Written by Tyler Mahaffey, EASC intern

The Institute for Chinese Studies recently hosted speaker Joshua Hill, an associate professor at Ohio University and an expert on modern China. On September 25th, Professor Hill gave a lecture to Ohio State students and faculty about Richard Nixon and Chinese Vice Premier Nie Rongzhen’s trips to Ghana during the country’s independence celebration in 1957.

Prior to his lecture, I interviewed Professor Hill about his time living in China. Professor Hill studied and lived in China during the 90s which gave him insight into domestic Chinese politics. During our conversation, he stated that Chinese politics have changed much since the 90s, becoming more liberal, but in recent years younger people are less optimistic towards the future of China. This is mainly due to higher housing prices and a worsening job market. In contrast, Professor Hill stated that older members of Chinese society tend to support the Chinese Communist Party (the governing party of China) due to their remembering of life under Mao Zedong and his regime. Professor Hill also told me that many people, including himself, were surprised by Xi Jinping’s conservative nature. Hill and other observers initially believed that Xi would be a liberal reformer and would reduce government censorship and surveillance. Instead, Xi led the government’s increase in censorship and surveillance, which Hill mentioned recently experiencing in Ningbo. Hill told me that whenever entering a public place or using public transportation, he and others would have to scan their government ID or passport, which the government could use to surveil people. 

In addition to Chinese politics, I talked with Professor Hill about what he found interesting while living in Ningbo. Professor Hill mentioned he found the architectural styles in Chinese cities such as Ningbo very interesting. According to him, due to the region’s history of European presence, the city has a rare mix of ancient Chinese architecture, 19th century English architecture, and modern architecture. Hill told me the unique architecture is one of the things that led him to study Chinese history. Professor Hill stated that wanting to know more about how the rare mix of architectural styles came to be led him to pursue Chinese history as a career.