Fox Butterfield is a Pulitzer-winning journalist who has served in Saigon, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing, Boston, Washington and New York City. He was the first China correspondent of the New York Times since 1949 and opened the Beijing Bureau of the Times in 1979, just after diplomatic relations between China and the US normalised. His journalistic book on China, Alive In The Bitter Sea, became a best-seller and phenomenon in the early 80s, launching the genre of journalist books on contemporary China that generations of journalists soon followed.
I sat down with Fox in late July at his Portland home to record his personal oral history, and take us back to those magical years when China first began to open up in the 70s and early 80s. Fox has the unique vantage point as an Asia correspondent in the Cold War and one of the first American journalists to report in China. His narrative threads together a multifaceted story of a China specialist, informed and enriched by the Cold War context, a Harvard education, journalistic experience in America and Vietnam War, and a life-long interest in China. I walked away from the conversation feeling entertained by Fox’s quirky tales and grounded in the gravitas of the historical context. I hope you will find it interesting too.
This is an episode co-produced with China Books Review, a digital magazine publishing intelligent commentary on all things China and bookish. The keen followers who have already listened or read our previous two pieces on Fox Butterfield, one on his early study of China and reporting on the Vietnam War, and the other on his opening of the New York Times Beijing Bureau. This issue is primarily edited for syndication with China Books Review. As such, it stitches together two episodes of Fox Butterfield’s oral history most relevant to China, and provides a one-episode overview of his China journey. You may safely skip this one if you have already read our previous two pieces. Otherwise, you may prefer this concise overview of Fox’s journey with China over the other two episodes.
I have not produced an edited transcript this time as it recycles same materials from the previous two pieces. You may check those two pieces, or simply enjoy the listening experience.
Enjoy!
Leo
Acknowledgement
Special thanks to Aorui Pi who edited this audio piece.
About us
Peking Hotel is a bilingual online publication that takes you down memory lane of recent history in China and narrates China’s reality through the personal tales of China experts. Through biweekly podcasts and newsletters, we present colourful first-person accounts of seasoned China experts. The project grew out of Leo’s research at Hoover Institution, where he collects oral histories of prominent China watchers in the West.
Lastly…
Speaking to these thoughtful individuals and sharing their stories with you has been a privilege. Their stories often remind me of what China used to be and what it is capable of becoming. I hope to publish more conversations like this one, so stay tuned!
We also have a Chinese-language Substack.
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