Once upon a time, just a few decades ago, the United States saw Communist China as a revolutionary threat, but a revolution with barefoot soldiers. Then came China’s opening, and the U.S. saw a billion Chinese customers. It turns out, Americans were the b

The U.S. and China

They say the rise of China will be the biggest story of the 21st century. And for five days in April of 2008, On Point headed straight into the heart of that story.

Live From Shanghai

On Point broadcast live in 2008 from Shanghai, where one of the topics we took up was political dissent. With Liu Xiaobo's 2010 Nobel Peace Prize bringing attention again to this issue, it's worth listening back to our conversation, on Chinese soil.

China's Human Rights and Dissent

A Chinese protester  holds a banner reading No More Home during a protest in front of the Ministry of Construction in Beijing, China on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

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The terrible story behind the story of China's economic boom is the astounding environmental devastation that has come with it. China's air, China's rivers, even China's seas, are deadly and dying. Half a billion Chinese do not have access to safe drinkin

China and the Environment

Environment

The city of Shanghai is home to 18 million people. Beijing, 17 million. New York City, a mere 8 million. And the hi-rises in China keep going up. To put our finger on the pulse of big city life in China, we're turning to American-educated Chinese media mo

China's City Life

The Chinese Communist Party is riding a tiger. It's big, powerful, and deeply entrenched. It's also hanging on to a booming nation where dog-eat-dog capitalism rules, rivers are poisoned, labor unrest and poverty are very real, and China's boom itself cre

China's New Politics

Once upon a time, in the Communist heyday of Mao Zedong, making movies in China was simple. You made the movies Mao wanted. Now, the Chinese say they're on the \"sixth generation\" of filmmakers since Mao's time. And making movies is complicated. Filmmake

China at the Movies

If you think Wall Street's been scary lately, take a look at Shanghai's stock market. The Shanghai Composite Index is down 46 percent since last October. The Shanghai Daily headline again today: “China shares nosedive… panic selling reigns.” It takes a st

American Business in China

To be young and Chinese today -- if you're middle class or better, if you're in a good school -- is to be in a sweet spot by the standards of Chinese history. Young China is riding a boom, with booming dreams to match. And if we're headed into the Chinese

Young China

It is 115 days to the opening of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and everybody in China knows it. Countdown clocks to August 8th are all over this country — on every front page and TV screen and electronic billboard. In Beijing, the preparations have