Sign in

Emily Feng

@emilyzfeng.bsky.social
16.5K followers 659 following 738 posts

NPR White House correspondent. 10 years in China and Taiwan. Author of Let Only Red Flowers Bloom (Crown 2025) and forthcoming book on Syria (CGR 2026) globalreports.columbia.edu/books/ou…

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Emily Feng
Columbia Global Reports @columbiagr.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
TOMORROW! Join us in DC for a conversation about OUR HEARTS BURNED FOR HOME with author @emilyzfeng.bsky.social and @financialtimes.com foreign affairs correspondent Abigail Hauslohner 🗓️ Friday 10/16 at Politics and Prose
politics-prose.com
Emily Feng — Our Hearts Burned for Home: Uyghur Militants in Syria's Civil War - With Abigail Hauslohner — at Conn Ave
What drove a few thousand men from the deserts of western China to the front lines of Syria's war?
031 0
Reposted by Emily Feng
The Wire China @thewirechina.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
How did large numbers of Uyghurs come to leave western China and fight in Syria's civil war? @emilyzfeng.bsky.social has reported on Xinjiang issues since 2017. In her latest book, she interviews the Uyghur fighters far from home. Read the full Q&A: buff.ly/0PjcuTF
0149 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
. @thediplomat.com has featured our new book, Our Hearts Burned For Home, out this week. "Imagine my surprise when I saw Uyghur fighters milling about Syria..and I was later to discover, their role in the civil war had been much more impactful than anyone expected." thediplomat.com/2026/10/the-...
thediplomat.com
The Uyghurs Who Fought in Syria’s Civil War
Insights from Emily Feng.
051 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
Hear me out - industrial policy is exciting. And the Trump administration is doing a lot of it. www.npr.org/2026/10/10/n...
npr.org
Trump's economic strategy resemble similar policies in East Asia
Much of the Trump administration's economic policy has been inspired by successful industrial policies successful in East Asia, including those of competitor, China. Will those policies work in the U....
071 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
Book is out!!!
22611 0
Reposted by Emily Feng
Columbia Global Reports @columbiagr.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
“If the Uyghurs were ousted they would have nowhere else to go. Forced to choose a side, they chose that of the rebels.” @emilyzfeng.bsky.social takes us to the front lines of civil war in an excerpt form OUR HEARTS BURNED FOR HOME for @foreignpolicy.com foreignpolicy.com/2026/10/12/u...
foreignpolicy.com
From Xinjiang to the Front Lines of Syria
How Uyghur militants were dragged into civil war.
053 0
Reposted by Emily Feng
Columbia Global Reports @columbiagr.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Next week in DC, join us for a conversation about OUR HEARTS BURNED FOR HOME with author @emilyzfeng.bsky.social and @financialtimes.com U.S.-Mideast Foreign Affairs Correspondent Abigail Hauslohner 🗓️ Friday 10/16 at Politics and Prose learn more--> politics-prose.com/emily-feng-1...
041 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
You can read an excerpt of the forthcoming Our Hearts Burned For Home, in the China Books Review. "All they had known in Syria was war. War had given them a purpose. Now that war was over. What were they to do next?" chinabooksreview.com/2026/10/08/u...
chinabooksreview.com
Fighting for Home | China Books Review
After 14 years of war in Syria, Damascus fell to the rebels in December 2024. Fighting with them was a small but critical cohort of Uyghurs, who had fled China and joined the battle. But once the war ...
184 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
The Embedded podcast series featuring this reporting and more on the case of Austin Tice is worth a listen
0104 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
I went in BBC @newshour.bsky.social to talk about our new book, Our Hearts Burned For Home, on Uyghur fighters in Syria, hitting shelves October 13 (at the 40 min mark) urldefense.com/v3/__https:/...
urldefense.com
Newshour - Tens of thousands protest housing crisis in Spain - BBC Sounds
The Spanish parliament yesterday rejected the government's proposals to protect tenants.
091 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
"The staffing shortages are so significant that in many of the FBI's 56 field offices, counterintelligence squads only have 50% to 60% of positions filled. In multiple field offices, the number of squads doing such work has been reduced by half." www.npr.org/2026/10/06/g...
npr.org
As Trump focuses the FBI on immigration, counterintelligence is falling behind
The cuts come as a consequence of President Trump and FBI Director Kash Patel's focus on violent crime and immigration, leaving other priorities understaffed.
070 0
Reposted by Emily Feng
Gveskoyen @gveskoyen.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
That's the exact same etymology as "artificial", from "ars" (craftsmanship) + "facere" (to bring about)
081 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
“In Chinese, the word for “artificial” is formed by combining the characters for “person” (ren) and “work” (gong), emphasizing something made by human effort rather than set in opposition to nature.” www.theideasletter.org/essay/shooti...
theideasletter.org
Shooting the Suns
Bequelin situates China’s approach to artificial intelligence within the country’s longer trajectory of treating science as a primary engine of development and state-building. That history has produce...
1163 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Very cool data journalism here www.wsj.com/politics/ele...
wsj.com
We Used AI to Find Out Just How Much Americans Hate AI
Opposition to AI, data centers and Flock cameras brought people together like few other issues, and it is showing up in the midterms.
081 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Another banger: "and the republic said everything you need is within you, and also on USA.gov "
usa.gov
Making government services easier to find | USAGov
Find government benefits, services, agencies, and information at USA.gov. Contact elected officials. Learn about passports, Social Security, taxes, and more.
070 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
My favorite, for being too on the nose: "You. You. You are alive. You still have to bring two forms of ID."
190 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Just tried this, indeed this is what happens. Some of the lines the model starts hallucinating are quite beautiful. Some are very strange.
260 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Evan Gershkovish speaking on always being a journalist, even under detention, and grappling with coming back to "normal" life after imprisonment. www.npr.org/2026/09/29/n...
npr.org
Journalist recounts his Russian imprisonment on false espionage charges in new memoir
NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich about his memoir, "This Cursed Beautiful Land," on his imprisonment in Russia on false espionage charges.
0101 0
Reposted by Emily Feng
Alex Leff @alexleff.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Potential Taiwan tension sparked a "last-minute" change in the Trump-Xi visit to the National Archives in Washington — @emilyzfeng.bsky.social reports www.npr.org/2026/09/29/n...
npr.org
Potential Taiwan tension sparked 'last minute' change in Trump-Xi National Archives visit
The sudden change was precipitated because of Chinese displeasure over one document that the U.S. had planned to show.
042 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
3/ 3/The Chinese embassy found out about the list of documents shown on Thursday, during Xi's state visit to Washington, according to two Chinese diplomats. And ultimately all the items in a temporary display were taken away before Xi and Trump arrived. x.com/EmilyZFeng/s...
x.com
Emily Feng 冯哲芸 (@EmilyZFeng) on X
Before Xi and Trump arrived at the National Archives, there was a temp exhibition with a giant yellow scroll in the middle of the room removed. I was told it was a note from the Qing dynasty to the U....
080 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
2/ Other documents key to defining the U.S.' relationship to Taiwan were also discussed for possible display, according to U.S. officials involved in the visit planning, namely the Six Assurances and the Three Communiques, but those documents were ultimately not included. www.npr.org/2026/09/29/n...
npr.org
Potential Taiwan tension sparked 'last minute' change in Trump-Xi National Archives visit
The sudden change was precipitated because of Chinese displeasure over one document that the U.S. had planned to show.
170 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
1/ New from me: Chinese diplomats scrambled up to 90 min before the Xi/Trump visit to the National Archives to stop a Taiwan-related treaty from being shown. ..."an indication of pushback from within the U.S. government against President Trump's warm reception of Xi.." www.npr.org/2026/09/29/n...
npr.org
Potential Taiwan tension sparked 'last minute' change in Trump-Xi National Archives visit
The sudden change was precipitated because of Chinese displeasure over one document that the U.S. had planned to show.
1209 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
"He wonders if shamans in Liangzhu, many thousands of years ago, were doing something similar to what he is doing now—whether their ancient star maps were a way of saying that the world, however chaotic and confusing, contained a pattern that humans could predict." www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
newyorker.com
What China’s Vibe-Coding Capital Can Tell Us About the A.I. Boom
Liangzhu, a small town near the tech hub Hangzhou, has become a haven for tech workers burnt out by the grind of China’s booming tech industry.
071 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
"Being first, Ding argued, was a poor predictor of who wins." www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
newyorker.com
There Is No A.I. “Race”
We’re constantly told that Chinese advances in A.I. would have catastrophic consequences. But the first to innovate is rarely the one who wins.
0132 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Trump wrote on Truth Social suggesting today's meetings with Xi will NOT result in joint guidance on artificial intelligence. Notable to me that Xi Jinping, in his opening remarks, stressed AI should ultimately remain "under human control". us.china-embassy.gov.cn/zgyw/202609/...
us.china-embassy.gov.cn
习近平在白宫欢迎仪式上的致辞(全文)_中华人民共和国驻美利坚合众国大使馆
1173 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Pro-Chinese Communist Party welcoming group waiting for Xi Jinping’s motorcade to pass on the way to the White House. Some Chinese embassy staff also here, helping to organize “areas of responsibility” and hats
1126 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Treasury just announced a two-month extension, far shorter than what China proposed. Speaks to the daylight between the U.S. and China but also the desire to make Xi's visit tomorrow as smooth as possible. www.nbcnews.com/business/eco...
nbcnews.com
U.S. and China agree to extend trade truce through January 10, Bessent says
The extension of an agreement to suspend some tariffs comes as Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Washington for a state visit.
12515 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
"The Trump Administration has let the fox in the henhouse. " Statement from the US-Taiwan Business Council (whose members include a lot of American arms makers) www.us-taiwan.org/resources/th...
us-taiwan.org
Taiwan Arms Sales Freeze
USTBC President Rupert Hammond-Chambers asks why President Trump has initiated an ongoing Taiwan arms sale freeze, delaying Taiwan's force modernization. %
051 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Very interesting interview with US ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz on @npr.org today on the three hour talks with Iran yesterday www.npr.org/2026/09/23/n...
npr.org
U.S. ambassador to the U.N. discusses Trump's address at UNGA
NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz about President Trump's trip to the U.N. General Assembly and whether progress has been made on key issues.
021 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
A forward-planning note we discuss in the podcast: if Xi Jinping’s visit in Washington goes well this week, Trump is almost certainly going to APEC in Shenzhen after the midterms. Russia’s Putin will attend too. www.npr.org/2026/09/21/n...
npr.org
Trump takes the world stage : The NPR Politics Podcast
President Trump heads to the United Nations General Assembly this week as the organization welcomes world leaders to discuss their work. We preview what he will discuss, as well as what is on the agen...
030 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
From my colleague @scottdetrow.bsky.social “We just noted on air that NPR has decided not to use audio from White House events until further notice. We will cover the news but will not use the sound clips.”
2274 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
washingtonpost.com
Major TV networks halt pool coverage of Trump over CNN ban
CNN, along with MS NOW and Politico, also said it was suing over the ban, which the president defended as “an assault on the FAKE NEWS.”
1224 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Details on Xi's visit. Trump not only will greet Xi on the tarmac but also do a military flyover as part of a welcoming ceremony. Wondering where 'perfect reciprocity' went. (Trump did not get this in Beijing. He got singing children.) www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-st...
whitehouse.gov
First Lady Melania Trump Releases Details Ahead of His Excellency Xi Jinping, President of The People’s Republic of China, and Madame Peng Liyuan’s Visit to The White House
President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will welcome His Excellency Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China and Madame Peng
3226 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
“Analysts have long feared that AI could lead to a catastrophic miscalculation if nation states are relying on poor or corrupted data — the kind of miscalculation that might lead the United States to fire on a Chinese ship based on inaccurate info.” www.cnn.com/2026/09/18/p...
cnn.com
Exclusive: US military had close call after using AI for false intelligence report, sources say | CNN Politics
The episode shows the risks of using this new, relatively poorly understood technology in the middle of the Iran war
0112 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Today we tackle the debate raging around frontier AI, whether China can and wants to create humanity destroying AI, and whether regulation really inhibits progress as the Trump admin assumes one.npr.org/i/nx-s1-5973...
one.npr.org
🔊 Listen Now: With AI, what's more important for the U.S. — winning or safety?
All Things Considered on NPR One | 5:40
270 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Tracking last pick ups for the audio book version of Our Hearts Burned For Home today globalreports.columbia.edu/books/our-he...
0103 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
3/ And among the last minute details being ironed out as late as last week: China has wanted more than half of seats at a state dinner of about 100 people. Plus Interagency prep on briefing materials/ talking points for had not yet been completed. www.npr.org/2026/09/17/n...
npr.org
Big questions - and key logistical details - loom ahead of China-U.S. summit
Despite the lingering questions, China remains optimistic about the summit.
040 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
2/ Both countries have been quietly testing out different chokepoints on one another despite the rare earths truce. China hasn't allowed rare earth exports to resume to full levels + a phosphate export ban is hurting; the U.S. has been slow-walking airplane parts to China www.npr.org/2026/09/17/n...
npr.org
Big questions - and key logistical details - loom ahead of China-U.S. summit
Despite the lingering questions, China remains optimistic about the summit.
160 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
1/ Scoop - Before Trump's visit to Beijing this past May, Chinese officials offered to extend the rare earths moratorium to the end of Trump's term, in January 2029. The U.S. rejected the offer, requesting a six-month extension only. www.npr.org/2026/09/17/n...
npr.org
Big questions - and key logistical details - loom ahead of China-U.S. summit
Despite the lingering questions, China remains optimistic about the summit.
1103 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Highlighting this from the Anthropic risk report: "We identified a PRC government-aligned operation that used Claude to track, profile, and recruit Uyghurs and Uyghur armed formations in Syria." These Uyghurs are the focus of my book w/Abduweli Ayup: globalreports.columbia.edu/books/our-he...
globalreports.columbia.edu
Our Hearts Burned for Home | Columbia Global Reports
The untold story of Uyghur exiles who fled China to the front lines of Syria’s civil war
0134 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
"State banks fed the rush, offering a special category of loans for blueberry growers." www.wsj.com/business/dri...
wsj.com
Driscoll’s Gave China Its Blueberries—Then China Swiped the Secret to Growing Them
The California grower’s expansion into China ignited local competition and widespread intellectual-property theft. Private investigators went undercover at nurseries.
190 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Important point from Chris McGuire in today's UpFirst from @npr.org : "It doesn’t make any sense to say that ww have to move as fast as possible in order to beat China while we are also selling them the tech they need to move faster in AI." www.npr.org/2026/09/15/n...
npr.org
Trump Downplays AI Risks, SCOTUS Mail-In Voting Ruling, Kennedy Center Bankruptcy : Up First from NPR
President Trump dismissed warnings from leading AI companies that the technology is advancing too fast, calling fears of machines taking over a hoax and framing AI development as a race with China.The...
062 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
“The same America that reacted to September 11 with suspicion toward people like me also made my career possible. The country that narrowed its definition of belonging also contained within it the ability to expand that definition.” www.vanityfair.com/story/muslim...
vanityfair.com
Who Gets to Tell the Story of America? A Muslim American Reporter Has Been Asking That Since 9/11.
After 25 years covering America’s wars and their aftershocks across the globe, from Baghdad to Tahrir Square to Gaza, MS NOW's Ayman Mohyeldin worries that America has learned the “wrong lessons” from...
196 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
“Anthropic documented another genre of abuse it said was new: attempts to use Claude to develop software for conventional weapons design and development… It detailed three cases in China, two in Russia and one in Yemen.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/10/u...
nytimes.com
Anthropic Says It Blocked Possible Efforts to Build Biological Weapons
In a new report, the A.I. start-up added that it could not determine if the research was legitimate or nefarious, leading the company to shut down the work.
091 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Bookmarking this to listen to on Friday - StoryCorp interviewed survivors and families for years after 9/11 and have collected their stories. open.spotify.com/episode/3dP9...
open.spotify.com
It Will Always Be Yesterday: 25 Years After 9/11
StoryCorps · Episode
0257 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Enlightening interview. "If Americans are concerned about China in the world, which I am, the best way to act on China is with an alliance with America's traditional allies," Freeland told NPR's Morning Edition." www.npr.org/2026/09/08/n...
npr.org
Chrystia Freeland negotiated with Trump. Now she's watching a trade war unfold
Chrystia Freeland understands the U.S.-Canada relationship from her time at the negotiating table. Here's what she sees now.
0152 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Appreciating these gorgeous 双喜 paper cuts from my mother in Washington’s morning light this long weekend
0281 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I don’t “glorify” anyone. Recommend you read the book first! It’s a very complicated story with few good guys, many gaps in understanding, and thus even more worth reporting on.
000 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Woo first copies are here! Our Hearts Burned For Home, on sale very soon October 12. The book unearths the untold story of Uyghur exiles who fled China’s expanding police state—only to become a pivotal force behind the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. globalreports.columbia.edu/books/our-he...
33810 0
Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
My first White House briefing on my new beat. Lots on Iran, Venezuela China - and overlap with my old beat as a foreign correspondent.
0130 0