Very glad to see my illustration accompanying this important piece by Amelia Loi!

NüVoices 女性之音@nuvoices.bsky.social · 4mo ago

“I am a woman, and they threaten me like this.” In this article, Amelia Loi examines the backslide of Hong Kong’s feminist movement and the persistence of those continuing to press for change. Edited by Rhonda Kwan: nuvoices.com/magazine/hon... © Illustration by @laujessie.bsky.social

Despite growing censorship, Chinese feminist media has continued to evolve. In our latest article, Yang Bugfoon speaks to journalists about censorship, gender reporting, and what comes next. Edited by @lintaylor.bsky.social: nuvoices.com/magazine/chi... © Image by @laujessie.bsky.social

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

What happened to China’s fake Van Goghs?

Dafen once produced 60 per cent of the world’s new oil paintings — now this village of copyists is under threat

ft.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...

NüVoices Podcast #128: The Wall Dancers: A Conversation with Journalist and Author Yi-Ling Liu

This week, NüVoices editor and freelance journalist 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

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

Can the last bamboo artisans of Hong Kong survive the modern age?

The material is an inescapable part of the city’s landscape and heritage — but its future is precarious

ft.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!

NüVoices 女性之音@nuvoices.bsky.social · 6mo ago

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...

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 💕

NüVoices 女性之音@nuvoices.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Hong Kong Film Festival UK amplifies the work of women filmmakers from the city’s New Wave cinema movement, which evocatively captures the region’s recent transformations. Read editor Jessie Lau’s interview with festival curator Ching Wong:

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.”

Jessie Lau@laujessie.bsky.social · 10mo ago

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

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

UK law change paves way for Hong Kong extraditions, unnerving exiles

Fugitive Hong Kongers fear reprisals and call for more protection from Beijing

asia.nikkei.com

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 Women Who Fought Japan’s Empire

Japanese colonialism is infamous for its brutalization of women, abducted and forced into sex slavery. Less known is women’s role in fighting against the Japanese Empire, brilliantly brought to life i...

jacobin.com

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

UK faces claims of capitulation to China after spy trial collapses

Critics say London must hold Beijing to account on security, human rights

asia.nikkei.com

#ZhangYadi

Jessie Lau@laujessie.bsky.social · 11mo ago

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:

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.

How Hong Kong’s dystopias became its reality

It is ten years since the film ‘Ten Years’ won its industry’s greatest accolade. Now the Chinese Communist Party has banned it—and stifled art in the ...

prospectmagazine.co.uk

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:

Carrying Chinese-ness Across South America

*Editor’s note: The following story was a runner-up in our first ever annual NüStories personal essay contest. This year’s theme was Chinese identity – read more here.

nuvoices.com

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.

‘She didn’t realise how dangerous it was’: London-bound student held in China over Tibet support

Zhang Yadi was due to begin a degree in the UK but the activist vanished on holiday amid tensions over Dalai Lama

theguardian.com

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:

‘She didn’t realise how dangerous it was’: London-bound student held in China over Tibet support

Zhang Yadi was due to begin a degree in the UK but the activist vanished on holiday amid tensions over Dalai Lama

theguardian.com

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

The TLS@thetls.bsky.social · 11mo ago

'When, in 1991, China opened its doors to foreign adoption, international demand led to the trafficking of babies overseas' Jessie Lau: Two victims of China’s one-child policy

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 🔗

Baby snatchers

In a secluded shed, deep within the bamboo grove in a rural Chinese village, a woman gave birth to identical twin daughters. It was 2000, the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac – usually an ausp...

the-tls.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.

How Hong Kong’s dystopias became its reality

It is ten years since the film ‘Ten Years’ won its industry’s greatest accolade. Now the Chinese Communist Party has banned it—and stifled art in the ...

prospectmagazine.co.uk

"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.

Jessie Lau@laujessie.bsky.social · 11mo ago

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

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

How Hong Kong’s dystopias became its reality

It is ten years since the film ‘Ten Years’ won its industry’s greatest accolade. Now the Chinese Communist Party has banned it—and stifled art in the ...

prospectmagazine.co.uk

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...

New Tide: What’s On in ESEA Heritage Month

When I first moved to London about six years ago, as a Hong Kong journalist excited to start a new life in the United Kingdom, I was completely unprepared for the challenges of navigating Britain’s me...

newtidenetwork.substack.com

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

China’s cyber-abuse scandal: is the government unwilling to crack down on exploitation of women online?

Secretly filmed images of women are spreading online, yet the authorities seem more focused on censorship than punishing the perpetrators, critics say

theguardian.com