[4] In 1996, Chan collaborated with Shieh Chung-liang, the Taiwan bureau chief of the Hong Kong–based magazine Yazhou Zhoukan to investigate possible Taiwanese contributions to US President Bill Clinton's re-election campaign.

The pair wrote an article that appeared on 25 October reporting that Liu Tai-ying, the business manager of Taiwan's Kuomintang political party, had offered $15 million to Mark Middleton, an ex-Clinton White House aide.

[8] Calling the trial "a test case for press freedom in Asia", The Committee to Protect Journalists filed an amicus brief on their behalf, as did ten major US media companies.

[8] In 2006, she strongly criticised the search engine Google for censoring its Chinese service, calling it "a missed opportunity to help nurture free journalism in the country".

"[1] In August 2013, the Asian American Journalists Association honoured Chan with a Lifetime Achievement Award, citing her media studies leadership roles at HKU and Shantou University.