美国国家公共电台 NPR My Love for China: American Community Party Member Sidney Rittenberg

 

When Sidney Ritterberg began to study Chinese, he didn't realize his entire life would be entangled¹ with the country.

"I volunteered for the Army after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. I was picked out to be trained in Japanese because I did well on a language test that they gave. But I didn't want to be in military government and mainly I wanted to go home right after the war. I thought, “China is an ally, if I study Chinese, I'll come back right after the war."

Sidney was born into a Jewish family in 1921 in South Carolina of the United States. In September 1945, 24-year-old Sidney Rittenberg arrived in southwest China's Kunming, the city held the rearguard of the Kuomintang Army in the War against Japanese Aggression². Because of his proficiency³ in Chinese, Sidney was appointed to the US Army's Compensation Department.

Later, a tiny thing changed his life path. A drunk American soldier accidentally killed a Chinese girl while driving through a small Hutong, and she was the only child of that family. When Sidney was trying to help the family apply for compensation, he was told they could only get 14 dollars because the dead child had no income. But what impressed him most was the father's submissive attitude.

"It just struck me here's a man who thinks that society has a right to oppress him and keep him down and rob him. He doesn't think he has any rights whatsoever⁴. That impressed me very deeply with how wrong this whole society was at the time. "

Sidney decided⁵ to stay in China to help people who had no power at all. He became an official of the UN Relief and Rehabilitation⁶ Administration and stayed in China. At the same time, he became increasingly interested in the idealistic Communist Party of China.

In 1945, the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party broke out. The situation became increasingly tense in May 1946, when Sidney was ordered to distribute relief food in the Plains liberated⁷ area of central China's Hubei Province.

Later a three-man military truce⁸ team was held between the Kuomintang, the Communist Party and the American who carried "the peaceful mediation⁹". Just after the team arrived, Sidney met the American representative, General Byroid in the bathroom, where he accidentally discovered the Kuomintang's secret plan to wipe out the Communist Party members.

Sidney leaked the information to the commander of the Central Plains military district, Li Xiannian, which help Li's 16,000-man force successfully break through the Kuomintang's 300,000-man army of encirclement and annihilation, later known as the "Central Plains Breakthrough" in Chinese history.

CPC history researcher He Guangyao is the Co-author of Biography of Li Xiannian.

"The Central Plains Breakthrough is a significant event in Chinese history. It was also a turning point for the history of Chinese revolution. From that day on June 26th, 1946, China entered a phase of nationwide liberation.

Sidney says he had made the right decision.

"My heart is with (the) people, always has been, always will be. These are people, good people who are being wronged, being threatened. I don't care what nationality. If it's wrong, I'm going to do my best to fight it."

Through Li Xiannian's introduction, Sidney officially joined the Communist Party of China by the end of that year. As a CPC member with a foreign nationality and a frequent visitor to Zhong Nan Hai, he became a central figure in the social network between Chinese top leadership and foreigners in Beijing. He was even wrongly jailed twice, but his love for China never faded.

File photo of Sidney Rittenberg with Mao Zedong. [Photo: baidu.com]

"My heart is red. If you cut me open, you’ll find it's red. That's the truth."

In 1979, China and the US established diplomatic relations. The same year, Sidney, together with his Chinese wife, came to the US to visit his family which he hadn't seen for more than 30 years. It was at this moment that Sidney made another important decision for his life.

Wang Yulin is Sidney's wife.

"The premier¹¹ wanted him to promote Sino-US friendship. China is now developing at a rapid speed. There are a number of quality English experts in China, so Sidney's function in China is very limited. However, at that time, the US's understanding of China remained very poor. They thought of prevalent hunger when they thought of China. Therefore, we decided we'd better say in the US to promote Sino-US friendship.

File photo of Sidney Rittenberg and his wife Wang Yulin. [Photo: fjsen.com]

During the 1980s, China began to reform and open up. Its economy started to develop rapidly. Sidney established a consultancy company on China-US trade issues, which has successfully helped big companies such as Microsoft, Intel and Polaroid develop their business in China. Sidney Rittenberg's popularity immediately soared.

And his contribution to bilateral¹² ties didn't stop there. He forged a deep friendship with renowned¹³ journalist Mike Wallace in 1980s, and it was during this time that Sidney facilitated the 1986 interview with Deng Xiaoping. It was the first and only interview of Deng by western TV media.

During the interview, the renowned diplomat¹⁰ improved how the world viewed China overnight, stirring up a Deng Xiaoping fever in the West.

As a guest professor at Pacific Lutheran University for over 20 years, He always encourages his students to analyze¹⁴ the history of the Chinese Civil War. The old man never stopped his steps to promote the mutual-understanding between the two countries.

Loren Anderson is the President of Pacific Lutheran University.

"Sidney has lived a life of high purpose. And that I think he's always understood his work in the context of trying to serve others and to improve the world in which he has landed. And I think in these senior years where he's working as a business consultant¹⁵ and as a professor, in both of those roles, he understands that his mission is to encourage the people of China and the people of the United States to understand one another better."

Sidney says he has lived his life without any regrets.

"I think, you know, I went with a kind of philosophy but China made it real. China made it practical and real, I think. I really learned a different outlook, a different outlook on life in China. So when people ask me, 'Are you American or Chinese?' I say, 'I'm American but I'm Chinese American.' "

For Studio+, I'm Li Ningjing.

1 entangled   

adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The bird had become entangled in the wire netting. 那只小鸟被铁丝网缠住了。
• Some military observers fear the US could get entangled in another war. 一些军事观察家担心美国会卷入另一场战争。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

3 proficiency   

n.精通，熟练，精练

参考例句：

• He plied his trade and gained proficiency in it.他勤习手艺，技术渐渐达到了十分娴熟的地步。
• How do you think of your proficiency in written and spoken English?你认为你的书面英语和口语熟练程度如何？

4 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

7 liberated   

a.无拘束的，放纵的

参考例句：

• The city was liberated by the advancing army. 军队向前挺进，解放了那座城市。
• The heat brings about a chemical reaction, and oxygen is liberated. 热量引起化学反应，释放出氧气。

8 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

9 mediation   

n.调解

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled by mediation of the third country. 这场争端通过第三国的斡旋而得以解决。
• The dispute was settled by mediation. 经调解使争端得以解决。

10 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

11 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

12 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

13 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

14 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

15 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。