Keith B. Richburg

Hong Kong

Contributing columnist writing on Asia, Europe and Africa

Education: University of Michigan, BA in politics and history; London School of Economics, MSc in comparative government

Keith B. Richburg became a member of the Editorial Board in 2023. He joined Post Opinions as a Global Opinions columnist in 2022. From 2016 to 2023, he was director of the Journalism and Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong. He first joined the Post in 1980 and spent more than 20 years overseas as bureau chief in Beijing, Paris, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Nairobi and Manila. He was the Post’s Foreign Editor from 2005 to 2007. He was also a national correspondent based in Washington and New York. Richburg was Journalist-in-Residence at the East-West Center in Hawaii in 1990, a Harvard
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Latest from Keith B. Richburg

Africa’s coupmakers promised prosperity and security. They failed on both.

The Sahel is now the world’s terrorism hot spot. Trump should pay attention.

November 21, 2024
Supporters of Niger's junta join calls to fight for the country's freedom and push back against foreign interference in Niamey, Niger, on Aug. 3, 2023.

Jim Hoagland, a foreign correspondent’s ideal

Remembering a globetrotting reporter, editor and columnist who met his own high standards.

November 6, 2024

China is trying to fix its economy — except the real problem

A new stimulus package won’t stem China’s deflationary spiral. There is only one solution.

October 16, 2024
Shoppers rest outside a clothing store in Beijing on Oct. 4.

China is aging. Can it accept the clear solution?

Concerns about maintaining racial purity and political control trump worries about a shrinking workforce.

September 23, 2024
People rest at a park in Fuyang in China's Anhui province on Sept. 13.

Facing repression on the streets, Africa’s protests spread online

The continent’s digital warriors are holding power to account.

September 2, 2024
Leading anti-government protester Kasmuel McOure attends a demonstration in Nairobi on Aug. 8.

Kenya’s fed-up Gen Z is delivering a message we need to hear

Less than three months ago, Kenyan President William Ruto was at the White House. Now, angry protesters want him gone.

August 7, 2024
Demonstrators with Kenyan flags join an anti-government rally in Nairobi on July 16.

Hong Kong is more Chinese, but don’t call it ‘another Chinese city’

As expats leave, officials say they’re unconcerned — but their reaction to criticism says otherwise.

July 11, 2024
The Tsim Sha Tsui district of Hong Kong on Thursday. (Isaac Lawrence/AFP/Getty Images)

South Africa’s new government is making heads explode

The country’s radical socialists, populists and ethno-nationalists can’t countenance the unlikely alliance.

June 19, 2024
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa shakes hands with the newly elected deputy speaker of Parliament, Annelie Lotriet, as John Steenhuisen, the leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance, looks on.

A million people marched in Hong Kong — and changed the city forever

June 9 is the fifth anniversary of a massive protest that led to China’s draconian security law.

June 7, 2024
Protesters march in Hong Kong on June 9, 2019. (Vincent Yu/AP)

American students have soured on China. That’s bad for the U.S.

As fewer American students study in China, the U.S. will suffer a shortage of China experts.

May 22, 2024
A student from Fuzhou University, right, speaks with a U.S. exchange student from the University of the Pacific while visiting Kuliang, in China's Fujian province, in March. (Lin Shanchuan/Xinhua/Getty Images)