I am a Ph.D. candidate in international relations at Columbia University with research interests in economic and military coercion, international institutions, and human rights and regional expertise in East and Southeast Asia.

My dissertation examines the causes and effectiveness of countercriticism coercion by China. I identify countercriticism coercion, or threats and sanctions in response to criticism from abroad, as an emerging and overlooked form of backlash to human rights advocacy. Escalation from purely verbal criticism to sanctions is puzzling: coercion is costly, fails to silence targets, and draws attention to and validates the original critique of repression. However, China’s reputation for countercriticism coercion has successfully deterred enough third-party states to water down multilateral criticism of China, especially states with high potential economic gains from China.

I graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton University, where I received a B.A. from the School of Public and International Affairs and a certificate in East Asian Studies. You can view my CV here and reach me at s.char@columbia.edu.