Senior White House Correspondent for
@ABC
News Former CNN Correspondent & Bloomberg TV corr/anchor in Beijing, Tokyo, NYC, SF. Instagram
@selinawangtv
📸
In the room during Biden-Xi meeting.
After their opening remarks, I asked Xi Jinping in mandarin: "do you trust Biden?"
He took out his translation earpiece to hear my question, looked at me, but didn't respond
This is an extraordinary, historic moment in China
Protests are breaking out across the country-from Beijing, to elite colleges, to other major cities, and even far flung places
Shocking to hear people chanting for Xi to step down
This is people past their breaking point
@cnn
Surreal night in Beijing
Protesters chanted "no to covid tests, yes to freedom" for hours
Some cheered for Xi Jinping to step down.
After 2am, police presence ramped up. I asked one what they'd do if people didn't leave. Would they use tear gas? He just said plz go home
@cnn
I’m in Beijing at the scene of the protest. Mostly young people. They’re chanting no to Covid tests and yes to freedom. Large police presence. Also people hold white papers like in Shanghai - symbolic protest against censorship. Lots of honking cars in solidarity
Walking around one of Beijing’s most popular streets and malls during dinner time... and it’s nearly completely empty amid escalating fears of the
#CoronavirusOutbreak
. Even Starbucks and KFC are closed.
@QuickTake
Life in Beijing: relentless covid testing & health app that dictates where I go
Green code is needed to enter public areas. Red means quarantine/isolation.
Authorities track people's movements thru these apps. Concern is this surveillance will stay long after covid is gone
@cnn
Went back to the exact same place where protests were in Beijing last night in Liangmaqiao. Totally quiet. Instead, entire street of police vans.
This is a police state w/ far-reaching security/surveillance. No social media that allows people to easily mobilize and gather either
Yup...Wuhan, the original epicenter of
#COVID19
can now host a massive swimming pool rave party. No masks. No social distancing. This is after Wuhan went on a mass campaign to test its entire population. It's reported no new cases since May.
China's major manufacturing hub Sichuan province has ordered all factories to shut down for 6 days to ease a power shortage. Sichuan is key for semiconductor/solar panel industries & China's lithium mining hub. Will hit Foxconn, Intel, Apple, Tesla-supplier factories & more
@cnn
Outpouring of emotions on Chinese social media over the death of Dr. Li Wenliang, who warned China early on of the
#coronavirus
, and was reprimanded for rumor-mongering. His death deepens people's frustrations, fears, and anger. See some images circulating on WeChat
@QuickTake
Shanghai's 25 million people under lockdown indefinitely. Chinese social media shows some breaking out of lockdown to protest, chanting: "we want freedom"; "why are you starving us?"
Much of the dissent is censored. Most of videos in our story were erased from the internet
@cnn
A Twitter account was key in exposing China's protests to the world, rapidly uploading videos censored in China. Just one man is behind it: Li, a Chinese painter in Italy. In his 1st on-cam interview, he tells me why he's risking it all to save history from being erased
@AC360
China's only reported a few covid deaths since reopening. But situation on the ground says otherwise. Visited crowded crematorium in Beijing, people told me their loved ones died of covid
Worker at covid-designated hospital told me people are dying of covid every day
@AC360
Japan has fully vaccinated <1% of its population
👉<0.1% of senior citizens have had single dose
👉 17% of healthcare workers fully vaccinated
Public health expert tells me at the current pace, it will take 10 years to vaccinate the population...Olympics are 3 months away
@CNN
BREAKING: China reports 14,840 new coronavirus cases after method revised
-Hubei province: 3,441 patients have been discharged, death toll at 1,310
This is a massive jump in cases, more details to come on new methodology
@quicktake
#coronavirus
#COVID19
Walking along anti-
#Olympics
protest last night in Tokyo. Latest poll shows >80% in Japan oppose the Olympics this year.
Some protesters tell me they lost their jobs during pandemic. Are frustrated billions are being poured towards the Games.
IOC says
#Olympics
will go on
@CNN
Waiting outside Tokyo Haneda airport international terminal for Krystsina Tsimanouskaya. She's a Belarusian
#Olympic
sprinter, set to compete in 200m on Monday. She's asking IOC to stop her from being forcibly sent back to Belarus. She's seeking political asylum.
@CNN
Happy New Year’s Eve! On assignment at Shanghai Yu Garden lantern festival 🏮Many parts of city are quieter than normal, but not here! Had to search everywhere for 糖葫芦 that was nearly sold out
Many told me they just recovered from Covid & are relieved 2022 is coming to a close
10 people killed, 9 injured in a fire in Xinjiang's capital
Most of Xinjiang has been under lockdown for >100 days
Video shows covid measures likely delayed firefighters from getting to the scene
Victims likely spent their last 3 months largely confined to that building
@cnn
Rare demonstration in Beijing. 2 banners hung over a busy overpass.
One reads: "Go on strike. Remove dictator and national traitor Xi Jinping."
The other says "say no to covid test, yes to food. No to lockdown, yes to freedom...Don’t be a slave, be a citizen."
At press event (former Princess) Mako & Kei Komuro apologized to people they caused trouble for, who disagreed with their marriage. They thanked their supporters. Kei said: I love Mako; You only live once and I want to spend my one life with the person I love
14 year old girl dies in a quarantine facility in China;
Protests in Lanzhou over death of a 3 year old boy who couldn't make it to the hospital on time;
People forced to quarantine in cold parking lots & male bathrooms.
Frustrations over zero covid are mounting
@OutFrontCNN
I'm honored to join the extraordinary team of journalists at
@ABC
News as Senior White House Correspondent!
This brings an end my international assignments in Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo, then back to Beijing. I'll miss all of my brilliant CNN colleagues
Live for
@cnn
at anti-Olympics protest with one month to go until the Games begin. March about to start from Tokyo Metropolitan Government building. Lots of anger and emotion from people here. Several anti Olympics groups, labor union, feminist groups organizing
For the 1st time since the start of the pandemic, covid is spreading like wildfire in Beijing
People either have it or are scared to get it
Only crowds are outside of hospitals & pharmacies. Spoke to people who said they're feeling sick but struggling to get medicine
@AC360
I’m overwhelmed with gratitude. I have countless people to thank on this journey at Bloomberg, CNN, ABC News
This Emmy award belongs to all of those in countries without freedom of the press - who continue, under the risk of losing it all - to dig beneath the surface.
@newsemmys
Breaking: China reports zero new coronavirus deaths in the country for the first time since January. BUT, dozens of new
#Covid_19
cases are being reported every day from asymptomatic patients and travelers
@quicktake
#coronavirus
As crematoriums fill up, China shifts how it counts Covid deaths. WHO says it will severely undercount. Officially, <10 covid deaths this month. At Beijing crematorium, body bags piled up. People told me of long wait times. Funerary stores said business jumped
@OutFrontCNN
Spoke to a protester last night in Beijing who said he motorcycled & biked more than an hour to get to the scene.
I asked him how he was feeling: “Overwhelmed…All conscientious Chinese people should come here and stand together”
Speaks volumes that he spoke to me maskless
@cnn
What people see on CNN in China v. overseas.
Blocking my report on suicide cases during lockdowns in China
Note:
@cnn
channel is not even available in most places in China, except some international hotels, offices, etc
And it’s no secret here zero Covid is not sustainable
We dig into the 6 entities blacklisted by the US. They've been focused on balloon tech for years -for military & civilian use. Founder of one company was even on camera, pointing to their balloon flying over the US. Geolocated & visited balloon factory location in Beijing
@cnn
“If you are seeing this video, that means I have already been taken by the police”
Chilling words of a young woman in China, who was arrested shortly after filming this
Saw her friends get taken away one by one after the Beijing protest
Said they went to mourn, attend vigil
@cnn
I wrote this story about being a perpetual foreigner–not just in my home America, but in China too
I fear racism will worsen with US-China tensions
I share this, hoping we can see how the conflict hurts us all & stop the racist cycle
#stopAsianhate
@CNN
Biggest surprise at the Tesla gigafactory ceremony to mark first Model 3 deliveries?
@elonmusk
dancing on stage (part of his charm offensive in Shanghai in front of employees and government officials?)
Energy, nerves, anticipation inside Ariake, waiting for
@Simone_Biles
. Her performance was an act of courage.
But she accomplished something remarkable before winning bronze, showing the world you can put your own well being before the expectations of others
@CNN
@firstmove
Trump's tariffs cost US companies & consumers $3 billion a month in additional tax costs & companies a further $1.4 billion in deadweight losses, according to economists from Fed Reserve Bank of NY, Princeton University, Columbia University
@business
It's only becoming harder to speak to any leadership in China. Two Sessions used to be rare chance to doorstop top leaders. After yesterday's plenary, literally had minutes to speak to delegates as they were walking out, majority refused (or some literally ran away)
Merry Christmas from Beijing! 🎄Wishing you & your loved ones happiness, health & joy. Beijing is starting to come back to life w/ those recovered from Covid going out. But many still hunkered down at home with Covid.
But finally seeing people back out in restaurants/shopping
Still cases of people being forcibly dragged to quarantine
Some places lifting lockdowns & making some small yet significant changes to covid rules
BUT, our lives are still very restricted in China
Health codes, 弹窗, PCR tests, threat of lockdown, etc. remains
@AC360
Japan has fully vaccinated less than 1% of its population.
The majority of healthcare workers have yet to receive a single dose.
Why? red tape, slow approval process, supply issues, poor planning, vaccine hesitancy...
@CNN
@brikeilarcnn
"Silence will not protect you”-protester in Beijing tells me. We did the interview in a car to avoid tracking from authorities. "I felt like I lost control of my life because of this zero covid. We are limited physically & mentally we are forbidden to express our ideas"
@cnn
These look like news anchors spreading Chinese propaganda. But look closer. There's something uncanny. Because they aren't real.
@Graphika_NYC
says it's the 1st time they've seen deepfake videos of a fake person used in a pro-state influence operation.
@AC360
@andersoncooper
No protests of this scale…demanding political reforms…have been seen since the Tiananmen Protests in 1989 that led to a massacre of unarmed protesters.
No widespread crackdown yet. But authorities trying to stop this in its tracks & erase all evidence
@OutFrontCNN
@cnn
China state media aired documentary not long ago about its air force downing another country's spy balloon in a heroic move
Ironic Beijing accused US shooting down its balloon as violating int'l practice
State media shows it's been focused on balloon development for a while
@cnn
Major newspaper & official sponsor of Tokyo
#Olympics
calls for cancelation. Asahi Shimbun writes scathing editorial, asking what's the point of Olympics if it's against the will of people & threatening health. Does this pave the way for other sponsors to speak out?
@EarlyStart
Here's what daily life is like in Beijing: despite some easing of rules, life still controlled by PCR tests, health codes
I visit a mass quarantine facility where recovered covid patients stream out & speak to a man who has been under lockdown 6x just this year
@AC360
In China, TikTok is banned. In fact, it never existed. There's a sister version called Douyin also owned by Bytedance. Was already a huge hit before TikTok launched. Differences: Douyin has 40 min limit for kids under 14, automatic (strong) beauty filter, heavily censored
@cnn
新年快乐! 祝你兔年幸福安康! Happy Chinese New Year! Wishing you happiness and health in the Year of the Rabbit! 🧧🐇 My first time at a 庙会. Temple Fairs had been cancelled in Beijing since the start of the pandemic, and now are finally back🏮
HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM SHANGHAI!
People here couldn't be more excited for 2022 to be in the past. 2023 is a whole new world. No more lockdowns, PCR tests, quarantines.
After so much sacrifice & isolation for three years, finally, people can party without fear
@cnn
For months, we've been following a man who risked everything to escape zero-covid China to chase his American dream.
He's one of many trying to flee growing repression under Xi Jinping's rule.
Some are even taking dangerous journeys to illegally enter America through Mexico
@cnn
US bank victims were bailed out in 3 days. In China, many have been waiting a year
Victims of China's rural banking scandal in Henan tell me thousands haven't received a penny back of their life savings
Instead they're being tracked, harassed or worse
@cnn
COVID cases in Japan reach 6-month high
Residents oppose Thomas Bach's visit tomorrow to Hiroshima. Some say it insults A-bomb survivors. Pacifist groups say it's "blasphemy"
90-year old survivor tells us the pandemic is like war & it's not the time for the Olympics
@CNN
Visited a man overcome with grief in Beijing. He blames zero covid on his father's death.
His father needed emergency help during lockdown. No one could go out to drive him 5 min away to the hospital
When ambulance finally arrived an hour later, it was too late
@OutFrontCNN
Beijing admits for the 1st time that the balloon spotted over Latin America belongs to China, when I asked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs press conference.
MOFA said it was used for flight test & “seriously deviated” from planned course and entered Latin America “by mistake”
In Beijing protest people chanting for freedom and to be released.
Spoke to several protesters. Some came from close by and some from far away.
Also a man passionately reading a poem
First time traveling domestic in China in months. No PCR test required!
Now, other places (Italy, Taiwan, India, Japan) are requiring Covid tests for travelers from China. Almost half of the 212 passengers who arrived in Italy's Milan airport from China on Monday tested positive
BREAKING: Apple shares are halted. Tim Cook's letter to investors: "Our revenue will be lower than our original guidance for the quarter... we expected economic weakness in some emerging markets. This turned out to have a significantly greater impact than we had projected."
BREAKING: China will lift Wuhan lockdown at
#coronavirus
epicenter on April 8th. ~60 million have been locked down since Jan 23 in Hubei. Transportation will resume. This is after new official cases in Hubei dropped to zero days ago
@quicktake
#COVID19
China youth unemployment going from bad to worse. Unemployment for those aged 16-24 hit a new record of 19.9% in July.
Bad news for the record 10.76 million students are estimated to be entering the job market this summer.
It's extremely rare for a demonstration in China to specifically mention Xi Jinping by name.
It's unknown if there were any arrests following the incident. But punishment for people involved could be very severe…including prison time or even worse
@cnn
Chinese artist in NYC Times Square struggles to breathe and crawl, sweating profusely. He's wearing dozens of hazmat suits.
He says it's a demonstration about China - a metaphor for burden, exhaustion, and repression people face under zero covid
China suddenly indefinitely delays the release of GDP data. This is extremely rare.
No explanation, but experts say could be because the data doesn't look good. And Beijing doesn't want anything overshadowing the Party Congress.
@cnn
Lots of resources poured into surveillance, harsh lockdowns, & mass testing…by CNN's calculations, just one day of mass testing in Beijing costs at least $10 million
Vaccinations still lagging among elderly in China. No mRNA vaccines are available
@cnn
Biden taking a brief walk with Xi.
When I asked him how talks are going, he said "well"
Biden gave a thumbs up and both waved at press
Summit has just ended after ~4 hrs
The two leaders just had a late working lunch, featuring ravioli, artichoke, chicken, almond cake
Biden: we’ve known each other for a long time. We haven't always agreed, which was not a surprise to anyone, but our meetings have always been candid, straightforward and useful.
Xi: China-US relationship has never been smooth sailing over the past 50 years or more and it always…
President announces new executive action on women's health research. Medical research has long focused on men & left women out. This orders federal agencies to collect more data on women& adds new funding for research, including around menopause & health conditions around it
@GMA
People at anti-Olympics protest in Tokyo tell me they're scared of a rebound in covid19 & angry that government is devoting so much public funds to a sporting event. Several told me they want to get vaccinated but haven't been able to yet. Only 8% fully vaccinated in Japan
@cnn
Workers in white hazmat suits are symbols of China's covid enforcement.
But now, they're also symbols of cruelty. Videos of them beating residents, mauling pets to death, dragging people from their homes...sparking outrage.
Warning: video contains disturbing images
@AC360
Biden-Xi meeting starts
All in masks except Biden/Xi
Tense atmosphere very different from many in-person meetings in years past
Xi says “great changes are unfolding like never before…world has come to a crossroads…world expects US & China will properly handle the relationship”
Biden-Xi meeting underway at this historic estate in Woodside, CA
Painstakingly choreographed event - every detail meticulously planned
Goal of meeting is to agree to talk more
These two countries are locked in stiff competition - and that isn't going to change anytime soon
@ABC
Surreal to see leaders of US, Japan, South Korea on same podium at Camp David.
Big deal to have America's key allies finally getting along
Looming over summit is fact that these are 3 democracies & leaders may change. But trying to institutionalize & make it last...
@ABC
Anti-
#Olympics
protest in Tokyo. The protesters are angry. They tell me it's wrong, even inhumane, for Japan to host the Games when so many people around the world are struggling...amid surging
#COVID19
cases in Japan & 1% of population fully vaccinated
@cnn
@newday
@JohnBerman
Wow, this is such an incredible surprise! This Emmy nomination really belongs to the phenomenal team at CNN. Especially the small, but mighty team behind the camera in China, whose faces and names the world does not see.
The environment for journalists in China is at its worst…
Xi Jinping's opening speech at the Party Congress was just under 2 hours, much shorter than previous years.
Now, propaganda gets to work praising Xi.
Summary of his vision: "Xi sits on top of the party, the party sits on top of China, and China sits on top of the world."
Relief, disbelief in Shanghai. City begins to exit brutal lockdown.
Most of Shanghai's' 25 million can go out, but >half a million still locked in.
Past few months have eroded people's trust in the government.
(This story was censored in China)
@cnn
@OutFrontCNN
Protesters unified in anger, but in Beijing I saw some disagreement. Some want political change. Others say Xi/CCP can stay, but need to listen. Said they are speaking out b/c they love China.
State media ignoring it all. Headlines are about zero covid being "scientific"
@AC360
It's remarkable to see that in authoritarian China, protests appear to have forced the government to change its tune on zero covid.
But the changes are happening in a patchwork across the country. Some places are easing rules, while others are clinging to zero covid
@TheLeadCNN
I'm one of the only people I know around me who does NOT have covid in Beijing
Government has given up on keeping count of all cases -went from zero covid to let it rip
& canned peach demand is surging after rumors about the food being magic medicine for covid
@OutFrontCNN
China police using vast toolkit of surveillance, individual intimidation against protesters.
Some are getting calls/visits from police. A Beijing protester who got the call said police may have been calm during protest, but CCP knows how to exact punishment afterwards
@AC360
This McDonald’s 🍔🍟 in Beijing takes your temperature and makes you sign your name & phone # before walking in. There was also an employee spraying disinfectant in the air. Beijing has been tightening regulations amid
#Coronavirius
#COVID2019
@QuickTake
I’ve spent some time digging into the 2,752 twitter accounts linked to the Kremlin-backed IRA. Dozens of them posed as legitimate local American news sites, gained half a million+ followers, and were cited by 100+ news organizations.
I'm thrilled to be joining CNN as an international correspondent! 📺 I'll be covering key stories across the Asia-Pacific region for CNN's television & digital platforms. I'm packing my bags for several stops in Asia for my new assignment ✈️
@CNN
@cnni
✈️I'm excited to announce that I'm moving to Beijing to report & anchor for
@BloombergTV
! I'll be covering China's economy, markets, corporate giants, & technology at this pivotal time in the country's development. I'll still be writing for
@business
&
@BW
!
China to end quarantine for inbound arrivals, restart outbound tourism in "orderly manner". Major move towards formal end of zero covid & ending China's 3 yrs of isolation.
Part of broader policy that downgrades covid management to a less infectious disease
@wolfblitzer
China will be scrapping quarantine for incoming travelers from Jan 8.
China's National Health Commission just announced it's downgrading covid to "Category B management". Before, it was category A, putting it on par w/ bubonic plague/cholera.
The
#NoMarriage
movement adds to South Korea’s economic woes. Labor force is shrinking. Government is making marriage incentives. Oh, and more than 20% of wedding halls in Seoul have closed
Reporting from Hanoi Hilton, where captured soldiers were tortured and imprisoned during Vietnam war, including late Sen. John McCain. Reminder of how far the US-Vietnam relationship has come
Vietnam now elevating US to highest diplomatic status - a stunning reversal
@ABC
Heavy police presence in Beijing. Near Sitong Bridge, many police vans and policemen on the street.
This is a sensitive spot bc it’s where anti-Xi and anti-Covid banners were hung in October. One read: “remove dictator and national traitor Xi Jinping”
Local officials were following our every move in Dali. When drove out to investigate the covid situation, a whole new group tailed us & obstructed our reporting, even grabbing a woman away in the middle of our interview on camera
@AC360
@andersoncooper
Goodbye Hong Kong! Just landed in Beijing. 8 hour wait in HK airport for pre-boarding PCR test. Another long wait after PCR test in Beijing airport. Sign says 2-3 hours to get luggage bc it all gets disinfected and then hand carried.
Getting used to seeing hazmat suits again
Experts say the crisis in Henan is just the tip of the iceberg, as China's economy slows & debt balloons.
Frank Xie of University of South Carolina Aiken estimates "at least one-third or one-quarter of the small banks in China are in trouble" (pt3)
@OutFrontCNN
@ErinBurnett
Breaking: Japan declares state of emergency in Tokyo through the
#Olympics
, as
#covid19
cases surge again.
PM says it's partly b/c of the delta variant
Spoke to people protesting Bach's arrival in Tokyo, who they say he represents IOC greed
@NewDay
@JohnBerman
@CNN
US to require travelers from China to show negative covid test before flight
Japan, India, Taiwan, Italy have put testing requirements in place for travelers from China.
Taiwan & Japan said if test positive upon arrival, must quarantine for several days
@cnn