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jessielau@live.com
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I’m a freelance writer, journalist and artist covering China and Asia with a transnational feminist perspective. Over the years, I’ve covered diverse topics—from business to the environment—but now tend to gravitate towards stories grappling with identity and its intersections with politics, human rights and culture.
I’ve reported on China’s elite boarding schools that forcibly assimilate Uyghur and Tibetan children, young Thai protesters taking on the monarchy, a Taiwanese influencer accidentally raising thousands for a Lithuanian anti-abortion clinic, why Hong Kong has so many abandoned “ghost” Hakka villages, and more. My work has appeared in print, online and on air at The Guardian, BBC World Service, Channel 4 News, The Economist, WIRED, The Nation, Foreign Policy, the New Statesman, Los Angeles Times, openDemocracy, Quartz, and more. My illustrations and photography have been published by Mekong Review, gal-dem, Zolima Citymag and others.
With homes in London and Hong Kong (where I was born and raised), I’m a learner of several languages, and have spent time studying and working in Beijing, California and Japan. I hold a MSc in International History from the London School of Economics, an LLM in International Relations from Peking University, and a BA in English from the University of California, Berkeley.
After Beijing clamped down on mass protests and imposed a sweeping national security law in Hong Kong, I spent a year reporting on the city’s transformation for The Diplomat. I was previously a news reporter with the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, covering the city and China in the aftermath of the Umbrella Revolution.
An advocate for intersectional feminism, I serve as Board Member and Online Editor-in-Chief at NüVoices, a collective supporting women working on China subjects. I oversee our website and magazine NüStories, which I co-founded. I’ve also appeared as a speaker and moderator on programmes hosted by Chatham House, BBC World News and others.
Aside from taking on journalistic projects, I also conduct research, edit, and produce copy for NGOs, think tanks and other clients. Freelance commissions are welcome!