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Taking on life’s challenges and overcoming adversity with Justice Richard Bernstein

“An easy life does not always correspond to a good one.”

Standing at the FCC podium, Justice Richard Bernstein began his opening speech with stories of pain and triumph. Going to law school, becoming elected and re-elected to serve on Michigan’s Supreme Court, and completing multiple endurance races — all while being born visually impaired— has been no easy mission.

Despite such a life-altering setback, Justice Bernstein has chosen to persevere, to overcome the challenges he faces every day and become a leading figure in disability rights.

“Life is all about doing things because you’ve got to want it. You’ve got to believe in it. You’ve got to choose it, and you’ve got to decide that you’re going to make this happen,” he said.

Justice Richard Bernstein. Photo: FCC

Justice Bernstein, with the help of the US Consulate, completed a recent tour of Hong Kong. While meeting with consular staff, local radio stations and journalists — and even joining a run with Fearless Dragon, a running group for people with visual and hearing impairments — he also spoke at an FCC Club Lunch alongside President Lee Williamson.

The pair talked in depth about Justice Bernstein’s professional life and athletic career, as well as Michigan’s role in the upcoming US presidential elections and how voting systems can differ from state to state.

Williamson, as an avid runner himself, first asked Justice Bernstein about how he was able to complete 26 marathons and a full IronMan competition, which consists of a 2.4-mile swim followed by a 112-mile bike ride and another full marathon.

Justice Bernstein’s advice was simple — just take one step at a time.

“Ultimately, if you do everything one day at a time and one step at a time, things usually tend to find their way,” he said.

Williamson highlighted the New York City accident that Justice Bernstein suffered from before his 18th marathon. A cyclist struck him while going over 35 miles an hour, shattering his pelvis. The accident required 10 weeks of hospitalisation and left the justice with chronic pain, yet he still continued running.

“It [running] is something that you build over time. It becomes a part of what you do and who you are, and it becomes a part of your lifestyle, and it becomes part of what you tend to focus on each and every day. Like I always speak to, it becomes part of your life mission,” Justice Bernstein summarised.

Williamson and Justice Bernstein also discussed recent developments in US politics, starting with the attempted assassination of former president Donald Trump on July 13th. Justice Bernstein explained that the incident could potentially strengthen the energy and passion of both Trump and his dedicated supporters.

Justice Bernstein also briefly commented on the landmark Supreme Court ruling that grants Trump immunity for core presidential duties he conducted while in office during his alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 election results.

“If you create an environment where the president isn’t required to have to hear or to follow the rules that are set forth that everyone else has to follow, then what are the consequences of that?” Justice Bernstein asked.

He then added that the upcoming litigation against Trump will certainly continue for a long time, and that each new wave of litigation must be studied carefully to address all the nuances and degrees in which federal laws may or may not have been violated.

The conversation then transitioned into Justice Bernstein’s role in disability rights and lawmaking. As a Supreme Court Justice of Michigan, the cases he decides on can impact the rest of the country.

Justice Bernstein gave the example of how transportation is designed. Whether it’s an airline or a bus system, he finds that the accessibility of these modes of transportation need to be considered at conception. Mandates from US Congress or the Supreme Court could also be applied, yet Justice Bernstein clarified that most of the decisions that will affect everyday Americans will be done at the state court level.

Justice Richard Bernstein and Lee Williamson. Photo: FCC

These state and federal dynamics also came into play during Justice Bernstein’s experience with Michigan’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

With each state being able to determine how to use its own laws, resources, and police force to combat the pandemic, Justice Bernstein said the US Bill of Rights is ultimately the core consideration for how Michigan, or any other state, should implement new laws. What he found was that certain states created more restrictions than others during the pandemic, which treaded a careful line between protecting citizens and preserving the Bill of Rights. These decisions weren’t easy, yet they are precisely why Justice Bernstein believes that the courts are where they need to be made instead of by the executive or legislative branch.

“It’s really the job of the courts to be unpopular. It’s the job of the court to make decisions that people don’t like. And it’s the job of the courts to do things in difficult times that people really hate,” he said.

When asked if he would be willing to become a non-permanent overseas judge in Hong Kong if he were asked, Justice Bernstein gave a resounding yes.

“Absolutely! In our court, we have a lot of time off. We pretty much get July and August off, and also have February off. I would actually have the time to do it, and would be honoured to do it if asked,” he said.

Learn more about Justice Bernstein and his thoughts on the upcoming 2024 US elections by watching the full discussion on the FCC’s YouTube channel:

How three tech experts make sense of China’s regulatory challenges and innovations

From 2020 to 2021, China took sweeping regulatory actions against their biggest tech players. The government canceled the IPO of Ant Group, Alibaba’s financial arm, and cracked down on the ride-sharing app Didi and online tutoring. To understand how these regulations affect the mainland economy and tech industry, the FCC held a panel discussion with three Chinese tech industry experts: HKU Law’s Angela Zhang, The Information’s Juro Osawa, and venture capitalist Michael Chow.

The three panellists sat alongside FCC Journalist Governor Joe Pan and shared their views on China’s changing regulatory landscape.

“What I have seen over the past several years is just so striking in that a lot of those things changed very quickly,” said Osawa when commenting on the seemingly overnight changes in mainland’s tech policies.

Juro Osawa and Michael Chow. Photo: FCC

These actions shook Chinese stocks and caused investors (primarily from the US) to pull out and reinvest their money elsewhere. The dip in revenue was further exacerbated by China’s strict zero-Covid policies which further isolated the country’s finances from the rest of the world.

“This is kind of like a wakeup call for the top policy makers,” said Zhang.

As one of the leading academics in Hong Kong that specialises in antitrust law, Zhang found herself answering calls from journalists covering China’s tech crackdown after the Ant Group incident. Before then, she felt relatively anonymous and was quickly thrust into the media spotlight with appearances on Bloomberg and other financial news outlets.

Through further writing and research, most notably her latest book High Wire (2024), Zhang was able to summarise her model of China’s legal system, which functions as a three-part process where political hierarchy creates market volatility that leads to increased fragility across the entire techno-legal ecosystem.

“Very often, you’ll see [that] these regulatory measures were well-intentioned, but they generate a lot of side effects,” she explained.

Angela Zhang. Photo: FCC

Using this model, Zhang demonstrated how a feedback loop is created, leading to even more volatility and less accountability or confidence in China’s tech investment.

“It took a long time for the regulators or the top policy makers to realize the problem. By the time they address the problem, it’s often too late and that’s why I call the Chinese regulatory outcome tends to be very fragile,” she summarised.

Also, Zhang’s model has the capability to be applied to other areas besides technology.

Michael Chow. Photo: FCC

As an experienced venture capital investor, Chow was asked by the panel if Zhang’s model can or has already been applied in his daily work. He noted the government’s continued efforts against corruption as the primary driver of market volatility — not the government’s rigid structure and control.

“Volatility comes whether there’s a hierarchy or not. I think it’s more to do with what’s happening in today’s China. I think it’s a lot to do with the corruption-fighting, and that’s why you see a lot of tightening of power. They don’t tend to give the so-called authority to the lower ranks anymore because of corruption,” Chow said.

Watch the full panel discussion on our YouTube channel:

FCC Statement on HKJA chairperson Selina Cheng’s termination by The Wall Street Journal

    
 
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong is deeply concerned by the news of Hong Kong Journalists Association chairperson Selina Cheng’s dismissal as an employee of The Wall Street Journal.
 
Ms Cheng said that senior editors at the paper asked her to withdraw from the HKJA’s recent election once they learned she was running to be the chairperson of the journalists’ union. When she refused, she said she was told that being HKJA’s chairperson would be incompatible with her job. Less than a month later, she was fired.
 
The FCC has reached out to The Wall Street Journal for comment and to ask why Ms Cheng’s employment was terminated.
 
Press freedom is enshrined in Article 27 of Hong Kong’s Basic Law, the same article that guarantees Hongkongers the right to form and join trade unions. Representing the rights of journalists, which includes defending freedom of the press, should not be controversial. The FCC fully supports The Wall Street Journal’s ongoing efforts to secure the freedom of its reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been unjustly imprisoned in Russia for more than a year. If the editors of the Journal advocate for reporters’ rights to do their jobs without fear and intimidation in Russia, they should do the same in Hong Kong.
 
We urge The Wall Street Journal and all news organisations to respect reporters’ rights to join press clubs and to advocate for press freedom without the fear of punitive action from their own newsrooms.
 

Setting the tone for American journalism with Joe Kahn, Executive Editor of The New York Times

As American society becomes more polarised over events such as the Israel-Hamas conflict and the 2024 US presidential election, Executive Editor Joe Kahn aims to continue producing well-rounded and fair journalism at The New York Times.

Kahn’s journalism career has spanned almost four decades now, with his most recent assignment being to guide and oversee all aspects of the Times’ global newsroom since 2022.

At an FCC fireside chat with President Lee Williamson, Kahn spoke about his humble beginnings as a local news reporter in Texas to becoming a China correspondent and eventually leading the Times — ultimately sharing how his career has shaped his philosophy on how the Times should handle the challenges that modern journalism faces.

A two-time Pulitzer winner, he embarked on his journalism journey at The Dallas Morning News in 1987 and subsequently took on the role of a China correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, a move that his career benefitted from in the long run despite not being apparent at the time.

“That was the bet that I made, and that was a pretty good bet. I wish I had some sort of monetary way of betting on China at that time, but for me, it paid off journalistically,” he said.

Joe Kahn. Photo: FCC

Kahn joined the Times in 1998 and has held positions in New York, Washington, and China. He has led the Times’ coverage of some of the world’s most complex events — wars in the Middle East, terrorism attacks and political turmoil in Europe, and much more.

Kahn’s tenure as a Managing Editor from 2016-2022 culminated in his appointment as Executive Editor two years ago. He described his current role as both executive and strategic, yet still highly focused on content.

“The word ‘Executive’ in the title is actually somewhat misleading. The tradition at The Times has always been for its top news editor to remain involved in daily content creation. The core product is the news that we’re covering, and its relevance, competitiveness and urgency are my main responsibility,” he said.

The importance of the 24-hour news cycle has altered the nature of day-to-day operations, and for Kahn, this means his day begins much earlier than it would have done in the print-only era.

“In those days, as an editor, you’d be heavily involved in presiding over the process of deciding which of the many stories we were covering would make the front page, and that process would load later in the day as journalists began completing their stories. It’s now very different and my day is very front-loaded, as we need to stay competitive, relevant and urgent,” he explained.

President Williamson touched upon the numerous global challenges currently facing newsrooms — continued economic headwinds, the war in Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas conflict, and fraying US-China and bilateral relations. Kahn acknowledged the finite resources available and the critical decision-making process that the Times endures when choosing what to cover.

“Even for a newsroom as well-equipped as The New York Times, we have daily, weekly, and monthly debates about what our top priorities are internationally, and we try to put resources behind all of the big issues. Most of them we will continue to invest in and produce a high level of coverage, even if we’re not getting direct feedback from readers.”

When asked about what he has learned after two years into the role, Kahn noted the sensitivity surrounding the subject of Israel, especially in the US.

“I guess I’ve never witnessed a global issue that has divided Americans as much as this particular one has. The tensions are evident even with our own staff. It’s just an incredibly divisive conflict and the ethnic issues around it are extremely polarising,” he said.

Joe Kahn and Lee Williamson. Photo: FCC

Kahn then elaborated on why the Times is hesitant to officially refer to the Israel-Hamas conflict as a “genocide”, unlike other news organisations and political figures/groups that have adopted the term.

“We don’t embrace that term. We can quote people as saying it, but we don’t, in our own words, label something. ‘Genocide’ is a legal term that has to be judged by international courts and even in the event that a particular situation is perceived to equate to that word, we wouldn’t necessarily use it ourselves,” he clarified.

Kahn cited former President Trump’s “misstatements” being officially described as “lies” in the Times’ reporting to demonstrate the necessary justifications in using such a term.

“That’s also a very high bar,” he began. “We use that term only in certain circumstances where he continuously repeated a known falsehood, like his allegation that former President Barack Obama wasn’t born in the United States. I think setting a high bar is the essence of the standards process.”

Commenting on the state of polarisation in the US, Kahn also said that despite such massive divides in American society, the Times has still developed a devout readership. 

“There is a curious center among readers who are still hungry for good quality, well-rounded, fair journalism on the issues that they care about. I think that’s why we’ve been able to continue to grow our readership and our subscriber base even during a time when people are seen as moving into these unbridgeable camps of public opinion.”

President Williamson also asked Kahn about his observations of a changing Hong Kong, and what he had surmised during his recent meetings with people across the spectrum of Hong Kong society.

“I’m somewhat encouraged by the tone of the discussions that we have had with some close China watchers who are trying to understand what’s happening across the border, and I think the essence of Hong Kong is still very much present,” he said.

With the increased risks and uncertainties for both local and international journalists operating in the region, Kahn acknowledged the challenges faced by media outlets, citing legal advice that has prompted the Times to reduce its presence and relocate some staff to Seoul.

Despite these challenges, the Times’ international print edition remains in Hong Kong, which consists of a small but dedicated number of journalists who continue to report on critical issues both within Hong Kong and across the border in Mainland China.

“The safety and protection of my journalists is my number one responsibility and we would throw all of our resources into a security issue, a safety issue, or a legal issue for any member of our staff who encounters difficulties of that kind… The types of issues that we’re facing here tend to be more long-term legal and bureaucratic and less about physical safety, but it is something we watch very closely,” he concluded.

The reporting for this article was a collaboration between Hugo Novales, the FCC’s in-house journalist, and Ann Tsang, Editor of FCC magazine The Correspondent. The print edition of this piece can be found in The Correspondent’s July 2024 issue. The full discussion can be watched on our YouTube channel:

New Members’ Testimonials

AGM President’s Report 2024

President’s Report
May 2024
Twelve months ago, I made a pledge to lead with pragmatism. To engage in the issues, to make our substantial voice count, while also securing the long-term future of the FCC.
I believe that this board has delivered on that mission.
In my first message to members as your president, I nailed my colours to the mast, laying out six priorities that I aimed to accomplish this board year. This evening, I will provide an update on what we have achieved, and what remains to be done.
  • First on the list was the resumption of issuing press freedom statements after a prolonged silence. Having put in place new guidelines to codify and formalise the process, this board has delivered on that commitment, issuing nine press freedom statements in the last 12 months, including the FCC’s submission to the Security Bureau on the Consultation Document of Article 23 of the Basic Law. The club also hasn’t shied away from hosting discussions on potentially provocative topics, bringing newsmakers into the FCC to speak with journalists and debate the issues of the day. In the last 12 months, we have hosted talks on the District Council reforms, the National Security Law and Article 23 among others.
  • The second pledge was to secure a new permanent GM, which of course we have accomplished, with the appointment of David Brightling in January. The Board of Governors appointed David after an exhaustive five-month search. Aided by an executive search firm with expertise in clubs, more than 200 candidates were identified for the role, 23 candidates were longlisted and seven shortlisted and interviewed. The competition was strong—a testament to the allure of working at the FCC—but the board was totally aligned that David is the right person to lead the club. In his four months at the FCC, David is already validating that assessment.
  • Third was to build on last year’s training stream for early-career journalists and work towards bringing more young C&J members into the club. In the last year we have hosted six subsidised workshops programmed to appeal to early-career journalists and have hosted two open-house evenings for young journalists. Both initiatives provide a forum for young non-member reporters to walk through our door, ask questions and start to build a relationship with the FCC. Our demographics reflect the progress being made: our average age is declining and our gender balance improving. Still, there is more work to be done on both fronts.
  • Fourth: to bring back the FCC’s Journalism Conference after a five-year hiatus. World-class speakers and more than 130 people attended our conference on May 4. Taking place under the theme ‘Let’s Get to Work’, programming focussed on helping attendees add to their skill sets and learn to master the tools they need to be a journalist in 2024. To demonstrate our commitment to support journalists and facilitate journalism of the highest standard, we made this year’s conference free for all to attend.
  • Fifth: Develop more community outreach initiatives, potentially through the reinstatement of the then-dormant Charity Committee. We did indeed reinstate the Charity Committee. Under the leadership of Morgan Davis, the FCC’s new first vice president, the committee has been busy seeking the opinion of leading voices in Hong Kong’s charitable community to find out where the FCC can do the most good. Look out for the launch of the committee’s inaugural initiative in the coming weeks.
  • My final pledge was to make diversity a priority at FCC speaking events. This board year, we have started to track gender representation at FCC talks. Since we started tracking, 59% of our speakers have been male and 41% female. There is still work to be done to achieve parity, but we have made important progress towards that goal in the last year.
In addition to these six stated priorities, your board of governors has been working tirelessly behind the scenes in service of our club. Some of these endeavours are very visible—the scaffolding currently around this building is a clear testament to the work of the Building Committee and the effort they have put in behind the scenes to secure the right project managers and contractors for the 5.9-million-dollar renovation work to maintain our heritage building and fulfil our duty as tenants ahead of the lease renewal negotiations.
Some are less visible, such as our efforts to tighten our corporate governance in order to minimise our exposure and potential risk to so-called bureaucratic bullying, as well as our work to build channels of communication with relevant government departments. They may be less visible but they are, nonetheless, just as vital to securing the future of the FCC.
We’ve also been working tirelessly in support of our mission as a press club. From filing a written opinion in support of HKJA’s submission as an interested party in the injunction to ban the song Glory to Hong Kong at the very beginning of the board year, to the bold banner we placed on our website for World Press Freedom Day just a few weeks ago, throughout this board year we have been delivering on the FCC’s mission to defend press freedom at home and abroad, to support journalists and to promote and facilitate journalism of the highest standard.
Put simply, in the last 12 months the FCC has got its groove back. As a result we have seen greater participation in committees and club life. Last year, for the first time in our 80-year history we did not have enough candidates running for Correspondent Governor, resulting in an unprecedented by-election. This time around, we just had our healthiest, most contested hustings for years. I believe this is a clear endorsement of the direction the club has been taking and a reflection of the newfound vibrancy and optimism within these historic walls.
In the coming year, my pledge to you today is simple—more of the same. We will build on what we have accomplished and face the challenges ahead with a renewed sense of confidence and clarity.
Let’s not kid ourselves. This coming year will likely bring even greater challenges as Hong Kong’s political landscape continues to shift and the space for independent organisations such as the FCC contracts.
Nevertheless, I remain confident that together, with unity, grit and determination, we can overcome any challenges that arise and that 12 months from now, when we reconvene in this room, I will be able to report that our club, once again, is stronger than ever. Thank you.

The rise and fall of Anna May Wong, Hollywood’s first Chinese-American star

Long before Bruce Lee, Michelle Yeoh, Jackie Chan, and other Hollywood stars brought attention to underrepresented Asians and Asian Americans, there was Anna May Wong.

Born on January 3rd, 1905 — Year of the Dragon — in a Chinese laundromat her father owned in Los Angeles, Wong’s life story falls into what author Yunte Huang describes as the “Epic Journey of Asian Americans,” one of many such lives he has chronicled throughout his writing career.

In his previous two books, he wrote about Charlie Chan and the conjoined Bunker twins “Chang and Eng”, and now has completed this trilogy of prolific Asian Americans and their “rendezvous with American history” with his newly-published biography of Anna May Wong – Daughter of the Dragon (2023).

Speaking at an FCC Club Lunch alongside NY Times reporter Tiffany May, Huang first admitted that he didn’t initially plan to write a trilogy.

“Of course I didn’t know that. Like many things in life, they came by accident, by chance,” he said.

He became intrigued by Anna May Wong and her career, which first began with her “toehold” opportunity as an extra in silent film The Red Lantern (1919) and then her “foothold” opportunity with The Toll of the Sea (1922), which thus paved the way for her to become the first-ever Chinese-American movie star.

She subsequently starred in several more Hollywood silent films but after becoming unsatisfied with being typecast in stereotypical Chinese roles, she left the US for Europe in 1928. From there she starred in more plays and silent films until the development of sound films. Daughter of the Dragon (1931) — where Huang got his book title — and Shanghai Express (1932) were two of her most notable films from the new sound era.

While her acting skills and Chinese representation were primary contributors to Huang’s desire to write a biography about Wong, her status as a fashion icon also garnered his interest.

“One thing I admire about Anna May Wong is that she is not just a beautiful, talented film star. She has the unique ability to turn working class symbols such as [the] coolie hat and [the] coolie jacket into high-class fashion, and that’s really part of her charm,” he said.

Yunte Huang and Tiffany May. Photo: FCC

The “coolie” hat and jacket that Huang referred to are the conical hat and overcoat that were common attire for East Asian migrant workers during the 19th and 20th century. These pieces of  clothing were originally associated with hard manual labour, yet Wong attempted to change public perception of these items by wearing stylised versions of them in her films and public life.

Despite a successful start to her career, Wong was ultimately snubbed from the lead role in The Good Earth (1937), based on Pearl S. Bucks’ bestselling novel, due to Hollywood rules that prohibited white actors from kissing non-white actors.

“The kiss is the soul of 20th century love in film,” Huang said when explaining the societal norms of Wong’s generation that negatively impacted her career.

Examining not just a person’s life, but also the world they lived in, is key to Huang’s strategy in writing biographies. In the case of Anna May Wong, he knew that many other historians and journalists have already documented her life, but by looking at the bigger picture, Huang can differentiate his work from everyone else’s.

“Of course this story has been told before, but my take is really to look at the large canvas out of which she came,” he said.

As her career slowly dwindled, Wong spent most of her final days drinking and smoking in the aptly-named Dragon’s Den, a bar in Los Angeles’ old Chinatown. She died of a sudden heart attack on February 3rd, 1961. She was 56 years old.

A year before she died, Hollywood honoured her with a star of the Walk of Fame, making her the first Asian-American to receive such a distinction. In 2022, the US Mint also released commemorative 25¢ quarters with Wong’s face and name on the tail side of the coin. 

When the coins came out, Huang made sure he ordered a batch for himself. Despite the coins being released over 60 years after her death, Huang didn’t feel that the coins were “too little, too late” in recognising Wong’s contributions to American society.

“To speak in a Happy Valley term, I always knew she was on the money,” Huang concluded.

Learn more about Anna May Wong’s life and Yunte Huang’s discoveries by watching the full discussion on our YouTube channel:

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