Bio

Linda Jakobson has been a student of Chinese politics and the foreign and security policy of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for the past 35 years. She is internationally known for her publications about China’s foreign policy. Her China-related career includes posts as a teacher (at the Shandong Institute of Economics in China), a lecturer (at Hong Kong City University), a foreign correspondent (in Beijing), a visiting professor (at Sydney University), and senior researcher and program director (at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), and the Lowy Institute for International Policy). She has served as a policy advisor on China-related issues to the president, prime minister, or foreign minister in seven countries. In 2017 Jakobson was invited to join the inaugural advisory board of the Diplomatic Academy of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Before moving to Sydney in 2011 Jakobson lived and worked in the PRC for 22 years. A Mandarin speaker, she is the author, co-author or co-editor of seven books about Chinese and East Asian politics and society as well as the author of over 100 other publications about Chinese politics and society, China’s foreign and security policy, the Taiwan Straits, China’s science and technology, and China’s Arctic aspirations. Two of her books and one report have received awards. In 2017 she co-authored China Matters. Getting It Right For Australia (BlackInc/Trobe University Press) with Dr Bates Gill. Her current research focuses on Australia-China ties and the PRC’s foreign and security policy.

Jakobson is the founding director and deputy chair of the not-for-profit China Matters, a independent Australian policy institute. China Matters aims to advance sound China policy and stimulate a nuanced and informed public discourse about the PRC’s rise and its implications for Australia.

Jakobson is Finnish. She and her husband, Chris Lanzit, also a Mandarin speaker, live in Pyrmont, New South Wales. They are permanent residents of Australia.

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I head China Matters, a not-for-profit independent Australian policy institute. China Matters aims to advance sound China policy and inject realism into the public discourse about the rise of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and its implications for Australia. I also serve as deputy chair of the board of directors.

My articles about the PRC’s foreign and security policy are internationally recognised and used by academics in several countries as reading in course work about the PRC. Many of these articles focus on foreign policy decision-making in the PRC, the PRC’s maritime ambitions and the PRC’s interest in the Arctic. I am also the author of two award-winning books and one report about the PRC.

I lived and worked in China for 22 years before accepting an invitation in 2011 to serve as Program Director (East Asia) at the Lowy Institute for International Policy. Upon moving to Sydney, Australia-China relations became a research focus.
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