Matt Haldane
CITIZENSHIP
United States
HINRICH SCHOLARSHIP
Tsinghua UniversityBeijing, China
MA in Global Business Journalism, Class of 2015
Co-sponsor: Global Sources
CURRENT EMPLOYMENT
Production Editor AbacusNews.comSouth China Morning Post, Hong Kong SAR
“A Hinrich scholar is imaginative and flexible. And keeps his mind open to fresh possibilities.”
Matt Haldane was born to engage with technology. From assembling his own computer in high school, to being stationed in Japan and South Korea as an Information Systems technician for the US Navy, his love for technology has grown with time.
Matt’s adult life in the US has mostly been limited to the three and a half years he spent in college after the Navy. He is proud of his service but knew that leaving Navy was always on the cards for him.
“I loved the free travel, and I had one of the better jobs,” he said. “As an IT professional, I primarily supported the guys on the ground from the back end. But I knew I always wanted to get out and complete my education.”
He took some courses online to collect credits while on active duty. Thanks to the G.I. Bill, which covers full in-state tuition for veterans, he enrolled at Arizona State University (ASU) in January 2010.
Matt holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from ASU. His economics degree focused on macro issues in Europe and Asia. While at ASU, he interned for the Phoenix Business Journal and Arizona Republic and then for Reuters after graduation. Between this work and stories he wrote while freelancing, his articles have been published with several news organizations.
Matt (far left) bonds with Hinrich Foundation Alumni Association China chapter alumni (L-R) Phoebe Lu, Michael Wen, Anna Tong, Chandler Shan, Mickey Yang, James Gong and Roger Li in an alumni dinner gathering
Unknown to him at the time, it was the Navy that planted the seeds for what would become another great preoccupation of his life. Matt’s first visit to China was a 2006 trip to Beijing while he was still stationed in South Korea. “I was curious about the fact that many of the dynamics in the Pacific were determined by China. At that point I knew I wanted the chance to explore China more.”
Hinrich scholarship offer
The opportunity presented itself to Matt in the form of the Hinrich Foundation Global Trade Scholarship to study Global Business Journalism at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
Matt received his Master of Arts in Global Business Journalism from Tsinghua in 2015. His love for technology, journalism and China amalgamated into him working as a content officer at Global Sources in Shenzhen. For three and a half years, he wrote about technology, did content marketing, freelanced for tech publications and honed his knowledge of the Chinese tech market.
Matt (left most) celebrates Christmas at the Global Sources office in Shenzhen. Included are his co-alumni. Next to him is Amy Wu (China, HKBU BBA ‘16) and second from right, Linda Ma (China, HK Poly U CBS ‘18)
In March 2019, Matt returned to journalism full time. He is now based in Hong Kong where he works as Production Editor for AbacusNews.com, South China Morning Post’s international-facing tech news site. Living overseas has become normal for him, as it has been six years since he left the US. But being in Hong Kong, Asia’s financial and shipping hub, he believes he has box seats to the intricacies of China’s transformations as they happen.