REVIEW

With President Clinton's policy of "comprehensive engagement" with China in the news as well as the usual contentious issues regarding China, i.e., human rights, trade, and security, the miportance for teaching about U.S.-China relation in U.S. high school classrooms cannot be overemphasized. "When Cultures Collide: China and the U.S. in the 21st Century" is one of six NewsMatters programs. Each 15-20 minute video in the NewsMatters series examines an issue or topic in the news. Knowledge Unlimited notes that its programs are "designed to promote discussion and critical thinking in the classroom," and that its videos "rarely if ever provide clear-cut conclusions about an issue. Rather, each video's goal is to leave more qustions in viewers' minds than answers." These objectives and goal are most effectively met in this very useful classroom supplement. "When Cultures Collide: China and the U.S. in the 21st Century" explores China's role as a global power and also poses questions such as "How can the United States effectively oppose China's communist government while contributing so significantly to its growth?" and "How does the United States feel about its role as the biggest trade partner with a country that does not support many basic human rights for its people?" A succinct history of Chinese communism is presented as well as sketches of some of China's past political leaders. The video provides students with the historical context for examining present leadership in China and contemporary issues such as U.S.-China trade relations and China's most-favored-nation trading status. U.S. high school students' perspectives on these issues are effectively woven into the script. This 20-minute video raises many complex questions for students and given its length and even-handed treatment of contentious issues, would be a very useful supplement to high school classes on Asian studies, world history, international economics, U.S. history, or contemporary issues. A 12-page teacher's guide provides background information for the teacher, readiness activities, discussion questions, and several reproducible activities which range in complexity from locating China's political leaders' names among a maze of letters to interpreting political cartoons and graphs on Chinese trade and responding to questions regarding U.S.-China and China-Taiwan relations. An interesting activity focuses on cultural and social differences between China and the Unites States. The example given is one that focuses on differences between U.S. and Chinese views on human rights. It is presented in a balanced, even-handed manner, and encourages students to consider perspectives on both sides. The video kit also comes with an 11" x 17" poster called "A Guide to China," which shows the geographic location of places such as Tibet, the Yangtze River, Macau, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Beijing; and notes important facts and significant events that occurred in these places. This poster could serve multiple purposes in a classroom - not only as a student reference and a quick snapshot of historical events in China's history but also as a sample poster from which students can develop their own. Lastly, the NewsMatters Web site (www.ku.com) provides regularly updated information on various topics related to its programs.