Victoria Tin-bor Hui

Victoria Tin-bor Hui received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University and her B.SSc. in Journalism from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Beyond her academic pursuits, Hui contributed her expertise to the Congressional-Executive Commission on China through a fellowship with the Council on Foreign Relations in 2021-2022.

Hui’s primary research centers on the profound impact of war on the historical evolution of "China." Her award-winning book, War and State Formation in Ancient China and Early Modern Europe (Cambridge University Press, 2005), challenges conventional perspectives by asserting that fundamental citizenship rights emerged in China long before they did in Europe. Her academic contributions include articles such as "Getting Asia Right: De-essentializing China’s Hegemony in Historical Asia" (International Theory) and “Toward a Dynamic Theory of International Politics” (International Organization), and book chapters including “How Tilly’s Warfare Paradigm Is Revolutionizing the Study of Chinese State-Making” (Cambridge), “Cultural Diversity and Coercive Cultural Homogenization in Chinese History” (Cambridge), “Genocide, Extermination and Mass Killing in Chinese History” (Cambridge), “Civilizations, Religions, Peaceful and Violent Change in Asia” (Oxford), among others.

In addition to historical research, Hui is deeply engaged in studying and teaching global struggles for freedom, particularly drawing on her native Hong Kong experience. Her writings on the topic include impactful pieces like "Crackdown: Hong Kong Faces Tiananmen 2.0" (Journal of Democracy), "The Bad Birth and Premature Death of ‘One Country, Two Systems’ in Hong Kong" (Academia Sinica Law Journal), "Hong Kong's New Police State” (The Diplomat), “Beijing’s Hard and Soft Repression in Hong Kong” (Orbis: FPRI’s Journal of World Affairs), “Will China Crush the Protests in Hong Kong? Why Beijing Doesn’t Need to Send in the Troops” (Foreign Affairs), “Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement: The Protest and Beyond” (Journal of Democracy), and more.

During the Umbrella Movement in Fall 2014, Hui created a blog to explain the Hong Kong struggle with regard to theories of the state, contentious politics, constitutionalism, and human rights (https://victoriatbhui.wordpress.com). She has since testified at Congress and has been extensively interviewed by major international media outlets such as the New York Times, the BBC, the Guardian, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and many others.