Joann Pittman
Joann Pittman is Vice President of Partnership and China Engagement and editor of ZGBriefs.
Prior to joining ChinaSource, Joann spent 28 years working in China, as an English teacher, language student, program director, and cross-cultural trainer for organizations and businesses engaged in China. She has also taught Chinese at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul (MN), and Chinese Culture and Communication at Wheaton College (IL) and Taylor University (IN).
Joann has a BA in Social Sciences from the University of Northwestern-St. Paul (MN), and an MA in teaching from the University of St. Thomas (MN).
She is the author of Survival Chinese Lessons and The Bells Are Not Silent: Stories of Church Bells in China.
Her personal blog, Outside-In can be found at joannpittman.com, where she writes on China, Minnesota, traveling, and issues related to "living well where you don't belong."
You can find her on Twitter @jkpittman.com and on Facebook at @authorjoannpittman.
She makes her home in New Brighton, Minnesota.
ZGBriefs | April 27, 2023
Video: Enjoying Jet Lag: Resuming In-Person Travel and U.S.-China Relations (April 17, 2023, Center for Strategic and International Studies, via YouTube) A discussion on the role of in-person travel and direct communication in increasing mutual understanding and stabilizing U.S.-China relations.
Xiamen!
Xiamen (厦门), meaning “door to the house,” is on the western side of the Taiwan Strait and was a treaty port ceded to the British. Today it’s the eighth largest port city in China with a thriving economy.
ZGBriefs | April 20, 2023
Young people in China struggle to find jobs as the country's youth unemployment rate rises (April 19, 2023, ABC News (Australia)) The national unemployment rate for 16-to-24-year-olds is now 19.5 per cent, nearly 3 per cent higher than in December.
A Numbers Game
I’m not the tidiest or most organized person in the world, so the expression luan qi ba zao (乱七八糟) was one I learned and took to heart early. A direct translation is “chaos seven eight in a wretched state.”
ZGBriefs | April 13, 2023
Mayflower Church members arrive in U.S. after Thailand deportation scare (April 11, 2023, Radio Free Asia) Dozens of members of a persecuted Protestant church in China have arrived in the United States after escaping the country via Thailand, where they were also detained by the immigration authorities amid fears of repatriation. The Mayflower Church members touched down in Dallas on Good Friday after a coordinated effort from advocacy groups and politicians to bring them to the country.
ZGBriefs | April 6, 2023
Chinese Christians Adapt Under New Restrictions (March 30, 2023, The Gospel Coalition) The Gospel Coalition asked Chinese pastor, Reformed theologian, and church network leader Zhang San about increasing restrictions, ways he’s seen God at work, and what worries pastors even more than registration apps or closing churches.
Lecture Video: New Civil Religion in China—Opportunity for Engagement?
Johnson talked about how China is using civil religion, which he defines as the government using religion and religious images to legitimize its rule. This has been most visible in the government’s more tolerant attitude towards what it considers to be indigenized religions.
Political Counting
An interesting feature of Chinese social and political discourse is propensity to label institutions or political campaigns using numbers… They are catchy and thus relatively easy to remember. Here are some of my favorites.
ZGBriefs | March 30, 2023
Easter and the Tomb Sweeping Festival Share a Nerdy Connection (March 27, 2023, Christianity Today) (registration required) An order known for astronomy and mathematics, the Jesuits drove the reforms in both the Western world and China that dictate how we plan our days, months, and holidays.
ZGBriefs | March 23, 2023
Xi and Putin pledge to shape a new world order as the Chinese leader leaves Russia with no peace in sight for Ukraine (March 22, 2023, NBC News) As Xi departed he told Putin: “Now there are changes that haven’t happened in 100 years. When we are together, we drive these changes.”