USC and China in the News, September and October 2012

Click here for other "USC and China in the News" pages. 

 

October 30, 2012: Tianjin Network 天津网 

An article noted that Jason Squire of the USC School of Cinematic Arts presented a “Golden Angel” award to Wang Mingfei at the Chinese American Film Festival awards ceremony. Wang directed “Neverland.” 

October 29, 2012: Entertainment Weekly

USC political scientist Stanley Rosen was quoted on the difficulty Chinese directors have had in creating English language films. He noted that Ang Lee had enjoyed success after starting out in Taiwan. Lee, however, was trained in the U.S.

October 22, 2012: Orange County Register

USC international relations professor Daniel Lynch was cited in an article on responses to the third presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Lynch complained that the candidates failed to discuss what China’s economic rise means for the U.S. Lynch doubts that Romney will keep his pledge to declare China a currency manipulator. "No president wants the stock market to tank on his first day in office," Lynch said. "He's not going to start a trade war." 

October 22, 2012: Global Times

USC alum Jay Thornhill ran this year’s “Shanghai 48 Hour Film Project.” Thornhill said, “These films are not just about having fun; this is a real professional, serious event." 

October 22, 2012: The Maritime Executive

Efforts by researchers from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and Hong Kong’s Tai Chong Cheang Group to develop ways to reduce the pollution caused by the diesel engines moving goods across oceans.  Viterbi Dean Yannis C. Yortsos said, the research was “pioneering in scope as it addresses a vastly overlooked area of environmental emissions, and it holds promise to lead to innovative solutions for increasing marine diesel engine efficiencies”. 

October 22, 2012: Science News

Utilizing 130-million year old fossils from China, USC paleontology graduate student Justin Hall and his faculty co-authors Michael Habib (Keck School of Medicine) and Luis Chiappe (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County) presented a “rethink” about winged dinosaurs at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. They argued that hind wings were tucked under the dinosaur’s body until needed to execute tight turns. 

October 19, 2012

The participation of USC political scientist Stanley Rosen and USC U.S.-China Institute director Clayton Dube was noted in several articles about a Taiwan conference examining the ongoing dispute over the Diaoyu / Senkaku islands.

China Times

NOW News

United Daily

October 17, 2012: Central News Daily (Taiwan)

An article on American policy toward Asia included mention of an interview conducted with Kurt Campbell, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, for the USC U.S.-China Institute. Video of the interview with Kurt Campbell is available at the USCI website. 

October 14, 2012: Voice of America

An article focused on the “China Watching” segment of the USC U.S.-China Institute’s Assignment:China documentary series. USCI senior fellow Mike Chinoy explained that since they were not permitted to visit China during the 1950s and 1960s, American reporters had to draw upon Chinese news reports, comments from intelligence and diplomatic officials, and other sources in order to try to describe what was going on there. Murray Fromson, USC Annenberg journalism professor emeritus, was one of those interviewed for the program and spoke at the screening. In a post-screening interview USCI director Clayton Dube noted that despite considerable opening up, the most important political deal making still happens behind closed doors. As a result, journalists and others still resort to old style “Pekingology” in trying to determine who might be up or down in the Chinese political hierarchy. 

October 13, 2012: NBC

USC’s Galen Center hosted the League of Legends video game championship, which was won by the Taipei Assassins, a team from Taiwan. More than 12 million people play the game each day. The finals were broadcast in China and other countries. A USA Today report noted that teams from China and other countries competed for $3 million in prize money. 

October 12, 2012: Voice of America

A video and text report focusing on Chinese students in the U.S. included interviews with Varun Soni, USC’s Dean of Religious Life, Jing Li, USC graduate and member of the education faculty, Stanley Rosen, USC political scientist, as well as student Sun Wei. It featured scenes from the mid-autumn festival hosted by USC’s Chinese Student and Scholar Association.

October 12, 2012: World Journal 世界日报

Clayton Dube of the USC U.S.-China Institute spoke at a public symposium on Chinese investment in California.

October 10, 2012: Radio Taiwan International

An article featured the USC U.S.-China Institute documentary “The Pivot.”  The article noted that USCI senior fellow Mike Chinoy was the chief reporter on the project and that it included interviews with a number of people, including U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell. Other news organizations noted the interview with Campbell as well. 

 

September 27, 2012: Bloomberg Businessweek

The wine-making and resort-running efforts Qingyun Ma, dean of the USC School of Architecture, were profiled in an article on the rise of China’s wine industry. Ma’s winery, near his hometown of Xi’an, China, is adding brick buildings inspired by those from nearby villages. Many Chinese vineyards include European-looking buildings. Ma said. “I almost don’t care about how good the wine is. As soon as I see a fake French château, I think there’s something wrong.” Ma has a wine-themed feed on Sina Weibo and also runs a wine consultancy. 

September 27, 2012: Financial Times

In an article about the increasing number of Chinese students studying abroad, Lu Kaitong, a USC student, is quoted. Lu complained in a documentary that the Chinese college entrance exam is a waste of energy, “It is such a pain to take the college entrance exam – you spend a whole year studying a little bit of knowledge over and over again, and then you forget all of it in two years’ time.” 

September 25, 2012: Huff Post Live

Clayton Dube of the USC US-China Institute participated in a discussion of Japan’s dependence on rare earth minerals from China and the ongoing tensions between Japan and China.

September 25, 2012: San Diego Union-Tribune

James Fawcett of USC’s Urban Ocean Program was interviewed for a story on a recent trade promotion trip San Diego port officials made to China. Fawcett said such trips were common, but that this one lacked proper preparation. “[I]n this case, there are no tenants….  It’s a little bit backwards. If you don’t have a proposal, why are [you] looking for money? You don’t know how much money you’re seeking, and you wouldn’t know until there was a proposal.”  

September 19, 2012: Xinhua News Agency

Song-guo Zheng of the USC Keck School of Medicine spoke at a forum marking the 81^st anniversary of the Manchuria Incident when Japan launched its occupation of Northeast China. Zheng addressed current tensions between China and Japan over islets in the East China Sea. He told the forum, "The so-called purchase of Diaoyu Islands by the Japanese government is national terrorism, and we Chinese Americans cannot accept it."

September 19, 2012: China Daily

An article about overseas Chinese in Los Angeles voicing support of the China's resolve to defend the Diaoyu Islands from Japan's attempt to purchase the islands. Song-guo Zheng, associate professor of medicine and immunology at the University of Southern California, said that "the so-called purchase of Diaoyu Islands by the Japanese government is national terrorism, and that we Chinese Americans can not accept it."

September 18, 2012: China Daily

An article noted that WA Optimum Health Care Center in Shanghai partnered with the USC to provide Chinese patients access to USC’s medical specialists.

September 14, 2012: China Daily

The Chinese consulate and USC student groups together with police and others sponsored a forum to discuss safety issues and to promote available security information for students for USC students. 

September 12, 2012: Bloomberg

USC international relations specialist Dan Lynch was quoted in an article on speculation regarding why Chinese leader Xi Jinping was absent from the news. Lynch noted, “The longer Xi remains out of sight without clarification as to his condition, the more likely his condition is to be serious and the silence not simply a reflection of party hyper-sensitivity… Even worse, the top party leaders might not even be fully aware of the problem that their silence creates for governance.” 

September 12, 2012: World

USC political scientist Stanley Rosen was quoted in a story about protests in Hong Kong against government plans to implement a mandatory patriotic education program. Rosen said, "If you look at selective parts of [the teachings], you start to see red herrings, like praise for the communists and criticism of democracy." 

September 4, 2012: Los Angeles Times

An article focused on a partnership between movie industry marketing company Cimarron and the USC Marshall School, which has led to students getting internships with the company. The Chinese-speaking students monitor social media and other online outlets to learn how certain Hollywood films are perceived in China. Richard Drobnick of the USC Marshall School, who directs USC’s Center for International Business Education and Research, said that the university proposed the internship for the mutual benefit of Cimarron and the students. “We were talking about ways to create synergies between [Cimarron] and what we do at the business school, and this was the lowest-hanging fruit,” he said. 

 

---

Click here to view other "USC and China in the News" pages.