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’
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.
【Death of Twitter】Deep worry about twitter hiring @kathychen2016 as China MD. Itz a murder of freespeech. @jack pic.twitter.com/xuW4rxpqtO
— 巴丢草 Badiucao (@badiucao) April 16, 2016
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:
1/12 Hi everyone, I have some updates to share with you about Twitter's Greater China business.
— Kathy Chen (@kathychen2016) December 31, 2016
2/12 As you know, our focus in Great China is to help Chinese businesses to reach a global audience on our live communications platform.
— Kathy Chen (@kathychen2016) December 31, 2016
3/12 Great China is one of our fastest growing revenue markets in Asia Pacific for Twitter today and we remain committed to this market.
— Kathy Chen (@kathychen2016) December 31, 2016
4/12 We have grown our Greater China advertiser base nearly 400% over the past 2 years and we thank all of them for their support.
— Kathy Chen (@kathychen2016) December 31, 2016
5/12 We have fully transitioned our Chinese ad sales & support activities to our APAC HQ. All Chinese ad queries go to Alan Lan (@bluealan).
— Kathy Chen (@kathychen2016) December 31, 2016
6/12 At this time, our HK office will stay open to maintain our Greater China presence & for business opportunities with Chinese companies.
— Kathy Chen (@kathychen2016) December 31, 2016
7/12 Now that the Twitter APAC team is working directly with Chinese advertisers, this is the right time for me to leave the company.
— Kathy Chen (@kathychen2016) December 31, 2016
8/12 I'm proud to have helped build a successful Great China business for Twitter and thank @shaileshrao & @alizaknox for the opportunity.
— Kathy Chen (@kathychen2016) December 31, 2016
9/12 Working at Twitter has opened my mind, my passion is to connect people to the world through cross-cultural communications & businesses.
— Kathy Chen (@kathychen2016) December 31, 2016
10/12 I will take some time off to recharge, study about different cultures and then pursue more international business opportunities.
— Kathy Chen (@kathychen2016) December 31, 2016
11/12 I wish Twitter all the best as it is a fantastic platform for everyone to express themselves & to see what is happening in the world.
— Kathy Chen (@kathychen2016) December 31, 2016
12/12 Thank you again for all of your support! I wish you a Happy & Prosperous New Year in 2017! #LoveTwitter
— Kathy Chen (@kathychen2016) December 31, 2016