Edward Wong, who grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., said his father never shared much about his life in China before immigrating to the United States. Over the years, Wong initiated more conversations, learning that, as a young man, his father once enthusiastically embraced Mao Zedong’s Communist revolution, dropped out of college to join the People’s Liberation Army, and hoped to serve in the Chinese air force during the Korean War. He eventually grew disillusioned with Mao’s regime, and made a daring escape to Hong Kong in 1962 before ultimately settling in Alexandria, Virginia.
Wong delves deeper into his father’s life story in his book “At the Edge of Empire: A Family’s Reckoning With China.” Tracing his family’s roots in Hong Kong and southern China, Wong weaves in his own experiences as a foreign correspondent in Beijing for The New York Times from 2008 to 2016. Through his journalistic work, Wong draws connections between his father’s experience and his own insights into China’s national ambitions, the country’s rise as a world power, President Xi Jinping’s rule, and ethnic tensions in regions like Xinjiang and Tibet.
The idea for the book crystallized and took shape, Wong says, during his Nieman fellowship year in 2017-18. He spoke to the current class of Nieman Fellows and Nieman Reports about combining reportage with memoir, interviewing his father over several years, and researching his family history.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
The post A Personal Approach to China’s History: Edward Wong on his book “At the Edge of Empire” appeared first on Nieman Reports.
Edward Wong, who grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., said his father never shared much about his life in China before immigrating to the United States. Over the years, Wong initiated more conversations, learning that, as a young man, his father once enthusiastically embraced Mao Zedong’s Communist revolution, dropped out of college to join the People’s Liberation Army, and hoped to serve in the Chinese air force during the Korean War. He eventually grew disillusioned with Mao’s regime, and made a daring escape to Hong Kong in 1962 before ultimately settling in Alexandria, Virginia. Edward Wong Wong delves deeper into his father’s life story in his book “At the Edge of Empire: A Family’s Reckoning With China.” Tracing his family’s roots in Hong Kong and southern China, Wong weaves in his own experiences as a foreign correspondent in Beijing for The New York Times from 2008 to 2016. Through his journalistic work, Wong draws connections between his father’s experience and his own insights into China’s national ambitions, the country’s rise as a world power, President Xi Jinping’s rule, and ethnic tensions in regions like Xinjiang and Tibet. The idea for the book crystallized and took shape, Wong says, during his Nieman fellowship year in 2017-18. He spoke to the current class of Nieman Fellows and Nieman Reports about combining reportage with memoir, interviewing his father over several years, and researching his family history. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. The post A Personal Approach to China’s History: Edward Wong on his book “At the Edge of Empire” appeared first on Nieman Reports. Read More