by Jonathan Sharp | 6 Apr 2021 | Americas, Asia, China, Educators' Catalog, Eyewitness, Government, Personal Reflections, Politics, Sport, United States
Ping-pong players paved the way for a thaw in relations between China and the U.S. in the early 1970s. I witnessed this pivotal moment in history. Flanked by Chinese border officials, Glen Cowan, a member of the U.S. ping-pong team, waves to newsmen at Lowu, China,...
News Decoder’s correspondents have covered many of the biggest international stories of the past half-century, offering our students an unparalleled historical perspective on complex global events. Jonathan Sharp has tapped his rich professional adventures time and again for News Decoder, producing yarns about covering the Vietnam War and showing U.S. actress Shirley MacLaine around Beijing. In his latest article, Sharp recounts witnessing a pivotal moment in China-U.S. relations in 1971, when a team of U.S. ping-pong players visited China, paving the way to a thaw in relations between the two nations. Sharp skillfully mixes personal anecdotes with an impartial look at history to transport students born more than a generation after the “transformative moment” back in time.
Exercise: Ask each of your students to speak to at least one parent to identify a moment in their youth when they witnessed an important event. After interviewing the parent, the student should write an article mixing the parent’s viewpoint in the first person with third-person background and explanation.
by David Schlesinger | 1 Feb 2021 | Americas, Asia, China, Donald Trump, Joe Biden
A top secret White House document, surprisingly declassified, says the U.S. should seek “primacy” against rival China and promote ties with India. Chinese leader Xi Jinping invites then U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (L) to review an honour guard during a...
by Jasmine Li | 1 Dec 2020 | China, Discovery, Educators' Catalog, Health and Wellness, Identity, Student Posts, United States, Westover School, Youth Voices
COVID-19 left me in limbo in the United States, full of fear and anger. Then I returned home to China to face criticism before reuniting with my family. An empty John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York (All photos by Jasmine Li) So this is where I am going...
The coronavirus pandemic has put strains on students, their families, schools, entire communities. But Jasmine Li, a Chinese student at Westover School in the United States, provides a first-person account of the special difficulties facing foreign nationals caught in limbo as COVID-19 triggered global travel restrictions. Li cannot return to her temporary home at school, and when she finally makes it home to China, she discovers some compatriots consider her a traitor and urge her to leave. Adolescence can be a difficult period of self-discovery, but Li’s painful experiences are the product of a globalized world that, in normal circumstances, offers extraordinary opportunities but which, during a pandemic, sees forgotten borders re-emerge. Ask each student to describe their most difficult moment during the pandemic. How do their experiences compare?
by Jim Wolf | 23 Sep 2020 | China, Conflict, Decoders, Donald Trump, Educators' Catalog, United States, World
They are the world’s two most powerful economies, deeply interlocked. But China and the U.S. are increasingly at odds — with vast implications. A Taiwanese Air Force fighter in the foreground flies on the flank of a Chinese bomber as they pass near Taiwan, 10...
The relationship between China and the United States will have a profound impact on the lives of today’s students. In his examination of the bilateral relationship, Jim Wolf reviews the fraught history between China and the West, and looks at the two nations’ current leaders and how their agendas are radically at odds. Wolf eschews the bias that can creep into reporting on China by Western correspondents. This tour d’horizon offers students a starting point for deeper examination of the forces — economic, military, geographic, political — that will shape the world they will inherit.
by Jonathan Sharp | 26 Aug 2020 | China, Eyewitness
When I arrived in Hong Kong half a century ago, it was just starting its explosive growth. Now it’s caught again in the middle of a big-power dispute. Before Hong Kong’s old airport closed in 1998, it had just one runway, and airliners used to skim low...
by Rashad Mammadov | 22 Aug 2020 | China, Human Rights, Nationalism
The Uighurs are not the only ethnic minority in China. Beijing’s repressive tactics reflect fears a separatist movement could threaten the state. Uighurs in Hotan, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, 6 April 2008 (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) Last...
by Ben Barber | 19 Jun 2020 | China, Decoders, Economy
It’s one of world’s biggest infrastructure projects ever. Here’s how China plans to rebuild the ancient Silk Road — and how it could reshape the globe. Flush with cash from its exports of everything from electronics to furniture to Europe, the...
by Jonathan Sharp | 1 Jun 2020 | China, Future of Democracy, Human Rights
Hong Kong youth are protesting again against the city’s rulers in China. The stakes are sky-high for the world’s economy and, potentially, security. A protester in Hong Kong, China, 24 May 2020 (EPA-EFE/JEROME FAVRE) Is capitalist, free-wheeling Hong Kong...
by Sarah Mende | 16 Jan 2020 | China, Human Rights, Podcasts, School Year Abroad, Student Posts, The Kids Are Alright, Youth Voices
Censorship in China allows the government to control the media narratives. How can democracies protect free speech and sort fact from fiction online? A protester demonstrates against censorship, Johannesburg, South Africa, 1 July 2016 (AP Photo/Denis Farrell) Welcome...
by Jonathan Sharp | 29 Nov 2019 | Asia, China
Pro-democracy parties in Hong Kong have won a big electoral victory after months of protests. Will Beijing listen — or crack down? Pro-democracy protesters in Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong, China, 26 November 2019 (EPA-EFE/FAZRY ISMAIL) Six months into often violent...
