John Ruwitch
John Ruwitch is a correspondent with NPR's international desk. He covers Chinese affairs.
Ruwitch joined NPR in early 2020, and has since chronicled the tectonic shift in America's relations with China, from hopeful engagement to suspicion-fueled competition. He's also reported on a range of other issues, including Beijing's pressure campaign on Taiwan, Hong Kong's National Security Law, Asian-Americans considering guns for self-defense in the face of rising violence and a herd of elephants roaming in the Chinese countryside in search of a home.
Ruwitch joined NPR after more than 19 years with Reuters in Asia, the last eight of which were in Shanghai. There, he first covered a broad beat that took him as far afield as the China-North Korea border and the edge of the South China Sea. Later, he led a team that covered business and financial markets in the world's second biggest economy. Ruwitch has also had postings in Hanoi, Hong Kong and Beijing, reporting on anti-corruption campaigns, elite Communist politics, labor disputes, human rights, currency devaluations, earthquakes, snowstorms, Olympic badminton and everything in between.
Ruwitch studied history at U.C. Santa Cruz and got a master's in Regional Studies East Asia from Harvard. He speaks Mandarin and Vietnamese.
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Most attempts at leader succession in China have flopped, but Xi Jinping's norm-breaking practice comes at a precarious time for his country. -
China's leader Xi Jinping will serve for another five years. But who will succeed him?
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Xi Jinping has emerged from China's Communist Party congress with virtually unchecked power. What will five more years of Xi mean for China and the U.S.?
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President Xi Jinping was appointed to a third 5-year term at the Communist Party Congress. He also elevated several allies to leadership positions.
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Three people in Beijing, China, share what they want from their leader, Xi Jinping, over the next five years.
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Xi Jinping has become China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong. NPR has been speaking with a broad range of Chinese people about the impact he has had. Here is what four of them had to say. -
China's ruling Communist Party is holding its congress, which happens every five years, with leader Xi Jinping widely expected to secure a third term.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping gave a two-hour speech at the Communist Party congress Sunday outlining the party's course for the near future.
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President Xi Jinping kicked off the twice-a-decade summit with remarks that touched on COVID, Taiwan, economic policy and more. It is widely expected his rule will be extended beyond two terms. -
Online images showed banners that demanded "votes not leaders, dignity not lies" and urged students and workers to strike. Censors quickly scrubbed social media posts of the protest.
