--- description: The backlash echoes attacks waged online against foreign female journalists of ethnic Chinese origin working for Western news organizations. title: Chinese Women Economists Labeled Traitors After Lunch With Yellen image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c4b42cf023e2e08/698a3e86096a9473d76adeae/Janet-Yellen-Beijing-Lunch.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [China](/tag/china/) ## China Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # After Lunching With Janet Yellen, Chinese Women Economists Are Called Traitors Online by [Bloomberg News](/author/bloomberg/) ## Bloomberg News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 10, 2023 8:55 AM CUT  U.S. Treasury Sec. Yellen arrives for a lunch meeting with women economists in Beijing on July 8. U.S. Treasury Sec. Yellen arrives for a lunch meeting with women economists in Beijing on July 8.Mark Schiefelbein—Pool/AFP/Getty Images by [Bloomberg News](/author/bloomberg/) ## Bloomberg News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 10, 2023 8:55 AM CUT A group of Chinese female economists and entrepreneurs who dined with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen have been blasted by online nationalists for betraying their country by interacting with the U.S. official. While the Treasury department skipped identifying attendees from the meeting on [Saturday](https://home.treasury.gov/press-releases/jy1600 "undefined"), a group photograph of the gathering posted to China’s Twitter-like Weibo was used to identify some participants. It was not clear who first shared the image online. **Read More:** [_‘No One Visit Will Solve Challenges Overnight’: What to Know About Janet Yellen’s China Trip_](https://time.com/6293244/janet-yellen-china-trip-economic-guardrails-amid-tensions/ "undefined") --- ### More from TIME --- “There’s no such thing as a free meal,” wrote Shen Yi, a [professor](https://brgg.fudan.edu.cn/en/teaminfo%5F7.html "undefined") in international politics at Fudan University, who has over two million followers on the platform. “They’ll need deliver KPIs in exchange,” he added, using the acronym for key performance indicators, implying the women would have to give something to the U.S. government. The criticism mostly targeted two women who posted about their experience on social media: Liu Qian, the Economist Group’s managing director for Greater China, and author Hao Jingfang, who previously worked for the China Development Research Foundation, which is managed by a branch of the State Council. > [](https://twitter.com/QianLiuChina/status/1677754167228776448) In a now-deleted exchange, one Weibo user asked Hao, whose award-winning novel _Folding Beijing_ is widely considered to be about income inequality in the capital, why she attended the dinner. Hao replied: “Because Yellen is the friendliest American official, she’s always dedicated to developing friendly China-US relations.” Several users [accused](https://weibo.com/p/10080812a6c1e6c54a962495b15c388a241dab/super%5Findex "undefined") Hao of being an “American spy,” while a post that garnered some 600 comments criticized the elite status of the women selected, saying “they have not worked in factories.” Yellen’s exchange with women economists and entrepreneurs telegraphed the importance she places on female representation in elite decision-making. During her four-day trip to Beijing to stabilize ties with America’s biggest rival, the Chinese government exclusively put forward male officials to meet the first woman to run the U.S. Treasury, according to publicly available information. “I see it all the time when I’m almost the only woman in the room,” Yellen told the women. “I’m sure many of you have that same experience at decision-making tables.” President Xi Jinping excluded women from China’s top leadership at last year’s congress for the first time in 25 years. Furthermore, as China struggles with a record low birth rate, women are being encouraged to take on more traditional care-giving roles. **Read More:** [_China’s Population Is Shrinking—and Graying. Here’s What It Means for the Future_](https://time.com/6248728/china-population-decline-aging/ "undefined") The backlash against the women echoes attacks waged by online nationalists against foreign female journalists of ethnic Chinese origin working for Western news organizations. “Attackers routinely disparage their coverage of China and make crude sexual innuendos, including alarming threats of physical violence,” the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China wrote in a [report](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UhSRnauuTsLkFEG1mW2F4L2zMFV2m88u/view "undefined") last year on the issue. “Women’s participation in the workforce is one of the major drivers of creating inclusive growth,” the Treasury said in a [statement](https://home.treasury.gov/press-releases/jy1600 "undefined") after Yellen’s meeting. “Women’s contributions to economics, in particular, are important to help ensure that economic research and policymaking appropriately reflect society’s priorities.” _—With assistance from Yihui Xie._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6293259/chinese-women-economists-yellen-traitors/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6293259/chinese-women-economists-yellen-traitors/"},"headline":"After Lunching With Janet Yellen, Chinese Women Economists Are Called Traitors Online","datePublished":"2023-07-10T08:55:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T16:07:49.795Z","description":"The backlash echoes attacks waged online against foreign female journalists of ethnic Chinese origin working for Western news organizations.","url":"https://time.com/6293259/chinese-women-economists-yellen-traitors/","keywords":["China","wire"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c4b42cf023e2e08/698a3e86096a9473d76adeae/Janet-Yellen-Beijing-Lunch.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Bloomberg News"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c4b42cf023e2e08/698a3e86096a9473d76adeae/Janet-Yellen-Beijing-Lunch.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"CHINA-US-DIPLOMACY","caption":"CHINA-US-DIPLOMACY","creditText":"Mark Schiefelbein—Pool/AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/china/","name":"China"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6293259/chinese-women-economists-yellen-traitors/","name":"After Lunching With Janet Yellen, Chinese Women Economists Are Called Traitors Online"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Exiled Hong Kong Activists React to Their Million-Dollar Bounties","description":"Hong Kong’s leader said Tuesday that a group of exiled pro-democracy activists will be “pursued for life.” Police announced a day earlier a reward of HK$1 million (a little over $125,000) in return for any information that could lead to the arrest of any of the eight political dissidents—which includes three former lawmakers—who were accused of violating the Chinese enclave’s controversial National Security Law.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/CXbxg0Nd/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-07-05T20:21:34.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/CXbxg0Nd.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6293259/chinese-women-economists-yellen-traitors/","duration":"PT3M16S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6293259/chinese-women-economists-yellen-traitors/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```