Emily Feng
@emilyzfeng.bsky.social
NPR correspondent. 10 years in China and Taiwan. Author of Let Only Red Flowers Bloom (Crown 2025) and forthcoming book on Syria (CGR 2026) https://globalreports.columbia.edu/books/our-hearts-burned-for-home
A new deep dive into how Voice of America has been resuscitated - but with very different editorial practices. “the firewall that V.O.A. journalists now say has been burned to the ground…” www.newyorker.com/news/annals-...
How Donald Trump Silenced the Voice of America
The Voice of America was created to spread the story of freedom and democracy around the world. Now, with many of its journalists being paid to stay home, it’s delivering a very different message.
newyorker.com
We've spent this week reporting in the West Bank during a very tense week following a deadly clash between Israeli settlers and Palestinians last Friday. New checkpoints, new settlers outposts, and more settler violence... take a listen. www.npr.org/2026/07/30/n...
West Bank faces escalating Israeli settler violence and surge in army checkpoints
The West Bank is buckling as Israeli settlers step up their attacks on Palestinians and the Israeli army sets up even more checkpoints.
npr.org
www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/b... "he is asking for something more than praise; he wants to be recognized as a victim himself — a victim of the apparatus he participated in for nearly a decade."
He Served China’s Police State of Xinjiang. He Says It Imprisoned Him, Too.
After nearly 10 years carrying out Chinese government repression in Xinjiang, a former police officer is now seeking asylum in Germany.
nytimes.com
www.ft.com/content/221a... China pours funding into green energy deals as Iran war hits oil demand
China pours funding into green energy deals as Iran war hits oil demand
Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative takes advantage of rise in appetite for renewables as Middle East conflict drags on
ft.com
“That vague language glossed over tragedy: Seven days after the girl’s medical team infused trillions of viruses carrying the recipe for the base editor into her spinal fluid, she died of a severe immune reaction..” www.science.org/content/arti...
Exclusive: Death of girl in Chinese gene-editing trial was never made public
Parents want accountability after study went disastrously wrong, Science and Retraction Watch investigation reveals
science.org
Today on @npr.org on a historic Saudi nuclear energy agreement with the U.S., something Riyadh has wanted for a decade plus www.npr.org/2026/07/23/n...
Saudi Uranium Enrichment Deal, Trump Defends Iran War, GOP Congress Out Of Sync : Up First from NPR
Saudi Arabia is getting American nuclear reactors and a path to enrich its own uranium, the same technology the U.S. has spent months bombing Iran to stop, which has Israel warning about a nuclear arm...
npr.org
Acropolis Publishing, the Taiwanese publisher of @emilyzfeng.bsky.social's book Let Only Red Flowers Bloom, ordered an emergency reprint of 10,000 additional copies last week after bookstores across the island sold out www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
‘A statement of freedom’: T-shirt slogan goes viral and book sales rocket in Taiwan after Hong Kong raids
Taiwanese people look on with concern at fate of Hong Kong’s independent booksellers, after series of arrests in recent months
theguardian.com
“Sara Sung, a senior editor at Acropolis, said some readers were buying copies as “a statement of democracy and freedom”. “They’re showing that they will not be silenced or intimidated by censorship from China,” Sung said.” www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
‘A statement of freedom’: T-shirt slogan goes viral and book sales rocket in Taiwan after Hong Kong raids
Taiwanese people look on with concern at fate of Hong Kong’s independent booksellers, after series of arrests in recent months
theguardian.com
A sweet memory from Aleppo: NPR is doing a breakfast series where we take listeners to have breakfast with us in whatever far flung place in the world we are that week. I did mine on a semolina pudding invented in northern Syria. www.npr.org/2026/07/19/n...
A sweet breakfast of Mamounieh in Aleppo invites stories from fellow diners
A breakfast pudding in the ancient city of Aleppo evokes memories both sweet and bitter.
npr.org
This American Life still doing some of the best political reporting in audio these days - www.thisamericanlife.org/891/the-test...
The Test Case - This American Life
The government sets out to prove that Antifa is real.
thisamericanlife.org
“…Long enough for interpretations to shift and bend, each translation reflective of the culture and time in which it was translated. Each era gets “The Odyssey” it deserves.” Truly an amazing movie and interpretation of a classic. www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...
Column | Every era gets the ‘Odyssey’ it deserves
Here’s how to prepare your brain for Christopher Nolan’s new adaptation.
washingtonpost.com
"It was impossible to operate given the lack of a lack of clarity on what books might violate the law, it said, noting security officials wouldn’t specify which books are illegal." www.wsj.com/world/china/...
China Wields Security Laws to Cow Hong Kong’s Once-Free Literary Scene
Hong Kong once published books on topics such as the Tiananmen crackdown. But new arrests show Beijing intends to bring the city’s booksellers and publishers to heel.
wsj.com
The State Department has just put out a tender, offering funding of up to $3 million to European organizations who want to fight against "Supra-national institutions" - presumably the EU - and governments who seek to regulate the internet and end Western Civilization. www.state.gov/drl-nofo-dev...
DRL NOFO Developing Civilizational Bonds, Democratic Resilience, and Rule of Law in Europe - United States Department of State
Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)Developing Civilizational Bonds, Democratic Resilience, and Rule of Law in EuropeBureau of Democracy Human Rights and Labor, Department of StateOpportunity number: ...
state.gov
Her T-Shirt says, "I am a staff of a bookstore". Two more independent bookstores are raided today in #HongKong. According to Inmedia, one of the book seized is @emilyzfeng.bsky.social 's Let only Red Flowers Bloom.
YTSL@ytsl.bsky.social · 3w agoThis photo is one of the ages. And should be made famous.
"..in a legal affidavit, the doctor's lawyer, Nasser Odeh, said during his last visit with the doctor in early July, he could barely recognize Dr. Abu Safiya, so disfigured was his face and neck with fresh bruises from beatings." www.npr.org/2026/07/13/n...
Palestinian doctor in Israeli custody is in critical condition, his lawyer says
A Palestinian doctor detained for more than 550 days in Israeli prison is close to death after near daily beatings, says his lawyer.
npr.org
"It was such a shocking story and he's probably one of the most famous people Peking University produced." www.bbc.com/news/article...
The Chinese graduate accused of becoming Mexico's 'fentanyl king'
Cartel members and ex-colleagues describe how Zhang Zhidong allegedly linked Chinese chemicals to Mexican drug labs.
bbc.com
I spoke for a few minutes on the life of Lam Wing Kee, the Hong Kong bookseller who made an extraordinarily brave choice to talk publicly about his detention in mainland China and started a new life in Taiwan. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 4 - Last Word, Bonnie Tyler: How the "sweet soul singer" found her growl
Matthew Bannister on an iconic singer, dissident bookseller, cosmonaut and a TV director.
bbc.co.uk
Reporting on the "Dongbei renaissance," @emilyzfeng.bsky.social talks about the rappers, comedians, filmmakers, and others who draw on the region's gritty history and culture (plus some magic!) in their creative work.
In China, the Dongbei region's cultural renaissance is a nationwide phenomenon
In China, the northeast Dongbei region looms large. Once a gritty, industrial hub, now this rust belt area is the source of music, literature, comedy and culture that have gained wide popularity.
npr.org
I'm on assignment for the next few weeks in the Middle East. Watching this week: whether there will be more U.S. strikes on Iran www.npr.org/2026/07/09/n...
Tehran hits Gulf states after US strikes, escalating regional tensions
New U.S. airstrikes on Iran drew retaliatory attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, escalating regional tensions and threatening an interim deal aimed at ending the war.
npr.org
The historian Stephen Platt has written an excellent book on Carlson and the inspiration he took from Communist guerrilla fighters in China as well as his deep bond with them. A great read in times of tense US-China relations www.umass.edu/news/article...
Stephen R. Platt’s New Book, ‘The Raider,’ Tells the Story of WWII Hero Evans Carlson | UMass Amherst
Platt, professor of history, has written the first authoritative biography of Carlson – one of the most decorated, legendary and controversial officers of World War II.
umass.edu
Adam Weinstein@adamweinstein.bsky.social · last mo.If Trump wants to purge the US of communist influence, he's going to have to start with... the Marine Raiders. Anyway, happy 4th of July to Evans Fordyce Carlson psmag.com/news/evans-c...
Sad to hear of the passing of Lam Wing Kee, who I interviewed several times over the years when I lived in China and Taiwan. www.npr.org/2019/11/26/7...
Some Hong Kong Protesters Are Seeking Refuge In Taiwan. For Taiwan, It's Complicated
The arrival of several Hong Kong protesters has revived debate over whether Taiwan can or should accept Chinese citizens seeking safety. Taiwan has no asylum laws and attempts to pass one have failed.
npr.org
Heading back to work and my regularly scheduled programming after a month in Syria…
Great to see some media coverage of China that isn't about imminent tech breakthroughs, economic doom or warfare, but about a country where actual people live and engage in a lot of cultural activities. www.npr.org/2026/06/27/n... (kudos to @emilyzfeng.bsky.social)
In China, the Dongbei region's cultural renaissance is a nationwide phenomenon
In China, the northeast Dongbei region looms large. Once a gritty, industrial hub, now this rust belt area is the source of music, literature, comedy and culture that have gained wide popularity.
npr.org
A belated piece on China - on the wonderful, colorful, humorous culture of the northeast (or Dongbei, in Mandarin) and why it’s taken off across the country www.npr.org/2026/06/27/n...
In China, the Dongbei region's cultural renaissance is a nationwide phenomenon
In China, the northeast Dongbei region looms large. Once a gritty, industrial hub, now this rust belt area is the source of music, literature, comedy and culture that have gained wide popularity.
npr.org
“US private spending on manufacturing construction fell in April to $15.2bn, down about 16 per cent since Trump’s second term began, while factory employment has fallen by 77,000 jobs over the same period, according to official data.” giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Donald Trump’s pledge to unleash a ‘golden age’ of US manufacturing sputters
Spending on new factories has fallen while industry executives point to uneven recovery
giftarticle.ft.com
“Chinese buyers have been quietly stockpiling tungsten from scrap yards across the US, driving up prices of a crucial defence industry metal amid an escalating global race for critical minerals, US sellers told the FT.” giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
China’s hunt for US tungsten escalates global critical minerals race
Effort has driven up prices and prompted calls to restrict sales of a vital national security resource to overseas buyers
giftarticle.ft.com
This is indeed a big change, and a long overdue one, if Chinese municipalities can find the resources to pay for services in places of residence and not household registration. www.reuters.com/world/china/...
China to expand public service access for migrant workers
China issued guidelines on Friday to expand coverage of basic public services to people who don't have household registration in the cities where they work, a move that could help more migrant worker...
reuters.com
We are writing a book! globalreports.columbia.edu/books/our-he... Drops October 2026 with @abduwelia.bsky.social Reporting this book was such an adventure. This is a story I never thought I’d have access to, and I’m thrilled to share it w readers who watch either the Syria and/or China space.
