Chen Weihua

Chen Weihua is a Chinese journalist, currently serving as EU bureau chief of China Daily, an English-language newspaper owned by the Chinese Communist Party.^[2][3][4][5] Chen has previously served as a columnist, chief Washington correspondent, and deputy editor of the U.S. edition of China Daily.^[6][7][8]

Education[]

Chen is a graduate of Fudan University, where he studied international journalism and microbiology.^[7] After graduating, Chen has held fellowships at the University of Hawai'i and Macalester College, as well as a John S. Knight journalism fellowship at Stanford University from 2004 until 2005.^[7][9][10]

Career[]

Chen began his journalism career at China Daily in 1987.^[7] His writing focuses on U.S. politics and U.S.-China relations.^[11][12]

In 2005, while a journalism fellow at Stanford University, Chen served as the deputy editor-in-chief of the Shanghai Star and the deputy Shanghai bureau chief of China Daily. Since then, Chen has also served as a columnist and chief Washington correspondent for China Daily^[13][10] and the deputy editor for China Daily USA.^[7] As of 2020, Chen serves as the EU bureau chief of China Daily.^[3][4][14] According to the editorial board of The Jerusalem Post, he has remained a popular columnist at the Chinese Communist Party-owned publication.^[15]

Chen has used Twitter to criticize politicians and public figures who are critical of the Chinese government.^{[16][17][18][19][20][21]} The Globe and Mail reports that Chen's tweets are consistent with the tone of wolf warrior diplomacy.^[22] Chen's Twitter account was suspended in 2019 for what Twitter described as "inciting violence" towards protestors in Hong Kong after writing that the protestors would have been shot if they were in the United States.^[22] Chen has defended his tweets publicly, writing in China Daily that: "[i]f (...) despicable words, deeds and conspiracies do not trigger the strongest response from Chinese diplomats, then they are not doing their job."^[23]

References[]