She is Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, the new Democratic senator from New York State who took Hillary Clinton’s seat, and the word is she speaks Mandarin Chinese. Not only that, she does so with “good, straight tones.”
Gillibrand took the Chinese name when she was an Asian Studies major at Dartmouth College, where she graduated in 1988. At the time, Gillibrand went by the name Tina Rutnik. Tina sounds like “tian na,” which is Chinese for “that sky” or “that heaven.” Lu would be the Chinese equivalent of the first syllable of her maiden last name.
Here’s what the New York Times said about her in a Jan. 24 story:
She learned to speak and write Chinese before spending a semester in China, and wrote a senior project titled “The History of Tibetan Resistance to the Chinese Occupation of Tibet 1950-1988.”
As part of her studies, she and her mother visited the Dalai Lama’s house while traveling in India. The Albany Times Union reported in 2006 that mother and daughter paid to support the education of a Tibetan boy.
It turns out that a Chinese-language newspaper in New York City, World Journal, called her office this week and asked to conduct an interview in Chinese. She accepted.
Rachel McEneny, Gillibrand’s spokeswoman, provided some information to an Albany Times-Union reporter, who blogged here about what happened:
Gillibrand took the phone and spoke with the reporter in Mandarin for around 15 minutes, according to McEneny.
Gillibrand’s interview with the World Journal didn’t turn up anything particularly surprising - she spoke of her interest in US-China relations and her hope to work on those issues as a member of the Foreign Affairs committee. She also spoke about her increased concern about Tibetan issues in China.
Gillibrand wrote her college senior thesis, “The History of Tibetan Resistance to the Chinese Occupation of Tibet 1950-1988,” after traveling to India and China.
The story discussed Gillibrand’s position on immigration - namely the need to give legal immigrants the opportunity to work towards citizenship - but it wasn’t immediately clear from the story if it was from the paper’s interview with Gillibrand, or culled from previous statements. (When asked whether immigration was part of the interview, McEneny replied, “i dont know _ I dont speak the laguage…seriously… “)
On Monday, Gillibrand said this of her position on immigration:
“My view has always been that we need to right-size immigration,” she said. “We need to have the right number of visas to accommodate the right number of workers, particularly for this industry. The agriculture industry’s number one concern is, we need access to legal workers, and we need our immigration system to work for our industry because there is so much talent that we need to keep in this country that are experts in all of these various industries.”
The World Journal complimented Gillibrand’s pronunciation, saying that she spoke with good, straight tones.

陆天娜?Thanks for the info.
Posted by: fake quartet at Obama's inauguration | January 29, 2009 at 10:52 PM
"My Tian Na", another Mandarin speaking American.
Posted by: jeff | January 29, 2009 at 11:23 PM
"Na" could be 哪,那,or 娜。Her name is most likely 娜, which means gentle, beautiful, etc.
Posted by: fake quartet | January 30, 2009 at 02:47 AM
"Gillibrand wrote her college senior thesis, “The History of Tibetan Resistance to the Chinese Occupation of Tibet 1950-1988,” after traveling to India and China."
I saw this in the NYT; call me petty in how I get my kicks, but I think this is hysterical. Let's see how much the cultural triumphalist breed of Chinese nationalist will crow about their "growing influence" when this tidbit is noted.
Posted by: MAC | January 30, 2009 at 03:32 PM
Can I suggest a topic for next Gillibrand term-paper? "Native-American Resistance to Anglo-Saxon Occupation". (To remedy skewed-thinking, so typical of people like her).
Posted by: BEMIS | January 30, 2009 at 08:44 PM
Because everyone who has a problem with China in Tibet obviously thinks that the theft of the Native Americans' land was super, and pointing out that it wasn't is a mind-blowing revelation that leaves their jaws hanging open in stunned silence. Yaaaaawn.
Posted by: MAC | January 31, 2009 at 02:12 AM
The first military assault on Tibet was carried out by none other than the good old Britain.
http://hotnhitnews.com/first_military_assult_on_Tibet_by_Dr_Nachiketa_Das_n_Mrs_Sizuka_Imamoto_001_09012.htm
Posted by: George | January 31, 2009 at 09:40 AM
MAC,
The question is, the Americans got away with doing it, why can't the Chinese?
:-)
Posted by: Pffefer | January 31, 2009 at 03:47 PM
Am I the only one who doesn't think this is newsworthy? So you have a US senator who speaks Mandarin. So what? Pro-China? Anti-China. What difference does one person make? People, especially the Chinese shouldn't pay attention to things this insignificant and trivial.
Posted by: Pffefer | January 31, 2009 at 03:52 PM
George,
The first attack on Tibet was in the 1800s, by Britain? I would have assumed a kingdom and national entity that had been around for many hundreds if not more than a thousand years might have previously been attacked occassionally by the various tribes and nations surrounding the Tibetan Plateau and maybe even by one of those tiny empires that bordered it like the Persia, Mughal India, the various Mongal hordes, the Chinese, etc. But, I guess that seems farfetched.
Posted by: Mike | February 01, 2009 at 07:21 AM
Gee Tim, you deleted my post even though there was not one word of profanity or contained any incitement to violence, just an expression of my idea in response to MAC's post. Does this mean (1) you are retiring soon from your hallowed profession as a journalist (2) you are planning to audition for an editorial spot with the People's Dailey or (3) just been in China a bit too long?
Posted by: Jaundiced Eye | February 01, 2009 at 02:00 PM
How about another suggested topic for Gillibrand? Might even suit TJ himself: SERFS' EMANCIPATION DAY.
Posted by: mike | February 01, 2009 at 05:43 PM
I don't recall deleting any post from you, Jaundiced Eye. Are you sure you sent one in? Must be a gremlin in the system.
Posted by: Tim J | February 01, 2009 at 09:47 PM
Ok Tim, a gremlin it is.
Posted by: Jaundiced Eye | February 01, 2009 at 10:45 PM
This carpetbagger took over Hillary Clinton's Senate seat. If she runs for senate in 2 years, I know whom I am not voting for.
Posted by: pug_ster | February 02, 2009 at 06:01 PM
Whatever characters they are. Why would someone choose a name that rhymes with "Oh My God"?
Posted by: Mainlander | February 04, 2009 at 10:08 AM