When President Richard Nixon held his meetings with Chairman Mao in Beijing in February 1972, at his side was a young U.S. diplomat serving as his principal interpreter: Chas W. Freeman, Jr. Interesting Times: China, America, and the Shifting Balance of Prestige presents Ambassador Freeman's most brilliant (and often bitingly witty) on developments in China and the U.S.-Chinese relationship, 19692012. Subjects include issues like Taiwan, other strategic issues, and differences over human rights, economic, and trade policies that confronted the world s two most powerful countries throughout those years."