RAND Experts Available to Discuss Historic Protests and Zero-COVID Policy in China

November 29, 2022

RAND experts are available to discuss protests that have erupted across China following a November 25 fire in western Urumqi that killed 10 people who were under zero-Covid lockdown and allegedly unable to escape their building. Separate protests also occurred at FoxConn's flagship iPhone factory in China.

RAND policy researcher Amanda Kerrigan said: “It's unclear if these protests have the potential to spark political reform. If they persist, key factors to watch for in the coming days are the degree of protestors' coordination and cohesion in their activities and demands on the Chinese Communist Party; the strength and effectiveness of the police response and whether there will be a need for military involvement; and any disagreement among China's leaders about how to respond. All of these factors affected the trajectory of the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement of 1989.”

Kerrigan is one of several RAND China experts available to discuss the unrest.

To arrange an interview, please contact media@rand.org

• Amanda Kerrigan, policy researcher, was a Fulbright fellow in China from 2015 to 2016, studying protest and violence in China's healthcare system. She recently joined RAND from the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA). She is fluent in Chinese and lived in both mainland China and Taiwan.
• Jennifer Bouey, senior policy researcher, epidemiologist, and Tang Chair for China Policy Studies, leads collaborative research initiatives on the U.S.-China relationship. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bouey testified several times before U.S. Congressional committees on China's public health, global health, and health care reforms. She is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
• Derek Grossman, senior defense analyst, is an expert on U.S.-China competition throughout the Indo-Pacific region and U.S. national security policy.
• Kristen Gunness, senior policy researcher, has expertise in the Chinese military, security, and foreign policy issues in the Indo-Pacific region. Her recent work has focused on deterrence and managing escalation in the Indo-Pacific. She is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
• Timothy Heath, senior international/defense researcher, offers extensive analysis of China's national strategy, politics, ideology, and military, as well as Asian regional security developments. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
• Raymond Kuo, political scientist, is an expert on Asian security, China-Taiwan relations, and U.S. national security policy. He is an author of books on Chinese maritime coercion, military alliances, and international order. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and worked in Taiwan.
• Barry Pavel, vice president of the RAND National Security Research Division, is an expert on U.S. defense strategy, capabilities, and alliances.
• Howard Shatz, senior economist, is an expert on global economics, the Chinese economic slowdown, supply chain, and advanced chip issues.
• Howard Wang, associate political scientist, has expertise on Chinese elite political decisionmaking, People's Liberation Army capabilities, and U.S.-China military competition in the Indo-Pacific region. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.