At the Edge of Empire: New York Times correspondent Edward Wong on his family’s journey from China

After 13 years abroad reporting from dozens of countries, Edward Wong has turned his attention to the story of his family’s epic journey from China to the United States in his memoir, “At the Edge of Empire: A Family’s Reckoning with China.” Wong, a diplomatic correspondent for the New York Times who has also served as the Times’ Beijing bureau chief, explores his family secrets including his father’s years in the People’s Liberation Army under Mao Zedong.

Join Here & Now co-host Scott Tong in a conversation with Wong about his new book, which covers more than 80 years of the life of his family, while also grappling with modern-day China’s global expansionist vision and economic wealth.

Copies of the book will be available to purchase from our bookstore partner Brookline Booksmith.

CitySpace Tickets
Premiere: $25.00
General: $15.00
Student: $5.00 (must present a valid student ID upon arrival)

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About “At the Edge of Empire”
An epic story of modern China that weaves a riveting family memoir with vital reporting by the New York Times diplomatic correspondent

The son of Chinese immigrants in Washington, DC, Edward Wong grew up among family secrets. His father toiled in Chinese restaurants and rarely spoke of his native land or his years in the People’s Liberation Army under Mao. Yook Kearn Wong came of age during the Japanese occupation in World War II and the Communist revolution, when he fell under the spell of Mao’s promise of a powerful China. His astonishing journey as a soldier took him from Manchuria during the Korean War to Xinjiang on the Central Asian frontier. In 1962, disillusioned with the Communist Party, he made plans for a desperate escape to Hong Kong.

When Edward Wong became the Beijing bureau chief for The New York Times, he investigated his father’s mysterious past while assessing for himself the dream of a resurgent China. He met the citizens driving the nation’s astounding economic boom and global expansion—and grappling with the vortex of nationalistic rule under Xi Jinping, the most powerful leader since Mao. Following in his father’s footsteps, he witnessed ethnic struggles in Xinjiang and Tibet and pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. And he had an insider’s view of the world’s two superpowers meeting at a perilous crossroads.

Wong tells a moving chronicle of a family and a nation that spans decades of momentous change and gives profound insight into a new authoritarian age transforming the world. A groundbreaking book, “At the Edge of Empire” is the essential work for understanding China today.