December 20, 2025
Dear friends of ACPS:
Season’s greetings!
With a tremendous sense of honor and humility, I am writing on behalf of the new Board of Directors elected at our 2025 conference held at King’s College London last month.
I am no stranger to ACPS. Indeed, now I might even be able to count myself as an ACPS old-timer whose first experience attending the ACPS conferences dated all the way back to the fall of 1998. Professor Ming Xia of CUNY, my 师兄 from my years at Temple University and one of my earliest mentors in political science, graciously allowed me to tag along on his drive to the conference at Bethesda, Maryland. It was truly eye-opening and awe-inspiring for me as I watched so many China scholars, most of them hailing originally from mainland China, share their scholarly insights on all aspects of Chinese politics. From that moment, I had secretly wished that one day I could become one of them.
After I started serving as the treasurer of ACPS in 2018, I have also had the opportunity to learn about and to observe first-hand the workings of ACPS. Among all similar professional organizations, ACPS undoubtedly offers the most welcoming academic forum for all scholars interested in the politics of China at every stage of their careers. This, however, has only been made possible through all the dedications and selfless efforts from generations of scholars who have joined the Board of Directors over all these years (many of whom have continued to offer wise advice and guidance, and generous help and support in all sorts of ways even after stepping down from their official duties). While I watched and salute all the hard work of my recent predecessors who have guided ACPS through a most trying period of our time, I am also greatly heartened to announce the arrival of a fresh crop of energetic and productive scholars on the board who have already started taking up all aspects of the work of ACPS. I am utterly grateful to each and every one of you!
As ACPS enters its fourth decade of existence, it is my hope that our organization will remain such a hospitable home for free scholarly exchanges on Chinese politics in the next forty years. The new board and I look forward to working with all of you in the years ahead and to seeing and meeting all friends of ACPS, old and new, at our coming Ruby Anniversary conference currently being planned for 2026.
Thank you and best wishes for a happy and healthy new year!
Warmest regards,
Yumin Sheng
President of Association of Chinese Political Studies (2025-2027)