Selected Clips
I’m currently a foreign correspondent covering China and Taiwan for The Economist. I write mostly for the China and Asia sections. I’m also co-host of our podcast on China, “Drum Tower”. You can listen to the latest episodes here.
My previous work as Beijing bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times is here.
Before that, I was an independent journalist focusing on migration, religion, China and the Middle East, especially Jordan and Syria. I'm very grateful to the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, International Women's Media Foundation, Howard G. Buffett Fund for Women Journalists, Rory Peck Trust, International Labour Organization and Ethical Journalism Network for supporting my reporting. Apart from the projects under Pulitzer support, I've grouped selected clips below by region and topic:
Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
“Afghan and Pakistani Women Against Extremism” — July 2018
"Religion and Reconstruction in Iraq" — May-August 2018
"Germany: Religion for the Resettled" — June-July 2017
Field Notes: "Ramadan in Refuge" — August 2017
Field Notes: "The Refugee Converts" — August 2017
Georgetown panel: "From the Frontlines: The Global Refugee Crisis" — October 2017
“Youth Fighters in Syria: Why They Go” — June-August 2015
Untold Stories: “Jordan: The Mothers” — August 2015
Untold Stories: “Is There a Link Between Refugees and Extremists?” — November 2015
“Interim Lives: Refugee Survival in Jordan and Lebanon“ — July-October 2014
Photo Essay: “Refugee Survival in Lebanon” — September 2014
Untold Stories: “A Year of Refugee Reporting“ — January 2015
Featured in e-book: “Flight from Syria: Refugee Stories” – October 2015
Pakistan
“The rising voices of women in Pakistan” — National Geographic, February 2019
Syria
“Back to school, but not for all of Syria’s children” —The Associated Press, August 2018
"Confronting Horror at the Jordan-Syria Border" — The Atlantic, July 2018
"Fighting in Syria's south escalates, displaces 50,000 people" —The Associated Press, June 2018
"Rebels in Syria's south brace for onslaught, fear wider war" — The Associated Press, April 2018
"Why Jordan is deporting Syrian refugees"— The Atlantic, October 2017
"Jordan seeks more security guarantees in south Syria truce" — The Associated Press, October 2017
"How One Syrian Fought to the Death for a Free Internet" — WIRED, September 2017
"Thousands of stranded Syrians flee border camp near Jordan" — The Associated Press, September 2017
"Aid officials report spike in Jordan deportations of Syrians" — The Associated Press, May 2017
Iraq
“Separatism is no solution” — Aeon, December 2018
"After ISIS, Iraq is Still Broken" — The Atlantic, August 2018
"The Rise of Iraq's Young Secularists" — The Atlantic, July 2018
“Yazidi families struggle to find and free enslaved daughters” — Al Jazeera America, November 2014
“No Escape from Sinjar Mountain“ — Foreign Policy, November 2014
“Daily Life in the Shadow of ISIS“ — The Atlantic, October 2014
“Yazidis languish on Sinjar mountaintop ‘with almost no help’” — Al Jazeera America, October 2014
“Islamic State Insurgent Cells Cause Death and Discrimination Behind Iraq’s Front Lines“ — VICE News, October 2014
Germany - Refugees and Religion
"What Refugees in Germany Say About Islam and the West" — Refugees Deeply, October 2017
"As German police attempt to deport refugees, hundreds of churches are trying to shelter them" — The Washington Post, September 2017
"The German mosque that attracts women imams, gays and death threats" — Politico, July 2017
"Why Germany's New Muslims Go to Mosque Less" — The Atlantic, July 2017
China
"Silent Prayer: The Chinese state's siege on Uyghur ways of worship" — The Caravan, January 2017
"China Doesn't Mind Islamic Extremists (As Long As They're Not Uighur)" — Foreign Policy, December 2016
"Meet China's State-Approved Muslims" — Foreign Policy, November 2016
"The Separation between Mosque and State" — ChinaFile, October 2016
"The Limits of Chinese Isolationism" — The Atlantic, October 2016
"Harmony and Martyrdom Among China's Hui Muslims" — The New Yorker, June 2016
“‘Let’s not talk politics’: China builds Middle East ties through business” — Al Jazeera America, February 2016
“A Muslim Minority Keeps Clashing with the ‘China Dream’ in the Country’s Increasingly Wild West” — VICE News, December 2015
“Jordan: China’s Gateway to the Middle East” — The Atlantic, September 2013
Middle East - Migration and Labor
"The Deadly Cost of Pregnancy for Migrant Women in Jordan" — The New Yorker, August 2017
Also in Arabic
"Abused Migrant Workers End Up in Prison after Trying to Flee" — News Deeply, June 2017
"Lola and Her Tormentor: Understanding women's exploitation of other women" — The Atlantic, May 2017
"Slave labour? Death rate doubles for migrant domestic workers in Lebanon" — IRIN, May 2017
"Migrant domestic workers in Jordan run the gauntlet between abuse and jail" — The Guardian, March 2017
“Jordan’s illegal labor puzzle: Let Syrian refugees work or just survive?“ — Al Jazeera America, March 2015
"With men out of work, Syrian women become sole providers“ – Al-Monitor, March 2015
Also in Arabic
Jordan - Refugee Crisis
"Syrian refugee baby gets life-saving surgery, others wait" — The Associated Press, March 2018
"Aid groups: 8,500 Syrians still held in Jordanian no-go camp" — The Associated Press, January 2018
"Leaving Home: 'I knew if I had a relationship or became really close to a girl, my family would lock me up'" — Harper's Magazine, November 2017
"Don't Speak: A Sudanese refugee on life in Darfur" — Harper's Magazine, May 2017
"The Refugee Puppeteer" — Foreign Policy, March/April 2017
"Refugees Annotate Trump's Executive Order" — The New York Times, January 2017
"'Trump Is Speaking About Us Without Seeing Us: Conversations With Refugees" — The Atlantic, January 2017
"'A new future’: What Jordan’s Christian refugees want for Christmas“ — Al Jazeera America, December 2014
“Relief in Wartime Chaos” — Christianity Today, December 2014
“Sudanese Refugees Are Being Attacked By Angry Mobs and Police in Jordan” — VICE News, November 2014
Also in Arabic
“Jordan’s Other Refugees“ — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace/Sada, August 2014
Also in Arabic
“Iraq’s refugees stuck in Jordan aid limbo” — BBC News, July 2014
“Jordan’s Quiet Emergency“ — The Atlantic, July 2014
“A nation of refugees: Jordan struggles with those fleeing regional crises” — Al Jazeera America, July 2014
“Ambivalence at Azraq: Syrian refugee express mixed feeling on new camp“ — Al Jazeera America, May 2014
“Photo Essay: Coping Skills and Trauma Therapy in Jordan“ — Syria Deeply, April 2014
“With Syria, 3 Years In” (editorial role, also on 7iber) — Syria Deeply, March 2014
“Syrian refugees adapt to Jordan legal system” — Al Jazeera English, February 2014
“Coming of Age in the Syrian Conflict” — The Atlantic, December 2013
Follow-up interview with WORT 89.9 FM
“54,000 Syrians smuggled out of Zaatari Camp through bribery and black market“ — AmmanNet, December 2013
“How Do You Rank Refugees?“ — The Atlantic, November 2013
“The Mighty Pen: A new project trains Syrians in Jordan to cover themselves” — Columbia Journalism Review, November 2013
“Palestinian Refugees Accuse Jordan Police of Abuse” — Al-Monitor, November 2013
“Syrian refugees subject to undocumented illegal marriages“ — AmmanNet, September 2013
Jordan - Other
"Jordan PM caught between angry public, international lenders" — The Associated Press, June 2018
"Pence visit showcases dilemma facing Egypt, Jordan leaders" — The Associated Press, January 2018
"Jordan's 'Holy War on Dogs'" — The Atlantic, November 2017
"Jordan activists celebrate repeal of 'marry the rapist' clause" — The Associated Press, August 2017
"The Anger in Jordan's Streets"— The Atlantic, July 2017
"In Jordan, a Killing Threatens to Upend Peace with Israel" — Foreign Policy, July 2017
"Jordan to cancel 'marry the rapist' clause shielding rapists" — The Associated Press, June 2017
"Jordan soldier hears murder charges in deaths of 3 US troops" — The Associated Press, June 2017
"An experiment: Can rock climbing lure young Jordanians from the lure of violent extremism?"
—Washington Post, April 2017
"The Jordanian Airline Making Money Off the Laptop Ban: How Trolling Trump became a Marketing Strategy" -- The Atlantic, March 2017
“The Boy Named Jihad: From the Ashes of the Arab Spring to the Battlefields of Syria” – The Atlantic, June 2015
Also in Arabic
“In Jordan, a Family Mourns as a Nation Erupts” — Al Jazeera America, February 2015
“It Wasn’t Their War: How Jordanians Came to Oppose ISIS” — The Atlantic, February 2015
“Abu Qatada cleared of terror charges by Jordan court” — The Guardian, September 2014
“ISIS beheadings of journalists are against Islam, says Abu Qatada“ — The Guardian, September 2014
“Fade to black: Jordanian city Ma’an copes with Islamic State threat“ — Al Jazeera America, September 2014
“A Dispatch from the Counterterrorism Olympics” — The Atlantic, May 2014
“Abu Qatada pleads not guilty to terror charges in Jordan” — The Guardian, December 2013
South Sudan
"Deaths, detainments mount as media environment worsens in South Sudan" — Columbia Journalism Review, June 2016
"Splits and schisms in South Sudan" — IRIN, June 2016
"China's Business and Politics in South Sudan" — Foreign Affairs, June 2016
Lebanon - Refugee Crisis
“Using Facebook, Cameras and Cash, Syrian Refugees are Trying to Save Each Other” — VICE News, August 2014
“When Fleeing War Becomes Illegal” — The Atlantic, August 2014
Tunisia
“‘The revolution was a mistake’: Tunisians struggle with Arab Spring impact” – Al Jazeera America, July 2015
“Tunisia faces legacy of religious oppression in fight against radicalism” – Al Jazeera America, July 2015
“The Sousse Attack: Islam, Terrorism and the Paradox of Democracy in Tunisia” – The Atlantic, June 2015
“’Tourism is dead in Tunisia’: Sousse massacre sends key industry reeling” – Al Jazeera America, June 2015
“Tunisia Braces for the Backlash” – Foreign Policy, June 2015
Israel/Palestine
“Gaza Is Hell: Desolation and Destiny in a Land in Limbo” – The Atlantic, May 2015
Also in Arabic
“Gaza economy: Squeezed by siege, weakened by war” – Al Jazeera America, May 2015
“If Gaza opened, ‘100,000 young people would leave’” – Al Jazeera America, May 2015
“Following Through on Pledges to Gaza” – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace/Sada, May 2015
Also in Arabic
“Path to Success for One Palestinian Hacker: Publicly Owning Mark Zuckerberg” — WIRED, October 2013
Miscellaneous
"A History of Amman in 10 Dishes" — Roads and Kingdoms, March 2018
“Saudi Arabia’s King of YouTube“ — The Atlantic, March 2014
“In the Middle East, Arabic Wikipedia is a Flashpoint - And a Beacon“ — WIRED, February 2014
“12,000 cases of domestic violence left unchecked since 1998” — AmmanNet, February 2014
"Post-Arab Spring, citizen journalists struggle“ — Columbia Journalism Review, January 2014
“Jordan Faces No-Nukes Campaign” — Al-Monitor, November 2013
”Jordan Tightens Grip on Opposition Activism“ — Al-Monitor, October 2013
“Jordanian women raped with legal impunity” — AmmanNet, October 2013
Also see: video