Panda diplomacy, Columbia’s Chinese protesters, Taiwan’s ‘US whisperer’: 7 reads about US-China relations
- From furry, four-footed gifts to a family that overcame incredible racism, these are the highlights from the SCMP’s overseas correspondents from May 2024
1. For Columbia University’s Chinese, pro-Palestinian protests evoke sympathy, fear
A 29-year-old, who asked only to be identified as “Lu”, acknowledged taking part in some of the pro-Palestinian demonstrations that have brought the hallowed campus to a standstill and triggered a crisis for the institution not seen since the Vietnam war. And compared with other international students who have joined the protests roiling the Ivy League school, Lu believed the “risk levels” were different for her as a Chinese person amid heightened Sino-American tensions.
2. New tech, old conflict: gallium pits US priorities versus environmental impact
Straddling the US states of Montana and Idaho, the Bitterroot National Forest with its rugged mountains, dense forests and pristine rivers has for decades offered locals livelihood, adventure and a connection with nature. Now, a Utah mining company says the diverse landscape can also offer an untapped resource to enhance national security: a critical mineral that could boost America’s competitiveness in advanced technology, countering geopolitical challenges posed by China.
3. How a Chinese family overcame racism to thrive in a US town over 99% white
David Tu and his family moved to San Leandro, in the US state of California, in 1960. Among the first Chinese to live there, his early years involved being bullied in school, harassed by police and taunted with racial slurs. The census the year they moved in suggests why. Known informally as the “whitest city west of the Mississippi”, the settlement just across the bay from San Francisco was 99.7 per cent white, and city fathers were keen to keep it that way.