Staff Profile

Dr. Tran Sautede Emilie 博士

Assistant Professor
School of Arts and Social Sciences

HKMU Scholars

Biography

Dr Emilie Tran joined the School of Arts and Social Sciences, HKMU, in January 2023.

Research

Driven by international and multidisciplinary collaborations, Dr Tran's research investigates global China: China's engagement in global public health; health diplomacy; digital diplomacy; the external relations of the EU, France, the Middle East and Africa. She also researches on public policy, administration, and management (training of civil servants and political elite; the smart city; public -private partnership), and public governance (China's transnational governance of its diaspora, re-creating an extra-territorial space). She has published in the Journal of Contemporary China; Mediterranean Politics; China Perspectives; China: An International Journal; and International Migration.

Testimony of her impact and engagement with policy- and decision-makers, includes roundtable discussions in renowned venues, such as Chatham House, The Brookings Institution, and The Doha Forum.

She has a track record of winning competitive grant-funding, having secured six research grants as principal investigator since 2013.

Teaching

Since 2004, she has been teaching a wealth of subjects in political science, public policy, international relations, core and common courses, and European studies at the undergraduate, master's and doctorate levels. She enjoys including transcultural experiential learning, transnational service-learning and transdisciplinary inquiries in her teaching.

She won the President's Award for Outstanding Performance in Teaching 2021 (Hong Kong Baptist University) for the positive and transformative impacts she had made on her students.

In recognition of her 20 years of remarkable service to education, research and community service, including the creation of transnational double degree programmes, the French Republic bestowed upon her in 2020 a “Knighthood” [Chevalier] of L’Ordre des Palmes Académiques, a national merit order that honours distinguished academics.

Service to the University

Prior to joining HKMU, Dr Tran held two permanent positions, at the University of Saint Joseph Macao (USJ, 2008-2016), and Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU, 2016-2023). At USJ, she rose through the ranks, from Assistant to Associate Professor, and from Programme Coordinator of Government Studies and International Relations to Department Head, and Dean of the Faculty of Administration of Leadership. At HKBU, she was the French stream coordinator, then Director of the entire European Studies programme; eventually she became the Director of Transdisciplinary undergraduate Programmes.

Service to the Community

Since 2018, Dr Tran is an elected representative of the French living abroad [Conseillère des Français de l’étranger].

She is a role model for Inspiring Girls Hong Kong, a not-for-profit program that aims to overcome gender and cultural stereotypes, by connecting 10-18 year-old students with professional leaders from all walks of life and industry backgrounds.

Committed to fight domestic violence, she is a patron of SAVE YOU and Mots et Maux de Femme, two platforms dedicated to help French women living abroad facing intra-familial abuse.

Teaching Areas & Research Interests

Contemporary Chinese politics
Comparative politics
Chinese diaspora
China's foreign relations
China's public diplomacy

Academic & Professional Experience

RESEARCH GRANTS

2025-2027 Faculty Development Scheme (FDS). Principal Investigator. Project title: China's Role and Social Power in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) (Project no. UGC/FDS16/H13/24) HKD693,550.

2024-2026 PROCORE-France/Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme. Co-Investigator. Project title: Revisiting China-France Digital Public Diplomacy in a Post-pandemic World: Challenges and Innovations (F-HKBU204/23) HKD128,000.

2022-2026 European Union Erasmus+. Co-Investigator/Junior expert. Project title: Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence - Improving Institutional Trust in Times of Pandemics (IITTP) (Project ID 101085026) Euro123,114.

2022-2025 General Research Fund (GRF). Principal Investigator until December 2022. Co-Investigator in 2023-2025 due to change of university. Project title: How China Speaks to The World In The Covid-19 Era: China’s Political Communication and Mobilisation in Europe (Project no.12619222) HKD762,687.

2021-2023 Research Matching Grant Scheme. Principal Investigator. Project title: The Climate Collage and Hong Kong’s Contribution to Mitigate Climate Change (RMGS2021_7_03; RMGS2021_7_04; RMGS2021_7_05) HKD22,249.07.

2021-2022 PROCORE - France/RGC Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme. Principal Investigator. Project title: Transnational and Transdisciplinary Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic (F-HKBU205/20) HKD125,963.

2021-2022 Aarhus University Research Foundation - AUFF NOVA. Co-I. Project title: China's Twitter Diplomacy: Content and Impact DKK570,500.

2020-2022 HKBU Research Committee Faculty Niche Research Areas. Co-Investigator. Project title: Trust and the Smart City HKD933,792.

2020 Aarhus University, Denmark. Co-Investigator. Project title: Chinese Twitter EUR1,500.

2018 HKBU SOS Faculty Research Grant. Principal Investigator. Project title: The Overseas Chinese in France and Hungary — What Role Do They Play in Expanding China’s Political Influence in Europe? HKD50,000.

2014-2015 Macau Foundation. Principal Investigator. Project title: Impact Assessment of the Macao Forum’s Seminars on the Economy and Public Policy-Making in Portuguese Speaking Countries — An Illustration of South-South Cooperation MOP403,300.

2013-2014 Macau Foundation. Co-Principal Investigator. Project title: Survey on public environmental consciousness in Macao, a Pearl River Comparison MOP340,000.

ACADEMIC & TEACHING EXPERIENCE

2016-2023 Director of Transdisciplinary Undergraduate Programmes, Division of Transdisciplinary Undergraduate Programmes (2022-2023). Assistant Professor Coordinator European Studies | French Stream (2016-2022). Director of BSocSc (Hons) in European Studies, Department of Government & International Studies (2021-2022) | Hong Kong Baptist University.
2008-2016 Associate Professor, Head of Department of Public Administration and International Relations, Dean of Faculty Administration and LeadershipUniversity of Saint Joseph, Macao.
2007-2009 Visiting scholar, Division of Social Science, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
2004-2007 Part-time Lecturer, the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau.
2000-2005 Research Fellow, the French Centre for Research on Contemporary China (Centre d’Études Français sur la Chine contemporaine, CEFC), Hong Kong.

COURSES TAUGHT AT HKMU

POLS 1001AEF / POLS A122F Foundations of Social Sciences: Political Science
POLS 2002AEF Introduction to Political Philosophy
POLS A322F Contemporary Chinese Politics
POLS A330F Contemporary Political Theory
GAPG 8005AEF / GAPG A826F Greater China: Governance and Politics

Selected Publications

Books

Tran, E., & Zoubir, Y. (Eds.). (2025). China in the Mediterranean: An Arena of Strategic Competition? Routledge. ISBNs: HBK 978-1-032-79569-0 | PBK 978-1-032-79578-2 | eBook 978-1-003-49280-1
Baker, J. S., Gao, Y., Cole, A., Tran, E., Yue, X.-G., Cole, A., Tran, E., & Yue, X.-G. (Eds.). (2022). Transnational and Transdisciplinary Lessons of COVID 19 From the Perspective of Risk and Management. MDPI - Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute. https://doi.org/10.3390/books978-3-0365-5703-8

Book Chapters

Zoubir, Y. & Tran, E. (2024). Foreign Affairs of the Maghrib: Europe, the United States, Russia, the GCC and Türkiye. In: G. Joffe (Ed.). Routledge Handbook on The Modern Maghrib (pp. 546-567). Routledge.
Zoubir, Y. & Tran, E. (2023). China's 'Health Silk Road' Diplomacy in the MENA. In Y. H. Zoubir (Ed.). Routledge Companion to China and the Middle East and North Africa (pp. 240-254). Taylor & Francis.
Tran, E., Zoubir, Y.H. (2023). China's Health Diplomacy in the “New-Cold-War” Era: Contrasting the Battle of Narratives in Europe and the Middle East and North Africa. In: Tan, K.P. (eds) Asia in the Old and New Cold Wars (pp. 157-188). Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore.
Cole, A., Lai Ming Tsun, C., Stivas, D., & Tran, E. (2022). Chapter 7: The 'Smart City' between urban narrative and empty signifier: the case of Hong Kong. In Constructing Narratives for City Governance. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800374454.00013
Tran, É. (2021). The Yellow Vest Movement: Causes, Consequences and Significance. In Helen Drake, Alistair Cole, Sophie Meunier, Vincent Tiberj (Eds.). Developments in French Politics 6 (6th edition). London: Macmillan.
Tran. E. (2016). “Lusofonia and Francophonie: The Challenges of Diversity in the Era of Cultural and Economic Globalization”, in Vera Borges (ed), Between Demystification and Utopia: An Inquiry into Lusofony, University of Saint Joseph Press, 2016, pp. 141-152.
Tran. E. (2016). “Echoing Alternative Voices: The East Timorese in Macao”, in Sarah Smith, Antero B. da Silva, Nuno Canas Mendes, Alarico da Costa Ximenes, and Clinton Fernandes (eds.), Timor Leste 2015, Hawthorn, Swinburne Press, 2016, Vol. I, Chp 37, pp. 230-237.
Quadros, T. S., and Tran, E. “Social Transformation in the Eyes of Contemporary Chinese Cinema and Dogme 95.” Edited by Susana Gonçalves and Suzanne Majhanovich. Comparative and International Education Art and Intercultural Dialogue, 2016, 113-27.
Tran. E. (2015). “In The Red 2.0: Online Reactivation of Maoist Mobilisation Methods and Propaganda", in Joseph Cheng (ed.), The Use of Mao and the Chongqing Model, Hong Kong, Hong Kong City University Press.

Journal Articles

Lam, W., & Tran, E. (2024). Editorial – Hong Kong in the 2020s: Reset amidst Challenges. China Perspectives, 137. https://doi.org/10.4000/11y7j
Tran, E., & Sautedé, E. (2024). Hong Kong's Place Branding from 1997 to 2024: From Self-assurance to Aching Attempts to Come Back. China Perspectives, 137. https://doi.org/10.4000/11y7p
Tran, E. (2024). Twitter, Public Diplomacy and Social Power in Soft-balancing China–France Relations. Journal of Contemporary China, 33(146), 267–294. https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2023.2193150
Cole, A., Stivas, D., Tran, E., & Lai, C. (2023). The 'Smart City' between urban narrative and empty signifier: Hong Kong in focus. Cogent Social Sciences, 9(1), 2231624. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2023.2231624
Tran, E & Zoubir, Y. H. (2023). China in the Mediterranean: An Arena of Strategic Competition?, Mediterranean Politics, 28:5, 685-703, DOI: 10.1080/13629395.2022.2035125
Tran, E. (2023). Role dynamics and trust in France-China coopetition, Mediterranean Politics, 28:5, 785-811, DOI: 10.1080/13629395.2022.2035138
Cole, A. & Tran, E. (2022). Trust and Smart City. China Perspectives 2022/3. https://doi.org/10.4000/chinaperspectives.14024
Cole, A. & Tran, E. (2022). Trust and the Smart City: The Hong Kong Paradox. China Perspectives, 2022/3. https://doi.org/10.4000/chinaperspectives.14039
Cole, A.; Baker, J.S.; Tran, E.; Gao, Y. (2022). Introduction to the Special Issue 'Transnational and Transdisciplinary Lessons of COVID-19 from the Perspective of Risk and Management'. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 15, 210. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm15050210
Tran, E.; Tseng, Y.-c. (2022). To Trust or Not to Trust? COVID-19 Facemasks in China–Europe Relations: Lessons from France and the United Kingdom. Journal of Risk Financial Management, 15, 187. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm15040187
Yahia H. Zoubir & Emilie Tran (2022) China's Health Silk Road in the Middle East and North Africa amidst COVID-19 and a Contested World Order, Journal of Contemporary China. https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2021.1966894
Tran, É. and Chuang, Y. H. (2020). “Social Relays of China's Power Projection? Overseas Chinese Collective Actions for Security in France”. International Migration, 58(3): 101-117. https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12627
Tran, É. (2019). “Marseille: bientôt un comptoir chinois?”. Confluences Méditerranée, 109(2): 33-46. https://doi.org/10.3917/come.109.0033
Ho, W.-C., & Tran. E. (2019). “Hong Kong–China Relations over Three Decades of Change: From Apprehension to Integration to Clashes”. China: An International Journal, 17(1): 173-193. http://doi.org/10.1353/chn.2019.0009
Tran, É. & Matias Dos Santos, J.C. (2015). The Seminars of the Macao Forum: An Illustration of China's Soft-Power Diplomacy towards the Portuguese-Speaking Countries. China: An International Journal 13(1), 93-112. http://doi:10.1353/chn.2015.0006.
Tran. E. (2009). Entry on “Elite Groups” in Pong David (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Modern China, 4 vols., Charles Scribner's Sons, an imprint of Gale / Cengage Learning, Detroit, MI., 2009. The Encyclopedia of Modern China received three awards: 2010 Dartmouth Medal Honorable Mention; Library Journal's Best Reference Sources of 2009; Outstanding Reference Sources for 2010 by the American Library Association's Reference and User Services Association (RUSA).
Chang, K., Van Schalkwyk, G., & Tran, E. (2006). The Impact of Macao's Gaming Industry on Family Life. China Perspectives 64 March - April 2006. https://doi.org/10.4000/chinaperspectives.603
Tran. E. (2003). From Senior Official to Top Civil Servant. China Perspectives, 46 | March-April 2003. https://doi.org/10.4000/chinaperspectives.257

Selected Professional & Community Services

2022-present: Role Model and Mentor for Inspiring Girls Hong Kong (IGHK). Role Model of the Year 2023. IGHK empowers girls in their career development, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds and marginalized communities, helping them overcome stereotypes and achieve their full potential.
2022-present: Adviser for teachers' training and curriculum development, School of Business, PSE-Institute, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. helps poor children espace destitution through end-to-end care and vocational education.
2018-2026: Conseillère des Français de l'Étranger [Councillor for the French Living Abroad]

Further Information

Link to Google Scholar page

Modified Date: 12 Nov, 2024
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