Jack Belden (February 3, 1910 in Brooklyn, New York – June 3, 1989 in Paris) was an American war correspondent who covered the Japanese invasion of China, the Second World War and the Chinese Revolution.
As one of the noted foreign correspondents in China in the 1930s and 1940s, Belden was unusual in that he spoke Chinese well and often traveled to the front lines to cover events from the point of view of soldiers and villagers. He traveled often...
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Jack Belden (February 3, 1910 in Brooklyn, New York – June 3, 1989 in Paris) was an American war correspondent who covered the Japanese invasion of China, the Second World War and the Chinese Revolution.
As one of the noted foreign correspondents in China in the 1930s and 1940s, Belden was unusual in that he spoke Chinese well and often traveled to the front lines to cover events from the point of view of soldiers and villagers. He traveled often in the company of General Joseph Stilwell, who also spoke Chinese, and with colleagues Agnes Smedley and Edgar Snow.
After graduating with honors from Colgate University at the beginning of the Depression, Belden found work as a merchant seaman. In 1933, he jumped ship in Shanghai. He learned Chinese and eventually got a job covering local courts for Shanghai's English-language newspapers. After Japan invaded China in 1937, Belden was hired by United Press. Life magazine soon picked him up and he spent most of the Second World War as a...
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