Melinda Liu was named Newsweek Beijing bureau chief in late 1998, returning to the bureau she herself opened in 1980. 

One of Newsweek's most experienced foreign correspondents, Liu has spent months at a time in Afghanistan and Iraq since 9/11, reporting on the war against terror. Arriving in Iraq in January 2003 to cover the last days of Saddam Hussein, Liu was one of few American journalists in the Iraqi capital during the U.S. bombing of Baghdad. Her report titled "Eyewitness Baghdad", filed from the Palestine Hotel, was part of the magazine's "Shock and Awe" issue which won a coveted National Magazine Award that year.

Prior to her current posting Liu served as diplomatic correspondent, operating out of Newsweek's Washington Bureau between 1992 and 1998. Liu has reported extensively on international policy, both in the U.S. and abroad. Her coverage of the Hong Kong handover in 1997 and Sino-U.S. relations in 1996 helped win the magazine the Overseas Press Club's Ed Cunningham Memorial Award for best magazine reporting from abroad.

Before becoming diplomatic correspondent, Liu reported on law enforcement, global organized crime, and terrorism, including the 1993 World Trade Center bombing case. She contributed to an award-winning 1994 cover story on homicide in America.

Prior to taking her post in Washington, Liu, an expert on Asian culture and politics, was Newsweek's Asia regional editor and Hong Kong bureau chief for nine years. She also has covered major U.S. conflicts and peacekeeping exercises such as the 1991 Persian Gulf war and military interventions in Haiti and Somalia.

In the spring of 1989, Liu supervised Newsweek's coverage of the Tiananmen Square student protests. In September 1988 she was the only Western staff correspondent in Rangoon when the Burmese military launched a violent takeover. In 1986 and 1987, Liu covered the fall of Philippine strongman Ferdinand Marcos and unsuccessful coup attempts against President Corazon Aquino.

Liu joined Newsweek in 1980 and opened the magazine's Beijing bureau the same year. She returned to New York in 1982 as a general editor for Newsweek International. Prior to joining Newsweek, Liu was China-economy correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review. She was also a Taipei stringer for Newsweek, the Washington Post and CBS News. Liu was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and is a magna cum laude graduate of Radcliffe College, Harvard.

She is President of the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China, and in October 2005 launched a Newsweek Web column titled "Asia Rising."