I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at Emory University, Graduate Research Fellow at the Halle Institute for Global Research, and EPOVB Early-Career Fellow at APSA’s Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior Section.

I study the interplay between public opinion and political communication across autocracies and democracies, with regional foci on East Asia and the United States. My research on autocracies, on the one hand, explores how autocrats manipulate public opinion and generate democratic legitimacy by using media control and political rhetoric. My research on democracies, on the other hand, studies how individuals form their attitudes toward domestic and foreign policies such as social welfare and international cooperation. Bridging autocratic and democratic publics, I research how global citizens understand contested concepts such as democracy and patriotism, and examine how such bottom-up understandings shape domestic politics in turn.

I hold an MPhil in Economic Research from the University of Cambridge, where I was Hughes Hall Scholar and Hong Kong Scholar. I also hold a BEcon in Economics, Politics, and Public Administration from the University of Hong Kong, where I was John Swire Scholar, Undergraduate Research Fellow, and a first-generation-to-college student.

Growing up in Hong Kong’s public housing shaped how I think about social inequality, social justice, and social policy. It also drew me closer to the masses, whose formation of political attitudes is the crux of my research agenda.

My research has been published in Comparative Political Studies, European Union Politics, International Organization, and Political Behavior.