Edward Wong Traces China's Evolution Through Father's Eyes

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KQED

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 23 July 2024

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

New York Times diplomatic correspondent Edward Wong says that he is the “son of two empires.” He grew up outside of Washington, D.C. during the Cold War when the containment of communism undergirded all of U.S. foreign policy. But his parents grew up in rural China, where his father became a follower of Mao Zedong and joined soldiers, workers and students who believed Mao’s China could stand up to what they saw as U.S. imperialism. Wong traces and reflects on his father’s journey and the evolution of modern China in his new book “At the Edge of Empire.” He joins us. Guests: Edward Wong , diplomatic correspondent, The New York Times; author, "At the Edge of Empire: A Family's Reckoning with China" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:58.0	From KQBD in San Francisco, I'm Mina Kim. Coming up on forum, China's history and
1:21.3	resurgence as a global power is momentous and complicated, and one that Edward
1:26.4	Wong of the New York Times hopes to make
1:28.9	digestible by telling it through the story of his family. His father's years as a student and soldier
1:34.4	under Mao, and Wong's own story as correspondent in Beijing Bureau Chief for the Times,
1:39.9	witnessing the evolution of an authoritarian China under Xi. We dive into that history this hour
1:46.1	as we face an election that will shape U.S.-China relations, and as more Americans see China,
1:51.3	not as a competitor, but an enemy. Join us. Welcome to Forum. I'm Mina Kim. Of all his family members' experiences with China, for Edward Wong,
2:08.1	it's his father's experiences as a soldier for Mao that have stuck with him the most.
2:13.7	Wong says his dad witnessed firsthand and was a participant in the early forms of control that have
2:20.0	evolved into what we see today under Xi. It's Wong's job to cover what we see today as
2:26.5	correspondent and former Beijing Bureau Chief for the New York Times. His new book, which tells his
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