Kevin Wei Luo
@kevinweiluo.bsky.social
assistant professor of political science, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. China / Taiwan / Asia, politics of state building. usual caveats. 中英俱劣. https://www.kevinweiluo.com/
I've been sitting with this sad news the whole day. Many of Joe's students have written very touching stories about his life and mentorship, including my friend Clyde here. He is, to me, one of the scholars who took "China as method" seriously. As they say, will never find another like him. 1/5
My dearest mentor, Professor Joseph Fewsmith, unfortunately passed away this week. I wrote this little tribute with great pain. But no writing is enough to express my love and gratitude for Joe.
November 8, 2025 at 4:54 AM
I've been sitting with this sad news the whole day. Many of Joe's students have written very touching stories about his life and mentorship, including my friend Clyde here. He is, to me, one of the scholars who took "China as method" seriously. As they say, will never find another like him. 1/5
Reposted by Kevin Wei Luo
My dearest mentor, Professor Joseph Fewsmith, unfortunately passed away this week. I wrote this little tribute with great pain. But no writing is enough to express my love and gratitude for Joe.
November 7, 2025 at 11:02 PM
My dearest mentor, Professor Joseph Fewsmith, unfortunately passed away this week. I wrote this little tribute with great pain. But no writing is enough to express my love and gratitude for Joe.
Cool paper: "An analysis of publicly available data of 2,200 experts on Chinese politics worldwide, compiled through a bottom-up snowballing nomination process, reveals that this China Watcher community is globally connected and diverse but also continues to be dominated by male US-based academics."
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Great to see the first paper from this side project out in PS. I’m grateful to have had the chance to work with Franziska and Jos.
Great to see the first paper from this side project out in PS. I’m grateful to have had the chance to work with Franziska and Jos.
China Watchers | PS: Political Science & Politics | Cambridge Core
China Watchers
www.cambridge.org
November 7, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Cool paper: "An analysis of publicly available data of 2,200 experts on Chinese politics worldwide, compiled through a bottom-up snowballing nomination process, reveals that this China Watcher community is globally connected and diverse but also continues to be dominated by male US-based academics."
finally official
November 5, 2025 at 3:42 AM
finally official
this is what it feels like to be a maple leafs fan
November 2, 2025 at 4:18 AM
this is what it feels like to be a maple leafs fan
Spooky things are happening at uchicago (also I want that DOGE university shirt)
www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
Colleges Face a Financial Reckoning. The University of Chicago Is Exhibit A.
The university ran budget deficits for 14 years straight, spending big to raise its profile and enrollment. The plan worked, but now the bill’s come due and cuts are under way.
www.wsj.com
October 31, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Spooky things are happening at uchicago (also I want that DOGE university shirt)
www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
Reposted by Kevin Wei Luo
Being Pope means just receiving baseball jerseys all day long of teams he hates
October 30, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Being Pope means just receiving baseball jerseys all day long of teams he hates
Reposted by Kevin Wei Luo
Sarkozy is going to jail but he’s not the first one. In our new dataset we track modern leaders who have been prosecuted by their own states. There are 215 of them. Turns out leader prosecution is a common & healthy practice in democracies. Full access link: foreignpolicy.com/2025/10/28/d...
Prosecuting the Powerful
Historical data shows putting leaders on trial is a healthy democratic practice.
foreignpolicy.com
October 28, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Sarkozy is going to jail but he’s not the first one. In our new dataset we track modern leaders who have been prosecuted by their own states. There are 215 of them. Turns out leader prosecution is a common & healthy practice in democracies. Full access link: foreignpolicy.com/2025/10/28/d...
Tried to grade some midterms but got distracted because THE JAYS ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES
October 21, 2025 at 3:09 AM
Tried to grade some midterms but got distracted because THE JAYS ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES
Reposted by Kevin Wei Luo
One casualty in the Trump administration’s war on higher education is federal funding for area studies. This harms students, scholars, and U.S. national security.
It also comes at a time in which political science and area studies are more compatible than ever before. Read on for new research!
1/
It also comes at a time in which political science and area studies are more compatible than ever before. Read on for new research!
1/
Comparative Politics Needs Area Studies, and Area Studies Needs Comparative Politics
If you were a graduate student in political science between 1990 and 2010 or so, you probably experienced some heated debates about the future of area studies and its role in the discipline. This w…
tompepinsky.com
October 15, 2025 at 5:49 PM
One casualty in the Trump administration’s war on higher education is federal funding for area studies. This harms students, scholars, and U.S. national security.
It also comes at a time in which political science and area studies are more compatible than ever before. Read on for new research!
1/
It also comes at a time in which political science and area studies are more compatible than ever before. Read on for new research!
1/
Reposted by Kevin Wei Luo
This was a lot of fun! Thanks so much, @warontherocks.bsky.social!
Look past the weapons and exercises — Taiwan’s future security depends on something deeper.
Listen here: warontherocks.com/ep...
Listen here: warontherocks.com/ep...
September 19, 2025 at 1:22 AM
This was a lot of fun! Thanks so much, @warontherocks.bsky.social!
Second leg of APSA2025. Presenting joint work on geopolitics and democratization in Taiwan Saturday 2pm, and then book roundtable Sunday 10am for @lnachman32.bsky.social and his new book “Contested Taiwan: Sovereignty, Social Movements, and Party Formation.” Hope to see you there!
September 13, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Second leg of APSA2025. Presenting joint work on geopolitics and democratization in Taiwan Saturday 2pm, and then book roundtable Sunday 10am for @lnachman32.bsky.social and his new book “Contested Taiwan: Sovereignty, Social Movements, and Party Formation.” Hope to see you there!
interesting retrospection on cross-strait relations lately. from Lin Chong-pin, ex deputy defense minister of the ROC: The Tsai admin's proposal to re-initiate cross strait talks early in her presidency was quasi rebuffed by Beijing, due to a combo of interpersonal relations behind the scenes. 1/6
July 15, 2025 at 9:46 AM
interesting retrospection on cross-strait relations lately. from Lin Chong-pin, ex deputy defense minister of the ROC: The Tsai admin's proposal to re-initiate cross strait talks early in her presidency was quasi rebuffed by Beijing, due to a combo of interpersonal relations behind the scenes. 1/6
Reposted by Kevin Wei Luo
Reposted by Kevin Wei Luo
A great service to anyone who will want to work with this data down the road. A big thank-you to whoever did this.
Backup data for the China Labour Bulletin（中国劳工通讯）.
Go to “Files” and you will find downloadable datasets and the data description.
osf.io/ajw37/?view_...
China Labour Bulletin just dissolved on 12th June 2025. It’s an NGO based in Hong Kong.
#CLB #中国劳工通讯
Go to “Files” and you will find downloadable datasets and the data description.
osf.io/ajw37/?view_...
China Labour Bulletin just dissolved on 12th June 2025. It’s an NGO based in Hong Kong.
#CLB #中国劳工通讯
Labour Exploitation study: Data and Report Backup for China Labour Bulletin
On the 12th June of 2025, an NGO in Hong Kong stopped its operation. This organization focuses on the labor rights in China. This project aims to preserve its data and reports, for my further study.
...
osf.io
June 16, 2025 at 8:03 AM
A great service to anyone who will want to work with this data down the road. A big thank-you to whoever did this.
Doing the lord’s work. Back on the syllabus next semester!
We are pleased to announce the relaunch of our China Dissent Monitor!
Though we are excited, the project's funding remains limited—we urgently need more support to sustain our team's efforts to track public protest under the CCP regime.
Here's how you can help: freedomhouse.org/ways-to-give
Though we are excited, the project's funding remains limited—we urgently need more support to sustain our team's efforts to track public protest under the CCP regime.
Here's how you can help: freedomhouse.org/ways-to-give
June 12, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Doing the lord’s work. Back on the syllabus next semester!
a meticulous revisiting of Yuhua Wang's 2022 APSR piece by @linsantu.bsky.social on Song dynasty kinship networks and state building. Bookmarked.
Is Blood Thicker Than Water(-and-Earth)?: Partisanship Geography in Imperial China and the Limits of Quantitative History
Using Wang Anshi's Reform as a case study, Yuhua Wang's "Blood is Thicker Than Water" (American Political Science Review, 2022) argues that geographic
papers.ssrn.com
June 9, 2025 at 7:07 PM
a meticulous revisiting of Yuhua Wang's 2022 APSR piece by @linsantu.bsky.social on Song dynasty kinship networks and state building. Bookmarked.
May 8, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Reposted by Kevin Wei Luo
consider, they picked whichever Pope would piss off Vance the most
May 8, 2025 at 5:24 PM
consider, they picked whichever Pope would piss off Vance the most
Reposted by Kevin Wei Luo
NOVA KNICKS
BRUNSON, BRIDGES, HART, POPE LEO XIV
BRUNSON, BRIDGES, HART, POPE LEO XIV
May 8, 2025 at 5:19 PM
NOVA KNICKS
BRUNSON, BRIDGES, HART, POPE LEO XIV
BRUNSON, BRIDGES, HART, POPE LEO XIV
surprisingly smooth democratic transition at the Vatican
Crowds in St. Peter’s Square cheered as white smoke rose from a chimney atop the Sistine Chapel, signaling the papal conclave had chosen a new pope on Thursday. wapo.st/4jT3d1i
May 8, 2025 at 4:41 PM
surprisingly smooth democratic transition at the Vatican
quote: "It’s rare that in retrospect US foreign policy failures turn out to be the result of listening too carefully to area specialists. Avoiding rule by experts doesn’t imply destroying all expertise, nor does pursuing efficiency require gutting valuable institutions for a pittance of savings."
Some thoughts on DOGE/the Trump administration's destruction of USIP, the Wilson Center, and home-grown social science/area studies expertise about the rest of the world:
paulstaniland.com/2025/04/16/u...
paulstaniland.com/2025/04/16/u...
USIP, the Wilson Center, and the Politics of Wrecking
I recently received this email from Nate Cavanaugh, listed as the “Acting Chairman and President” of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP): It cancelled a contract for a special r…
paulstaniland.com
April 16, 2025 at 10:48 PM
quote: "It’s rare that in retrospect US foreign policy failures turn out to be the result of listening too carefully to area specialists. Avoiding rule by experts doesn’t imply destroying all expertise, nor does pursuing efficiency require gutting valuable institutions for a pittance of savings."
Reposted by Kevin Wei Luo
It's the 10 year anniversary of this post about another leader trying to talk with was out of and into a stock market crisis.
goodauthority.org/news/the-pol...
goodauthority.org/news/the-pol...
April 9, 2025 at 1:52 PM
It's the 10 year anniversary of this post about another leader trying to talk with was out of and into a stock market crisis.
goodauthority.org/news/the-pol...
goodauthority.org/news/the-pol...
Reposted by Kevin Wei Luo
I have never watched "The White Lotus" but I'm glad American TV is finally paying attention to this anti-Qing Buddhist revolutionary movement.
April 8, 2025 at 1:21 AM
I have never watched "The White Lotus" but I'm glad American TV is finally paying attention to this anti-Qing Buddhist revolutionary movement.
Reposted by Kevin Wei Luo
Gave a talk to our PhD students today, and feeling appreciative of all the recent methods work on improving common practices. Thanks to all the authors who work to make their work accessible, especially on social media.
A few articles we discussed:
A few articles we discussed:
April 7, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Gave a talk to our PhD students today, and feeling appreciative of all the recent methods work on improving common practices. Thanks to all the authors who work to make their work accessible, especially on social media.
A few articles we discussed:
A few articles we discussed: