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University of California, Irvine
Jeffrey Wasserstrom is a professor of history at the University of California at Irvine and the author of China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know.
PROFILE
Jeffrey Wasserstrom
Guest
FROM Jeffrey Wasserstrom
To the Point
Make China Great Again The US is a young country, but China's President Xi Jinping has a history of 5000 years to call on when he promises a return to past glories. This week, China's Communist Party congress elevated Xi Jinping to equal status with the legendary Mao Tse Tung, who founded the Communist Party — and came to personify the dangers of one-man rule. Xi is being called "the most powerful man in the world," as China builds a modern military and may already have out-stripped the US economically. But will China be "great" for free speech, an independent judiciary or human rights?
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
New U.S.-China Visa Policy President Obama is in Beijing at the APEC summit of Pacific Rim leaders this week, where he announced a new visa policy between the U.S. and China. We break down the details of the deal, and what it could mean for Southern California.
To the Point
Protestors Swell in Hong Kong: What Will Beijing Do? When Britain gave up its Hong Kong colony in 1997, China agreed to “one country—two systems.” Unlike the mainland, Hong Kong would have a free press and judiciary—and the promise of “free and fair” elections in 2017. But, in August, Beijing decreed that the candidates will be selected by a committee of its choosing. Students and other democracy activists denounced the ruling and organized street protests, which have swelled to tens of thousands of people in the past few days.
To the Point
A Blind Man, International Diplomacy and China's Political Struggles As we begin this program, there are more questions than answers about the blind Chinese dissident who escaped house arrest in Shandong Province and was smuggled into the US Embassy in Beijing. Chen Guangcheng says he's grateful to the US, but that China reneged on agreements that led him to leave the embassy after six days. Is he being treated well at a Chinese hospital? Will he, his wife, two children and relatives back home be subject to retaliation? Will Chen be allowed to come to the US, where he has reportedly been offered a fellowship? As she wrapped up two days of high-level trade and security talks, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was cautiously optimistic. But likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney called reports of the embassy's mishandling of the case, a "day of shame" for the Obama Administration. We hear from a reporter who's talked to Chen and get the latest on the Obama Administration's handling of the affair.
To the Point
Dissident's Protest Inspires Ordinary Chinese The US Secretaries of State and Treasury are scheduled to leave Washington for Beijing, and Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell is already there, as the Obama Administration rushes to contain a diplomatic crisis over escaped blind dissident who's escaped from house arrest in China. So far there is no public confirmation that Chen Guangcheng has taken refuge in the US Embassy in Beijing. Jeff Wasserstrom is Professor of History at University of California at Irvine and the author of China in the 21st Century : What Everyone Needs to Know.
To the Point
Chinese Government Reacts to Nobel Peace Prize for Dissident Tomorrow in Oslo, Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, but he won't be there. He's serving a prison sentence for a pro-democracy campaign China calls "subversive." Outraged when Liu got the prize, China created the Confucius Peace Prize, which today went to former Taiwanese Vice President Lien Chan, who said he'd never heard of it and had no intention of ever picking it up. Jeff Wasserstrom is Professor of History at the University of California at Irvine and author of China in the 21st Century : What Everyone Needs to Know.
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To the Point
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.
To the Point
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?
To the Point
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.