cover of episode How I Opened The New York Times’s Beijing Bureau – with Fox Butterfield

How I Opened The New York Times’s Beijing Bureau – with Fox Butterfield

2024/10/18
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Peking Hotel with Liu He
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Fox Butterfield
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Fox Butterfield讲述了他作为一名记者在中国和越南的经历，以及他对中国政治和社会变革的观察。他描述了1972年带领中国记者访美的经历，以及1979年陪同邓小平访美的见闻，展现了中美关系在冷战时期和改革开放初期的转变。他还分享了与邓小平、赵紫阳等中国领导人的会面经历，以及他对中国社会和文化的观察。他详细描述了在北京工作期间的经历，包括在北京饭店居住和办公，以及他如何应对来自中国政府的监控和审查。他谈到了他所报道的新闻类型，以及他如何撰写关于中国日常生活的文章。他还讲述了他在离开中国后职业生涯的转变，以及他为什么没有再回到中国。 Leo作为主持人，引导Fox Butterfield讲述了他的个人经历和对中国的看法，并对一些关键事件和人物进行了提问，例如中国攻击越南、美国对华政策的转变以及Fox Butterfield与美国总统的会面经历。

Deep Dive

Chapters
This chapter details Fox Butterfield's initial interactions with mainland Chinese journalists in 1972, during the Vietnam War. The New York Times arranged a US tour for them, revealing significant cultural and agricultural differences and the complexities of early US-China relations.
  • First contact with mainland Chinese in 1972 while in Vietnam.
  • People's Daily viewed NYT as America's official publication.
  • Tour included New York City, Washington, an Illinois farm, and Detroit.
  • Revealing cultural differences in agriculture and industrialization.

Shownotes Transcript

When I arrived at Fox’s place, his chocolate lab, Charlie, greeted me with a wagging tail. The rainy weather outside, unfortunately, obscured what otherwise promised to be a stunning view of Mount Hood from Fox’s living room. But the conversation more than made up for what I missed in the landscape. Fox poured me a glass of water and sat opposite me on a grey sofa, wearing a navy blue jumper.

Early this month, we published a piece about Fox’s early study of China under John Fairbank at Harvard and his reporting in Vietnam during the war. The last piece )builds up towards this one, which delves into how Fox opened the first Beijing Bureau of The New York Times – the main reason that got me interested in his oral history in the first place.

The press, as a quintessential part of America’s cultural entourage, brought a new window for the American public to understand China. It also symbolised a gesture of goodwill from the Chinese government toward the Western world. On the ground reporting in China was a pivotal step in bridging the two nations and making China’s reality more accessible to the world. 

For the keen and curious minds, Mike Chinoy’s Assignment China: An Oral History of American Journalists in the People’s Republic) offers compelling accounts from American journalists about their early experiences in the country. Forty years later, this history is only beginning to be told.

Shownotes:

10:29 Butterfield on Deng and Zhao Ziyang

13:27 Reflections on China’s attack on Vietnam

15:58 US’s critical lens on China

19:35 NYT’s Beijing Bureau at Peking Hotel

29:15 Day in life as a China correspondent

32:13 Life after China

39:45 Interactions with American politicians

40:41 Impression on Obama

45:23 Interactions with Trump

Enjoy.

Leo

The editors of this episode is Caiwei Chen and Aorui Pi.

If you are on Instagram, follow us @peking.hotel). 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! Get full access to Peking Hotel at pekinghotel.substack.com/subscribe)