former President, US-China Business Council
President of Robert A. Kapp & Associates, which consults to companies doing business in China; former President of the US-China Business Council, the principal organization of American companies engaged in trade and investment with China
As Google and China Square Off, What's the Fallout ? Google first signaled its displeasure with China in January, after discovering that its source code had been hacked and that human rights activists' G-mail accounts had been targeted. Now it's moved its operation offshore to Hong Kong, where results are not filtered or censored. The Chinese government has retaliated, using its great firewall to block access to Chinese users. Was Google motivated by democratic values or did it make the sacrifice because its market share there is only a small percentage of its global market? Did Google cut off its nose to spite its face, walking away from the chance to grow its market share in Asia? What does its departure mean to other companies? How does this audacious move affect diplomatic ties between the Obama Administration and China?
Are Chinese Workers Paying the Price for Cheap Goods? Some 21 million toys made in China and imported by the United States have been recalled because of lead paint or other dangerous defects. With the holidays approaching, that has Americans worried and angry about possible health affects on their children. Yet while trying to improve its 21 st Century standing by sending men to the moon, China's workers are living and dying in 19th Century conditions. That's according to journalistic investigations and testimony to Congress , which is looking at a proposal to ban imports from overseas "sweatshops," where Chinese workers are exposed all day, every day to Benzene, Lead, Cadmium, Toluene, Nickel and Mercury. We hear about workers exposed to a witches' brew of cancer-causing chemicals 84 hours a week for 53¢ an hour. Already worried about product safety, will US consumers pay more for the safety of human beings 5000 miles away?
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?
Venezuela spirals into economic and political chaos Venezuela, a country whose potential for prosperity is unmatched, finds itself on the verge of civil war. What sustains the repressive government? With time running out, guest host León Krauze looks at what the international community can do to pull the country from the edge of collapse.
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.