The Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference has now come and gone, with over 3,000 participants traveling to join us in Seattle for four days of sessions and socializing. This is my eighth year as an AAS staff member, and I feel like I’ve finally figured out how to work at the conference without completely wrecking myself—finding ways to be in bed by 10pm, picking water over coffee in the afternoon, making sure I eat substantial meals, rather than coasting through the day on snacks (though I did make plentiful use of the M&M jar in the hotel lounge). I woke up this morning feeling somewhat sore and lazy nonetheless, but in a rather pleasant “Oooh, vacation day” way, not a “I can’t move from this nest of pillows” way.
And now, I have five more days to enjoy Seattle and its uncharacteristically beautiful weather. So I’ll cut this short and head out to see what there is to see here, leaving you with a dozen or so stories to read. Space Needle, here I come.
Recommendations
China Stories
Six Chinese students and two visiting scholars who spoke to The Washington Post described being questioned upon landing in the United States about their research, families and any possible connection to China’s ruling Communist Party. Two of them, their visas canceled, were immediately repatriated. All but one were midway through their studies and had previously been allowed to enter with valid visas.
Lily Kuo and Cate Cadell, “Chinese students, academics say they’re facing extra scrutiny entering U.S.”
Anne Helen Petersen, “A Wild and Shimmering Life: How Anna May Wong negotiated Classic Hollywood” — interview with Katie Gee Salisbury, author of a new biography of actress Anna May Wong
Isabella Qian and Pablo Robles, “One Three Is Best: How China’s Family Planning Propaganda Has Changed”
Brian Spegele, “At China’s Great Leadership Gathering, What’s Unsaid Speaks Volumes”
Wanderings Around the World
Casey Grove, “For the first time, 4 women mushers have finished in the Iditarod’s top 10”
Anatoly Kurmanaev and Nanna Heitmann, “Long Lines of Russian Voters Signal Discontent With Putin’s Tenure”
Chidi M. Nwachukwu, “A Nigerian app is saving lives by connecting people to pro bono legal services”
When I finally began reporting, my hope was that I would be able to uncover SC-B1’s identity and be able to tell their story—to explain how such a tiny person had come to have AIDS and why they had wound up on Hart Island, and who their parents were and what fate had befallen them. I came to suspect, particularly as I did more research, that this story might reveal something essential—about the early days of AIDS, yes, but also about New York City, and about the intimate, intertwined relationship between the two.
Lizzy Ratner, “The Search for Special Case–Baby 1”
Margaret Sullivan, “A year ago Russia jailed Evan Gershkovich for doing journalism. He’s still there”
Shaun Walker and Pjotr Sauer, “‘The fight is continuing’: a decade of Russian rule has not silenced Ukrainian voices in Crimea”
The continued stability of Putin’s rule rests not on his popularity but, rather, on the lack of mechanisms people have to act on their malaise, discontent, and frustrations. In the past two decades, the Kremlin has dismantled those instruments: there is no longer a muckraking independent media to hold the state accountable; there are no credible opposition parties to channel dissatisfaction into real politics; and there is no judicial system capable of acting as a check on power. And, so, if feelings of resistance have no credible outlet, then the feelings themselves are repressed.
Joshua Yaffa, “Has Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine Improved His Standing in Russia?”
Standout Story
Shaun Walker, “‘Our destroyed theatre’s heart still beats’: Mariupol’s actors return to the stage, two years on”
Feature photo: The Seattle waterfront and cityscape, with Mount Rainier in the distance, March 17, 2024.
Maura Elizabeth Cunningham 