Tom Lasseter is the Beijing bureau chief. Before this posting, he was the Moscow bureau chief from Spring 2007 to Winter 2009. In addition to reporting about Russia and its immediate neighbors — including the Georgia-Russia war in August 2008 — he reported extensively from Afghanistan and other Central Asian nations. Prior to that, he spent much of 2003 to 2006 covering the war in Iraq.

Lasseter grew up in Atlanta and attended the University of Georgia.

A reporting project he led in 2008 about U.S. detention practices in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay won a top Investigative Reporters and Editors award, and an Online Journalism Award for investigative journalism.

The Overseas Press Club awarded Lasseter and two colleagues from the Baghdad bureau its Hal Boyle Award for best newspaper reporting from abroad in 2005.

For his coverage from China, the Overseas Press Club awarded Lasseter its 2010 Madeline Dane Ross Award for best international reporting in the print medium showing a concern for the human condition. The Society of American Business Editors and Writers also awarded Lasseter a 2010 Best in Business award for feature writing in its international category.

A reporting project he led in 2008 about U.S. detention practices in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay won a top Investigative Reporters and Editors award, and an Online Journalism Award for investigative journalism.

Follow Tom on Twitter: @TomLasseter

Read Tom's blog: China Rises.