Assemblies & Governance

World Association for Chinese Studies

Next General Assembly

August 12, 2026 — The University of Hong Kong

The General Assembly will take place during WACS 10 (10th World Conference of Chinese Studies). All members are invited to attend in person or online. Agenda includes board elections for the 2026–2030 term, amendments to the bylaws, financial report, and the founding of the Chinese Culture Alliance.

Register for WACS 10

Governance & Leadership

Democratically elected board serving the global Chinese Studies community

Current Board (2022–2026)

Executive Board — Elected August 12, 2022

  • President:
    Prof. Dr. Martin Woesler
    Legal representative since 2016, re-elected 2022
  • Vice President:
    Prof. Dr. Daniel A. Fried
    University of Alberta, Canada
  • General Secretary:
    Prof. Dr. Sam Crane
    Williams College, USA
  • Treasurer:
    Prof. Dr. Richard Trappl
    University of Vienna, Austria
  • Board Member:
    Asst. Prof. Dr. Tiffany Tsai
    The Citadel, USA
  • Honorary VP for Outreach (2024–):
    Dr. Margaret Chu
    Honorary appointment by Executive Board
General Assembly & Elections
August 12, 2026
General Assembly at WACS 10, Hong Kong
Board elections for 2026–2030 term. Founding of Chinese Culture Alliance.
2024–2025
Dr. Margaret Chu appointed Honorary VP for Outreach
Honorary appointment by Executive Board
August 12, 2022
General Assembly re-election
Current board elected for 2022–2026 term
August 21, 2018
Special General Assembly, Vienna
Election of Vice President Richard Trappl
August 19, 2017
First General Assembly
108 members present, 66 voting participants
Legal Foundation
  • Founded:
    September 24, 2016
    Inaugural ceremony broadcasted to 36 countries
  • Registration:
    Bochum Court, Germany (No. 4778)
    Non-profit status: Tax No. 350/5702/8186
  • Membership:
    ~2,000 scholars worldwide
    Active in research groups and conferences

Honorary Presidents & Management Board

Honorary Presidents

  • Prof. Dr. Dr. Harro von Senger (Switzerland)
  • Prof. Shang Wei (United States)
  • Prof. Edward L. Shaughnessy (USA)
  • Prof. Helwig Schmidt-Glintzer (Germany)
  • Prof. Louise P. Edwards (Australia)
  • Prof. Kam Louie (Australia)
  • Prof. Marián Gálik (Slovakia)
  • Prof. Ye Jiaying (Canada)
  • Prof. Oldřich Král † (Czech Republic, d. 2018)
  • Prof. Rao Zongyi † (Hong Kong, d. 2017)

National Association Presidents

  • Alena Pavlova (Russia)
  • Yevhenii Hobova (Ukraine)
  • Martin Woesler (Germany)
  • Rommel Banlaoi (Philippines)

Delegates

More than 100 members have been awarded the status of 'delegates'.

Historical Board Members

Previous Terms

Board Members 2018–2022

  • Vice President & Secretary: Prof. Dr. Richard Trappl (elected Aug 21, 2018)
  • Vice President & Cashier: Dr. Thomas Weyrauch (appointed Sep 25, 2018)

Management Committee 2017–2018

  • Mu Zhai (Wang Hong), Park Jae-Woo, Wang Zhaopeng
  • Term ended September 24, 2018