Ross Anthony is the Acting Head of the Centre for Chinese Studies. His research focuses on Chinese politics, both domestically and in its relationship with Africa.
Within the African domain, Ross examines the relationship between Chinese economic investments in Africa and geo-political security concerns. The work examinees transnational infrastructure and resource linkages in eastern and southern Africa and, by extension, the adjacent maritime territories of the Indian Ocean and Antarctic region. He is also interested in the role the economy plays in determining political relations between China and Africa, recently fleshed out in a project focusing on the diplomacy of economic pragmatism in the triangular relationship between South Africa, China, and Taiwan. Within China, Anthony continues to hold an interest in the area of his Ph.D. research, the Muslim region of Xinjiang, western China, in fields of ethnicity, nationalism, urbanization, and China’s market shift. He is an advocate of building African-centered China expertise through teaching. He teaches on China-Africa related issues as well as on issues of Chinese politics, economy, culture, and history.
Anthony holds a doctorate from the University of Cambridge funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and was previously a Mellon Foundation Research Fellow at the Centre for Chinese Studies.