Ben Westcott is the Asia-Pacific Affairs Writer for CNN Digital Worldwide in Hong Kong. He covers breaking news and foreign relations in the Asia-Pacific region with a focus China and Australia.

At CNN, Westcott's reporting has covered the rise of one-man rule in China under leader Xi Jinping; the detention of up to a million Uyghur citizens in Xinjiang; and the rapid deterioration of US-China relations during the Trump administration. He was on the ground in Beijing to cover the pomp and ceremony of the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, as well as in Taiwan for the legislation of same-sex marriage, a first for Asia.

Reporting alongside CNN's Ivan Watson, Westcott was part of the team that revealed the Karakax documents that proved the Chinese government was detaining Muslim Uyghurs purely because of their religion.

Westcott has also contributed to CNN's award-winning coverage of the 2019 Hong Kong pro-democracy protests, where he was a regular out in the field amidst the crowds and tear gas to capture the crisis that tore the city's financial hub apart.

Prior to joining CNN's Hong Kong bureau in 2016, Westcott worked as a journalist in both Australia and Indonesia. He wrote for publications including the South China Morning Post and the Canberra Times, regularly covering the Australian state and federal politics. In 2014, he was shortlisted as a finalist for the prestigious Walkey Young Australian Journalist of the Year award for his investigation into Australia's misuse of taxpayer funds by local governments for the Canberra Times.

Over the course of his seven years as a journalist, Westcott has also contributed articles to The Australian and Jakarta's KBR68H radio station.

Westcott holds a degree in Journalism and Communications from the RMIT University journalism school in Melbourne, Australia.