Meeting

Virtual Roundtable: A Conversation With Desmond Shum

Tuesday, November 23, 2021
Jason Lee, Reuters
Speaker
Desmond Shum

Author, Red Roulette 

Presider
Jerome A. Cohen

Adjunct Senior Fellow for Asia, Council on Foreign Relations; Founder and Faculty Director Emeritus, U.S.-Asia Law Institute, New York University School of Law

Asia Program

What is it like to secretly do business with the highest levels of the Chinese Communist Party elite? How do ideology, politics, ethics, foreign policy, law, and human relations merge in the actual struggle to get rich in the People’s Republic of China as the party enters its second century? Our speaker, Desmond Shum, discusses his eye-opening and controversial experiences as an “insider” who learned how to rise among China’s power-business elite.

Explore More on China

China

The China-North Korea Relationship
China is North Korea’s biggest trade partner and arguably has the most leverage over Kim Jong Un’s regime. Analysts say Beijing’s policies are focused on stability, though it signals ambivalence about its neighbor’s nuclear arms advances.

Backgrounder by Clara Fong and Eleanor Albert March 7, 2024

Taiwan

Why China-Taiwan Relations Are So Tense
Differences over Taiwan’s status have fueled rising tensions between the island and the mainland. Taiwan has the potential to be a flash point in U.S.-China relations.

Backgrounder by Lindsay Maizland February 8, 2024

International Organizations

The World Bank Group’s Role in Global Development
Since its founding in 1944, the World Bank has evolved from a lender focused on European reconstruction to the preeminent international institution for economic development and poverty reduction.

Backgrounder by Jonathan Masters, Noah Berman and Andrew Chatzky October 12, 2023

Top Stories on CFR

Censorship and Freedom of Expression

World Press Freedom Day 2024: Mounting Threats, Renewed Purpose

Podcast
In this special episode to mark World Press Freedom Day, Jeffrey Gedmin, cofounder and editor-in-chief of American Purpose and former president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, joins Robert McMahon and Carla Anne Robbins to discuss the global state of press freedom. They cover the challenges that a growing number of journalists face in exile or imprisonment, the U.S. role in upholding freedom of the press, and more.

Podcast with Robert McMahon, Carla Anne Robbins and Jeffrey Gedmin May 2, 2024 The World Next Week

Ukraine

Is U.S. Aid to Ukraine Too Little, Too Late?
U.S. aid is critical not just for Ukraine, but for U.S. credibility in Russia and beyond.

Article by Liana Fix May 2, 2024

Turkey

Erdogan’s Crisis of Legitimacy and Its Consequences
Despite the destabilizing effects of his economic and foreign policies, as well as a major election loss, President Erdogan shows no sign of interest in course correction.

Article by Henri J. Barkey May 2, 2024