Source: CCTV.com

08-01-2006 12:18

Sun Zhe is considered one of China's foremost scholars on Sino-US relations and the US Congress. No normal academic, he has broken from the bonds of isolated research, and instead has engaged in real-life interaction with decision makers affecting the issues today. His trademark is real experience, and that is perhaps what has made him so versatile today.

In 2003, Dr. Sun's accurate forecast of the breakout of the Iraq War brought him to the public's attention. He explained it's based on his over ten years of study on International Relations.

Sun Zhe's original career plan was to become a professional journalist. But in 1984, with excellent scores on the college entrance exam, he was accepted by Shanghai's Fudan University, not to major in Journalism but International Politics and Law. After skipping two grades, he got his bachelor and master's degrees within 5 years and also met his wife Ni Jian. The couple then left for the United States, and stayed there for 10 years. In these 10 years, not only did Dr. Sun earned a Ph.D degree in Political Science at Columbia University, but the couple also opened a highly profitable supermarket next to the United Nations building in New York City. This corporate experience gave him a unique perspective on Sino-US relations. Dr. Sun says the supermarket was like a mini-UN, where people gathered from almost all over the world. To study international politics, one should not only read books but also people and their minds, he added.

In 2000, Sun Zhe came back to his alma mater, Fudan University, and unfolded a brand-new field of US Congressional Studies in China. Now he is deputy director and Ph.D. advisor of the American Studies Center at Fudan University. "Every student is a unique product," says Dr. Sun. This might be considered a very special version of "Yin Cai Shi Jiao", which means teaching students in accordance with their aptitude. Despite his teaching and social activities, to many people'surprise, Dr. Sun has published almost one book each year.

This edition of "Up-Close" is more or less like a class on Sino-US Relations. Our live studio audience raises interesting and challenging questions to Dr. Sun. Want to know how he deals with them? Please tune in.

— Chai Haoran

 

Editor:Wang Ping