Anthony Kuhn
Anthony Kuhn is NPR's correspondent based in Seoul, South Korea, reporting on the Korean Peninsula, Japan, and the great diversity of Asia's countries and cultures. Before moving to Seoul in 2018, he traveled to the region to cover major stories including the North Korean nuclear crisis and the Fukushima earthquake and nuclear disaster.
Kuhn previously served two five-year stints in Beijing, China, for NPR, during which he covered major stories such as the Beijing Olympics, geopolitical jousting in the South China Sea, and the lives of Tibetans, Uighurs, and other minorities in China's borderlands.
He took a particular interest in China's rich traditional culture and its impact on the current day. He has recorded the sonic calling cards of itinerant merchants in Beijing's back alleys, and the descendants of court musicians of the Tang Dynasty. He has profiled petitioners and rights lawyers struggling for justice, and educational reformers striving to change the way Chinese think.
From 2010-2013, Kuhn was NPR's Southeast Asia correspondent, based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Among other stories, he explored Borneo and Sumatra, and witnessed the fight to preserve the biodiversity of the world's oldest forests. He also followed Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, as she rose from political prisoner to head of state.
Kuhn served as NPR's correspondent in London from 2004-2005, covering stories including the London subway bombings and the marriage of the Prince of Wales to the Duchess of Cornwall.
Besides his major postings, Kuhn's journalistic horizons have been expanded by various short-term assignments. These produced stories including wartime black humor in Iraq, musical diplomacy by the New York Philharmonic in Pyongyang, North Korea, a kerfuffle over the plumbing in Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Pakistani artists' struggle with religious extremism in Lahore, and the Syrian civil war's spillover into neighboring Lebanon.
Prior to joining NPR, Kuhn wrote for the Far Eastern Economic Review and freelanced for various news outlets, including the Los Angeles Times and Newsweek. He majored in French literature as an undergraduate at Washington University in St. Louis, and later did graduate work at the Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American studies in Nanjing.
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China's foreign policy grew increasingly assertive in 2017, but there is debate about the country's capacity for global leadership. Beijing isn't keen to replace the U.S. on the world stage. -
Beijing's eviction of migrant laborers has sparked one of China's biggest political controversies. The government is reversing the flow of labor from the countryside to the cities. -
For decades, migrant laborers have left China's farms and moved to the cities. Now, China's government is trying to fight overcrowding and clear slums by forcing the migrants out.
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Last year, China produced 101 new billionaires. But some tycoons are falling from grace — whether due to corruption, debt or their own bad investments. -
The Navy has made public the names of three airmen lost at sea in a crash in the Pacific last week. It's one of several fatal incidents this year involving U.S. naval forces in Asia.
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Myanmar and Bangladesh say they've agreed on terms for the return of hundreds of thousands of refugees to Myanmar. Rohingya Muslims have been fleeing violence the U.S. describes as "ethnic cleansing."
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China has supported one-party control in Cambodia, anti-Rohingya policies in Myanmar, and jettisoning historical baggage in Zimbabwe. These episodes suggest a more assertive Chinese foreign policy.
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President Trump said trade relations are unfair but he avoided criticizing his hosts. President Xi went out of his way to emphasize that China is buying U.S. products as well as selling to the U.S.
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China is managing the potential challenges Trump presents to U.S.-China ties with grand gestures and lavish hospitality. Wednesday marked the start of what Chinese officials term a "state visit plus." -
On Wednesday, China unveiled its new leadership lineup for the next five years. "Evidently part of the new era is to leave open the question of successors," says political scientist Brantly Womack.
