Keyword: jeffrey wasserstrom

Wasserstrom: Recent Headlines from China 'Triggered Déjà Vu'

A statue displaying, from left, Deng Xiaoping, Mao Zedong, and Jiang Zemin, photographed in Beijing, China on August 9, 2010. (Mills Baker/Flickr)

"There is an added twist to this interplay between novelty and familiarity in recent headlines" coming out of China, notes Jeffrey Wasserstrom.

July 23rd

Interview: Historian Considers Three Tumultuous Years in Ever-Changing China

The skyline in Shanghai, China, on Oct. 19, 2012. Shanghai now has more skyscrapers than New York City and its population, currently estimated at 18 million, is forecast to reach 25 million by 2020. (Thomas Fischler/Flickr)

Policy

China and the U.S. are now intertwined to such a point, says Jeffrey Wasserstrom, that nearly every news story about one place has some link to the other.

June 18th

Is Xi Jinping a Reformer? It's Much Too Early to Tell (A Response to Nicholas Kristof)

A painting of President Xi Jinping for sale in a Shanghai shop. (Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images)

Policy

Jeffrey Wasserstrom and Rachel Beitarie reply to Nicholas Kristof's New York Time's piece predicting that Xi Jinping will spearhead an economic reform resurgence.

January 14th

Wasserstrom: The Five New China Books I'm Most Excited About in 2013

Two of the books Jeffrey Wasserstrom is anticipating in 2013: "The Matchmaker, the Apprentice, and the Football Fan: More Stories of China" by Wen Zhu and "What Remains Coming to Terms with Civil War in 19th-Century China" by Tobie Meyer-Fong.

Policy

China expert Jeffrey Wasserstrom lists the five books on China he most looks forward to reading in 2013.

December 19th

Interview: Qing Historian on Past Political Drama and Current Political Debate

Policy

Asia Society Associate Fellow Jeffrey Wasserstrom interviews 'Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom' author Stephen R. Platt.

December 13th

Video: Anti-Japan Protests a Reminder That Not Everything is Changing in China

Multimedia

Asia Society Fellow Jeffrey Wasserstrom weighs in on China and Japan's dispute over islands in the East China Sea.

September 21st

Interview: Punk Music and Protest in China and Russia

Wu Hao, guitarist for Beijing-based indie-punk band SUBS, performs at the Zebra Music Festival in Chengdu, May 2009. (Josh Chin/Flickr)

Arts

Fascinating things happen, the Pussy Riot trial reminds us, when music is used to give the finger to a stagnant government — especially an authoritarian one.

August 27th

Book Excerpt: 'Another Swimmer' by Xujun Eberlein (from 'Chinese Characters')

'Chinese Characters: Profiles of Fast-Changing Lives in a Fast-Changing Land' (2012), edited by Angilee Shah and Jeffrey Wasserstrom. (University of California Press)

In this excerpt from a new anthology, researching a family tragedy brings back memories of the Cultural Revolution.

August 15th

Movie Review: How an American Became a 'Revolutionary' in Mao's China

Mao Zedong signs Sidney Rittenberg's copy of the Little Red Book at a gathering of Party leaders during the Cultural Revolution. (Personal Collection of Sidney Rittenberg)

Arts

Asia Society Associate Fellow Jeffrey Wasserstrom reviews the new documentary about Sidney Rittenberg, an American who was also once a full-fledged member of the Chinese Communist Party.

July 9th

Interview: Peter Hessler on His Surprising First Trip to China

Peter Hessler in his apartment in Fuling, China, in the fall of 1996 shortly after he arrived. His apartment looked down to the Wu River and then the Yangtze in the distance. The main city of Fuling is visible to the left, at the juncture of the rivers.

Lifestyle

You probably know Peter Hessler from his acclaimed books on China, but you may not be aware that it was "happenstance" that led him to the country in the first place.

July 3rd