Author and New Yorker writer Evan Osnos introduces his newest book Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China in a conversation with National Committee on U.S.-China Relations President Stephen Orlins on June 3, 2014 in New York.
From abroad, we often encounter conflicting characterizations of China: a nation of pragmatic plutocrats and ruthlessly dedicated students destined to rule the global economy—or an addled Goliath, riddled with corruption and on the edge of stagnation. What we don’t see is how both powerful and ordinary people are remaking their lives as their country dramatically changes. As the Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, Evan Osnos was on the ground in China for years, witness to profound political, economic, and cultural upheaval. In Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China, he describes the greatest collision taking place in that country: the clash between the rise of the individual and the Communist Party’s struggle to retain control.
Evan Osnos joined The New Yorker as a staff writer in 2008. He is a correspondent in Washington, D.C. who writes about politics and foreign affairs.
The National Committee on U.S.-China Relations is the leading nonprofit nonpartisan organization that encourages understanding of China and the United States among citizens of both countries.