Team

• Linda Jakobson - CEO and Founding Director
  

  Linda Jakobson

  Staff

  Linda Jakobson is founding director and Chief Executive Officer of China Matters.
  Linda Jakobson has been a student of Chinese politics and China’s foreign and security policy for the past three decades. 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). A Finn by nationality 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 board of the new Diplomatic Academy of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
  Before moving to Sydney in 2011 Jakobson lived and worked in China 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. Her most recent book, written with Dr Bates Gill, is China Matters: Getting It Right For Australia (La Trobe University Press / Black Inc., 2017). Her current research focuses on Australia-China ties and China’s foreign and security policy.
  She and her husband, Chris Lanzit, also a Mandarin speaker, live in Pyrmont, New South Wales. They are permanent residents of Australia.

• Tristanne Scott-Durairajah - Program Director - Operations & Partnerships
  

  Tristanne Scott-Durairajah

  Staff

  Tristanne is Program Director – Operations & Partnerships with China Matters. She has 15 years of experience managing programs and partnerships across the not for profit and higher education sectors including 6 years as International Programs Manager with Macquarie University. She has also held positions at Monash University and the Public Education Foundation.  Tristanne holds a Bachelor of Arts, International Studies and Bachelor of Health Science, Traditional Chinese Medicine from University of Technology Sydney and has post-graduate qualifications from the UNSW Business School. She was awarded a China Scholarship Council scholarship to complete 1 year of study at Zhejiang University.

• Dirk van der Kley - Program Director - Policy Research
  

  Dirk van der Kley

  Staff

  Dirk van der Kley is Program Director – Policy Research at China Matters. His most recent work has been at the Australian National University, where his doctoral thesis focussed on PRC economic statecraft. He recently returned from two years’ fieldwork in China and Central Asia on an Endeavour Scholarship. Previously Dirk worked  as a Research Associate at the Lowy Institute for International Policy. Dirk is fluent in Mandarin. He wrote his Honours thesis at University of Sydney in Chinese.

• Jackson Kwok - Policy Analyst
  

  Jackson Kwok

  Staff

  Jackson Kwok is a Policy Analyst at China Matters. He previously was an intern and Chinese Media Research Consultant with the Lowy Institute for International Policy’s East Asia Program. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Languages) with First Class Honours in Government and International Relations from the University of Sydney. He has also studied Mandarin at Tsinghua University in Beijing and modern Chinese history and foreign policy at Nanjing University. His research interests include Sino-Japanese relations, security in the East and South China Seas, and China’s state media. In addition to Mandarin, he has also studied Japanese and Indonesian.

• Susan Nguyen - Communications and Events Manager
  

  Susan Nguyen

  Staff

  Susan is the Communications and Events Manager at China Matters. Prior to her role at China Matters, Susan spent 8 years in the aviation industry at the Sydney based CAPA-Centre for Aviation, initially as Managing Editor of the airline strategy magazine Airline Leader, and latterly as Head of Events, where she launched high level conferences in Asia, Europe and the US. Susan graduated with distinction from the University of Sydney with a BA (Media and Communications) where she developed a broad interest in the Asia-Australia narrative. During her final year, Susan was awarded an international fellowship by the Australia-Korea Foundation within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

• Julia Hilberts - Office Manager
  

  Julia Hilberts

  Staff

  Julia Hilberts is Office Manager at China Matters. Julia holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of NSW, where she completed a double major program in Politics and International Relations and Russian Studies. She most recently spent a year working in the Division of Alumni and Development at the University of Sydney, but prior to that she spent nine years serving at the U.S. Consulate General, Sydney, coordinating VIP visits. Julia has a passion for politics and history, with a particular interest in military and presidential history.

• Noah Vaz - Research Assistant
  

  Noah Vaz

  Staff

  Noah is a Research Assistant at China Matters. He is studying a Bachelor of Arts (Media & Communications) and a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Sydney. He has completed overseas studies at Beijing Language and Culture University, Fudan University, Cambridge University and King’s College, London. In 2017, Noah was awarded an international fellowship by the Australia-Korea Foundation within DFAT; and named on the Dean’s List for Excellence in Academic Performance. Previously, Noah worked in change management at the Westpac Group and interned in the Political and Economic Affairs section at the US Consulate in Sydney. He has a keen interest in foreign languages and has studied Mandarin, French, Spanish and German.

• Jessie Ding - Junior Fellow
  

  Jessie Ding

  Junior Fellow

  Jessie Ding is currently studying a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Sydney, majoring in Asian Studies. In 2017, she was awarded a New Colombo Plan Mobility Grant to complete a Chinese Politics, Business and International Diplomacy course at Shanghai Jiaotong University, and an intensive language program at the University of Sydney’s Suzhou campus. She also competed in the 2017 Atlantic Council Cyber 9/12 Student Challenge, providing policy recommendations for potential cybersecurity threats within the Asia-Pacific region. Previously, she worked as paralegal in a boutique Sydney law firm. Jessie also has a keen interest in the evolving Australia-China discourse and global Sinophone literature.

• Monica Jones - Junior Fellow
  

  Monica Jones

  Junior Fellow

  Monica is studying a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws at the University of Sydney, majoring in Chinese Studies and Political Economy. She has been studying the Chinese language for six years and speaks and reads Chinese fluently. She has undertaken in-country study at Fudan University. She was also awarded a New Colombo Plan scholarship and participated in a one-month field school in Suzhou and Shanghai, China. In 2018, Monica served as the treasurer of the Australia China Youth Association – University of Sydney chapter. She is also a volunteer at Toongabbie Legal Centre. Monica’s areas of interest include China’s culture, history, politics and economics.

• Charmaine Xu - Junior Fellow
  

  Charmaine Xu

  Junior Fellow

  Charmaine is studying a Bachelor of International and Global Studies and Bachelor of Laws at the University of Sydney, majoring in International and Government relations. She is undertaking an additional Diploma of Chinese Language and can speak and write Chinese fluently. Charmaine is currently the President of the Australia-China Youth Association’s University of Sydney chapter. She has completed overseas studies at Fudan University, Peking University, King’s College London and Yale. Since 2017, Charmaine has acted as a volunteer language tutor to both adult migrants under the AMEP program and King’s College students in the Modern Language Centre. She also previously worked as a legal assistant at a boutique criminal law firm. Charmaine’s interests include China’s position within the international order and the CCP as a political entity.