At the Edge of Empire: A Family’s Reckoning with China

The Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) cordially invites you to a special conversation with Edward Wong, diplomatic correspondent for The New York Times and author of At the Edge of Empire: A Family’s Reckoning with China. The son of Chinese immigrants in Washington, D.C., Wong grew up among family secrets, especially those surrounding his father Yook Kearn Wong, who served in Mao’s People’s Liberation Army before making a perilous escape to Hong Kong in 1962. As Beijing bureau chief, Wong retraced elements of that past while examining the forces behind a resurgent China: intensified nationalism under President Xi Jinping, ethnic conflict in Xinjiang and Tibet, and pro-democracy movements in Hong Kong.

This program will also highlight the history of southern Chinese migration to the United States, especially from Taishan County in Guangdong, and the enduring transnational ties among Chinese migrants. By connecting geopolitics with family memory and community networks, the talk will show how cross-Pacific migration continues to shape Chinese American life today.