The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom: Part Two

Sinica Podcast

Kaiser Kuo

Culture, China News, Hangzhou, Chinese, International Relations, Chongqing, Beijing, Sichuan, Currentaffairs, China, Politics, Chengdu, Shanghai, Guangzhou, China Economy, News, China Politics, Business, Film, Shenzhen

4.8 • 676 Ratings

🗓️ 22 December 2016

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

John Pomfret first went to China as a student in 1980 and covered the Tiananmen demonstrations in 1989 for the Associated Press. He was expelled for his efforts, but returned to Beijing a decade later to head up the Washington Post’s Beijing bureau. For more on his experience and some compelling and little-known stories, listen to the first half of this two-part Sinica Podcast and read our accompanying Sinica backgrounder. In this week’s episode, Kaiser and Jeremy continue to talk with John about his new book, The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom, which charts the history of America’s relationship with China. John explains that the countries have been intertwined long before the ping-pong diplomacy often credited for ushering in U.S.-China relations in the early 1970s. You can read the short prologue to John’s book, republished with permission here. Recommendations: John: The Sympathizer, by Viet Thanh Nguyen, and The Boat Rocker, by Ha Jin. Kaiser: The albums Tarkus and Welcome Back, My Friends, to the Show That Never Ends ~ Ladies and Gentlemen, by Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Jeremy: A VICE video on ginseng in the Appalachian Mountains, and The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm, translated by Jack Zipes. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

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0:40.8	Start your free 30-day trial at audible.com slash Wondery UK.
0:45.7	That's audible.com slash Wondery UK. Welcome to the Cynical podcast.
1:00.6	A weekly discussion of current affairs in China produced in partnership with SUPChina.
1:04.8	SubChina is the best way to stay on top of China news in just a few minutes a day with a handy smartphone app, an email newsletter, and, of course,
1:11.9	by visiting subchina.com. It's a feast of business, political, and cultural news about a nation that
1:18.0	is reshaping the world. I'm Kaiser Guo, and today it's the second half of our conversation with
1:23.3	John Pompfret, veteran China journalist, and author of the brand new book, The Beautiful
1:27.6	Country, and the Middle Kingdom. In the first half, John talked about the early commercial
1:32.6	encounters between China and the United States described in his book, and talked about how
1:37.1	trade with China by the newly independent United States really shaped the U.S. in significant
1:43.1	ways. He also introduced us to just a few of
1:45.9	the many, many fascinating characters who come to life in the pages of the book. Now we plunge ahead
1:52.7	into the 20th century and even into the complexities of the relationship in the 21st century.
	...

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