James Char is Research Fellow with the China Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. He is the inaugural recipient of the Wong Wai Ling Scholarship in the Masters of Arts in Contemporary China (since renamed the Masters of Social Sciences in China and Global Governance) at NTU. He received his Ph.D. in military history at the University of Cambridge.
Dr. Char has published extensively on China’s domestic politics and its military developments. More specifically, his research centres on the nexus between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). At present, his work focuses on the ongoing PLA reforms and the history of the Chinese Civil War. He has published or served as guest editor for a number of top-tier peer-reviewed journals, including Asian Security, China Quarterly, the Journal of Strategic Studies and The National Interest.
In addition to his role as a regular guest commentator with international media outlets, Dr. Char’s policy analyses and op-ed pieces have also been featured on platforms such as The Diplomat, East Asia Forum, Pacific Forum CSIS, RSIS Commentaries and The National Interest, as well as Singapore’s major newspapers (both in English and Chinese). His work on Chinese civil-military relations has also been cited at a hearing of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
