I'm very excited to return to my global reporting roots as China editor
@restofworld
!
I love RoW's non-profit mission of covering the impact of technology beyond the West. I'll be working with
@violazhouyi
&
@CaiweiC
and open to freelance pitches. 🎉
Thread about airplane creeps: I’m on a plane from a late-evening stopover from and was very tired and had a row to myself to sleep but couldn’t avoid noticing what was going on in the row behind me.
I don’t want to say name of airline because journalists have to be careful not to make endorsements but just want to say that this Canadian airline crew handled the situation so well. Workplaces, schools, sports teams etc. can take note. They even gave me and other woman a card.
But none of the male passengers seemed to show they noticed what was going on. Maybe fellow women are more likely to pick up on warning signs early on in the conversation because we used to be teenage girls too?
All adults need to be on guard and know there are things we can do to intervene even when a crime hadn’t technically been committed yet. Men need to figure out how to “spot creeps” in their vicinity as well and men can help too to prevent harassment or assault.
He moved. The attendants checked in with the young woman and wrote up a report. They handled the situation well as far as I could tell, and it’s good to know other adult women passengers on the plane were paying attention and taking action while trying not to embarrass the teen.
I’m sure the young woman he targeted will be CEO someday or some other position of influence. She was in the middle of studying when he started harassing her. It’s sad these experiences are extremely common. Recommend
@JessicaValenti
’s memoir for insights:
They checked other witness accounts and the head of the flight service (a woman) asked the man to move. He resisted then started swearing at me and asked to talk to the boss and the head flight attendant said “I’m the boss, this is really serious and we could land the plane.”
It’s so disturbing there are predatory people out there who act like they have no idea what they’re doing is wrong. It’s unclear if the man is going to be monitored by flight crew the next time he flies.
It did, and as soon as he asked for a “dirty” photo while leaning close to her I turned around and rage-whispered exactly what I thought of that and he didn’t say anything back and went off to use the washroom.
Another woman seated behind him was listening and monitoring too and while the man was gone she let the teen know that she had the right to change seats and that she was just behind her if she needed any help. I went to get a flight attendant and informed her of what was going on
The first time I traveled without my parents the man next to me spoke with me most of the flight, which made me feel adult and important, and he said things like I must be flirting because I was touching the zipper on my jacket. To his credit he stopped and later looked ashamed.
She was friendly and he seemed to take that as a welcome cue to get very familiar and started teasing her and kept saying that he wanted to take her out to eat, which she was ignoring. At this point I had to stay awake in case anything went further than that.
The second time I traveled alone an older man struck up a convo while we waited for boarding and he asked about many details of my travels then kissed me without my consent. I was too shocked to say anything.
A man appearing in his late thirties was obviously delighted to be seated next to a teenager separated from the rest of her family. He started off by asking about her career plans and laughed when she said she wanted to be CEO and kept giving her ridiculous advice.
List of examples and tips on how to intervene (can be subtle like interrupting and asking for the time or just moving closer to show you’re watching if you’re unsure if something is harassment):
How my tweets about harassment on a plane sparked a conversation about what bystanders can do to help. I wrote an op-ed about what happened and the important sharing that happened overnight. Thank you everyone. Social media can be a good place sometimes.
Hundreds of men have also shared the Twitter thread and many said that they weren’t aware that airplane harassment was so common, and they promised to be vigilant, too. The comments were really interesting because people were very honest about how in some cases, they feel unsure.
..
@EndingViolence
has published an online resource, where suggestions for bystanders include: Ask the woman, “Are they bothering you?,” loudly saying “ugh, that is so gross,” making eye contact with other bystanders and ask, “What should we do to help?”
“Many people don’t know what to do, but they should know they can take action and they should take action. It matters. Every time we hear about this, we see how much sexual harassment happens routinely,” says
@_AngelaMarieMac
. Links to resources here:
The point of this isn’t to cast shame on genuine flirtation between an older person and a younger person who is an adult. Some resources on things bystanders can do to try to figure out what is happening in a situation in a public space: via
@torontostar
Feel like you’ve aged a decade in 2020? The stress of
#COVID19
may actually be adding extra years to your birth age.
I wrote this piece after chatting with a bunch of young people who are feeling much older! !
@TorontoStar
#Exclusive
: Bell Media wouldn’t nominate Lisa LaFlamme for an award — so she did it herself.
The Canadian Screen Awards has recognized LaFlamme as a finalist for best national news anchor, following her controversial ouster from CTV News.
@TorontoStar
NEW: Chinese interference in Canada? Chinese Canadians say they reported it for years — and were ignored.
"These are not secrets." For the Chinese diaspora, it's been common knowledge. Here's what they say you should know.
@torontostar
#cdnpoli
1) Thinking about accents, and how I have 3 "foreign" accents and don't speak any language like a "native". When I speak English, I have a Cantonese accent. In Cantonese, I have a North American English accent and in Mandarin I have BOTH a Cantonese and NA English accent.
It took me all year to try to understand what’s happening in India with the ramping human rights violations and rising influence of Hindu nationalism. I interviewed dozens of experts. Here’s an explainer:
@TorontoStar
@CFWIJ
director
@kirannazish
says 58-year-old
@LisaLaFlamme_
's ouster very much has to do with sexism and ageism.
“This has to be one of the most publicly ageist events in Canadian media."
Peter Mansbridge retired at age 69, Lloyd Robertson at 77.
THREAD: This is Shivali Lekhi. She saves lives at BC Children’s Hospital as a respiratory therapist.
This morning, she drove with her brothers for hours to their family home to find broken windows and this graffiti. Their parents were alone last night when this happened.
How my tweets about harassment on a plane went viral and sparked an important conversation about what bystanders can do. Thank you. Social media can be a good place sometimes.
#metoo
#timesup
@TorontoStar
@starvancouver
THREAD: On how I got the exclusive interview yesterday with Canadian ambassador to China
#JohnMcCallum
at a dim sum restaurant. He resigned today at the request of the prime minister.
I’m taking a break from office to cry in a cafe. After years reporting on human rights and countless kidnappings and arrests on ridiculous charges in China I’m very sick of this very sick and people around the world barely notice. Pay attention now.
People in their twenties told me they were shocked to discover streaks of grey in their hair, but once they thought more about it, they weren’t surprised.
Have you felt like you've aged more than you should in 2020? In what ways?
@TorontoStar
#COVID19
The
#MeToo
campaign has reminded us of how common stories like mine are — but the behavior of foreign men working abroad has been far worse than anything I ever experienced at home. The phenomenon is especially problematic for journalists. Please read:
A wide range of studies has shown that stress not only manifests in physical signs like greying hair, weight gain and body aches, extended stress can accelerate aging on a *cellular* level, by shortening the length of each DNA strand!
My husband is neurotic about counter space and canceled my Panasonic water boiler order and told me to “just microwave water”.
I think any East Asian person would understand why I’m contemplating leaving him. 🤔
I investigated the illicit trade in
#pangolin
meat and scales for
@AFP
in 2018. I found shops in Hong Kong willing to sell me the scales and on the mainland, shopkeepers said traders still sell to "trusted clients" after a police crackdown.
#coronavirus
Are you from an immigrant family, and have you grown up thinking that through hard work and sacrifice, anything could be overcome - including racism?
Until recently, I didn't think there was anything wrong with being a 'model minority'.
@TorontoStar
People in car ahead of me stopped and signalled at me to stop. I thought they wanted to park so waved them through. They sighed and said: “You have a pie on your roof.”
Me: “I have a pie on my what? — ack my peach pie!”
It’s okay, the pie is fine. I’m a great driver.
Canada has breached seven international conventions and declarations on human rights in its lack of response to missing and murdered Indigenous women, according to the inquiry. Our advanced read of the report: via
@torontostar
@starvancouver
The photo of me on a 2009 visit to my hometown in a Hello Kitty shirt is just for comic relief.
I wrote about why I fear my future children will never get to see the Hong Kong I love.
#HK
#NationalSecurityLaw
@TorontoStar
THREAD: There’s a lot in this story. If you’ve heard rumours that
#COVID19
is a Chinese bioweapon, it’s likely linked to this group, founded by Steve Bannon and billionaire Guo Wengui. And now they’re targeting people they believe are “spies” for China:
#BREAKING
PM Justin Trudeau accuses India of involvement in fatal shooting on Canadian soil of
#HardeepSinghNijjar
in Surrey BC.
Story coming soon. I covered the speculation behind the shooting of the Canadian Sikh temple leader in June:
@TorontoStar
NEW: Here's the CTV company memo about veteran anchor
@LisaLaFlamme_
's termination and why a well-placed CTV source thinks her ouster was likely "not a cost-cutting measure".
"Lisa was our greatest defender."
@TorontoStar
@CTVNews
#LisaLaFlamme
I covered a beautiful climate change protest today, the first mass gathering I've been to since Hong Kong. The whole time, feeling haunted thinking about my friend Sophia Huang, who is in jail for doing exactly what I have the freedom to do every day.
Hong Kong is Asia’s most Canadian city, with 300,000 citizens among its residents, while more than 200,000 Hong Kong immigrants call Canada home. That is a reason why Canada is one hub of a global network supporting pro-democracy protesters. My piece:
NEW: Who killed Hardeep Singh Nijjar? I spoke with Sikh Canadians and a Sikh American who traveled to Vancouver to join in protest.
Why do so many believe the Indian state could’ve had something to do with the activist’s murder?
@TorontoStar
#SinghNijjar
Because my parents immigrated from Hong Kong to Canada 30 years ago, I’m able to get my lazy ass down the street to vote in free elections with a cappuccino in hand in bougie-outdoorsy MEC slippers. Grateful. 😔
After decades considering herself a "friend of China", McCuaig-Johnston returned to her hotel room in Shanghai the same week
#Kovrig
and
#Spavor
were arrested to find her locked luggage had been unlocked and rummaged through. By
@Nuttallreports
#cdnpoli
This is Abhishek Lekhi, who just graduated from
@UBC
in Vancouver. He says the graffiti is an act of hatred making him wonder if their family was very truly welcome in the place he and siblings were born and raised.
It was really irritating when it dawned on me that I *still* wasn't "fluent" in any language. But then one day in Beijing, my Mandarin tutor said something that instantly lifted all my shame:
"Your accent is your heritage. You don't need to get rid of it. It shows who you are."
Latest investigation by me, based on research from
@DisinfoEU
:
A website spread disinformation about Canada. Why did major Indian outlets treat it as news? via
@torontostar
Developing - Jimmy Lai, prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy tycoon and publisher of
@appledaily_hk
reportedly being arrested, says an executive at his company.
With extended chronic stress, people get certain symptoms like fatigue, difficulty thinking through complex thoughts, greying hair and weight gain.
“Perhaps most concerning is a negative impact on our immune system," says
@SteveJoordens
.
Last year, more anti-Asian hate crimes were reported to police in Vancouver, a city of 700,000 people, than in the top 10 most populous U.S. cities combined.
@natalieobiko
@business
A re-trial death sentence is uncommon and Trudeau said “It is of extreme concern to us as a government, as it should be, to all our international friends and allies that China has chosen to begin to arbitrarily apply the death penalty as it is in this case facing a Canadian.”
I’m excited to announce that my book CHINA UNBOUND is available for pre-order and coming out Sept. 28 with
@HouseofAnansi
!
This project on the global impacts of China’s rise has been a decade in the making.
There aren’t many of them but some mainland Chinese tourists are looking at the huge protest in wonder. They just came to Hong Kong on holiday and hadn’t seen news about the protests because of media censorship. “It’s not legal for us to do anything like this!”
#antiELAB
I was a year old on
#June4
1989. My dad put me on his shoulders to march in a massive protest in Hong Kong against the
#TiananmenMassacre
. My family was so lucky to be able to immigrate to Canada after that. I will never forget the moment I learned about what had happened.
Honestly
@realDonaldTrump
, if you want to take a jab at Beijing, leave us out of it. Call it the “Virus that the Chinese Communist Party tried to cover up,” if you must.
Or try, “Xi Jinping Virus.”
My piece with
@_laujessie
@rzhongnotes
@yskevinhuang
#EXCLUSIVE
Canada set to name foreign labs, universities that pose risk to national security
Leading universities say they'll avoid working with the entities altogether — despite potential $100M loss in annual funding from foreign partners.
@TorontoStar
Adding a last appeal for people to separate the horrifying and baffling actions of the Chinese gov’t (arbitrary detentions, Xinjiang camps) and the Chinese people. Canadians including myself face racism daily. Canada is better than that. Kovrig and Spavor worked to build bridges.
I’m trying to sell my car and my husband happens to comes with me to the dealerships, and every car dealer talks at my husband and ignores me even though it’s *my* car. Do people still think of cars as guy stuff and us silly women just get chauffeured around and don’t own cars?
Re-posting: “Yesterday our colleague Michael Kovrig turned 48. It is the second birthday he spends in a Chinese prison. He has been locked up for 420 days.
He has not seen his family.
He has not been given a justifiable reason for his detention.
#FreeMichaelKovrig
.”
Ramesh Lekhi and his wife were inside when they heard a big bang from the windows breaking.
He showed me the swastika at the front of the house and said he knew what it meant, but had to explain to his wife, who cried the whole night.
On the United Front and how the Chinese government agency has influenced all levels of Australian society, would recommend this by
@jgarnaut
. It used to be just a handful of people researching this topic and the field has since grown internationally.
“Jesus Christ! Everyone is wearing a mask. It’s the f---ing Chinese virus,” a man ranted on a bus.
By this point, we know what might come next. Eight percent of Chinese Canadians have been attacked by a stranger. But this time, something else happened.
NEW: I delved into the connections between one rural B.C. politician and China.
What I found helps illustrate the efforts Beijing is making big and small to change the global narrative about its governance.
@TorontoStar
#cdnpoli
#china
#bcpoli
"The story that was out there" is a funny way to avoid crediting my scoop:
Kindly,
@adriearsenault
and producers, please credit journalists as I would to your work.
Wildlife conservation is his life passion, and
@Bryce_Casavant
didn’t think that sparing two cubs would lead to his firing.
Now almost six years later, after he won a court battle, the government still won't let him back to work.
Story
@TorontoStar
:
I spoke with the CTV source who said:
“The CTV National news team found out about Lisa’s departure at the same time as the public.”
“There's a lot of fear about what the corporation’s vision for national news at CTV will be."
With everything going on, most people probably haven't heard about the dozen Hong Kongers aged 16-33 who were trying to escape to Taiwan in a speedboat and were arrested by Chinese police. Their parents haven't heard from any of them. Heartbreaking video.
Desperate, hopeless and depressed, a mother of
#12hkyouths
burst into tears when telling her son is sick w/o medicine in
#China
’s prison, with no updates nor access to lawyers for 2 weeks. She just wants to see her son one more time in her life.
#save12hkyouths
#SaveTheChildren
My parents told me to speak English in school because they worried I would fall behind/be treated differently. I don't think immigrant parents could've predicted the pain of losing one's mother tongue. Beautiful piece by my friend and colleague
@wanyeelii
!
THREAD: Toronto’s mayor boycotted a Chinese flag-raising ceremony marking China's National Day. Vancouver stopped a while ago. Here’s why some say the whole country should follow suit. My piece:
@TorontoStar
#cdnpoli
#bcpoli
#onpoli
#yvr
#toronto
Trying to ignore trolls, but WOW, the men giving me interviewing lessons or offering to check my notes to make sure I didn't make errors... This cannot be ignored because it's systemic silencing. A group of us started
@nvvoices
to amplify women's expertise
My colleague
@JennyPengNow
of
@starvancouver
@TorontoStar
is working on a story about airlines’ harassment policies and what travellers should know. Leave your questions and please keep sharing resources. Thanks so much 🧡
The BC Centre for Disease Control is recommending the use of "glory holes" to avoid the spread of
#COVID19
.
Does anyone have a drill handy? And how would it work - would you make a hole in your own apartment? Or find an abandoned public wall? 🤷🏻♀️
This is Lotfullah Najafizada and Sami Mahdi. They're friends who used to lead Afghanistan's biggest newsrooms. Today they've launched
@AmuTelevision
to try to keep independent journalism in Afghanistan alive.
Their story is in today's
@TorontoStar
:
B.C. Sikh community identifies Surrey homicide victim as local temple leader supporting Sikh independence, who has been accused of terrorism by the Indian government.