The U.S./China Media Brief seeks to assist media outlets and journalists to cover U.S.-China relations. We offer easily-accessible information materials ranging from online interviews to written articles on Sino-American issues.
The U.S.-China Media Brief is a unique online media tool developed by UCLA's Asian American Studies Center for all those who are interested in obtaining a clearer and more balanced understanding of U.S.-China relations today.
The U.S./China Media Brief Presidents Edition offers exclusive maps, charts, and expert commentaries.
The concerns about whether the rise of China represents an opportunity for or a threat to the United States are played out most vividly on the economic front. Though an economic relationship has existed between the two countries since 1784 when bilateral trade was first established, it is only in the last 30 years, when China’s economy, growing at a scope and speed that is unprecedented in history, has impacted the global economy that the economic relationship between China and the U.S. has become a front and center issue in both countries.
The People’s Republic of China at 60: Some Chinese American Perspectives and Podcasts
As far as auspicious occasions and the People’s Republic of China are concerned, 2009 is a year that should get an exclamation point. Not only is it the anniversary of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, 2009 marked the 20th anniversary of the infamous Tiananmen Square crackdown, the 30th anniversary of normalization of relations with the United States, the 50th anniversary of the Tibet uprising and, on Oct. 1, China’s National Day, its 60th anniversary.
A select group of Chinese Americans were interviewed for this article and five accompanying podcasts. In alphabetical order, they are Stanford University professor of American History Gordon H. Chang, graduate student Philip Guo, journalist William Wong, Howard University law professor Frank Wu and film producer Janet Yang.
My Country of Self-Contradiction
President Obama’s November 16, 2009 town hall meeting with Chinese college students at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum had a special meaning for me, for it was not far from where I grew up. Also, the students in the audience were drawn from several major universities in Shanghai, including my alma mater. However, I didn’t watch Obama’s speech at the town hall meeting, which was streamed live on local TV but with a several-second delay. I don’t expect Obama—as articulate as he is-- to give epoch-making speeches all the time.
But I did anticipate some controversy about the post-speech part, so I watched a few scenes from the Q&A the next day. Watching the students raising questions in English, I could not help but imagine what I would ask Obama if I were there.