Matthew Chitwood, Author at Institute of Current World Affairs

Matthew Chitwood is the China and the Global Voice director at Edelman, a global communications firm. He spent his ICWA fellowship (2017–2019) in Bangdong, a remote village with a population of 350 in China’s southwestern Yunnan Province, reporting on how massive infrastructure development and anti-poverty measures were transforming rural life, economy and governance. Matt previously worked in Beijing, Shanghai, Yunnan’s capital Kunming and Taipei as a foreign policy and communications professional. He holds a dual master’s degree in China studies and international economics from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Posts and Dispatches from Matthew Chitwood:

Back to Bangdong village
A post-Covid visit to rural China reveals what it means to be a neighbor. ...
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Along China’s ancient tea horse road
Notes from a 2,000-mile motorcycle trip....
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Foreign Policy: Matthew Chitwood on Sinicization and Hui Muslims
Signs of China's growing Islamophobia spread beyond the Uyghur minority....
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Foreign Affairs: Matt Chitwood on ending poverty in China
Beijing says it will wipe out poverty by the end of this year, but only when poverty is defined as extreme and rural....
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NCUSCR: Matt Chitwood on rural China
Chitwood joins Mei Lan to discuss how life in the Chinese countryside is changing....
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Exit interview with China fellow Matthew Chitwood
What he learned about rural development, electrofishing and himself....
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The American Interest: Matt Chitwood on China’s slow trains
Tagging along with three migrant workers from Yunnan province , newly returned ICWA fellow Matthew Chitwood (China, 2017-2019) joins chunyun, or the spring migration of the country's workforce....
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An ancient tea horse roadtrip in pictures
A motorcycle adventure along Yunnan’s historic trade route....
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Give me stability or give me death
China’s aversion to social unrest and prospects for political reform....
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Johns Hopkins SAIS Magazine: Matt Chitwood profile
Johns Hopkins SAIS Magazine features Matt Chitwood (China, 2017-2019) as a noteworthy alum, who is chronicling the transformation of China from his home in a remote village in Yunnan province. “Changes have been taking place in Bangdong village, where I live," Matt writes. "Spring tea season has come and gone. Some have married, and some have passed... and my neighbors ate their dog.”...
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