USC And China In The News In 2021

Click here for earlier and more recent media notes involving USC faculty, staff and students and China.

December 16, 2021: Science Daily

USC researchers reported that while the first symptoms of covid-19 were fever, that in the U.S., the most common first symptom was a cough. "The greater transmissibility of [the variant in the U.S.] -- D614G -- might be explained by infected individuals coughing and spreading the virus before they were incapacitated by fever.

December 15, 2021: Sixth Tone

Titus Levi of the USC-Shanghai Jiaotong University Institute for Cultural and Creative Industry was quoted in an article about Colgate-Palmolive's decision to drop its Darlie brand of toothpaste, despite its number two standing in the China market. Darlie was an adaptation of the brand's original Darkie name. Levi explained that the change "may not hold much value for the locals....  The original character in blackface is crass to me and to the other Black folks in China, but for (the locals), this sails over their collective head. Having a serious conversation about race — and how mainlanders perceive Black folks — might develop into a useful and interesting conversation, but (the name change) doesn’t solve any problem.”

December 2, 2021: AP

Audrye Wong, USC political scientist, was quoted in a story about the Peng Shuai case, saying, “This is a brave and commendable move by the WTA, but I doubt that many other sports bodies or businesses will follow in the WTA’s footsteps.... Unfortunately, foreign pressure will also heighten CCP (Chinese Communist Party) fears that social movements such as #MeToo pose a threat to regime stability and have to be cracked down on more harshly."

November 23, 2021: The Week

USC political scientist Stanley Rosen was quoted in an article about Chinese celebrities who have dropped from public view. He spoke about actress/producer Zhao Wei: “Zhao Wei is like a poster child for what the Communist Party sees as what’s wrong with celebrity culture in China.... Going after her without offering a smoking-gun explanation as to why they did it will certainly make other celebrities extremely cautious and proactive in embracing regime goals."

November 12, 2021: The Conversation

USC Annenberg's Robert Kozinets and Chih-Ling Liu of Lancaster University published an essay on how China's single women, sometimes labelled as "leftover," are using their financial power to battle prejudice against being single past age 27. 
USCI interviewed Leta Hong Fincher on her book Leftover Women in 2015.

October 30, 2021: South China Morning Post

An article reported on a scam where training programs in Hong Kong were represented as authorized by or affiliated with the University of Southern California and the U.S.-China Institute. "The American university said it had nothing to do with the course and the certificates issued in the name of its US-China Institute (USCI) based in Los Angeles were fake."

October 22, 2021: MSNBC

Three USC students, Yue Yang, Amy Zhirui Jin, Stanley Kachun Hong and the USC U.S.-China Institute's Clayton Dube were interviewed for a story on Chinese students at American universities. The students highlighted the cost of coming, worries about being welcomed here and how graduates are increasingly thinking about returning to China rather than finding work in the U.S. Dube noted that having Chinese students at U.S. schools benefits all students and not just those from China. In an increasingly interconnected world it provides American students an opportunity to work with and better understand students from China and elsewhere. The story reports that enrollments of Chinese students nationwide has fallen significantly. That's not the case at USC. Fall 2021 enrollment of students from China was 6,166. In Fall 2019, it was just slightly higher at 6,199. Enrollment did fall in 2020, when it was 5,748.

October 18, 2021: Phoenix Satellite Television 凤凰

Jonathan Aronson of the USC School for International Studies and the Annenberg School was interviewed about the tensions between the U.S. and China and recommended taking small steps forward rather than seeking a grand bargain.

October 14, 2021: Nikkei Asia

The absence of Marvel films from screens in China was highlighted in an article about the difficulties U.S. studios are having in getting their films into China. USC political scientist Stanley Rosen was cited, "You look at all of the criticisms of the so-called sissy boys, the closing down of the K-pop fan clubs, closing down of tutoring services that taught English, English not included in school final exams. ... It's the atmosphere right now that foreign is dangerous, and Hollywood is subject to that as well.

October 10, 2021: New Zealand Herald

An article about the rise in farm stays for tourists seeking an idyllic China noted that USC had focused on the politics of rural nostalgia. This was a reference to a program USCI hosted on rural China in the social media age with scholar Han Li.

September 15, 2021: Wall Street Journal

An article about actress/mogul Zhao Wei's erasure from China's internet included comments from USC political scientist Stanley Rosen. He said, “Zhao Wei is like a poster child for what the Communist Party sees as what’s wrong with celebrity culture in China. It’s a demonstration that no one, no matter how wealthy or popular, is too big to pursue.”

September 11, 2021: Voice of America

USC political scientist Stanley Rosen, Clayton Dube of the USC U.S.-China Institute and USC alum Katherine Chu were quoted in an article about American film studios and streaming platforms efforts to enter the Chinese market. He noted that because Netflix is in Spain and not China, it stood to benefit more if Adam Sandler's next comedy were set in Europe rather than China. Dube said, "Netflix tried for years to enter the Chinese market, but it understands now that China's government is not going to permit foreign entertainment platforms to compete with those it controls. Further, it has tightened rules governing foreign content on Chinese platforms." Rosen discussed the limited number of foreign films permitted in China and Chu noted that China still relied on the U.S. for its platform, talent and technology.

September 9, 2021: China.org.cn

Almost 1,200 USC students met with recruiters for 60 firms through a virtual job fair organized by the USC Career Center and USC China Career Services. The program targeted students from China. Employers included American and Chinese giants including Accenture, Bloomberg, ByteDance, Deloitte, L'Oreal, Netease Games, PepsiCo, and Sony Group.

September 1, 2021: South China Morning Post

Hong Kong's Alfred Ho Tat-kei is taking over as head of the public policy department at City University. He is an accomplished scholar and educator. The city of Indianapolis declared June 17, 2010 Alfred Ho Day to recognize his contribution to city management and public engagement. Ho told the Post that his initial inspiration came from a talk he heard as a Hong Kong undergrad. USC's Terry Cooper visited and taught a course on public administration. 

August 17, 2021: Voice of America (Chinese)

USC Annenberg’s Tom Hollihan discussed China’s tightening of space for online discussion and the use of media to promote national zeal. China’s government uses the media to shape the narratives around various issues such as the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands and the disasterous explosion in Tianjin. It blames “foreign forces” for the protests in Hong Kong and suppresses mention of policies in Xinjiang.

August 17, 2021: The Hollywood Reporter

Stanley Rosen, USC political scientist, was interviewed for an article on prospects for the Marvel film Shang-Chi. He said, “whenever Hollywood makes a film involving Chinese culture, it really becomes a mine field.” 

August 16, 2021: Vice

USC political scientist Stanley Rosen was quoted in an article about China and the new Taliban government in Afghanistan: “Even if the Taliban has provided assurance that its territory will not be used to launch attacks [against China], given the group’s past history, the Communist Party will still be wary. How unified and monolithic will the Taliban be when they take over?”