Interview with Morning Tears, China

Morning Tears is a China focused non-profit that cares for the children of prisoners in Chinese jails. They have just been awarded a prestigious award by the Chinese government for their outstanding contribution to society.

I had the opportunity to speak with Koen Sevenants, the founder and general director of Morning Tears to learn more about the award and what it means to his organization.

Audio: Interview with Morning Tears

To learn more about Morning Tears and the incredible work they do, visit their website www.morningtears.com

(This interview was first broadcast during the second hour of Today on Beyond Beijing, April 23rd)

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Today, April 23 - Katyn Forest Massacre

In April 1940 thousands of Polish army officers and intellectuals were systematically murdered by special units of the Soviet secret police. It was followed by decades of denial, conspiracy theories and complicity in a cover up by governments around the world. In today's show we'll try to unravel the truth behind the Katyn Forest Massacre.

Allen Paul, Author of "Katyn: Stalin's Massacre and the Triumph of Truth"

Tomasz Sajewicz, chief correspondent of Polish Public Radio in Beijing

Anna Cienciala, Professor Emeritus of History and Russian and East European Studies, University of Kansas

Audio: Katyn Forest Massacre (Hour 1)

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Today, April 22 - Coal Mine Safety

China and the United States are the world’s largest producers and consumers of coal. Coal production is inherently risky, and fatalities are unavoidable in these large coal economies. Both countries have developed complex systems of law to regulate coal mine safety. But how effective they?

Kevin Tu, Senior Consultant, Energy & Environment, M.K. Jaccard and Associates

Beverly A. Sauer, Professor of the Practice, Georgetown University, author of “The Rhetoric of Risk: Technical Documentation in Hazardous Environments.”

Audio: Coal Mine Safety in China (Hour 1)

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Today, April 21 - China's Returnees (Sea Turtles)

China's rapid economic development has not only attracted foreigners who can see an opportunity - but Chinese who originally went overseas to seek their fortunes. So what do these returnees bring to the table, and what challenges to they face.

Dr. Wang Huiyao, Director General, Center for China and Globalization / Vice Chairman of China Western Returned Scholars Association

Vivek Wadhwa, Senior Research Associate, Labor and Worklife Program, Harvard Law School; Director of Research, Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization and Exec in Residence, Pratt School of Engineering, Duke University

Sin Yih Teo, Ph.D Candidate from Deparment of Geography, University of British Columbia

Audio: Returnees (Hour 1)

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Today, April 20 - Crisis in Kyrgyzstan

Five years after the Tulip Revolution, Kyrgyzstan's president Kurmanbek Bakiyev is now in exile. Once hailed as a potential reformer, his rule ended in violence and disgrace. We'll be asking the experts why, and what lies ahead for this Central Asian state.

Zhao Zhen, Assistant Research Fellow, China Institute of International Studies

Prof. Alexander Cooley, Associate Professor, International Relations and Foreign Policy, Columbia University

Dr. Zhao Changhui, Export & Import Bank of China

Audio: Kyrgyzstan Crisis (Hour 1)

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Today, April 19 - China's relationship with Latin America

Some observers say that China's real engagement with South America only began about a decade ago. In today's program, we'll take a look at how those relationships have developed.

Erik Bethel, Founding Partner/CEO SinoLatin Capital

Jiang Shixue, Deputy Director, Institute of Latin America, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Latin America Studies
Centre, Peking University

Gloria Cid, Charge ‘d Affairs, Embassy of Chile

Audio: China's Relationship with Latin America (Hour 1)

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Today, April 16 - Happiness Index

It has been suggested that a National Happiness Index could (or should) be considered a better indicator of a countries development than the more commonly accepted indicators such as GDP and GNP. But can you measure happiness?

Prof. Qiu Zeqi, Director of Center for Sociological Research and Development Studies of China, Peking University

Nic Marks, Founder of the Center for Well-Being at the New Economics Foundation

Yew-Kwang Ng, Personal Chair in Economics, Monash University；Director of Centre for Increasing Returns and Economic Organization

Alex Feng, Consultancy Manager of Progress Strategy Consulting Co., Ltd

Audio: Happiness Index (Hour 1)

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Today, April 15 - China's Housing Market

Residential property prices in China rose at their fastest pace on record in March. The growth comes amid mounting concerns about the cost of housing and growing speculation about an interest rate hike. Where is the market heading?

Grayson Clark, Fund Management Expert at EU-China Social Security Reform Co-operation Project

Bei Fu, Director, Corporate Ratings, Standard and Poor's

Prof. Wang Hong, Department of Finance, Tsinghua University

Audio: China's Housing Market (Hour 1)

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Today, April 14 - Nuclear Security Summit

The final communique of the 47-nation nuclear summit says: Nuclear terrorism is one of the most challenging threats to international security, and strong nuclear security measures are the most effective means to prevent terrorists, criminals, or other unauthorized actors from acquiring nuclear materials. So how big is the threat and did the summit achieve all its aims?

H.E. Li Changhe, Former Ambassador for Disarmament Affairs of China to the United Nations at Geneva

Dr. Teng Jianqun, Senior Researcher, China Institute of International Studies

Dr. Richard Weitz, Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Political-Military Analysis, Hudson Institute

Audio: Nuclear Security Summit (Hour 1)

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Today, April 13 - Teen Discipline

The children love luxury, they have bad manners, contempt for authority, show disrespect for elders. That was written by Socrates more than 2,500 years ago. So are youngsters of today any better or worse?

Susan M. Swearer, Ph.D., Associate Professor of School Psychology and Licensed Psychologist

Zhu Zhiyong, Associate professor, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University

Dr. Jane Nelsen, author of the Positive Discipline series of books

Audio: Teen Discipline (Hour 1)

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Today, April 12 - Birth Defects in China

Over the past decade there has been an estimated 40-percent rise in the number of children born with birth defects. What are the main factors behind this significant increase - and how is the country equipped to deal with it.

Professor Ren Aiguo, (MD, PhD), Head of Institute of Reproductive and Child Health, Peking University
Amy Eldridge, Director of Operations, Love Without Boundaries
Professor Wang Jinfeng, Deputy Director, State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Professor Aubrey Milunsky, MD, D.Sc of Paediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine.

Audio: Rise in Birth Defects in China (Hour 1)

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Today, April 7th - Air Quality and Health

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, says there are more than 4,000 premature deaths every year due to poor air quality in the city. This is a surprising figure for what is commonly accepted as an ultra modern city about to host the Olympic Games.

Simon Birkett, Founder of Campaign for Clean Air in London

Dr. Junfeng (Jim) Zhang, Professor and Acting Chair of Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at UMDNJ-School of Public Health

Dr. Huang Wei, researcher at the Centre for Environment and Health, Peking University

Audio: Air Quality and Health (Hour 1)

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Today, April 4th - Diabetes in China

China is thought to have edged ahead of India, becoming the country with the highest population of diabetes in the world. The urban areas, where economic development is at its fastest are the hotspots for diabetes in China.

David Whiting, PhD, Epidemiologist and Public Health Specialist, International Diabetes Federation

Yang Wenying, Supervisor of Ph.D. candidates, Former chairwoman of Chinese diabetic institute of Chinese Medical Association, Director of the Department of Endocrinology at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital

Prof. Weng Jianping, Vice President, the 3rd Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University

Audio: Diabetes in China (Hour 1)

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Today, April 3rd - Digital Legacy

People are living an increasingly significant portion of their lives online – or digitally. But what happens when you die. Who gets control of your digital identity, your possibly valuable website URL, and how difficult is it for friends and relatives to get access if they don’t know your passwords?

Jeremy Toeman, Founder of Legacy Locker

Michael Zhang, Attorney at law

Liu Deliang, Director of Asia-Pacific Institute for Cyber-law Studies; Professor of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunication

Audio: Digital Legacy - Hour 1

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Today, April 2nd - China's Ageing Society

Over the past few decades, China enjoyed a productive population age structure, with working-age people making up a large part of its population while retired and pre-working-age people were a relatively small fraction. As a result, the country enjoyed an endless supply of labor and also carried a comparatively light pension burden. But that is changing - and the question is, how is China going to cope with its aging society?

Richard Jackson, Director and Senior Fellow, Global Aging Initiative- Center for Strategic and International Studies, Author of the policy study: China’s Long March to Retirement Reform: The Graying of the Middle Kingdom Revisited.

Prof. Du Peng, Department of Gerontology, Renmin University

Audio: China's Ageing Society

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Today, April 1st - China-India Relations

It has been 60 years since the forging of diplomatic relations between India and China - and it hasn't always been an easy partnership. From the early days of Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai (India and China are brothers) we'll be investigating the development of the relationship.

Rahul Venkit, Indian multimedia journalist based in Brussels

Dr. Alka Acharya, Associate Professor in Chinese Studies Center for East Asian Study of School of International Studies Jawaharlal Nehru University

Rong Ying, Vice President and Director of the South Asian Studies Center at China Institute of International Studies

Audio: China India Relations (Hour 1)

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Today, March 31 - The Politics of Oil

Apparently, when planning the attack on Iraq, senior officials in the United States considered calling the invasion "Operation Iraqi Liberation" - that was until someone quickly realized the acronym spelt - OIL. They changed it. But how much did oil play into the decision to attack Iraq - and indeed many other geo-political decisions?

Some fascinating and not often heard opinions and facts were raised during this discussion.

Edward Chow, Senior Fellow, Energy and National Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Gal Luft, Executive director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security

Audio: The Politics of Oil (Hour 1)

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