ZGBriefs by Joann Pittman
Joann Pittman is Vice President of Partnership and China Engagement and editor of ZGBriefs.
Prior to joining ChinaSource, Joann spent 28 years working in China, as an English teacher, language student, program director, and cross-cultural trainer for organizations and businesses engaged in China. She has also taught Chinese at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul (MN), and Chinese Culture and Communication at Wheaton College (IL) and Taylor University (IN).
Joann has a BA in Social Sciences from the University of Northwestern-St. Paul (MN), and an MA in teaching from the University of St. Thomas (MN).
She is the author of Survival Chinese Lessons and The Bells Are Not Silent: Stories of Church Bells in China.
Her personal blog, Outside-In can be found at joannpittman.com, where she writes on China, Minnesota, traveling, and issues related to "living well where you don't belong."
You can find her on Twitter @jkpittman.com and on Facebook at @authorjoannpittman.
She makes her home in New Brighton, Minnesota.
ZGBriefs | April 22, 2021
“The Six,” a Film About Chinese Titanic Survivors, is Getting Rave Reviews in China (April 19, 2021, Radii China) The six were professional sailors onboard the Titanic, heading to New York to transfer to their next destination.
ZGBriefs | April 15, 2021
'Ping Pong Diplomacy's' Legacy Challenged, 50 Years Later (April 10, 2021, NPR) Today marks the 50th anniversary of Ping-Pong diplomacy. That's when the U.S. table tennis team went to China for exhibition games at the height of the Cold War. Their trip changed history.
ZGBriefs | April 8, 2021
China’s expat tax reform could see more than a third of American firms leave Shanghai, AmCham says (April 1, 2021, South China Morning Post) More than a third of multinational firms in Shanghai are considering moving all or part of their operation out of China or to another Chinese city when tax exemptions on allowances for foreign employees expire next year…
ZGBriefs | April 1, 2021
China’s Social Credit System: Speculation vs. Reality (March 30, 2021, The Diplomat) Today, the social credit system still remains a disjointed mix of ambitious national level targets and guidance, varying regional pilot programs, and scattered mass data collection mechanisms.
ZGBriefs | March 25, 2021
Wuhan study spotlights China’s Covid-19 herd immunity challenge (March 20, 2021, South China Morning Post) Swift lockdown measures brought disease under control but population vulnerable to imported infections without vaccinations. Researchers find possibly 10 times more people than original estimates could have been infected but herd immunity is a long way off.
ZGBriefs | March 18, 2021
Hong Kong’s Economic Future: A ChinaFile Conversation (March 11, 2021, China File) What are key factors shaping the city’s economic future?
ZGBriefs | March 11, 2021
China wants more babies; China’s women have other plans (March 8, 2021, South China Morning Post) Women say there must be major social and economic change rather than policy tweaks to address the demographic problem.
ZGBriefs | March 4, 2021
Has China lifted 100 million people out of poverty? (March 1, 2021, BBC) Chinese President Xi Jinping says his country has reached the ambitious goal set when he assumed office in 2012 of lifting 100 million people out of poverty.
ZGBriefs | February 25, 2021
China orders clergy to toe Communist Party and socialist line (February 19, 2021, South China Morning Post) New national rules requiring clergy to embrace the leadership of the Communist Party and China’s socialist system are expected to compound limits on religious freedom in the country,...
ZGBriefs | February 18, 2021
The Yongzheng Emperor and Christianity in China (February 16, 2021, Sup China) In 1724, the Yongzheng Emperor proscribed Christianity. But what he really wanted is what rulers always want: people who will serve their state but not threaten its order.