Jessie Lau is a writer & journalist from Hong Kong, now in London.
Hi there—I’m a freelance journalist telling global stories with an intersectional feminist approach. I’ve spent the past decade covering identity, politics, human rights and culture from Asia, Europe and the United States. My writing, reportage and films have appeared in The Guardian, BBC, Los Angeles Review of Books, CNN, The Economist, Channel 4 News, WIRED and many others.
A persistent generalist with expertise on China and Asia, I’m most interested in transnational stories grappling with gender, race, and empire. I also build communities: I’m magazine editor-in-chief and board member at the global feminist non-profit NüVoices, as well as founding director of New Tide Media Network, a UK-based ESEA journalism community. Read a selection of my stories below + commission/pitch me here!

How the Chinese Communist Party is policing the past to secure its future
What a “historical nihilism hotline” and a new party resolution tell us about Xi Jinping’s vision for China

Who is the real Mulan?
The current film has sparked a fierce fight over Mulan’s soul: what she should represent, both as a symbol for women and for Chinese-ness