He was considered to be a leading "China watcher," who covered the country from before the Chinese Communist victory of 1949 to the economic reforms during the 1980s.
[3] He was once praised by Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai as the man who "opened the door" to China for foreign news media.
[2][3] Roderick's career as a correspondent with the Associated Press spanned over fifty years, with postings in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
[3] He was assigned to the Office of Strategic Services, which was a precursor of the CIA, and sent to the city of Kunming, China, which is the capital of Yunnan province.
[3] Kunming was a strategically important city at the end of the Burma Road with a large United States military base.
[2] He resided with the rebel leadership, who included Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Jiang Qing and other guerrilla leaders, at their headquarters in a series of caves in Yan'an, China.
[3] The Communist rebels, as well as reporters, such as Roderick, used the caves as a place to live and conduct their raids against their Japanese and Kuomintang opponents.
[3] He observed Mao Zedong and other leaders during meal times, dances and lectures, which he would later chronicle in his book, "Covering China.
[2] Roderick famously called Jiang Qing (Mme Mao) "that evil bitch" long before she became known as a key member of the Gang of Four during the 1970s.
[1] After he left Ya'an, Roderick covered the breakdown of peace talks between the Communists and the Kuomintang as well as the ensuing Chinese Civil War from Beijing.
[1] Finally, in 1971 Roderick was able to return to China when he accompanied the United States ping pong team on a trip to the country in 1971.
[2] Roderick was able to reopen the Associated Press bureau in Beijing in 1979, following the normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China.
[3] He covered the assassination of United Nations official Count Folke Bernadotte in Jerusalem by the Israeli extremist group, Lehi.
[1] During the late 1960s, Takishita learned that a 250-year-old farmhouse, located in Ise, Fukui prefecture (close to his hometown of Gifu) would be lost, following the construction of a reservoir.
[3] Also in 2006, Roderick began writing a series of monthly articles concerning China as part of his coverage of the upcoming 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Before filming could begin Roderick fell ill and was unable to participate, and so Pardo relied on Yoshihiro Takishita to tell their story.