For non-Columbia affiliates, registration is required to access the Morningside campus. Registering will generate an email with a QR code which must be presented along with a government-issued ID (your name must match exactly the name registered for the event) at either 116 Street & Broadway or 116 Street & Amsterdam gates for entry. Please register by Nov. 19, 4pm for campus access.
Speaker: Robert L. Suettinger, Historian, Retired Intelligence Officer
Moderator: Andrew J. Nathan, Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science, Department of Political Science, Columbia University
The Conscience of the Party is the comprehensive, authoritative biography of the Chinese Communist Party’s most avid reformer and its general secretary for a key stretch of the 1980s. A supremely intelligent leader with an exceptional populist touch, Hu Yaobang’s principled ideas made him powerful enemies, and during the Cultural Revolution he was purged, brutally beaten, and consigned to forced labor. After Mao’s death, Hu rose again as an ally of Deng Xiaoping, eventually securing the party’s top position, where Hu pursued both economic and political reforms with vigor. Alarmed by Hu’s growing popularity and political agenda, Deng had him purged in 1987. Robert L. Suettinger meticulously reconstructs Hu’s life, describing a decent man operating in a system that did not always reward decency, who suffered for his principles but inspired millions in the process.
Speaker’s Bio: Robert L. Suettinger has been a China-watcher for more than 45 years, first as an intelligence analyst and manager for the Central Intelligence Agency and the State Department, then as Director of Asian Affairs at the National Security Council under President Bill Clinton. After serving as National Intelligence Officer for East Asia, he retired from the CIA in 1999 and moved to the Brookings Institution, where he wrote Beyond Tiananmen: The Politics of US-China Relations, published in 2004. He subsequently maintained his focus on contemporary PRC elite politics issues while working at the RAND Corporation, a private law firm, a government contractor, and the Stimson Center. His research has been supported by the Smith Richardson Foundation.
This event is hosted by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and co-sponsored by China and the World Program.
Registration:
- To attend this event in-person, please register HERE.
- To attend this event online, please register HERE.
