the Outreach Coordinator for the Black China Caucus, where he envisioned and implemented the China 101 program to increase the pipeline of Black students entering the China career space. After his internship, he will move to Beijing to obtain a Master of Global Affairs degree as a member of the Schwarzman Scholars program’s 8th Cohort. |
Hongjia Yang
Hongjia Yang is a research assistant and volunteer for the Carter Center’s China Focus. Born and raised in Shanghai, Hongjia is currently a junior majoring in Politics and Statistics at the University of Virginia. Before joining the China Focus team, Hongjia had gained research experience at various institutions, including the Brookings Institution, UVA East Asia Center, and the US-China Education Trust, where he contributed to research projects on US-China relations and foreign policymaking.
Emerson Tsui
Emerson Tsui is a volunteer for the Carter Center’s China Focus. He received his Master’s Degree in International Affairs (MIA) from the University of California, San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy(GPS). Bilingual in English and Mandarin Chinese, he is certified in teaching Chinese as a second language. Prior to joining the Carter Center, he interned at the Asia Society and New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc.
William Peng
William Peng is a contributing writer and volunteer for the Carter Center’s China Focus. He currently participates in writing and translation for the program while also studying as a sophomore at Emory University, where he double majors in Economics and Public Policy Analysis. At Emory, William is an active member of the Chinese Student Association and is currently working on a paper related to Chinese economics.
Ring Feng
Ring Feng is a contributing write and volunteer for the Carter Center’s China Focus. He is a sophomore at Emory in the Math and Political Science program. At Emory, Ring’s focuses on advanced quantitative methods, hoping to use these powerful tools to provide more insight into the field of international relations and nondemocratic regimes. Ring’s writing examines internal public opinion in China.
Jade Zhou
Jade Zhou is an intern for the Carter Center’s China Focus. She is a rising junior at Emory University majoring in Philosophy with a minor in French Studies. Zhou believes that being a scholar requires more than theorizing and seeks to apply socio-political theories in the classroom to the real, empirical world through her research and writing.