CCS Faculty
Professor, Asian Studies
Moore 416: 956-2681
Fax: 956-2682
Email: harwit@hawaii.edu

BA 1984, Cornell University
MA 1985, University of California, Berkeley
PhD 1992, University of California, Berkeley

Professor Harwit’s recent work has focused on the politics of industrial development in China. His most recent book, “China’s Telecommunications Revolution” (Oxford, 2008) examines telecommunications and Internet development in the PRC. The book assesses the political and social impact of China’s data network, as well as the spread of mobile and fixed-line telecommunications to both urban and rural parts of the country. His teaching includes courses on comparative Asian development, China’s economic advance, and the spread of communications technologies in the East Asian region.

China-Related Courses

• Asan 201 Introduction to East Asia
• ASAN 485 Economic Development in China
• ASAN 608 Development and Modernization in China
• Asan 625 Asia and the Modern World State
• ASAN 658 Telecom and the Internet in East Asia
• MGT 670B Chinese Management Systems

Publications

• “China’s 5G Mobile Technology in Asia: US Security Concerns and Regional Economic Priorities,” Asia Pacific Issues, No. 159, May, 2023, pp. 1-8, online at https://www.eastwestcenter.org/sites/default/files/2023-05/EWC%20API-N159.pdf
• China’s Globalizing Internet: History, Power, and Governance, co-edited with Yu Hong, Routledge, 2022
• “Tesla Goes to China” Asia Pacific Issues, No. 152, April, 2022, pp. 1-8, online at https://www.eastwestcenter.org/system/tdf/private/apb152harwit.pdf?file=1&type=node&id=42386
• “China’s Space Exploration and China-U.S. Scientific Cooperation” China-US Focus, October 2, 2021, online at https://www.chinausfocus.com/peace-security/chinas-space-exploration-and-china-us-scientific-cooperation

• “Tesla’s Path Forward in China,” China-US Focus, June 21, 2021, online at https://www.chinausfocus.com/finance-economy/teslas-path-forward-in-china

• “Prospects for TikTok and WeChat in the U.S. 2021 and Beyond” China-US Focus, March 3, 2021, online at https://www.chinausfocus.com/finance-economy/prospects-for-tiktok-and-wechat-in-the-us-2021-and-beyond

• “China’s Globalizing Internet: History, Power, and Governance,” Chinese Journal of Communication (Vol. 13, no. 1, January 2020), pp. 1-7 (co-authored with Yu Hong)

• China’s Globalizing Internet: Origins, Trajectories, and Ramifications (co-edited special issue of the journal with Yu Hong); Chinese Journal of Communication, Vol. 13, no. 1, January 2020

• “China’s Video App TikTok: A Challenge to the U.S.?” China-US Focus, November 15, 2019, online at https://www.chinausfocus.com/finance-economy/chinas-video-app-tiktok-a-challenge-to-the-us

• “China’s 5G Progress and Implications for a Global Telecommunication Divide,” China-US Focus, March 22, 2019, on-line at https://www.chinausfocus.com/finance-economy/chinas-5g-progress-and-implications-for-a-global-telecommunication-divide

• “Warming Japan-China Ties: Implications for American Cars” China-US Focus, November 7, 2018, on-line at https://www.chinausfocus.com/finance-economy/warming-japan-china-ties-implications-for-american-cars 

• “Is 5G Wireless Technology the Next Field for Chinese Dominance?” China-US Focus, April 4, 2018, on-line at https://www.chinausfocus.com/finance-economy/is-5g-wireless-technology-the-next-field-for-chinese-dominance

• “Issues of US-Chinese Economic Relations in 2017,” Journal of Chinese Economy and Management Studies, vol 2, no. 1, March 2018, pp. 2-8 

• “Tesla’s China Venture – Will the Company Set a Precedent in Shanghai?” China-US Focus, November 9, 2017, on-line at https://www.chinausfocus.com/finance-economy/teslas-china-venture–will-the-company-set-a-precedent-in-shanghai

• “WeChat: Social and Political Development of China’s Dominant Messaging App,” Chinese Journal of Communication, vol. 10, no. 3, September, 2017, pp. 312-327, and online at  https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17544750.2016.1213757 

• “Ford and Tesla’s Challenge to Trump in China,” China-US Focus, July 19, 2017, on-line athttps://www.chinausfocus.com/finance-economy/ford-and-teslas-china-plans-a-challenge-to-president-trump 

• “ZTE’s Penalty: Repercussions of an American-Imposed Fine,” China-US Focus, May 24, 2017, on-line athttps://www.chinausfocus.com/finance-economy/ztes-penalty-repercussio

• “Blessing China’s Takeover of Syngenta,” editorial in China-US Focus, August 31, 2016, on-line at http://www.chinausfocus.com/finance-economy/blessing-chinas-takeover-of-syngenta-is-the-us-taking-a-moderate-tack-at-the-expense-of-food-safety/

• “Sanctioning ZTE and Huawei: Chinese Telecom Giants’ Conflict with the U.S.,” editorial in China-US Focus, June 30, 2016, on-line at http://www.chinausfocus.com/finance-economy/sanctioning-zte-and-huawei-chinese-telecom-giants-conflicts-with-the-u-s/

• “The Internet in China: How the Network is Shaping the PRC’s Economic and Social Landscape,” The World Financial Review, January-February 2016, pp. 64-67.

• “The Rise and Influence of Weibo (Microblogs) in China,” Asian Survey, November/December 2014, pp. 1059-1087.

• “Chinese and Japanese Investment in Southeast and South Asia: Case Studies of the Automobile and Electronics Industries,” Pacific Review, September, 2013, pp. 361-383.

• “Comparative Development of the Mobile Internet in China and Japan,” in Chu, Rodney, et. al., ed., Mobile Communication and Greater China, Routledge, New York, 2012, pp. 80-95.

• “Telecommunications and the Internet in China,” in Asia-Pacific Yearbook (Centre for International Information and Documentation: Barcelona, Spain) (2009).

• “Automobile Industry,” entry in Encyclopedia of Modern China (Charles Scribner’s Sons: Detroit), 2009, pp. 121-123.

• “Japan’s Economic Ties with China: A Focus on Industrial Investment and Technology Transfer Policies,” Japanese Journal of Administrative Science, vol. 21, no. 2, 2008, pp. 153-160.

• “Chinese Overseas Investment: Cases in the Automobile and Telecommunications Sectors,” in Takahashi, Goro, ed., Kaigai-shinshutsu suru chugoku- keizai [The overseas advance of the Chinese economy]. Tokyo: Nippon Hyoronsha, 2008, pp. 184-98.

• China’s Telecommunications Revolution (Oxford University Press, 2008). ◊ Japanese translation (NTT Publishing, Inc., 2011).

• “Building China’s Telecommunications Network: Industrial Policy and the Role of Chinese State-owned, Foreign and Private Domestic Enterprises,” China Quarterly, June, 2007, pp. 311-332.

• “Government Policy and Political Control over China’s Internet,” in Jens Damm and Simona Thomas, ed., Chinese Cyberspaces, Routledge, New York, 2006, pp. 12-41. (co-written with Duncan Clark).

• “Telecommunications and the Internet in Shanghai: Political and Economic Factors Shaping the Network in a Chinese City,” Urban Studies, September, 2005, pp. 1837-1858.

• “Spreading Telecommunications to Developing Areas in China: Telephones, the Internet and the Digital Divide,” China Quarterly, December, 2004, pp. 1010-1030.

• “The Automobile Industry in China after WTO Entry,” Harvard China Review, Spring, 2004, pp. 107-111.

• “High Technology Business Incubators in China: Keys to Fueling New Entrepreneurship?” China Business Review, July-August 2002, pp. 26-29.

• “Shaping the Internet in China: Evolution of Political Control over Network Infrastructure and Content,”Asian Survey, May-June, 2001 (co-written with Duncan Clark).

• “The Impact of WTO Membership on China’s Automobile Industry,” China Quarterly, Fall, 2001.

• “Chinese Millionaires: Three Case Studies,” China Business Review, January-February 2001, pp. 20-21, 27.

• “Taiwan’s Foreign Economic Relations with Developing Nations: A Case Study of the Republic of China’s Ties with Palau,” Journal of the Contemporary Pacific, Fall, 2000, pp. 465-479.

• “China’s Telecommunications Industry.” Pacific Affairs (Summer 1998): 175–193.

• “Japanese Investment in China.” Asian Survey 10 (October 1996): 978-994.

• China’s Automobile Industry: Policies, Problems, and Prospects, M.E. Sharpe, Armonk, NY, 1995, 208 pages.