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Robert Lawrence Kuhn
Dr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn is a public intellectual, international corporate
strategist and investment banker, and a renowned expert on China. He is a
commentator on the BBC, CNN, CGTN, CCTV, CNBC, Fox Business,
Bloomberg, and other media; senior political/economics commentator on China
Global Television Network (CGTN); and a columnist in China Daily and South
China Morning Post.
For 30 years, Dr. Kuhn has worked with China’s state leaders and advised the
Chinese government. He spoke at the launch ceremony of President Xi Jinping’s
book, The Governance of China; he provided live commentary on CNN for Xi’s policy address
during his U.S. state visit (2015); and he introduced to foreign audiences Xi as “core” of the CPC
(2016). He is interviewed extensively on US-China relations, including the trade war (2018).
For the 19 th CPC National Congress (October 2017) and 13 th National People’s Congress (March
2018), Dr. Kuhn was interviewed extensively, including 24 times on CNN and BBC World News /
BBC World Service, and he was quoted in newspapers and websites in U.S., Hong Kong, Italy,
India, etc. His full-page, in-depth analyses of the 19 th CPC National Congress were featured in
China Daily to open the CPC Congress (“Historical Starting Point for New Stage of Development“)
and to close the CPC Congress (“New Era on the Road to 2050”). His essay at the opening of the
Party Congress was published in People’s Daily.
Dr. Kuhn is the author of How China’s Leaders Think (featuring President Xi), and The Man Who
Changed China: The Life and Legacy of Jiang Zemin (China’s best-selling book of 2005). He wrote
the Introduction for Understanding the CPC, the book series by China’s ruling party, the
Communist Party of China (2015).
Shanghai Media Group and Dr. Kuhn are co-creators and co-producers of the award-winning, fivepart
series China’s Challenges, broadcast internationally (PBS stations in the U.S.) and in China.
Dr. Kuhn is writer and host; Peter Getzels is director. China’s Challenges won first prize in China
News Awards twice (2013, 2018). A second season won an Emmy Award (Los Angeles, 2016). A
third season (on “Xi Jinping Thought” and China 2020 / China 2050) is broadcast in late 2018.
Dr. Kuhn is the creator, co-producer and host of “Closer to China with R.L.Kuhn” on CGTN (China
Global Television Network, co-created by Adam Zhu), the weekly series with unique access that
features China’s thought leaders and decision makers, broadcast globally and in China. Closer To
China focuses on China’s politics and government, CPC/Party, economics and society, reform and
development, and international affairs and relations, with emphasis on Xi’s policies and philosophy.
A special documentary on President Xi’s “targeted poverty alleviation” campaign, co-produced by
CGTN, Dr. Kuhn and Adam Zhu, is in production. Dr. Kuhn is host and writer. Peter Getzels is
director.
Dr. Kuhn was one of only two Americans, with Henry Kissinger, named as the first “China
Visionaries”. He was selected by Oriental Outlook magazine (Xinhua News Agency) as one of the
all-time, top-ten influential supporters of China’s ruling party/CPC (he is the only one living).
An international corporate strategist and investment banker, Dr. Kuhn works with major
multinational corporations, CEOs and C-Suite executives, in formulating and implementing China
strategies by applying his “politico-strategic framework”. He was president/co-owner of the largest
middle-market M&A firm in the U.S. (sold to Citigroup in 2000).
Dr. Kuhn is creator, writer and host of Closer To Truth (produced and directed by Peter Getzels),
the long-running PBS/public television series on science and philosophy (broadcast continually
since 2000, over 275 TV episodes; more are in production). Dr. Kuhn is author or editor of over 30
books on China, corporate strategy, finance, science and philosophy (including, with the
philosopher John Leslie, The Mystery of Existence: Why is there Anything At All).
Dr. Kuhn is chairman of The Kuhn Foundation which supports new knowledge in science and
philosophy, classical music, and informed relations between the United States and China. The
Kuhn Foundation produced the feature documentary “Khachaturian” on the life and music of the
Armenian-Russian composer Aram Khachaturian, which won the Best Documentary award at the
Hollywood Film Festival.
Dr. Kuhn has a B.A. Human Biology (Johns Hopkins); Ph.D. Anatomy/Brain Research (University
of California at Los Angeles, UCLA); MBA (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT).
CNN – Quest Means Business
Future of U.S.-China Trade Relations
Robert Lawrence Kuhn, August 27, 2018
1
CNBC
Squawk on the Street
US-China Tariffs - US-China Trade War
Robert Lawrence Kuhn, August 22, 2018
1
FOX BUSINESS
Mornings with Maria (Maria Bartiromo)
US-China Tariffs - US-China Trade War
Robert Lawrence Kuhn, August 23, 2018
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BBC World News
President Xi Jinping-NPC Closing Session
Robert Lawrence Kuhn
March 20, 2018
HOST: Well joining me now
from Beijing is Dr. Robert
Lawrence Kuhn, advisor to
the Chinese government and
author of the book How
Chinese Leaders Think.
Thanks so much for joining us
here on the program. Usually
the NPC is seen as sort of a
choreographed event: we
know what to expect. But
this time it felt very different.
RLK: It certainly was
different. You have to look at
this year’s National People’s
1
Congress - and the so-called
Two Sessions - as part of the
“political season” which
begins with the party
congress in October and goes
now to the government
sessions in March. And
normally there is a
predictability and what
happens at the National
People’s Congress is not very
significant.
RLK: This year is different:
China talks about a “New
Era” – and this is not just
words, it is really the case. If
we look at the vision that Xi
Jinping gave at the party
congress, what we see here
at the National People’s
Congress we see as the
implementation of that vision
across a very broad front.
2
RLK: People have focused on
term limits - understandably
so - but the change is only for
the presidency. Xi Jinping by
having been made “Core” of
the Party in October 2016 -
actually with that designation
undermined “collective
leadership” - and when Xi’s
name was put into the Party
Constitution as the
contemporary arbiter of
Marxism - on which the Party
is based and the Party rules
the country - he then became
the overarching leader, no
matter what position he
would hold.
3
CNN International
President Xi Jinping, China, Term Limits
Robert Lawrence Kuhn – March 12, 2018
HOST: Let’s talk about President Xi Jinping with our
gues,t Robert Lawrence Kuhn, a longtime advisor to the
Chinese government, the author of How China’s Leaders
Think, and the host of Closer to China with R.L. Kuhn on the
China Global Television Network. Thanks for being with
us.
RLK: Hi Natalie. Interesting day we’re having.
HOST: Isn’t it, though? So, I guess the first question
would be to follow up on your book title, how China’s
leaders think. What is Xi Jinping thinking with this move?
RLK: First of all, we have to understand it in context.
There are twenty-one different clauses in this
Constitutional Amendment, and the whole point of it is to
strengthen the governance system of China. Now China is a
party-state system where the party controls the state.
Everyone is focusing on the abolition of term limits, and it
is important, but we need to understand the context within
this party-state system. In October of 2016, Xi Jinping was
made “Core” of the Party, which meant the collective
leadership of the past was no longer operative; that X was,
in essence, for the Party, the decision maker. Then just this
last October at the 19th CPC National Congress, his name
was put into the Party Constitution as “Xi Jinping Thought
on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New
Era,”… it’s a big phrase.
RLK: But what it means is that Xi is the arbiter of Marxism
and party theory. That means in terms of being the Core ot
the Party and the interpreter of Marxism that gives him
ultimate power. He doesn’t even need a formal position when
has those two and the Party continues to run the country.
HOST: Is that a good thing? How can it be a good thing for
the country when one person has the ultimate power?
RLK: There are two issues. One is how it happened: Now
the abolition of presidential term limits coordinates with the
Party and military, together the three largest positions. So
they’re now coordinated because he already had that power
in the Party and the military.
2
Amanpour on CNN
President Xi Jinping, China, Term Limits
Robert Lawrence Kuhn – Minxin Pei
March 5, 2018
HOST: When it comes to trade, one country more
than any other has been the target of Trump’s
rhetorical wrath, and that’s China. But my next
guest tells me that the promised tariffs won’t
bother China much, as we’ve been discussing. In
any way, they in China are dealing with much more
important things, like the proposal for the rubber
stamp Party Congress which starts its new session
today to change the Constitution, and lift all term
limits on President Xi Jinping, effectively making
him president for life. Now, I’ve been talking to
Minxin Pei: he’s a professor of government at
Claremont McKenna College in California, and to
Robert Lawrence Kuhn, who is the author of How
China’s Leaders Think, and he is the host of a show
on the government-run CCTV news channel in
Beijing. Gentlemen welcome to you both. Let me
start by asking you, Robert Lawrence Kuhn there in
Beijing. From the Chinese government perspective,
these tariffs that the president of the United States
has announced, how much does it concern Beijing?
RLK: Well certainly it’s a concern, but I would call it a
minor annoyance as opposed to something extremely
serious. They have a lot on their plate here. The last
thing they want is a trade war with the U.S., but they
have to react. If the U.S. does something, there has to be
something that they will do in retaliation. They will
ratchet it down. They will signal, as you do, that they do
not want to accelerate this, but to save face and to be
appropriate, they’ll have to match it.
HOST: To you Minxin Pei, how do you see this playing
out?
MP: If the investigations find China at fault, or guilty of
some practices, then the US has a wide range of options
to punish China on a trade front. And if these things
happen, then US-China trade war will take place.
Another thing I want to say is that US-China relations
have turned a corner. This is a relationship that has
headed toward a long period of confrontation, and
adversarial relationships. So what is going to happen
on the trade front is part of a much larger picture of
geopolitical rivalry, if not competition.
2
Bloomberg TV Worldwide
President Xi, China, Economy
Robert Lawrence Kuhn – March 5, 2018
HOST: You were there at the Great Hall of the People. What was
your main takeaway from what some have described as Li
Keqiang’s impossible challenge: how to deleverage, how to take
away stimulus, and still keep 6.5% growth?
RLK: I don’t take the 6.5% growth as the primary objective here.
I mean you have to look at what these National Peoples
Congresses are. They’re not setting the vision and the strategy.
That was set at the party congress in October. What we’re dealing
here is the implementation of the policies. If you attend these
every year you know they all look and sound the same because
it’s the same structure, same kind of structure of numbers, so
what you do is look for the differences. What are those subtle
differences between one year and another. That’s what I focus on
at these congresses.
HOST: What’s the main difference you saw?
1
BBC World News
Xi Jinping and the New Politburo Standing Committee
Robert Lawrence Kuhn
October 25, 2017
HOST: We’re going to put a question to Robert Lawrence
Kuhn, who’s a long-time advisor to the Chinese
government. Robert, great to see you again. You were
with us at the very beginning of the Party Congress and
you were at the Congress today when it finished. Did you
have any vision, any inkling that President Xi Jinping
would take on so much authority? Also, what about the
fact that there is no successor candidates among the new
leaders?
RLK: I was interviewed in early 2012 by a well-known
American television network and the question put to me,
in January of that year, was, “isn’t Xi Jinping going to be a
very weak leader because he was not appointed by Deng
Xiaoping and he has no strong base of support?”
1
CNN International
Xi Jinping and the New Politburo Standing Committee
Robert Lawrence Kuhn - October 26, 2017
HOST: The author of How China’s Leaders Think: The Inside
Story of Past, Current and Future Leaders, Robert Lawrence
Kuhn is a longtime advisor to the Chinese government. He
comes to us once again from Beijing. We talked this time
yesterday. Good to have you back. And we discussed
yesterday what we would learn about that lineup of the
standing committee. It hadn’t been revealed at that point
that we spoke, but we now know and is it correct to say the
most significant thing is no sign of a leader in waiting?
RLK: I think the most significant sign is who the people are
and how they relate to each other. It’s a group that actually
respects traditional norms.
RLK: There was thought that Wang Qishan, for example,
might violate norms by being on the Standing Committee
after the traditional retirement age and that’s not the case.
There is balance among the member in terms of their
geographies, even their political affiliations within the party
which internally are important. Two are from Shanghai,
two are from the Communist Youth League - one is actually
from Shanghai and the Youth League as well but he’s really
from Shanghai - two have a long relationship with General
Secretary Xi. And then of course General Secretary Xi has
the overarching power as everyone says - and that is correct
and will be correct for a long time to come.
CHINA DAILY Tuesday, January 23, 2018
VISION CHINA
7
Observers offer fresh insight for new era
Intellectual hails progress
made in past while warning
of challenges that lie ahead
By LI YANG
liyang@chinadaily.com.cn
Robert Lawrence Kuhn has many
titles, ranging from investment
banker to anatomy researcher. But
he is better known in China as a specialist
who knows the country
inside out.
Over the past 29 years, he has
visited almost every provincial
region and spoken with people from
all walks of life, including some who
have gone on to become State leaders.
“It’s been a great gift to my life to
be able to learn so much about China’s
rich civilization, political theories
and the whole development,” he
said.
Kuhn, who is from the United
States, learns as an outsider but
communicates as an insider. In his
talk show Closer to China with R.L.
Kuhn on the China Global Television
Network, he presents China’s
complex story to the world through
candid, intimate discussions with
the country’s decision-makers.
In a hotel suite in Wangfujing,
downtown Beijing, one busy lunchtime
last week, Kuhn shared his
thoughts on Chinese politics with
China Daily, between exercising and
a meeting of the Communist Party
of China, which he had been invited
to attend as an observer.
He spoke passionately about the
19th CPC National Congress, which
was held in Beijing in October,
describing it as “a milestone congress
that set the agenda for more
than 30 years”.
The Party proposed two new concepts
at the congress — “a new era
of socialism with Chinese characteristics”
and Xi Jinping Thought
on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics
for a New Era, which has
been written into the Party Constitution.
“To understand China today, it is
critical to appreciate what the new
era means. … I like to understand
new era in two categories: its characteristics
at home and abroad, and
its timeline,” Kuhn said.
He has obviously developed his
own way of explaining terms with
Chinese characteristics. That is to
break down the characteristics,
domestically and internationally,
rather than delve into the term.
He listed a number of challenges
in China’s new era, from pollution to
medical care, among which he said
the biggest is the rising expectations
of the people at home, because “now
that the people have some, they
want more”.
The complex international environment
is the main characteristic
of the new era, as the world is fragmented
by diverse problems and
challenges, he said.
While explaining what he called
the timeline of the new era (2017,
2021, 2049) and expounding his
understanding of Xi Jinping
Thought on Socialism with Chinese
Characteristics for a New Era —
which he broke down into three categories:
serve the people, national
rejuvenation, and governance modernization
— Kuhn showcased his
knowledge of the Party’s files, which
he has clearly learned by heart.
He recited almost every key
point of the 68-page report Xi
delivered to the congress in October.
More important, he made connections
between these points,
presenting them in a vivid way, seasoned
with personal experiences
and thinking.
When asked about the effects of
the anti-corruption campaign, he
immediately listed 10 objectives.
That’s his style of approaching Chinese
issues — divergent thinking
and a vigilance not to lose sight of
the connections between different
points.
British journalist tells China’s story to the world
By LIU XUAN
liuxuan@chinadaily.com.cn
Broadcaster sees choice and confidence in rising nation
By YANG WANGLI
yangwangli@chinadaily.com.cn
For 20 years, Liu Xin has had a singular
goal: to build a bridge of understanding
between China and the
outside world.
The television presenter began
working for China Central TV, the
State broadcaster, in 1997, two years
after becoming the first Chinese to
take part in — and win — the International
Public Speaking Competition.
Early last year, her desire to share
China’s story received a major boost
when she was chosen to host The
Point, a prime-time discussion show
that airs weekdays on the China Global
Television Network.
She said that China entering a new
era means three things: opportunities,
challenges and responsibilities.
“My winning speech in that 1995
national competition was about
choice,” she said. “After 15 years of
reform and opening-up, we Chinese
now enjoy an abundance of choice in
our daily lives.”
After listening to General Secretary
Xi Jinping’s report at the opening of
I like to understand
new era in two categories:
its characteristics
at home and abroad,
and its timeline.”
Robert Lawrence Kuhn, investment
banker and anatomy researcher
Q&A | ROBERT
LAWRENCE KUHN
You hold multiple titles now.
How have you managed to
master so many different
fields? Do they have anything
in common?
There’s one word to describe
the commonality, that is “passion”.
Whatever I’ve done I
want to have passion for it. To
expand that a bit, it’s the passion
to learn. I’m not here to
teach, I love to learn. When I
write a new book, it’s something
I want to learn about. I
use that vehicle to learn. So
passion about learning is the
common denominator. China
has given me a hugely rich life
because of everything I’ve
learned here.
the 19th National Congress of the
Communist Party of China, Liu said
she was impressed with his use of the
word “confidence”.
“It’s the confidence China has developed
through knowing that our system
works. The confidence about who
we are as a people, as a culture. And it’s
the confidence about our future role in
the world,” she said.
“As media workers, we believe we
have a great story to tell. In the past,
people relied on a few correspondents
or experts for information and opinions
on China. But more people are
tuning in to Chinese media for information,
both traditional platforms
such as TV and online.”
As more questions emerge in the
minds of those watching from outside
China, Liu said the opportunities to
tell stories from inside the country are
growing. However, so too are the challenges.
“Because of the ideological differences
between China and the West, China
has always been the subject of
Western media criticism, which is
often downright bashing based on
falsehoods,” she said.
From left: Zhao Jianguo, head of the international communication bureau of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee; Jiang
Qingzhe, Party chief of the University of International Business and Economics; China Daily reporter Andrew Moody; Guo Weimin, vice-minister of the Information
Office of the State Council; speakers Robert Lawrence Kuhn and Liu Xin; Zhou Shuchun, publisher and editor-in-chief of China Daily; and Zhang Jianmin, head of
translation and interpretation for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, pose for a photo at the inaugural Vision China event on Monday at UIBE. FENG YONGBIN / CHINA DAILY
Now that China has defied all kinds
of predictions of a collapse or economic
hard landing, Western observers are
having a hard time explaining the China
phenomenon, she said, adding that
the result is an ignorance-based superiority
complex mixed with bewilderment
and iced with jealousy.
During her 30-minute program, Liu
conducts live interviews with guests in
the studio or via satellite link to get a
Chinese perspective on two to three topics
that affect people around the world.