Rob Schmitz
Rob Schmitz is NPR's international correspondent based in Shanghai, covering the human stories of China's economic rise and increasing global influence. His reporting on China's impact beyond its borders has taken him to countries such as Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand. Inside China, he's interviewed elderly revolutionaries, young rappers, and live-streaming celebrity farmers who make up the diverse tapestry of one of the most fascinating countries on the planet.
Schmitz has won several awards for his reporting on China, including two national Edward R. Murrow Awards and an Education Writers Association Award. His work was also a finalist for the 2012 Investigative Reporters and Editors Award. His reporting in Japan — from the hardest-hit areas near the failing Fukushima nuclear power plant following the earthquake and tsunami — was included in the publication 100 Great Stories, celebrating the centennial of Columbia University's Journalism School. In 2012, Schmitz exposed the fabrications in Mike Daisey's account of Apple's supply chain on This American Life. His report was featured in the show's "Retraction" episode.
From 2010 to 2016, Schmitz was the China correspondent for Marketplace. He's also worked as a reporter for NPR Member stations KQED, KPCC, and MPR. Prior to his radio career, Schmitz lived and worked in China — first as a teacher for the Peace Corps in the 1990s, and later as a freelance print and video journalist. He speaks Mandarin and Spanish. He has a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
Schmitz is the author of Street of Eternal Happiness: Big City Dreams Along a Shanghai Road(2016), a profile of individuals who live, work, and dream along a single street that runs through the heart of China's largest city.
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It's been three days since the U.S. raised tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. China's government so far hasn't hit back, but it appears the U.S.-China trade talks have faltered.
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After months of disputes and negotiations, the Trump administration has significantly raised tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. U.S.-Chinese negotiators meet again to try to reach a deal.
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A week after a gunman killed 50 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, friends and family have been gathering for funerals and to listen to the Muslim call to prayer.
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In response to the deadly attacks on two mosques on Friday, New Zealand's prime minister has announced a ban on most semi-automatic weapons. An amnesty and buy-back program were announced.
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As authorities release the bodies of those killed in the terror attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, the country's prime minister made her second visit to the city since the attack.
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Christchurch's residents are coming to terms with Friday's shooting that killed at least 50 people. Many are showing support for the Muslim community, which is struggling to process the attacks.
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Thousands of people gathered to remember the victims killed in the attacks on two mosques. A court-appointed lawyer tells reporters that the suspected gunman plans to represent himself in court.
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Chinese experts say the country's economic, social and political environment played a major role in shaping He Jiankui, the scientist who led controversial research altering the DNA of human embryos.
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An ethnic Kazakh Chinese woman says Chinese authorities in Xinjiang forced her to undergo an abortion. Government minders were assigned to monitor her at home. Finally, she left China for Kazakhstan.
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A Kazakh rights organization has collected more than 1,000 testimonies from ethnic Kazakhs and Uighurs whose families have disappeared into a network of internment camps in Xinjiang.