Sandra Rector holds a BA in Chinese Studies and an MA in Political Science from the University of Heidelberg, and a PhD from the Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science, Freie Universität Berlin. Her doctoral dissertation focused on Chinese security policy in the South China Sea. She worked at the Center for Global Politics at Freie Universität, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the International Organization for Migration, the Austrian Embassy in China, and as a translator for ZDF in Beijing