European Contexts Seminar Series
Conversation with journalists: Vivian Wu (Wu Wei), founder and CEO of Dasheng Media, an independent platform for global Chinese-language journalism and former chief editor of BBC Chinese and bureau chief in Hong Kong; Filip Noubel, China-expert and author of a study on Chinese diaspora in Europe; and Chu Yang, political and media analyst, member of the Circle 19 for the Right to Information in the People’s Republic of China.
When: Monday 22 September 2025, 9:30-11:30 CEST
Where: in-person, Presseclub Concordia, Bankgasse 8, 1010 Vienna AND online via Zoom
There are two ways to follow this seminar:
- Presseclub Concordia attendance - Registration!
- Zoom participation - Registration!
Registration is mandatory. Registration deadline: Sunday, 21 September 2025 at 12:00CEST
Background
While China’s political, military and economic interests enjoy frequent media coverage in the mainstream international media, little is known about the 2,5 million Chinese diaspora in Europe. People from Chine arrived in different waves, and each wave has its own characteristics and motives for leaving China.
Independent journalists and numerous activists live among us, but public opinion is not aware of them as much as of the Russian dissidents, activists and media outlets in exile. Why? Is it due to cultural/linguistic divide or Beijing’s control of the diaspora? “For external observers, Chinese diasporas living in Europe are often perceived through the lenses of enduring simplifications: Chinese migrants and their descendants are mostly involved in small family-owned business, do not get involved in local or national politics, and stick to their own communities…. Yet nothing could be further from the truth of the lived experience of different generations, communities of Chinese diaspora members,” write Filip Noubel and Chu Yang.
Wu Wei, Yang Chu and Filip Noubel will address Chinese diaspora in Europe, Chinese independent media as well as Beijing’s control methods abroad, which constitute one of the reasons why Chinese activists and independent journalists in Europe keep a low profile.
Speakers
Vivian Wu (Wu Wei) is the founder and CEO of Dasheng Media, an independent platform for global Chinese-language journalism. She was formerly chief editor of BBC Chinese and bureau chief in Hong Kong. With over 18 years of experience in both Chinese and English media world, sha has reported for the CCTV, South China Morning Post, the Initium Media, the Portrait Magazine and other outlets. Originally from Lanzhou, Gansu Province, People's Republic of China, Vivian Wu holds a BA in English and Literature from the Renmin University of China; MA in International Communication from the Beijing University and an MA in Political Science from The New School (New York). Since 2022, Vivian Wu lives in New York, US.
Chu Yang is a journalist and media researcher specialising in Chinese digital media and diaspora communities. Currently serving as Project Coordinator at the China Media Project and China Analyst at the AMO, Prague, she leads a capacity-building initiative for Chinese-language journalists globally and analyses information manipulation targeting diaspora communities through the EU-funded Horizon Europe RESONANT project. Chu Yang lives in Aarhus, Denmark.
Filip Noubel is an editor, reporter, researcher and literary translator with thirty years of experience in covering news, training journalists, and developing projects.
He is editor at large for Global Voices, and Senior China Analyst for the Prague-based AMO think-tank. His current research focuses on Sinophone diasporas, China-Francophone Africa relations, Taiwan-Ukraine relations, and decolonization narratives in the Russophone and Sinophone spaces. He worked for media projects in Beijing for over 10 years and currently divides his time between Prague (Czech Republic) and Taipei (Taiwan).
Filip Noubel and Vivian Wu have a weekly podcast in Mandarin Chinese.
Format
Moderated conversation followed by live Q&A.
Moderator
Mirjana Tomic fjum/Presseclub Concordia
Target Groups
Austrian and international journalists, thinktank analysts, and academics.
Number of participants in Presseclub Concordia
Maximum: 70
Number on online participants
Maximum: 100