Former Beijing correspondent Helene Chung Martin was the first woman posted abroad by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. She has worked in radio in Australia, Britain, China, Egypt and Hong Kong, and in television in Australia.

She has also freelanced for BBC, CBS, Hong Kong radio, NPR and NZBC.

A fourth-generation Tasmanian Chinese, she was born in Hobart and educated at St Mary's College, Hobart, and The University of Tasmania. She is a BA (Hons) and MA in history.

An honorary research fellow at Monash Asia Institute, Melbourne, she is the author of Shouting from China (Penguin, Melbourne 1988 and 1989), and Gentle John My Love My Loss (Hill of Content, Melbourne, 1995).

Author's Pandanus publications

• Lazy Man in China