 Paul Takahashi/the daily northwestern. New York Times Shanghai Bureau Chief Howard French spoke about his life and career as a foreign correspondent reporting from Africa and Asia. French touched upon China's emerging role as a world power during his lecture Monday at the McCormick Tribune Center Forum.
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Despite its history of involvement in the forefront of world politics, America won't be a member of the most important economic relationship in the next two decades, said Howard French, the Shanghai Bureau Chief for The New York Times.
"The most important relationship over the next 20 years … is the relationship between China and Africa," French said to a crowd of about 40 people in his presentation Monday in the McCormick Tribune Center Forum. The talk, entitled "A View of the World: The life and career of a foreign correspondent in changing times," was part of the Crain Lecture Series.
French has served as a foreign correspondent for The New York Times for more than 20 years, reporting on issues from the Caribbean, Africa, Japan and China. He recently accepted a teaching post at Columbia University, thus "ending" his career as a daily reporter, he said.
The multilingual journalist detailed his life experiences for about an hour and then fielded questions from the audience. He focused almost exclusively on China during the half-hour Q-and-A period.
China is starting to influence Africa faster than most people in the West have been able to comprehend, French said, citing the recent loan of $40 billion from China to Nigeria in exchange for crude oil and gasoline.
He also touched on Africa's current population boom. Africa and China may comprise 40 percent of the world's population in the next 30 years, French said.
Students asked questions about the balancing act reporters must perform between unbiased reporting and advocating for change.
"There's only one bias that won't go away with me, and that's a bias in favor of human rights and freedom," French said.
2008 Woodie Awards
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