News About China is a Recent Phenomenon

Dr. Tsu Yao has travelled many places in America and China. During his youth, he and his family zigzagged across China to avoid the chaos of the World War II. When the war ended, and the country went into yet another war, he came to America. He got all of his education on the east coast:  New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts. He has spent a good part of his life on the west coast. In 1995, 46 years after leaving China, he returned for the first time. While he was still able to find his old house in Shanghai, he marveled at the rapid changes that were taking place. In his short, three-week visit an entirely new airport was constructed. (see posts one, two, three, four).

Despite all his experience in both places, he felt more confident discussing the U.S. 

“I’ve probably been able to watch America better, because between 1949 and 1995 I was here. In the early years, 1950’s, 60s, there was very little news about China put out by the western press. The only news came from the Canadians or the British. 

"I remember reading the Toronto Globe sent a reporter into China. America didn’t send in reporters until after Nixon’s visit (In 1972.)"

"So my knowledge was very limited about what happened in China during the 50’s and 60’s. My knowledge of that period came much later when people started writing about it. The western press has only been there (in China) the last 40 years. 

"I remember something I heard from an American professor of Chinese History. He was a professor at Princeton. He said when he first joined Princeton’s history department, ‘You’re studying Chinese history? China has no history.’ But this was the 1950s.”

So things have changed since then? Yes, he agreed. Although not all of it is for the good.

(...to be continued: Next: Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back.)