Benjamin C. Lee graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle in 2015 with highest honors in Chinese and International Studies. During his junior year, Lee, as a Boren Scholar, studied abroad in Taiwan, where he focused on cross-Strait relations and Taiwanese politics. As a senior, he wrote an honors thesis that examined how democratization in Taiwan and South Korea affected cross-Strait relations and inter-Korean relations, respectively. In November 2014, Lee participated in Strait Talk, a week-long conflict resolution workshop at Brown University and represented the US to propose policy recommendations regarding cross-Strait issues. Lee has also been a Yong Global Leader and a Publications Intern at the National Bureau of Asian Research, where he prepared and participated in a policy table on “The Future US-China Relations: Partnership or Adversarial?” with former US Ambassador to China, Gary Locke.