有同学问：作为华裔学者，“位处北美、研究中国问题，有什么优势和局限？有没有一些较于研究欧美社会问题所不同的、特定的考虑？”我的简略回答如下：“It takes some self-positioning. Some of the challenges in self-positioning as a Chinese scholar outside of China are: 1) how to write and speak in such a way that your views, research and analyses will not be appropriated for purposes other than you intend them; 2) how to be able to see the possibilities of agency, change, and hope in your analysis of China while remaining sufficiently critical and balanced; 3) how not to write and research to appeal to some partisan interest; 4) how to see China not as homogeneous, but as heterogeneous and diverse; 5) how to cultivate an analytical approach that is historically sensitive but not culturally essentialistic...”