In January 2001, I started with the network as one of its first multi-platform reporters when I wrote for CNN.com/Asia and contributed to eBiz Asia and Tech Watch. I introduced global audiences to WiFi, cloud computing, and camera phones.
(Again, this was a **quarter century** ago.)
For 25 years, I’ve served as a Hong Kong-based anchor and correspondent for the network covering the territory, China, and Asia on TV, digital and mobile platforms reaching more than 475 million households around the world. I’ve clocked tens of thousands of hours of live video journalism, having anchored over a dozen different programs from NewsBiz Today and Eye on China to News Stream and CNN New Year’s Eve Live Asia.
So why have I been here so long?
It all comes down to the team.
CNN’s Asia-Pacific headquarters has a culture of sharing and openness. Multi-tasking is embraced. And there’s an eagerness to experiment and do more. As a child of Silicon Valley who experimented with early digital filmmaking and Web design in the 90s, I knew I found my creative and intellectual home here.
Friends and fans know how much I enjoy covering innovation as well as thinking about how to innovate as a storyteller. From day one, I’ve been in hot pursuit of the creative rather than conventional, staying curious and never closed-minded.
And I want to thank many of you for your sincere interest in my work. Your DM news tips, interviews, and even the fan selfies in the field have sustained me.☺️
After 25 years at CNN, I’m still trying new things. Let’s keep creating as we craft the next era of news together.✌🏽
🎨 Ever since she could pick up a fat crayon, my daughter always wanted to color, paint and design new worlds. It’s such a thrill to see how Arabella is adding her voice to the eternal conversation that is visual art…
I love it! 💕
Paintings and Art Direction by @ara.artistt
Photos by @benmaransphotography
🫶🏽Looking ahead to a new year and looking back at a cherished holiday season with family, friends and loved ones.
Let’s continue to look after our health, our education, and above all our connections to one another.
Savor each and every moment we have together! ❤️
Peter Piot, who co‑discovered the Ebola virus, stresses that care for patients and protecting health workers are among the top priorities as a rare Ebola strain, known as Bundibugyo, spreads in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.
🇲🇻 A military diver has died in the #Maldives while searching for four Italian nationals believed to be inside a maze-like underwater cave.
- 🤿 British cave rescue expert John Volanthen tells me the recovery mission is challenging due to extreme depth, tight cave spaces, and low visibility
- ⚠️ Deeper dives increase danger, including nitrogen narcosis -- a condition that can impair judgment and trigger panic underwater
- 🌀 Silt, narrow passages, and complex cave layouts make navigation especially difficult for divers
Volanthen stresses most diving incidents come from a "chain of small decisions," highlighting the importance of careful planning and staying within experience limits.
I deeply appreciate John's expertise and his sympathy for the families of the victims. May they rest in peace. 🙏🏽
Chinese leader Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump have concluded a historic summit with global implications, but substantive agreements have yet to be announced on key issues such as the Iran war. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout explains.
Tap our link in bio for more.
Trump says China will buy US crude as both powers urge reopening of Hormuz:
- 🌏 White House says Trump and Xi agreed the Strait of Hormuz must remain open
- 🛢️ Trump says China will buy US oil, though Beijing hasn’t confirmed
- 🚢 30 vessels have crossed the strait since Wednesday (well below the pre-war daily average of ~140) including tankers linked to Japan & China
- 🤝 Analysts suggest Iran may be allowing crossings to avoid disrupting China’s position during the talks
- ⚠️ Risks remain high: a ship was seized off the UAE and redirected toward Iran, while an Indian cargo ship was attacked and sank off Oman
- ⛽ Oil prices are climbing after ending flat Thursday
- 🛑 Hundreds of ships and ~20,000 seafarers remain stranded, underscoring ongoing danger despite a ceasefire
The latest.
Trump rejects #Iran’s peace plan response, calling it (yep, in all caps) “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE,” dashing hopes of a quick end to the conflict.
- 🛢️ Brent #crude and US crude climbed more than 4%
- 📉 US stock futures are pointing lower
- 🌍 Regional tensions stay high with Israeli strikes in Lebanon, drone threats over the Gulf, and Iran refusing to “bow” in negotiations.
🇨🇳 Meanwhile, #China’s exports are rebounding -- up 14.1% year-on-year -- but economists warn a prolonged war could push prices higher and hit trade.
All this as Trump faces growing pressure to end the war ahead of his visit to China from May 13-15.
"What we really want to do is break any chains of transmission so that this outbreak is controlled. It is controllable."
Here's my conversation with Professor Devi Sridhar, Chair of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh, on the #hantavirus cruise ship outbreak. She tells me:
- 🛳️ Clearer picture expected once passengers disembark in Tenerife, Spain and undergo screening
- 🦠 Long incubation period raises concern -- but no unlinked cases so far
- 🌍 WHO-led international coordination is key, despite differing national responses
- 🏥 No vaccine or specific treatment -- quarantine and monitoring are critical
- ✅ Public risk remains low; no need to change daily routines
- 👀 For now: “wait and watch” approach advised
From the latest #CNN News Room...
We’re back in the CNN-HK flash studio for two hours of live news. Oh, and Happy Mothers Day! 💐 Sending love and solidarity to all my fellow working moms out there. 💪🏽❤️🫶🏽
Ahhh... The moment when I asked Anna Wintour about perfectionism and learning from mistakes.
This was from my 2015 interview with the legendary editor in Beijing when she was promoting the Costume Institute exhibit “China: Through the Looking Glass” which opened that year at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Wintour told me: “I couldn’t possibly begin to tell you what they all are. But I think what’s most important is to learn from your mistakes, and to acknowledge them, and not to be embarrassed by them.”
🙌🏽
Delighted to see the interview in the excellent new CNN documentary, “Behind the Bob: Vogue’s Anna Wintour.”
