Photo by Peter Hessler for the New Yorker

This week we recommend reading Peter Hessler's March 9 article, " The Peace Corps Breaks Ties with China " in the New Yorker. Hessler reflects on the Peace Corps presence in China from his own individual experience as well as in the context of its broader history, and presents both U.S. and Chinese perspectives on the recent decision to terminate the China program.

To illustrate Chinese hard liners' reaction to the Peace Corps' exit from the country, Hessler references this Pan Gongyu commentary from Guanchazhe: 美国在华“和平队”，走好，不送 .

Hessler also draws similarities between that recent piece and Mao Zedong's essay from 1949, Farewell, Leighton Stuart (English translation and Chinese original 繁体字).

俗语 from Xi Jinping's Speeches

SAIS is now accepting applications for summer courses and the Summer Language Institute.

"The Summer Language Institute is unique for emphasizing political, economic, and international topics. Small class sizes provide an ideal environment for individualized attention from experienced instructors.

"Language courses in Arabic, Chinese, and Russian meet 3 to 4 evenings per week from 5:30pm-8:30pm over six and a half weeks and reflect your skills and abilities, ranging from novice to advanced levels. You will be required to take a placement test in May before the summer term begins to assess your language competency and will be assigned to a class that fits your ability."

CSIS Research Internships (Politics)

The Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS is seeking a Full-time and a Part-time intern who can provide dedicated support for research on China’s domestic and foreign policies, during the period from June 1, 2020 to September 4, 2020.

"The Freeman Chair is a leading source of insight and analysis on China’s evolving political system and the dynamics that impact its domestic policy agenda and external behavior. Our work focuses on five key areas leadership politics, policy- and decision-making, Party-state governance, political discourse and the role of ideology, and sources of political stability and risk. An ideal candidate will have substantive knowledge on contemporary Chinese politics and economics, and familiarity with how to find and analyze primary Chinese documents. Because of the fast-paced work environment, interns should be motivated self-starters that are able to engage in a wide variety of analytic and logistical tasks."