Willy Wo-Lap Lam

Willy Wo-Lap Lam (born 1952;^[1] Chinese: 林和立; Cantonese Yale: Làhm Wòh-lahp) is a Hong Kong columnist, economist, newspaper editor, political commentator, political scientist, public policy analyst, sinologist, and writer. He is a frequent commentator on many major media networks regarding the current state of Chinese politics. He is currently a Jamestown Foundation fellow and an adjunct professor at the Centre for China Studies, Chinese University of Hong Kong.^[2]

Lam in 2015.

Willy Wo-Lap Lam
Chinese	林和立
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Lín Hélì Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Làhm Wòh-lahp Jyutping lam4 wo4 laap6

Biography

Lam earned a BA from the University of Hong Kong in 1974, an MA from the University of Minnesota in 1978, and subsequently earned a PhD in Political Economy from Wuhan University in 2002.^[3][4]

Lam worked as a columnist for the South China Morning Post until 2000. He was the paper's Beijing correspondent until the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, and was China editor during the 1997 handover of Hong Kong.^[5] In 1995, he was described as the "quintessential China watcher";^[6] CNN called him "one of the most plugged-in observers of Chinese politics in the world" in 1999.^[7] He left the paper in December 2000 complaining of editorial censorship.^[8]

Views

Lam was critical of the late CCP general secretary Jiang Zemin, saying that Jiang had "successfully consolidated his power" but "hasn't used that power to accomplish anything significant".^[7]

Lam has described the direction of Chinese society under CCP general secretary Xi Jinping as "the closing of the Chinese mind".^[9]

Bibliography

• Lam, Willy Wo-Lap (1989). The Era of Zhao Ziyang: Power Struggle in China, 1986–88. Hong Kong: A.B. Books & Stationery. ISBN 9627374016.
• ———— (1995). China After Deng Xiaoping. New York: John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 0471131148.
• ———— (1999). The Era of Jiang Zemin. Singapore: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0130837016.
• ———— (2006). Chinese Politics in the Hu Jintao Era: New Leaders, New Challenges. Armonk and London: M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 0765617730.
• ———— (2015). Chinese Politics in the Era of Xi Jinping: Renaissance, Reform, or Retrogression?. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 978-0765642097.
• ———— (2019). The Fight for China's Future: Civil Society vs. the Chinese Communist Party. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 978-0367188665.

References

1. Date information sourced from Library of Congress Authorities data, via corresponding WorldCat Identities linked authority file (LAF).
2. "Willy Wo-Lap Lam". Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 7 May 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
3. "Willy Lam". Speakers Connect | Asia's Leading Speakers Bureau for Virtual and Live Events. Archived from the original on 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
4. "Willy LAM Wo Lap". www.ccs.cuhk.edu.hk. Archived from the original on 2020-08-30. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
5. "Willy Lam". Geostrategy-Direct. 3 November 2016. Archived from the original on 17 June 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
6. Shambaugh, David (1995). "Review of China After Deng Xiaoping". The China Quarterly. 142 (142): 607–609: 608. doi:10.1017/S0305741000035244. JSTOR 655447. S2CID 155059547.
7. Healy, Tom (1999). "Rise of the nowhere man: Profiling a risk-allergic Jiang presidency". CNN. Archived from the original on 16 March 2015.
8. Pan, Philip P. (1 May 2002). "Hong Kong Paper Fires Critical Journalist". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2 August 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019. Willy Wo-Lap Lam, a columnist known for his insider tales of Communist Party intrigue, complained he was being muzzled and quit in December 2000.
9. Johnson, Ian (1 June 2015). "Q. and A.: Willy Wo-Lap Lam on 'Chinese Politics in the Era of Xi Jinping'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.

External links

• Articles at Jamestown Foundation
• Faculty page at Chinese University of Hong Kong