Following the Money in Chinese Politics

China is not transparent. China is remarkably transparent. Both statements are true when it comes to tracking the fortunes of the country’s political elite. In this interactive lecture, we’ll explore the tools reporters — and ordinary Chinese citizens — can use to document the wealth of the country’s leading families, including the relatives of President Xi Jinping and former security head Zhou Yongkang. Students will be shown the source documents used to back up front-page stories in the New York Times. Shedding light on the massive accumulation of wealth by China’s ruling class is more important than ever because of China’s increasing importance in the world. It’s a field few journalists cover because of the enormous sanctions China’s government imposes on news organizations that publish stories on this topic.

*The lecture will mostly be given in English, but most of the source materials will be in Chinese. An understanding of written and spoken Chinese is helpful for attendees.*

Michael Forsythe is a reporter for the New York Times based in Hong Kong. Before coming to the Times, he was a reporter and editor for Bloomberg News for 13 years, working in Beijing, Washington and Hong Kong. His focus at the Times is China, and especially the confluence of Chinese finance and politics. Mike is a graduate of Georgetown University (with a BA in international economics) and Harvard University (with an MA in East Asian regional studies). From 1990 to 1997 he served as an officer in the U.S. Navy, making two shipboard deployments to the Persian Gulf. Mike is co-author of the 2012 book ”China’s Superbank” which examines the central role of China Development Bank in the country’s economy. He is married and has two children.

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