Dr Mei Ning Yan
Associate Research Fellow
BA in Geography (The University of Hong Kong, 1979), Certificate in Education (The University of Hong Kong, 1981), LLB (University of London, external program, 1993), LLM in Human Rights, Emergency Law and Discriminations (Queen’s University Belfast, 1995), PhD in Law (Essex, 1998)
Research Interests
Dr. Mei Ning YAN has extensive experience in research and teaching both in the common law legal system (mainly of Hong Kong) and in the People’s Republic of China.
Dr. Yan specializes in media and information law. Her PhD thesis was on the protection of freedom of information and the regulation of transfrontier television in western Europe and mainland China. For some 30 years, she has written widely on defamation law, privacy law, obscenity law, and media regulation and policy of mainland China and Hong Kong, often with comparative perspectives.
Dr. Yan taught at Journalism Department of Hong Kong Baptist University, Journalism School and Law School of Shantou University in mainland China, and Faculty of Law of The University of Hong Kong.
Before joining academia, Dr. Yan worked as a journalist in the 1980s and 1990s covering Hong Kong and Greater China.
Additional Professional Information
- Visiting scholar, School of Law, Queen’s University Belfast (Oct. 2023 to Oct. 2025)
- Visiting scholar, Philip K. H. Wong Centre for Chinese Law, Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong (Since Jan. 2016)
- Honorary Research Associate, Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong (April 2024 to June 2025)
Selected Publications
2024
(2024) “Any Right to Newsgathering in Hong Kong? Putting the CFA Judgement of Choy Yuk Ling in Context” Series 2, 5:3 Amicus Curiae 629.
2021
(2021) “The Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China, Personality Rights, and Freedom of Expression”16:2 Journal of Comparative Law 735.
2020
(2020) The Chinese Defamation Law Four Decades On (1979-2019) – Legal Rules versus Political Uncertainties” in A Koltay and P Wragg (eds.) Comparative Privacy and Defamation. UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.
2018
(2018) “New PRC Legal Developments on Protecting National Heroes and Their Possible Impact on Freedom of Expression” 13:2 Journal of Comparative Law 342.
2016
(2016) “Internet Intermediary Liability in Online Defamation Lawsuits: The Case of Mainland China” 11:2 Journal of Comparative Law 283-330.
2015
(2015) “Protecting the Right to be Forgotten – Is Mainland China Ready?” 3 European Data Protection Law Review 190.
(2015) “The Impact of New Media on Freedom of Expression in China and the Regulatory Responses,” in Peter Molnar (ed), Free Speech and Censorship Around the Globe. Budapest-New York: Central European University Press.
(2015) “Regulating Online Pornography in Mainland China and Hong Kong” in Mark McLelland and Vera Mackie (eds), The Routledge Handbook of Sexuality Studies in East Asia. London: Routledge.
2014
(2014) “Other Restrictions on Newsgathering and Reporting” (Chapter 8), “Obscenity and Indecency” (Chapter 11), and “Media Regulation in the Age of Convergence” (Chapter 12), in Doreen Weisenhaus, Hong Kong Media Law - A Guide for Journalists and Media Professionals, Expanded Second Edition. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.