Stephen Noakes is Associate Professor and Major & Specialization Leader in Politics and International Relations at UoA, and 2026-27 John H. McArthur Research Fellow at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. His research has appeared in China Quarterly, Political Science Quarterly, Voluntas, Pacific Affairs, and many other journals and edited collections. Among his books are Democratization: A Thematic Approach (Bloomsbury, 2023), and The Advocacy Trap: Transnational Activism and State Power in China (Manchester University Press, 2017). Stephen has held fellowships at Fudan and Peking Universities, National Taiwan University, and the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs. He is a regular media commentator on China's role in world affairs, and advises the state and non-profit sectors on governance issues in the PRC, both in Aotearoa and internationally. He held a range of Assistant and Associate Dean Roles from 2019-24, and served as Director of the China Studies Centre at UoA from 2021-25.