AP reporter Christopher Bodeen, a tenacious chronicler of China’s rise, dies at 55

AP reporter Christopher Bodeen, a tenacious chronicler of China’s rise, dies at 55 1 of 3 | AP reporter Christopher Bodeen walks along the Mutianyu Great Wall section on the outskirts of Beijing, on Nov. 10, 2017, while covering Melania Trump’s visit to the wall. (AP Photo/Emily Wang) 2 of 3 | Christopher Bodeen holds up a certificate to celebrate his 20th year with The Associated Press at the office in Beijing, on July 21, 2016. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) 3 of 3 | Christopher Bodeen, center, picks up documents on the day of the opening ceremony for the National People’s Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, on March 5, 2019. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) 1 of 3 | AP reporter Christopher Bodeen walks along the Mutianyu Great Wall section on the outskirts of Beijing, on Nov. 10, 2017, while covering Melania Trump’s visit to the wall. (AP Photo/Emily Wang) 1 of 3 AP reporter Christopher Bodeen walks along the Mutianyu Great Wall section on the outskirts of Beijing, on Nov. 10, 2017, while covering Melania Trump’s visit to the wall. (AP Photo/Emily Wang) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 2 of 3 | Christopher Bodeen holds up a certificate to celebrate his 20th year with The Associated Press at the office in Beijing, on July 21, 2016. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) 2 of 3 Christopher Bodeen holds up a certificate to celebrate his 20th year with The Associated Press at the office in Beijing, on July 21, 2016. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 3 of 3 | Christopher Bodeen, center, picks up documents on the day of the opening ceremony for the National People’s Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, on March 5, 2019. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) 3 of 3 Christopher Bodeen, center, picks up documents on the day of the opening ceremony for the National People’s Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, on March 5, 2019. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] TOKYO (AP) — Christopher Bodeen, a tenacious, old-school wire service reporter who brought a keen analytical eye and a wry sense of humor to decades of work in China, Taiwan and in war zones and natural disasters across the globe for The Associated Press, has died. He was 55.Bodeen died Monday after a struggle with cancer and complications from a stroke, his daughter, Ingrid, said Thursday by telephone from Taiwan. Bodeen, who spoke fluent Mandarin with a proud Taiwan accent, spent much of his career detailing China’s rise to an economic, political and military superpower — and the accompanying friction from what critics have long called Beijing’s heavy-handed efforts to establish dominance in Asia and beyond. “Chris was a reporter who would go anywhere and do anything for the story,” said Charles Hutzler, AP’s former bureau chief in Beijing. After a huge quake flattened a swath of Sichuan province in 2008, Bodeen composed his account from one devastated town sentence by sentence over text messages because of damaged telecommunications networks. “It was one of the first eyewitness reports the AP and the world received about one of the worst earthquakes in decades,” Hutzler recalled. He was an expert on politics and Chinese military issuesFrom AP bureaus in Shanghai, Beijing and Taipei, Bodeen was for years the news agency’s go-to person on Chinese politics and military issues, able to quickly determine the newsworthiness of the government’s often abstruse statements.“A chat with Chris would inevitably turn into a remarkable history lesson,” said Emily Wang Fujiyama, former Greater China news director. “He had astounding knowledge of the region and would be writing about China’s military presence in the South China Sea, pivot to Taiwan’s intricate politics, and just as deftly write about the political sensitivities of Tibet, Mongolia and China.”Bodeen was born in Missouri on Sept. 9, 1970, but he spent parts of his childhood in the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Asia. His father was a foreign service officer and his mother a former diplomat, his daughter, Ingrid, said. Friends and colleagues remembered his love of the Boston Red Sox, esoteric punk rock -- and his contagious enthusiasm for the job of journalism.“He was the blondest, palest person you’ll ever meet” yet also spoke pitch-perfect Chinese, said Ted Anthony, AP’s former China news editor and news director for Asia. “So when the earthquake in Sichuan happened in 2008, he went out there, put on one of his ever-present ballcaps to cover his hair, and slouched down. He passed as Chinese, started interviewing people and sailed under the scrutiny of the authorities.”