Talking Points February 27 - March 12, 2014
Most who subscribe to Talking Points consider themselves China watchers of one sort or another. Some are Chinese and others are not and some live in China while others do not. But most readers are trying to make sense of a large and diverse place undergoing some of the most remarkable changes in human history. None of us can grasp it all, most of us focus on one aspect or place or group of people or another.
1960s, it was difficult and rare for Americans to visit China and for Chinese to visit the U.S. Travel to and within China has never been as easy or convenient as it mostly is today. And Chinese are going abroad to study, work, travel and otherwise engage with others. On an average day in 2012, for example, 6,000 Americans and 4,000 Chinese traveled to each other’s country. Outbound travel from China is booming and, hoping to further cash in, the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board announced yesterday it was launching a multi-pronged “Ni Hao” campaign.
China’s government is making it harder for some news organizations to station reporters they want in China and reporting there remains especially challenging, but there are more American reporters in China today than ever before. And the Chinese government has been aggressively moving to reach American audiences with its view of China and of the world. Many news organizations are contracting, but CCTV America is hiring.
The new segment in our Assignment:China series focuses on the China Watching pioneers. You can watch it now at our website or our YouTube channel or download it from our iTunes collection.
others working for U.S. news organizations left China. The U.S. did not recognize the new government and U.S. diplomatic posts were closed. By fall 1950, soldiers from the two countries were facing each other on Korean battlefields. China generally did not welcome journalists from countries with which it did not have diplomatic relations and the U.S. State Department ruled that U.S. passports were not valid for travel to China. These restrictions eased a bit by the 1960s, but over the next two decades few journalists were able to report from China for U.S. news organizations. Those who did get in, by virtue of not being U.S. citizens or through special invitation were closely monitored. Most American reporting on China was done from the “listening post” of Hong Kong.
Burns, non-citizens whose work was carried by U.S. news organizations and with Robert Cohen, who visited in 1957 as a member of a youth delegation and whose reports were carried by NBC. During this period, the U.S. journalist with the best access in China was Edgar Snow, who made three trips. Snow’s access, of course, stemmed from his key role in visiting the Chinese Communist Party’s Yan’an base in the 1930s and reporting on what he saw and heard. Snow’s biographer, John Maxwell Hamilton, is among those interviewed and China Watching features part of an interview Snow conducted with Premier Zhou Enlai during his 1960 visit. In 1970, of course, Mao used Snow to signal his willingness to welcome U.S. President Richard Nixon to China. In his notes, Snow wrote, “[Nixon] can just get on a plane and come.”
Also available at our website are videos from two recent USC U.S.-China Institute events. Earlier this month, we hosted a symposium on America’s ties in East and Southeast Asia and prospects for peace and prosperity there. Andrew Yang, Taiwan’s former defense minister, opened the discussion by arguing that the Korean War and America’s 1950s security treaties with Japan and Taiwan represented the first “pivot” or “rebalancing” to Asia. Others looked at the roles of regional and international trade organizations, the rise of nationalism, cross-strait relations, and cultural exchange in assessing the current regional situation, potential conflict points, and possible areas of cooperation. Click here to watch those presentations.
Best wishes, -- a program of the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
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 USC Events
 Annenberg School, Annenberg Auditorium Los Angeles, CA 90089 Time: 8:15AM - 4:00PM Please register at here. USC Center on Public Diplomacy hosts its 2014 conference examining the impact of soft power for emerging countries, such as China. Ahn House (AHN) Los Angeles, CA 90089 Time: 1:00PM - 5:00PM USC East Asian Studies Center hosts a Graduate Mentoring Workshop with West Coast Asian International Relations Specialists
The Albert and Dana Broccoli Theatre, SCA 112, George Lucas Building 900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90089 Times: 7:00PM Seeking Asian Female is a feature-length personal documentary about the unlikely romance of Steven and Jianhua - an American man obsessed with marrying any Asian woman and the Chinese woman half his age who agrees online to become his fiancé.
California EventsUCLA, Bunche Hall 10383 11381 Bunche Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90095 Time: 4:00PM - 5:30PM Professor Wang will discuss some of the most difficult environmental challenges China is facing. Chinese American Museum 425 North Los Angeles Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 Time: 12:00PM - 10:00PM A signature event for CAM and now a beloved community tradition, CAM’s annual Lantern Festival celebration offers Chinese New Year fanfare with free entertainment and interactive cultural activities for people of diverse backgrounds and ages to enjoy. Golden Dragon Restaurant 960 N. Broadway St. , Los Angeles, CA 90012 Time: 6:00PM - 9:00PM The China Society of Southern California present a discussion with prominent film producer, Janet Yang. University of San Francisco, Fromm Hall, Berman Room San Francisco, CA 94117 Time: 5:00PM - 6:30PM University of San Francisco Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History hosts a discussion of early modern scientific texts translated jointly by Christian missionaries and Chinese literati. UCLA, Schoenberg Hall 445 Charles E Young Drive East, Los Angeles, CA 90095 Time: 8:00PM - 10:15PM The Hangzhou Yueju Opera Company ( (杭州越剧院 will present "Hedda" (海达), also called "Aspiration Sky High" (心比天高). Skirball Cultural Center 2701 N Sepulveda Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90049 Time: 8:00PM Join prize-winning author Nicole Mones as she discusses Night in Shanghai, her epic novel about jazz, war, and the Holocaust. North America Events
Indiana University, Maurer School of Law Moot Courtroom, Room 123 Bloomington, IN 47405 Time: 4:00PM - 5:00PM Indiana University East Asian Studies Center hosts a screening of "Imported From China," a half-hour documentary film that follows students from China who are finding a place in a college setting and within the larger U.S. context.
Wesleyan University Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies, FEAS Seminar Room 343 Washington Terrace, Middletown, CT 06459 Time: 4:30PM - 6:00PM The Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies hosts a discussion with Jonathan Goldstein on The history of Sino-Israeli relations.
Indiana University, East Asian Studies Center, Student Building Room 150 1021 East Third Street, Memorial Hall West 207 Bloomington, IN 47405 Time: 12:00PM - 1:15PM Indiana University hosts the sixth EASC colloquium of the spring semester
Harvard University, CGIS Knafel Building, Bowie-Vernon Room (K262) 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 Time: 4:15PM Eight influential experts from China will give a forecast for 2014 after the Third Plenum. They will also discuss the Plenum’s long-term impact, from the perspectives of politics, economy, law, minority affairs, and foreign policies.
Asia Society New York 725 Park Avenue at 70th Street, New York, NY 10021 Time: 6:30PM - 8:00PM The Asia Society hosts a discussion with author Amy Tan, followed by a book signing. 19 University Place Room 102, New York, NY 10003 United States Time: 6:00PM - 0:00PM A gathering of performers and guest speakers will discuss some of today’s urgent issues, linking them back to divisive and corrosive stereotypes, policies, and practices. Exhibitions Below are exhibitions ending in the next two weeks. Please visit the main exhibitions calendarfor a complete list of ongoing exhibitions. Rosendin Atrium University of Southern California School of Architecture Los Angeles, CA 90007 An Exhibition of Work from the Study Abroad Programs
USC U.S.-China Institute | 3535 S. Figueroa Street, FIG 202 | Los Angeles | CA | 90089 Tel: 213-821-4382 | Fax: 213-821-2382 | uschina@usc.edu | china.usc.edu
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