DEMETRI SEVASTOPULO
US-China Correspondent at Financial Times
Correspondent in Washington who focuses on US-China relations & Indo-Pacific. Former Washington Bureau Chief, US Politics Correspondent, Pentagon & CIA Correspondent, South China Correspondent, and Asia News Editor. Here is my full bio and FT author page.
Over two decades I have reported from dozens of countries: China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, Mongolia, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Canada, Guantanamo Bay, Russia, Finland, Germany, England, Italy, Belgium, Poland, Lithuania, Turkey, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Djibouti, Bahrain, Iraq and Afghanistan.
I have covered a wide array of stories: Trump White House, 2016 & 2020 US presidential races, Afghanistan & Iraq wars, Guantanamo Bay, terrorism, cyber security, North Korea, South & East China Sea, Hong Kong's Umbrella Revolution, Japan's 2011 tsunami, Chinese manufacturing in the Pearl River Delta and Xi Jinping's anti-graft drive. I have interviewed US farmers & cowboys, Chinese factory workers & billionaires, diplomats & generals, US defense chiefs from Robert McNamara to Donald Rumsfeld, and President Donald Trump.
Excellent record of scoops. In 2021, I reported that China tested a hypersonic weapon that flew around the earth. In 2022, I revealed that Russia asked China for military equipment to help in Ukraine. I also reported that US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would visit Taiwan, and that China warned the US that its response could include military action.
Check out my Sinica podcast interview where I talk about covering US-China.
I grew up in Howth, a small village outside Dublin in Ireland, but have lived in Tokyo, Beijing, Hong Kong, Washington, Boston, Indiana, London and Munich. I have traveled widely across the world, including visiting 49 US states.
Graduated from Trinity College, Dublin. I have an MA in East Asian studies from Harvard University. Studied Japanese and Japanese-English translation at Sophia University and Chinese at Peking University. Speak fluent Japanese, rusty Mandarin & basic Cantonese.
Enjoy photography in my spare time. You can find me photos here and on Instagram.
Have appeared on many television and radio stations, including BBC, CNN, NPR, FOX, RTE, and Japanese TV in Japanese.
To inquire about speaking engagements, contact Chartwell.