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William Hurst

@wjhurst.bsky.social
2.3K followers 1.6K following 803 posts

Chong Hua Professor of Chinese Development University of Cambridge, Faculty of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies Co-Director, Centre for Geopolitics Senior Associate Fellow, Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) @rusi.bsky.social

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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
globecollegetown.substack.com/p/higher-ed-...
globecollegetown.substack.com
College campuses need to be liberated from their administrators
Higher ed is being strangled by absurd and costly rules. What message is that sending to students?
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Reposted by William Hurst
William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/news/four-ki...
cfg.cam.ac.uk
Four Kinds of Empty: Rethinking China’s Ghost Cities and their Implications - Centre for Geopolitics
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Reposted by William Hurst
William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Two patterns of #governance in rural #China: A) relying on civic mediators like old people's associations; B) relying on coercive enforcers like gangsters and crime syndicates; Pattern A in Fujian, Pattern B in many other places. Massive survey & 100+ qual interviews 1/2
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/news/2027-in...
cfg.cam.ac.uk
2027 Indo-Pacific Roundtable – Call for participation – Deadline 1st December - Centre for Geopolitics
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/news/2027-in...
cfg.cam.ac.uk
2027 Indo-Pacific Roundtable – Call for participation – Deadline 1st December - Centre for Geopolitics
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The past four and a half months have further validated everything in this speech: youtu.be/t6VZZ-nHef0?...
youtu.be
IPR26 Keynote - Maelstrom without a Map: Multi-Polarity, De-globalisation, and Disruptive Technology
YouTube video by Centre for Geopolitics
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Apply today: www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/news/2027-in...
cfg.cam.ac.uk
2027 Indo-Pacific Roundtable – Call for participation – Deadline 1st December - Centre for Geopolitics
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/news/2027-in...
cfg.cam.ac.uk
2027 Indo-Pacific Roundtable – Call for participation – Deadline 1st December - Centre for Geopolitics
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/news/four-ki...
cfg.cam.ac.uk
Four Kinds of Empty: Rethinking China’s Ghost Cities and their Implications - Centre for Geopolitics
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
www.cvc.cam.ac.uk/events/tradi...
cvc.cam.ac.uk
Trading Beauty: From Europe to China, from Canton to the World — Qing Dynasty Canton Enamels - CVC
A Cambridge Visual Culture event Monday 19 October 2026, 3.30pm Pembroke College Auditorium, Cambridge Trading Beauty: From Europe to China, from Canton to the World — Qing Dynasty Canton Enamels Dr J...
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Reposted by William Hurst
garjives.bsky.social @garjives.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
This could be interesting 🧐
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Reposted by William Hurst
Maura Elizabeth Cunningham @mauracunningham.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
New post by @wjhurst.bsky.social, in which he further develops previous work (written with Christian Sorace in 2016) to dig into the term "ghost cities" and consider their various permutations in the Chinese context.
cfg.cam.ac.uk
Four Kinds of Empty: Rethinking China’s Ghost Cities and their Implications - Centre for Geopolitics
Analysis Wednesday 23rd September, 2026
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Reposted by William Hurst
Reuters @reuters.com · 28/09/2026
Taiwan pushes back after Xi seeks to win over Trump on World War Two narrative reut.rs/4ynf4f8
reut.rs
Taiwan pushes back after Xi seeks to win over Trump on World War Two narrative
Taiwan is pushing back against what it sees as Beijing's efforts to ​rewrite the history of World War Two after Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump highlighted the ‌wartime alliance between their countries at a summit last week.
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Reposted by William Hurst
Reuters @reuters.com · 28/09/2026
Wife of Malaysia's longest-serving PM Mahathir dies at 100 reut.rs/4y8sbQB
reut.rs
Wife of Malaysia's longest-serving PM Mahathir dies at 100
Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, the wife of Malaysia's longest-serving Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, died on Monday, the veteran leader's office ​said.
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/news/four-ki...
cfg.cam.ac.uk
Four Kinds of Empty: Rethinking China’s Ghost Cities and their Implications - Centre for Geopolitics
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Differentiated Desolation in #China's ghost cities: www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/news/four-ki...
cfg.cam.ac.uk
Four Kinds of Empty: Rethinking China’s Ghost Cities and their Implications - Centre for Geopolitics
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Reposted by William Hurst
William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Coming before too long: global.oup.com/academic/pro...
global.oup.com
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Reposted by William Hurst
Michael Pettis @michaelpettis.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Cambridge's William Hurst argues that not all empty urban projects in China are the same, and that the differences among them imply a different distribution of political and economic costs.
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
www.insidehighered.com/views/2016/0...
insidehighered.com
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
news.northwestern.edu/stories/2016...
news.northwestern.edu
End the Extracurricular Arms Race
Students are so busy that they're being robbed of their education
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/news/four-ki...
cfg.cam.ac.uk
Four Kinds of Empty: Rethinking China’s Ghost Cities and their Implications - Centre for Geopolitics
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/news/four-ki...
cfg.cam.ac.uk
Four Kinds of Empty: Rethinking China’s Ghost Cities and their Implications - Centre for Geopolitics
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Internal economic weakness, debt, & inefficient investment limit #China’s foreign policy leverage, but not always in the same ways. But even “ghost cities” are not all the same: brownfield boondoggles are different from formalist facades: www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/news/four-ki... #trump #summit
cfg.cam.ac.uk
Four Kinds of Empty: Rethinking China’s Ghost Cities and their Implications - Centre for Geopolitics
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/news/four-ki...
cfg.cam.ac.uk
Four Kinds of Empty: Rethinking China’s Ghost Cities and their Implications - Centre for Geopolitics
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Four kinds of empty: thinking about different categories of ghost cities in #China: www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/news/four-ki...
cfg.cam.ac.uk
Four Kinds of Empty: Rethinking China’s Ghost Cities and their Implications - Centre for Geopolitics
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/news/four-ki...
cfg.cam.ac.uk
Four Kinds of Empty: Rethinking China’s Ghost Cities and their Implications - Centre for Geopolitics
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/news/four-ki...
cfg.cam.ac.uk
Four Kinds of Empty: Rethinking China’s Ghost Cities and their Implications - Centre for Geopolitics
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/news/four-ki...
cfg.cam.ac.uk
Four Kinds of Empty: Rethinking China’s Ghost Cities and their Implications - Centre for Geopolitics
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/news/four-ki...
cfg.cam.ac.uk
Four Kinds of Empty: Rethinking China’s Ghost Cities and their Implications - Centre for Geopolitics
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Time to think again about ghost cities in China: www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/news/four-ki...
cfg.cam.ac.uk
Four Kinds of Empty: Rethinking China’s Ghost Cities and their Implications - Centre for Geopolitics
Analysis Wednesday 23rd September, 2026
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/news/four-ki...
cfg.cam.ac.uk
Four Kinds of Empty: Rethinking China’s Ghost Cities and their Implications - Centre for Geopolitics
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/news/four-ki...
cfg.cam.ac.uk
Four Kinds of Empty: Rethinking China’s Ghost Cities and their Implications - Centre for Geopolitics
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/news/four-ki...
cfg.cam.ac.uk
Four Kinds of Empty: Rethinking China’s Ghost Cities and their Implications - Centre for Geopolitics
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/news/four-ki...
cfg.cam.ac.uk
Four Kinds of Empty: Rethinking China’s Ghost Cities and their Implications - Centre for Geopolitics
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Some new thoughts about ghost cities in China: www.cfg.cam.ac.uk/news/four-ki...
cfg.cam.ac.uk
Four Kinds of Empty: Rethinking China’s Ghost Cities and their Implications - Centre for Geopolitics
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Coming before too long: global.oup.com/academic/pro...
global.oup.com
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Reposted by William Hurst
The Diplomat @thediplomat.com · 17/09/2026
AUKUS Pillar II’s progress has proven difficult to judge – not due to a lack of activity, but because there’s no agreed metric for what success should look like. buff.ly/Ni8uWun
buff.ly
What Has AUKUS Pillar II Achieved Over 5 Years?
Pillar II’s progress has proven difficult to judge – not due to a lack of activity, but because there’s no agreed metric for what success should look like.
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
2014 article on how social control is contracted out to social groups (including old people’s associations and crime syndicates) in rural China: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
Reassessing Collective Petitioning in Rural China: Civic Engagement, Extra-State Violence, and Regional Variation
Based on our analysis of a survey of over 100 villages across six provinces, in which we collected both quantitative data and in-depth interview responses, we a
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
First article (2014) to explain local Chinese governments’ reliance on gangsters and/or old people’s associations to keep the peace and make social control possible: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
Reassessing Collective Petitioning in Rural China: Civic Engagement, Extra-State Violence, and Regional Variation
Based on our analysis of a survey of over 100 villages across six provinces, in which we collected both quantitative data and in-depth interview responses, we a
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
Reassessing Collective Petitioning in Rural China: Civic Engagement, Extra-State Violence, and Regional Variation
Based on our analysis of a survey of over 100 villages across six provinces, in which we collected both quantitative data and in-depth interview responses, we a
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf… Article in Comparative Politics, July 2014 2/2
papers.ssrn.com
Page Cannot be Found
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Two patterns of #governance in rural #China: A) relying on civic mediators like old people's associations; B) relying on coercive enforcers like gangsters and crime syndicates; Pattern A in Fujian, Pattern B in many other places. Massive survey & 100+ qual interviews 1/2
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
12 years ago: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
Reassessing Collective Petitioning in Rural China: Civic Engagement, Extra-State Violence, and Regional Variation
Based on our analysis of a survey of over 100 villages across six provinces, in which we collected both quantitative data and in-depth interview responses, we a
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
2014 article on governance in rural #China: researchgate.net/profile/Willia…
researchgate.net
25+ million researchers on ResearchGate
Browse through the biggest community of researchers available online on ResearchGate, the professional network for scientists
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
This is important: edition.cnn.com/2026/09/08/u...
edition.cnn.com
NYC Mayor Mamdani releases 9/11 records showing officials misled New Yorkers about air quality around Ground Zero | CNN
New York City has released more than 170,000 pages of previously undisclosed records about air quality following the September 11, 2001, attacks, showing city officials at the time knew conditions aro...
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Clever meme:
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William Hurst @wjhurst.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
madeinchinajournal.com/2017/09/24/t...
madeinchinajournal.com
Treating What Ails the Study of Chinese Politics | Made in China Journal
For almost as long as political science has existed as a discipline, the study of Chinese politics has been afflicted with a chronic disease. Depending on one’s perspective, this malady’s manifestatio...
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