Duncan Hewitt
President
Duncan Hewitt first lived in China as a student from 1986-7, while studying Chinese at Edinburgh University. He later worked on translations of Chinese literature at the Chinese University of Hong Kong before joining the BBC World Service in London, where he worked mainly on the programme East Asia Today. He also has an MA in Southeast Asian studies. From 1997-2000 he was a BBC correspondent in Beijing; he then moved to Shanghai to open the BBC's first bureau in the city. After taking a break from journalism in 2003-4, he has been accredited as a correspondent for Newsweek in Shanghai, and has recently completed a book on contemporary Chinese society. He served on the 2006 Board as SFCC Vice-President for Events.
Astrid Freyeisen
Vice President of Membership
Astrid Freyeisen has been the Shanghai Correspondent of ARD German Radio, since November 2005. She previously spent eight years as a reporter in Germany for the Bayerischer Rundfunk, one branch of ARD. She studied Mandarin as a minor at Würzburg University, spending one year as a student in Hangzhou. In 1995 she spent four months at Fudan University in Shanghai, researching her dissertation on the Nazis in Shanghai. In her reporting from China she focuses on a variety of subjects, particularly economics; another interest is sport.
Ola Wong
Vice President of Events
Ola Wong has been Swedish daily newspaper Sydsvenska Dagbladet's Shanghai correspondent since 2003. He also regularly contributes to the Danish daily Politiken and the Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet. He worked as a journalist in Sweden before coming to Shanghai in 2002 to study Chinese at Fudan University. His book No I'm from Bor?s (2004), about his family history and modern China, was widely acclaimed. His next book about China will be released this fall. Ola was awarded Sweden's Enviromental Journalist of the Year Award in 2004 for his reporting on smuggling of e-waste to Guangdong, and was recently awarded Sweden's Big Radio Prize 2007 for reports including a series about silicosis affecting Chinese stone-workers and jewellery cutters.
Rebecca Catching
Media Representative
Rebecca's strengths lie within the field of contemporary Chinese art, a subject which she follows closely through her monthly arts column in that's Shanghai, where she is the arts and entertainment editor, and through her role as the Shanghai Correspondent of Art Asia Pacific. Rebecca graduated with a B.A. in Art History and East Asian Studies from McGill University and received a scholarship to study Chinese at Fudan University in 2001. During six years in Shanghai she's covered China's art scene from various angles and spoken to numerous celebrities, Chinese and foreign. She grew up in Ottawa, but now considers herself a long term resident of Shanghai.
Amy Sommers
Associate Representative
Amy Sommers, a partner based in the Shanghai office of Squire Sanders & Dempsey, is the Co-Chair of the China Committee, the American Bar Association's Section of International Law. She is also Vice-Chair of the American Chamber of Commerce - Shanghai's Legal Committee. In 2007, she was selected the winner of the Expatriate Professional Women's Society award for Professional Excellence. She has been involved in China law practice for over 15 years and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. Ms. Sommers is a regular speaker on China law topics and has also authored or co-authored numerous China-law related articles.
Alejandro Kauffmann
Treasurer
Alex Kauffmann gets paid to think innovatively at ?What If! Before joining the salaried world, he worked as a freelance writer, screenwriter, editor, and graphic designer. His work has appeared in local magazines, on foreign stages, in numerous web publications, and on most of the horizontal surfaces in his apartment. As well as holding the post of SFCC treasurer, he is also responsible for the SFCC website.
Duncan Hewitt first lived in China as a student from 1986-7, while studying Chinese at Edinburgh University. He later worked on translations of Chinese literature at the Chinese University of Hong Kong before joining the BBC World Service in London, where he worked mainly on the programme East Asia Today. He also has an MA in Southeast Asian studies. From 1997-2000 he was a BBC correspondent in Beijing; he then moved to Shanghai to open the BBC's first bureau in the city. After taking a break from journalism in 2003-4, he has been accredited as a correspondent for Newsweek in Shanghai, and has recently completed a book on contemporary Chinese society. He served on the 2006 Board as SFCC Vice-President for Events.
Astrid Freyeisen has been the Shanghai Correspondent of ARD German Radio, since November 2005. She previously spent eight years as a reporter in Germany for the Bayerischer Rundfunk, one branch of ARD. She studied Mandarin as a minor at Würzburg University, spending one year as a student in Hangzhou. In 1995 she spent four months at Fudan University in Shanghai, researching her dissertation on the Nazis in Shanghai. In her reporting from China she focuses on a variety of subjects, particularly economics; another interest is sport.
Ola Wong has been Swedish daily newspaper Sydsvenska Dagbladet's Shanghai correspondent since 2003. He also regularly contributes to the Danish daily Politiken and the Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet. He worked as a journalist in Sweden before coming to Shanghai in 2002 to study Chinese at Fudan University. His book No I'm from Bor?s (2004), about his family history and modern China, was widely acclaimed. His next book about China will be released this fall. Ola was awarded Sweden's Enviromental Journalist of the Year Award in 2004 for his reporting on smuggling of e-waste to Guangdong, and was recently awarded Sweden's Big Radio Prize 2007 for reports including a series about silicosis affecting Chinese stone-workers and jewellery cutters.
Rebecca's strengths lie within the field of contemporary Chinese art, a subject which she follows closely through her monthly arts column in that's Shanghai, where she is the arts and entertainment editor, and through her role as the Shanghai Correspondent of Art Asia Pacific. Rebecca graduated with a B.A. in Art History and East Asian Studies from McGill University and received a scholarship to study Chinese at Fudan University in 2001. During six years in Shanghai she's covered China's art scene from various angles and spoken to numerous celebrities, Chinese and foreign. She grew up in Ottawa, but now considers herself a long term resident of Shanghai.
Amy Sommers, a partner based in the Shanghai office of Squire Sanders & Dempsey, is the Co-Chair of the China Committee, the American Bar Association's Section of International Law. She is also Vice-Chair of the American Chamber of Commerce - Shanghai's Legal Committee. In 2007, she was selected the winner of the Expatriate Professional Women's Society award for Professional Excellence. She has been involved in China law practice for over 15 years and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. Ms. Sommers is a regular speaker on China law topics and has also authored or co-authored numerous China-law related articles.
Alex Kauffmann gets paid to think innovatively at ?What If! Before joining the salaried world, he worked as a freelance writer, screenwriter, editor, and graphic designer. His work has appeared in local magazines, on foreign stages, in numerous web publications, and on most of the horizontal surfaces in his apartment. As well as holding the post of SFCC treasurer, he is also responsible for the SFCC website.
