GlobalReads: As WorldOregon celebrates its 75th year, join us as we revisit a key part of our origin-story as the region's preeminent global affairs organization: the power of small-group discussion!  Throughout 2025, WorldOregon is convening a book-salon and discussion series with new and notable titles that connect us to a rich landscape of global issues and ideas!  We are very excited to be working with our treasured community partners at Broadway Books for this series. 

Saturday, March 15, 1–3pm
Edward Wong's At the Edge of Empire

The son of Chinese immigrants in Washington, DC, Edward Wong grew up among family secrets. His father toiled in Chinese restaurants and rarely spoke of his native land or his years in the People’s Liberation Army under Mao. Yook Kearn Wong came of age during the Japanese occupation in World War II and the Communist revolution, when he fell under the spell of Mao’s promise of a powerful China. His astonishing journey as a soldier took him from Manchuria during the Korean War to Xinjiang on the Central Asian frontier. In 1962, disillusioned with the Communist Party, he made plans for a desperate escape to Hong Kong. When Edward Wong became the Beijing bureau chief for The New York Times, he investigated his father’s mysterious past while assessing for himself the dream of a resurgent China. He met the citizens driving the nation’s astounding economic boom and global expansion—and grappling with the vortex of nationalistic rule under Xi Jinping, the most powerful leader since Mao. Following in his father’s footsteps, he witnessed ethnic struggles in Xinjiang and Tibet and pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. And he had an insider’s view of the world’s two superpowers meeting at a perilous crossroads. A groundbreaking book, At the Edge of Empireis the essential work for understanding China today.

Purchase this title from Broadway Books 

NOTE: Edward Wong will be speaking in-person Wednesday, March 12, 7 pm as part of WorldOregon's Global Conversations at The Oregon Historical Society. CLICK HERE for details