John Ruwitch
John Ruwitch is a correspondent with NPR's international desk. He covers Chinese affairs.
Ruwitch joined NPR in early 2020, and has since chronicled the tectonic shift in America's relations with China, from hopeful engagement to suspicion-fueled competition. He's also reported on a range of other issues, including Beijing's pressure campaign on Taiwan, Hong Kong's National Security Law, Asian-Americans considering guns for self-defense in the face of rising violence and a herd of elephants roaming in the Chinese countryside in search of a home.
Ruwitch joined NPR after more than 19 years with Reuters in Asia, the last eight of which were in Shanghai. There, he first covered a broad beat that took him as far afield as the China-North Korea border and the edge of the South China Sea. Later, he led a team that covered business and financial markets in the world's second biggest economy. Ruwitch has also had postings in Hanoi, Hong Kong and Beijing, reporting on anti-corruption campaigns, elite Communist politics, labor disputes, human rights, currency devaluations, earthquakes, snowstorms, Olympic badminton and everything in between.
Ruwitch studied history at U.C. Santa Cruz and got a master's in Regional Studies East Asia from Harvard. He speaks Mandarin and Vietnamese.
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Tourists are flocking to a little-known industrial town in China that's become known for its barbecue — and its hospitality when students were sent there during a forced COVID-19 quarantine.
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He Jiankui, who shocked the world in 2018 by announcing the creation of the first gene-edited babies, tells NPR he's now working on a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. -
The city of Zibo, a couple hours south of Beijing by high-speed train, is being overrun with foodies. The barbecue craze comes at a time when China's economy is struggling to rebound after COVID.
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More than 70 years ago a young girl was the subject of a celebrated rescue by China's People's Liberation Army. Today, she is praying for peace as tensions rise in the region.
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The crew, including China's first civilian astronaut, will overlap briefly with three now aboard the Tiangong station, who will then return to Earth after completing their six-month mission.
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The Chinese geneticist who shocked the world in 2018 by announcing the creation of the first gene-edited babies is back after a prison stint and working on a cure for a debilitating genetic disease.
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President Biden's prediction of a "thaw" in the diplomatic relationship with China coincides with the arrival from Beijing of a new ambassador to the U.S.
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A Chinese comedian is investigated and the company that booked him is hit with a steep fine after the government fails to find the humor in a bit that riffed on an army slogan.
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A comedian in China is under investigation, and the company that booked him was hit with a steep fine — after he riffed on an army slogan that authorities did not find funny.
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The Chinese leader's call comes as he has sought to play the role of peacemaker, though chances of a big breakthrough are slim, given how far apart Russia's and Ukraine's positions remain.
