KNOWING YOUR RIVAL
Familiarity with Mandarin and time spent on the ground can reveal what official statements and second-hand accounts cannot. They can give analysts a “fingertip feel” for how China works.
The story of the first Fulbright academic exchange program scholar, Derk Bodde, showcases the value of firsthand experience. While in Beijing from 1948 to 1949, he wrote about the founding of the People’s Republic of China, providing a rare insight into how Chinese citizens reacted to the change in government.
Compared to assumptions that the revolution was a mere extension of Soviet influence or forced on an unwilling populace, Bodde chronicled the excitement that surrounded the end of Nationalist rule, and how Chinese people both welcomed and critiqued the Communists.
Since then, American scholars who studied in China have worked in government and academia, guiding policy directly or providing expert testimony before Congress such as to inform legislation or assist in oversight processes.
As China continues developing at a rapid pace, it becomes harder to understand from afar. It makes it important for more Americans to not just speak and understand Mandarin, but to also grasp the historical and social context that comes with lived experience of China.