kathy chen twitter china

Twitter’s Chin ahead, Kathy Chen, has resigned from the company. Pic: Twitter

Twitter’s China head Kathy Chen leaves the company to ‘pursue other opportunities’

By | 31 December, 2016

TWITTER’S head of its China operations, Kathy Chen, has announced she is leaving the company just nine months after joining it, she announced via Twitter today.

In a 12-series tweet, Chen cited the need to “take time off to recharge, study about different cultures, and then pursue more international business opportunities”.

Chen joined Twitter in April, and was almost immediately caught in controversy, with some users questioning her ties with the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

According to the Washington Post, her first few tweets included links to state-owned news agencies, which some saw as a “shout out” to the government-controlled press.

A Chinese political cartoonist, known by their Twitter handle @badiucao, posted an image of the Twitter bird mascot being impaled by the yellow star on China’s flag after learning of her appointment.

In the late 1980s and 90s, Chen reportedly worked as an engineer for the People’s Liberation Army’s Second Artillery. Her appointment as Twitter’s China head was met with derision by freedom of speech activists, who were doubtful that her connection with the Chinese government was not directly related to her appointment.

Her announcement below:



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