eowyn

First of all, its not you. Secondly, don't try to pick a topic that you think will impress people. It doesn't work that way. Take some time to think about what you really care about, and what you really want to dig into, no matter how much you fear what other people might think. If you care enough about a topic, it means that you will bring the necessary drive to enlighten others its relevancy. Furthermore, when your advisor is critically evaluating your project, you will understand its overarching significance, and you can communicate that much more effectively. Go back to square one. What is it that you care about? What do you know about the literature in the field? What potential gaps do you see in that literature? What potential sources are out there that you can use. How can these sources reveal/explain something about the bigger picture? Rinse and repeat, and good luck.

I think in this specific case it wouldn't hurt to contact the schools you are applying to and explain your circumstances. For all you know someone on the adcomm reads Chinese, for example. Considering you are not the first student to apply to a U.S. school with foreign recommenders, it would make sense that adcomms would have a general plan on how to handle the issue. Good Luck!