Annabel Egan is Research Associate with the EU-China Human Rights Seminars Project. In this role she provides targeted research to the European External Action Service on developments regarding human rights law and practice in China which can inform EU policy on the matter. She also plays a key role in the design and implementation of all project activities including the EU China Human Rights Seminars and the EU Human Rights Lecture Series in China. Prior to taking up her current post, Annabel lived in China for 5 years, working as a freelance journalist, an editor with the Beijing bureau of the South China Morning Post and as spokesperson for the European Commission Delegation to China. From 1997-2000 she worked as a broadcast journalist with RTÉ, Ireland’s national broadcaster.

As an undergraduate, Annabel studied modern history at Trinity College Dublin, graduating in 1995. In 1996 she gained a masters degree with distinction in Economics and Politics from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. She completed her doctoral studies at the Irish Centre for Human Rights in 2012 under the supervision of Prof. William Schabas. Her thesis, entitled ‘Constructive Engagement and Human Rights’ examines the development of EU human rights policy on China since the mid 1980s.