Harry Harding (born 16 June 1990 in
Ipswich, Queensland
Ipswich () is an urban centre within the City of Ipswich in South East Queensland, Australia. Situated on the Bremer River (Queensland), Bremer River, it is approximately 40 km (25 mi) west of the Brisbane central business district. Ipswich is ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
), also known as Hazza Harding and simply his stage name Hazza, is a journalist, television presenter, radio host and singer previously based in China. His debut single, "Let Go", was released on
iTunes
iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
8 August 2012, along with a music video that was shot in Australia. Hazza won "Most Popular Internet Celebrity 2011" at the
56.com Short film awards ceremony in Beijing.
On November 23, 2020, Hazza announced via his Twitter account that his single "I Was Wrong" had peaked at No.5 on a national music chart in China, broadcast on more than 25 radio stations across
mainland China
"Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...
,
Hong Kong
Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
and
Macao
Macau or Macao is a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most densely populated region in the world.
Formerly a Portuguese colony, the ter ...
.
Hazza stepped down as host of ''Guangdong Report'' on August 31, 2022, the same day that the
OHCHR Assessment of human rights concerns in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China, was issued.
Journalism and presenting
Hazza worked as a presenter at
Guangdong Radio and Television
Guangdong Radio and Television, commonly known as GRT, is a broadcasting company based in Guangdong, China. The company is operating 9 radio channels, 12 free-to-air and 10 pay television channels. The company is owned by the Guangdong provincial ...
(previously Guangdong TV), where he has hosted the talk show ''FaceTime'' from 2012 to 2021, with a short break during a stint at
HKSTV. He also featured on various programmes for the network after his tenure on
HKSTV during 2014 to 2016, and anchored news programmes such as ''The Guangdong Report'' and ''Guangdong News Now'', plus live specials for the network through 2022.
In 2017, Hazza won first prize at China News Award,
a prestigious national-level award presented to outstanding journalists in the country, for his work on a radio feature report about innovative companies of
Guangdong province
) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...
and its connections with Australia. He has also regularly published articles for
Xinhua News Agency
Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: ),J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. It is a ...
since late 2017.
Commenting on China's response of the
Brereton Report, Hazza commented on a tweet on Twitter that he had considered for the first time "relinquishing his Australian citizenship"; he also apologised to the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman
Zhao Lijian
Zhao Lijian (; born 10 November 1972) is a Chinese civil servant who has been serving as deputy director of the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China since January 2023.
He joined the foreign serv ...
in the tweet for Australia's emotional response to a graphic posted on Twitter. He has since clarified via media interviews that he is a patriotic Australian, and Chinese media called the comment "the highest act of love for one's country."
Hazza was one of few Chinese state media presenters openly opposed to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and referred to the conflict as an “invasion” on numerous occasions during televised broadcasts.
Aside from his work in China, Hazza has also worked with a number of Australian television channels, including
ABC Australia
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is a ...
and
7two,
with episodes listed on the
Freeview (Australia)
Freeview is the brand name of the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia intended to bring all of free-to-air (FTA) broadcasters onto a consistent marketing platform, to compete against subscription television, in particular Fox ...
website.
In an exclusive interview with
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...
’s 7:30 in May 2023, Hazza revealed he had been approached on two occasions by individuals who may have been working for foreign intelligence agencies.
Hazza claimed he did not know which country the individuals were working for, but connections to the Russian propaganda website New Eastern Outlook suggest they were Russian operatives working in China targeting foreign nationals.
Music
Hazza began his music career by posting cover songs to popular Chinese video sharing websites. Combined, Hazza's videos have received in excess of 100 million hits. In June 2012, Hazza recorded his debut single, "Let Go" ( zh, 该走的都走吧). The single was released later that year on iTunes, and peaked at #1 on the local radio music charts in Guangzhou, and stayed in the top ten for 11 weeks. The second single, a collaboration with Chinese singer-songwriter Wu Huan, "No Worries" ( zh, 无所不欢), was released on 28 October 2014 and peaked at #3 on local radio charts. His third single, "Mr Gentleman" ( zh, 绅士先生), was released on 2015. On November 23, 2020, Hazza announced via his Twitter account that his single "I Was Wrong," a song about a personal breakup, had peaked at No.5 on a national music chart in China, broadcast on more than 25 radio stations across
mainland China
"Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...
,
Hong Kong
Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
and
Macao
Macau or Macao is a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most densely populated region in the world.
Formerly a Portuguese colony, the ter ...
.
In a recent interview, Hazza announced we was working on a new single set for release late 2022.
Personal life
Hazza grew up in
Ipswich, Australia and attended
West Moreton Anglican College where he was school captain. Hazza completed his Bachelor of Arts in Applied Linguistics at
Griffith University
Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...
. Hazza completed a Master of International Relations at
Griffith University
Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...
in 2024.
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Hazza's official website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hazza
1990 births
Australian television presenters
Chinese television presenters
Chinese male singers
Australian expatriates in China
Australian expatriate journalists
Living people
21st-century Australian singers
21st-century Australian male singers
21st-century Chinese male singers