I wrote a story about Dafen, an artist’s village in southern China that used to produce more than 60% of the world’s new oil paintings. Now, its model of art reproductions is under threat, as demand falls and consumer trends in China shift towards originality. Out in print now @financialtimes.com

NEW EPISODE: This week, Jessie Lau speaks to Yi-Ling Liu, a writer covering technology and Chinese society, about her debut book “The Wall Dancers: Searching for Freedom and Connection on the Chinese Internet”: nuvoices.com/2026/02/18/n...

I never took much notice of bamboo scaffolding growing up in HK. But when the issue of its preservation was catapulted into the public discourse following the Tai Po tragedy, I started looking into the history of this centuries-old craft in relation to my city. Read the story now @financialtimes.com

I had a lovely time speaking with the very talented @yilingliu95.bsky.social (whose new book is SO good and truly a must-read) - go listen to our convo via the @nuvoices.bsky.social podcast now!

CALL FOR PITCHES: China Books Review is looking for writers! Do you have an argument about a recent book on or from China and the greater Sinophone world? If so, reach out to their editors at info[at]chinabooksreview.com See all details (including rates) here: chinabooksreview.com/submit/

We LOVED meeting all of you New Yorkers at our creative reading & karaoke salon/thanksgiving party, hosted by board members @laujessie.bsky.social and @meganisonline.bsky.social in partnership with Accent Sisters at their beautiful space and @aajaofficial.bsky.social – thank you for your support!

It was an honour to be shortlisted for this year’s Georgina Henry Award for founding New Tide, Britain’s only network amplifying East and Southeast Asian journalism! Thank you to the talented and passionate people who joined me in building this community. Subscribe here: newtidenetwork.substack.com/

Had a great time co-hosting the @nuvoices.bsky.social podcast with @laujessie.bsky.social, sharing @nuoraglobal.bsky.social's vision and first project! Big congrats on launching New Tide to support East & SE Asian journalists in London. Episode on founding orgs + charting career paths coming soon!

My conversation with the brilliant Hong Kong filmmaker and entrepreneur Ching Wong is out now @nuvoices.bsky.social - so great to see this year’s HK Film Festival UK spotlighting female directors 💕

Very excited to be on the judging panel for the 2026 @orwellprize.bsky.social in Political Writing, chaired by Rohan Silva, alongside Katie Prescott, Sam Bowman and Lawrence Freedman. Looking forward to reading and discussing—get your submissions in now! www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-p...

Londoners: I’ll be speaking about rising authoritarianism in Southeast Asia alongside Paul Chambers @iseas-singapore.bsky.social and Neil Loughlin @citystgeorges.bsky.social at this Frontline Club panel on Thursday moderated by Celia Hatton of BBC News - join us! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/panel-disc...

"I was kind of panicking," says Chloe Cheung, 20, a HK activist with a 1 million HKD bounty placed on her by Beijing. “The only reason everything happened in Hong Kong was because authorities wanted an extradition treaty with China. The warning light, of course, would switch on.”

I wrote @asia.nikkei.com about how Britain's move to restart extraditions with Hong Kong is sparking concern among HK activists, scholars and asylum seekers in the UK. “I have PTSD,” says Choi Hong Kiu, 26, a protester who was imprisoned for over 2 years in HK and was rejected for UK asylum in June

Japanese colonialism is infamous for its brutalization of women. But less known is women’s role in the resistance, brought to life in 2 novels I reviewed @jacobinmag.bsky.social - CAPITALISTS MUST STARVE by Park Seolyeon, translated @antonhur.com & WHEN SLEEPING WOMEN WAKE by @emmapeiyin.bsky.social

The British government is being accused of turning a blind eye to security threats posed by Beijing and prioritizing economic ties, after the collapse of a Chinese spy trial. Yet others say the real problem is Britain’s lack of a coherent engagement strategy. My story @asia.nikkei.com @nikkei.com

Hong Kong’s artists are fleeing the city to work in “self-exile”, or are being sentenced to jail for crimes such as “subversion” or publishing “seditious” children’s books, writes @laujessie.bsky.social.

Travelling to see the world means accepting that the world will see you. In South America, Tappy Lung's interactions force her to contemplate her perceived "Chinese-ness".🏅 This essay was a runner-up in NüStories’ personal essay contest:

Good piece from @laujessie.bsky.social here on the case of Zhang 'Tara' Yadi a Chinese Student who was due to start studying at SOAS in London but has been detained while in China over her writing for the magazine Chinese Youth Stand For Tibet.

I wrote a story @theguardian.com about Zhang Yadi, a London-bound Chinese student and Tibetan rights advocate who was arrested over the summer on suspicion of “inciting separatism.” If found guilty, she faces a prison sentence of up to 15 years. Read the story, with comments from @hrw.org, below:

Very nice to see a piece by @laujessie.bsky.social of @nuvoices.bsky.social in @thetls.bsky.social

I wrote a review @thetls.bsky.social of “Daughters of the Bamboo Grove,” a deep investigation by author & former @latimes.com China correspondent @barbarademick.bsky.social into Beijing’s brutal One Child Policy that centres around the reunion of a pair of separated twins. Read in print or online 🔗

Hong Kong’s artists are fleeing the city to work in “self-exile”, or are being sentenced to jail for crimes such as “subversion” or publishing “seditious” children’s books, writes @laujessie.bsky.social.

"many of the film’s worst fears have arguably now been realised, even if they’ve taken on a different shape or form in real life" - @laujessie.bsky.social On the 2015 film "Ten Years / 十年" which screened as part of the HK Film Festival.

It’s been ten years since I first watched the banned HK dystopian film “Ten Years,” now being brought to Britain by the HK Film Festival UK. I wrote my reflections in an essay @prospectmagazine.co.uk and spoke to some of the directors ahead of the London screening, co-hosted @amnestyuk.bsky.social

I penned New Tide’s first newsletter celebrating our launch as the UK’s first East and Southeast Asian journalist’s media network! Every month, our newsletter will feature a new ESEA journo and a round up of UK opportunities + events. Subscribe now: newtidenetwork.substack.com/p/new-tide-w...

Are you a writer interested in exploring sci-fi, and using fiction to examine social issues through a futuristic lens? Join our upcoming virtual Speculative Fiction Workshop, hosted by NüVoices and led by @hannamade.bsky.social More information: nuvoices.com/2025/08/13/e... Tickets: lu.ma/hnie6mgm

In the wake of China’s massive #maskpark scandal, in which sexually exploitative images of Chinese women were found to be shared in Telegram groups with hundreds of thousands of users, I wrote a story @theguardian.com about how the current system leaves women vulnerable to digital violence and abuse

Calling all UK-based ESEA journalists: I’m so excited to launch New Tide Media Network! Our mission is to bring nuance into ESEA coverage, empower community members in newsrooms and push back on western-centric storytelling. Join our launch party & journalists panel in London on Aug. 7 - RSVP now!

A technological perspective: Can AI help restore what colonization tried to erase? @laujessie.bsky.social shows how AI supports Ainu language preservation and Indigenous self-determination amid aggressive state assimilation. 📖 Read the BBC piece below: #Ainu #Indigenous #AI #Japan #Politics

INVESTIGATION: I worked with @carlottad.bsky.social and her amazing team ⁦at CNN‬⁩ As Equals on this interactive story about the precarious conditions that domestic workers face in Hong Kong, where one misstep can lead to debt, detention and even deportation. Out now: edition.cnn.com/interactive/...

Thank you @ourobororoboruo.bsky.social for your kind words + pretty much summing up the heart of what I was trying to get at ♥️

“I feel increasingly protective of my Hong Kong heritage and defensive against assimilation. The pressure I’ve felt has been exacerbated by the racist and sexist backlash … to East Asian women marrying outside their race, which has become a negative cultural trope.” Our editor @laujessie.bsky.social

While planning my wedding, I struggled to find “the dress.” I quickly realised that my anxieties were less about the look itself, and more about what it had come to represent: my sense of identity in an interracial marriage. It led my to write this personal essay–out now in the style pages @cnn.com

"While there are few Ainu speakers around today, there is a rich repository of oral stories. In recent years, researchers have turned to these audio archives with the aim of bringing Ainu back to life." Interesting piece by @laujessie.bsky.social for BBC.

Excited to share my new longread about researchers using AI to revitalize the Ainu language in Japan (nearly extinct from colonization)! It’s a story about the use of AI in language preservation efforts, and how Ainu people are pushing back on mainstream society’s mono-cultural narrative of Japan:

Today, I joined 20,000 protesters in London marching in solidarity with Palestinians. Now, the death toll is over 53,000 in Gaza. We must not look away; we must not normalise genocide. World leaders must stop arming Israel, seek an immediate ceasefire and end all complicity in this devastating war

London folks! I’ll be speaking about reporting on human rights, politics & culture in China from afar + the work we do @nuvoices.bsky.social on this June. 3 panel at The Frontline Club. Hosted by The China Correspondents’ Club of London, the event will feature diverse voices on China. Come join us!

A passing comment at an optician's sparks a series of questions for Juliette Yu-Ming Lizeray about identity,appearance,and the "cosmic litmus test of belonging". Her piece won 1st prize in the NüStories essay contest on Chinese identity.🥇Edited by @laujessie.bsky.social: nuvoices.com/2025/05/05/y...

From vast Iowan farmlands to a bustling trip across China,Jenna Wang writes about understanding her Chinese identity and the gap between lived experience and the world’s perception.🥈Her piece won 2nd prize in our NüStories essay contest.Edited by @laujessie.bsky.social: nuvoices.com/2025/05/06/i...

Chris Yitao Shen reflects on a grandmother remembered in fragments: purple porridge, a peony-embroidered bed, a slow smile, exploring memory, grief, and cultural distance. This piece won 3rd prize in our essay contest🥉 Read it here, edited by @laujessie.bsky.social: nuvoices.com/2025/05/05/w...

And then to mix things up a little @nuvoices.bsky.social Essay contest winners have been announced. On the theme of “Chinese identity” the essays are well worth a read. /12

Thanks so much, Tara! We look forward to publishing your wonderful runner-up essay soon

I’m thrilled to announce the winners of our 1st NüStories essay contest: Juliette Yu-Ming Lizeray, Jenna Wang & Chris Yitao Shen—congratulations! It gives me such joy to provide a home for their fab stories, and to share them with the world. Read the winning essays now: nuvoices.com/2025/01/22/e...

Happy my review was highlighted @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social - even if my name is misspelt 🥲

Excellent review from @laujessie.bsky.social !

"Feng uses her story as a springboard into discussing the country's blossoming 'Weiquan' movement or 'rights defense' movement." @laujessie.bsky.social reviews "Let Only Red Flowers Bloom" by Emily Feng, a study of identity and erasure in contemporary China. lareviewofbooks.org/article/were...

I wrote a review @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social of “Let Only Red Flowers Bloom,” an important new book by @emilyzfeng.bsky.social on Chinese identity—and what it means to be living in the margins of a rapidly changing China. Read here: lareviewofbooks.org/article/were...

Engaging & well crafted @laujessie.bsky.social review of Let Only Red Flowers Bloom by @emilyzfeng.bsky.social just out from @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social lareviewofbooks.org/article/were...

I’m grateful to Cathy Chen for interviewing me about the Umbrella Movement & The Hong Konger for publishing her conversation w/me hongkonger.world/2024/12/05/1... —for more of my views see my book Vigil, out in an updated UK edition soon from @brixtonink.bsky.social hongkonger.world/2024/12/05/1...