CHINA expert and American public intellectual, Robert Lawrence Kuhn is best known in China for two books about Chinese leaders and their views, including a biography of former President Jiang Zemin in 2005 and one about other leaders and their thinking in 2009.

Kuhn, also an investment banker, business consultant, brain scientist and philosopher, has been granted unprecedented access to Chinese leaders, though he does not speak Chinese.

His biography "The Man Who Changed China: The Life and Legacy of Jiang Zemin" published in both Chinese and English, was a best-seller in China where readers are not accustomed to humanized biographies of leaders.

It was probably the first biography written by a foreigner about a living Chinese leader that was published in China.

Kuhn has also produced documentaries on China, written extensively for Chinese media and is often quoted by western media. He is a contributor and consultant to CCTV, some Chinese newspapers and the Xinhua News Agency.

Kuhn sees his mission as telling the world about the real China.

He was in Shanghai late last month for an International Channel Shanghai (ICS) program he co-produced and wrote about China's challenges, in conjunction with the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. He held a press conference and also spoke with Shanghai Daily.

Chinese media sometimes accuse some Westerners and Western media of China bashing, saying they misunderstand or are even malevolent.

But 68-year-old Kuhn, a New Yorker, is believed to have a more neutral view for China. He received a bachelor's degree in human biology from Johns Hopkins University, a master's of science in management from the MIT Sloan School of Management, and a PhD in anatomy and brain research from UCLA.

His books were published by the Shanghai Translation Publishing House and Shanghai Century Publishing Group.

Kuhn said he "never tried to please the Chinese government, though Western media thought I did."

"I like feedback, including negative feedback, because I know that people are engaged," he told Shanghai Daily.

"I don't try to make anybody happy, but I just want to tell the truth. I can be wrong, and maybe my truth is not balanced."

Kuhn's experience with China started in 1989, when he was invited by former State Councilor Song Jian, director of the State Science and Technology Commission.

The two became friends and Kuhn began traveling between the US and China, getting to know government officials and ordinary people.

Kuhn said he felt frustrated because his experience in China differed from the description in much of the Western media. "Then they only focused on the negative side and ignored the rest," he said.

That disparity inspired him to write Jiang's biography, he said. Jiang himself said that Kuhn didn't "beautify" him and got his wedding date wrong.

Kuhn spent four years writing "The Man Who Changed China." Though he had only met Jiang three times and did not interview him for the book, he talked to many people close to Jiang, including relatives, friends and colleagues, gathering stories and perceptions. He became close to many of them.

"I thought I had been rather familiar with China before I started working on the book," said Kuhn. "But after I started collecting the information, I found that my knowledge was very limited."

Humanized leader

Kuhn said he was determined to depict a real, animated Jiang, different from the seemingly impassive figure appearing on state occasions, on Chinese TV and in newspapers.

"For a very long time, Chinese leaders were either described as God or the Devil, but never in-between," he said. "So I expected to display a Chinese leader who is a human being."

Soon after publication, it became a best-seller in China. After Kuhn held a book-signing in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, more than 300 books were sold in an hour. In Shanghai, more than a million copies were sold in 2005, the highest in the social science category.

Chinese readers called the book refreshing because it told daily life stories and described Jiang's youth.

One Internet user called "Burn the scarecrow" said before reading the biography, he thought Jiang was "a quiet man standing high above the masses."

"But after reading the book, my first feeling was that he was once young like us and he is also an ordinary man."

The English version, however, received some criticism, primarily that Kuhn was "fawning" over Jiang and the government. Kuhn denied that.

"In fact, the book had a disclaimer, saying all comments are those of the author and since the author is a foreigner, readers should use their judgment in reading. That means the publisher is still cautious because I don't only say what the government wants me to," the author said.

In 2009, Kuhn published his second book in both Chinese and English, "How China's Leaders Think: The Inside Story of China's Reform and What This Means for the Future," featuring leaders including President Hu Jintao and newly elected General Secretary of the Party's Central Committee Xi Jinping.

The book examines China's 30-year struggle toward economic and social reform.

In researching, Kuhn traveled to more than 40 cities in 20 provinces, talked to hundreds of people, including government officials, academics, business people and ordinary citizens across a wide spectrum.

"The book included my views, my thoughts about the country that were accumulated over around 20 years," Kuhn said.

Kuhn recently visited China to make reports and comment on the Party Congress for Chinese and foreign media.

To mark the event and leadership hand-over, Kuhn and ICS released a five-episode documentary analyzing China's challenges, including ability to innovate, political participation, faith and belief, social problems such as an aging society, and medical care reform.

Real stories

Kuhn interviewed ordinary people and experts, wrote the script and hosted the program. He discussed cases such as the Wukan protests early this year over land seizures by officials in Guangdong Province.

He also discussed a Shanghai teacher's letter to the city's Party leader about problems getting lung cancer treatment for his father.

"This is a series of real stories about where China is," Kuhn said.

"Despite the problems we present in the show, I want to emphasize that China is able to deal with the problems openly. There is no secret. Here are the problems and here are the Chinese media aggressively, creatively, dynamically presenting these problems. And China is able to discuss the problems with the world."

Since China has become the world's second-largest economic power, Western countries are increasingly interested in China, from its economic development to its impact on international affairs. He said he was "sad" that the media focuses too much on the negative sides of China.

"When (Western) reporters asked me questions about the 'Shibada' (the 18th Party Congress), they generally focused on the wrong topics: they focused on various politic scandals and so on," he said.

Kuhn said although the Western media concerns are real, they do not represent the entirety of China. "They use 10 percent of the facts to represent 100 percent of what's happening," he said.

"In fact, they treat their own country in the same way," he observed, referring the Western media's pursuit of negative news, abuses of power and scandals involving elected leaders at all levels.

In recent years, he said, he has received less criticism from Western media because they became concerned with the bigger China picture. "They are starting to become interested in what's really happening in China, not only in its problems."

China will have a bright future if the government and people directly face challenges, then the country will also become more open and free, Kuhn said.

Although some Chinese are skeptical of China's one-party system, Kuhn said he believes that system is in accord with China's national conditions. Although it may create some problems, China should stick to it and reform it, he said.

"A one-party system is more efficient, and the government can be more determined and active," he said. "Of course, it may bring about problems such as corruption, but the Chinese government is also dealing with this challenge."

Kuhn acknowledged that Internet censorship is a problem, but he said he understands the government's decision "because sometimes the government has to maintain stability."

"Once I met a young woman who said China had only two problems: high housing prices and Internet censorship," he recalled.

"I certainly don't favor any kind of censorship, but sometimes it's a very tough choice. I believe in the future China will have a slow but continual path to freedom."

To illustrate his point, he said several years ago he was addressing more than 300 university students in northern China when one challenged him. The student asked how Kuhn could claim China has improved while people lack freedom of speech and the country imposes Internet controls.

"I just asked him, 'Then what about what you just said? And are you afraid of what you just said as we have media here'?" Kuhn said.

"The student said 'no' and I said 'You just proved yourself wrong'."



Other views of Robert Lawrence Kuhn's books

On "The Man Who Changed China" (2005) on Jiang Zemin, former president:

To write his biography, Mao Zedong chose Edgar Snow, a member of the US Communist Party; Jiang chose Kuhn, a member of the US business elite. An investment banker with a zeal for science, high culture, and business, Kuhn personifies the new ideology that has swept through China since 1989."

- Bruce Gilley, Sinologist, writiing in September-October issue of Foreign Affairs.



Kuhn responded in the January-February, 2006, edition of Foreign Affairs:

…The truth is almost the reverse. Jiang didn't choose me; I chose Jiang. The book was my idea; I planned it, financed it, and wrote it to trace China's story through eight tumultuous decades of trauma and transformation. I had help - translators, researchers, editors - but I maintained absolute editorial control and made every editorial decision, and no one in China ever thought otherwise…"



Kuhn is objective and fair when it comes to China. He is willing to defend China to Western media, which is very precious. Besides, he is very hard-working. He's already 68 years old and the process of doing 'China's Challenges' was tough, but he was helpful and devoted all the time.

- Chen Bing, an editor, International Channel Shanghai (ICS)



Kuhn is an old friend of the Chinese people. He has made close observation of China's 30-year reform and opening up to the outside world and describes it in detail in his book. We hope that Kuhn can continue to introduce China as well as his thoughts on China to the whole world.

- Liu Yunshan, a newly elected member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau