Jeffrey Wasserstrom and Joseph Kahn discussed the challenges of writing about China from the perspectives of an academic and a journalist at Jones Day in New York. Dr. Wasserstrom is a professor of history at the University of California, Irvine, and Mr. Kahn is deputy foreign editor of The New York Times.

Dr. Wasserstrom has written four books on China, including the just published China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford, 2010), and has edited or co-edited five other books. His essays have appeared in many academic journals, as well as in newspapers, including the International Herald Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, and magazines such as Foreign Policy, The Nation, Outlook India, and Time and Newsweek. He blogs regularly for the Huffington Post, is a co-founder of the “China Beat” blog/electronic magazine, and has been a guest on NPR’s “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered.” He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz; his master’s degree from Harvard; and his doctorate from Berkeley.

Mr. Kahn has worked for The New York Times since January, 1998, reporting on international economic issues from the Times’ Washington Bureau, covering Wall Street based in New York, and serving as the Times’ Beijing Bureau chief before being named deputy foreign editor in early 2008. Prior to joining the Times he spent four years as a China correspondent for the Wall Street Journal. He also worked for the Dallas Morning News as a city desk reporter and foreign correspondent. Mr. Kahn received his B.A. in American history and M.A. in East Asian Studies from Harvard.

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