Political scientist, China and Asia specialist at the University of Toronto, who researches authoritarianism, contention and development.

Author. Teacher. Public Intellectual.

Welcome! I am Distinguished Professor of Chinese Politics at the University of Toronto. I am the Director of the China Governance Lab at the Munk School. I have appointments at the Department of Political Science and the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. I am a nonresident Senior Fellow at the Asia Society’s Center for China Analysis, and the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.

I am the author of Outsourcing Repression: Everyday State Power in Contemporary China (Oxford University Press, 2022), The Street and the Ballot Box: Interactions Between Social Movements and Electoral Politics in Authoritarian Contexts (Cambridge University Press, Elements Series in Contentious Politics, 2022), and Prosper or Perish: Credit and Fiscal Systems in Rural China (Cornell University Press, 2012).

Outsourcing Repression has received accolades from the American Political Science Association, the American Sociological Association, the International Studies Association, and the Canadian Political Science Association, including the prestigious ASA’s Distinguished Contribution to Political Sociology, the CPSA Prize in Comparative Politics, and Honorable Mention of APSA’s Gregory Luebbert Award in Comparative Politics. I am also a recipient of the UofT Faculty of Arts & Science Dean’s Research Excellence Award.

My academic publications have appeared in Perspectives on Politics, Journal of Comparative Politics, Journal of Democracy, Foreign Affairs, China Quarterly, China Journal, among others.

My research has been covered in The Economist, New York Times, New Yorker, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Globe & Mail, etc.

At the China Governance Lab, I lead teams of talented student researchers involved in various projects related to Social Unrest in China, Canada-China relations, etc. Get in touch if you are interested in learning more!

My research interests lie at the intersection of authoritarianism, contentious politics, and political economy of development. While I am primarily an expert on China, I have also published on Southeast Asia and India. I received my PhD from the Australian National University. I have held An Wang Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard University’s Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, as well as visiting fellowship at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Columbia University’s Weatherhead East Asian Institute and numerous prestigious universities across Asia.

I have been invited to deliver expert testimonies before the US Congress’ US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, and Canada’s House of Commons Special Committee on Canada-China Relations on numerous occasions. My opinion pieces have appeared in Foreign Affairs, The Economist, Foreign Policy, Washington Post MonkeyCage Blog, LA Times, South China Morning Post, Nikkei Asia, Globe and Mail, etc.

I have held various administrative positions including Director of Munk School China Initiative, Acting Director of the Contemporary Asian Studies Program (2012-14), and Director of East Asia Seminar Series (2012-2015; 2017-2020) at the Asian Institute.

I am a native speaker of Mandarin Chinese. Prior to entering academia, I worked as a state economic planner and private consultant in corporate Singapore. My earlier work experience has enriched my academic perspectives.

Check out the student-led Social Unrest in China dataset project and the China Governance Lab which I direct.

Get in touch if you’d like to be involved.

Email: Lynette (dot) Ong (at) utoronto (dot) ca.

Recent Writings and Appearance

  • Fleeing Xi's 'China Dream': The great exodus of people and capital.

    Opinion, Nikkei Asia

    October 2, 2024. Economic decline and squeezed politics are pushing many to vote with their feet. When Xi Jinping assumed the Communist Party leadership 11 years ago, he sold to his people the "China Dream" -- a vision that portrayed the country as soon-to-be the world's greatest power, reclaiming its rightful place in history. Much has since changed -- notably the COVID pandemic and rising tensions with the U.S. On-the-ground evidence now suggests an increasing number of Chinese people no longer buy into his vision. The social discourse known as runxue -- which literally means "to run away" -- is in vogue. Since the end of zero-COVID in late 2022, the number of Chinese, across different social strata, leaving the country has climbed rapidly. So has the amount of private capital exiting through legal and illegal means.

  • Asia Society Event: Taking the Pulse of Post-Covid Chinese Economy and Society

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MapQx_MP4_U

    September 13, 2024. An in-person discussion hosted by the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis (CCA) in New York. Speakers include Lynette Ong, CCA Senior Fellow and Distinguished Professor of Chinese Politics at the University of Toronto; Scott Kennedy, Senior Adviser and Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; and Qin Gao, Professor of Social Policy and Social Work and the Founding Director of Columbia University’s China Center for Social Policy. Gady Epstein, Senior Editor at the Economist moderated the discussion.

  • Asia Society's Policy Brief: China's Property Crisis and Rural Banks

    The Weakest Link in China’s Debt-Fueled Growth Model

    Chinese Indebted Rural Banks Carry Social Consequences beyond Their Size

    August 21, 2024

  • Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly’s Trip to China: Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada's Expert Reactions

    Lynette H. Ong: Not Out of the Woods Just Yet

    July 24, 2024

  • Chinese Foreign Interference in Canada, and What We Should Do About It

    Podcast Interview with the Hill Times' Hot Room, hosted by Peter Mazereeuw.

    May 24, 2024.