I’ve probably learned more about China in my two years at Cornell than I have in my entire life. It might be helpful to note that my roommate is an international student from China (thanks Marco). I actually attended a talk on China with Thomas Christensen, author of “The China Challenge,” a couple of weeks ago. I found the talk to be quite interesting and insightful. Throughout my time at Cornell, I have been learning more and more about a country that can be considered as both “developing” and “powerful.”

The original speaker for this Rose Cafe talk, Benny Widyono, could not come due to health issues. I would like to take this moment to wish him the best in whatever complications he is going through. In Dr. Widyono’s absence, Professor Andrew Mertha took his place. Professor Mertha talked about Cambodia’s history and China’s influence for the majority of the hour. He was very lighthearted and provided comic relief for the moments in which he discussed some of the more darker days in Cambodia’s history. It was interesting to hear about the Khmer Rouge regime. After the talk ended, I actually looked up Pol Pot. Although I was familiar with his name and reputation, I never really knew the man himself.

Professor Mertha gave us a glimpse at how challenging research could be. He had some difficulties in accessing information from the libraries/archives in Cambodia. In fact, one of the individuals in charge of a particular information center refused to give Professor Mertha access simply because the official didn’t like him (haters gonna hate). After talking about Cambodia, Professor Mertha moved on to China. Is China as “dangerous” as some people make it out to be? Does China want to take over the world? Why is it making investments in Africa and South America? Does China “own” the United States? Will we all have to learn how to speak Mandarin eventually? According to Professor Mertha, this perception of China is inaccurate. It is a very large country with its own issues that it has to deal with. Overall, I thought this talk was quite informative. I was especially intrigued with Cambodia because I didn’t know too much about it before the talk. Can I call myself an expert on Cambodia and China now? Well, probably not Cambodia. But, China on the other hand… 😉