Laurence Brahm
| Laurence Brahm | |
|---|---|
 LBslum.jpg Laurence Brahm in Kathmandu, Nepal during peace process negotiations. | |
| Born | March 31, 1961 New York City, New York |
| 💼 Occupation | Global Activist Author Social Entrepreneur Political Economist International Mediator Lawyer |
Laurence Brahm is a founding director of the Himalayan Consensus Institute and a Senior Fellow with the Center for China and Globalization. He has lived and worked in China for 25 years and is the author of over 20 books on the Asian region. His work covers a wide spectrum from economic development reform in China and Southeast Asia to Tibetan new-age travel. He is the author of Zhu Rongji and the Transformation of Modern China and China as No. 1. His books on Tibet include Searching for Shangri-la: Off the Beaten Track in Western China and Conversations with Sacred Mountains: A Journey along Yunnan's Tea Caravan Trail.[1]
Education
Laurence Brahm studied Intensive Mandarin Language in 1981 at Nankai University in Tianjin, China, near Beijing. In 1982, he studied Political Science at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He went on to receive his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from Duke University in 1983. In 1987, he received both his Master's in Asian Studies with a major in Politics and a minor in Economics and a Juris Doctor from the University of Hawaii School of Law and Center for Asian Pacific Studies. Laurence Brahm received his Master's in Law from the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law in 1989.
Career
Economic advisor
Brahm advised Cambodia, Mongolia, and China under the economist, former Premier Zhu Rongji. He worked with Zhu during the critical years that oversaw China's transition from Planned Economy to Market Economy. Brahm was a member of Zhu's economic advisors who paved the way for China's entry into the WTO in 2001. Laurence Brahm coined the phrase “China Century” theory, which juxtaposed the “China Collapse” theory held by certain scholars in the West. Brahm documented the reforms he personally witnessed in his biography of Zhu in “Zhu Rongji – the Transition of Modern China.”[2][3]
On the 30th anniversary of the Open Door Policy, Laurence Brahm was selected by China Central Television as one of ten non-political figures contributing to China's economic opening and reform. He was the only foreigner chosen.[4]
Social enterprise pioneer
Brahm is founder and CEO of Shambhala Serai, a sustainable heritage and eco-tourism boutique hotel group in Tibet and Beijing that supports programs for heritage restoration, disabled employment, women's empowerment, medical outreach, and education. It is also one of the first social enterprises in China. Shambhala Serai emphasizes women, disabled individuals, and individuals with little or no access to education. The NY Times has called the House of Shambhala Lhasa's, "first high-end boutique hotel, with elegant suites, a yoga center and a Tibetan crafts shop, [which] seeks to revive Tibetan arts and train Tibetans in tourism management."[5]
Heritage preservation restoration
The House of Shambhala was used by a fashion crew in 2006 for an advertisement because the guesthouse was deemed to have authentic Tibetan design.[6] The Shambhala Serai social enterprise began with heritage preservation in Beijing Red Capital courtyard restorations and was part of a lobbying process that obtained a protection order from the Beijing Municipal Government for the Dongsi neighborhood in the Eastern District of Beijing. Brahm advocated for neighborhood evolution and stopped developers from uprooting homes and destroying ancient architecture. Today, Red Capital consists of Beijing's first courtyard restaurant and hotel, as well as the Shambhala Studio. Heritage preservation work has received architecture design accolades from: China Chic, China Style, Chinese Design,[7] Inside Asia,[8] The Hotel Book,[9] and Design Ideas for Renewal.[10] Red Capital is featured in the Wall Street Journal, Time, Fortune, and the New York Times. Red Capital evolved into Shambhala at the Great Wall, Laurence's first eco-tourism program protecting heritage sites and natural mountain environments.
Controversies
Laurence Brahm was criticized after his prediction that China's economy would rise to the largest in the world, in his book China as No. 1. This idea was hotly debated because many people did not expect China to achieve such a rank. In 2014, the World Bank declared China to be the world's largest economy on a Purchasing Power Parity basis using its particular methodology, which could be argued to be a realization of Brahm's 1996 prediction; however, on a real exchange rate basis, the Chinese economy is still much smaller than that of the United States. In 2001, Brahm published China Century. The book argues that England ruled the 19th century, the United States ruled the 20th century, and China will rule the 21st century. A debate began with those who advocated the collapse of China in the 21st century, such as Gordon Chang.
Since 1990, shock therapists argued against Brahm's theory of gradual reforms, and the sequenced approach used in Vietnam, Laos, and China. Brahm's near-decade-long South China Morning Post column was cancelled in 2009, despite his popularity. Brahm came under sharp criticism in 2009 for predicting the rise of the Chinese currency as a global currency. His article published by the Center for Strategic International Studies for Pacnet[11] predicted the rise of a South-South alternative to the World Bank and IMF led by China and India as their frustration with politically imposed limits on their influence in these organizations compounded. Washington-based anger resounded, one comment stating[12] "There is no long-term significance in the fact that China and other countries are buying SDR-denominated 'bonds' from the IMF".[13] In 2014, Brahm's prediction came true as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and BRICS Development Bank were established as South-South alternatives to the World Bank. China's Vice President Li Yuanchao received Brahm timed with the announcement of a China-India initiated US$50 billion Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank that rivals both the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank's.
In 2018, he took on the role of openly advocating for China in a series of short TV films produced by China's state TV, CGTN. In the midst of widespread alarm and criticism around the world against China's unprecedented new forced-assimilation and punitive camp system in Xinjiang, Western China[14], including from top UN human rights officials who are denied access [15], he argued that "There's a general movement in the Western media to try and demonize China in different aspects," and, without addressing any of the criticism, said China should "Just get on with what you're doing, you're doing it right." [16]
References
- ↑ "Opinion: A New Era". Retrieved 2017-10-24.
- ↑ Brahm, Laurence. "Laurence Brahm". Retrieved 28 September 2011.
- ↑ Brahm, Laurence (2001). Zhu Rongji – the Transition of Modern China. John Wiley & Sons. Search this book on
- ↑ China Story. Chinacitic Press. 2006. pp. 127–157. Search this book on
- ↑ Kurlantzick, Joshua (10 December 2010). "Tibet, now". NY Times. p. 2. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
- ↑ Kurlantzick, Joshua (10 December 2010). "Tibet, now". NY Times. p. 2. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
- ↑ Jaume Nasple, Kyoko Asakura, ed. (2006). Chinese Design. Cologne: Daab. pp. 138–151. Search this book on
- ↑ Sethi, Sunil. Angelika Taschen, ed. Inside Asia. Cologne: Taschen. Search this book on
- ↑ Reiter, Christiane. Angelika Taschen, ed. The Hotel Book: Great Escapes Asia. Cologne: Taschen. pp. 360–367. Search this book on
- ↑ Design Ideas for Renewal. Tokyo: Pie Books. 2007. Search this book on
- ↑ New Global Financial Architectural Emerges, Archive Archived 2014-10-22 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ "China thinks the Washington Consensus is dead", Pacific Forum Csis. October 21, 2009. Archive
- ↑ "Asian Economic Cooperation and integration: Progress, Prospects, and Challenges", ISBN 9789715615495 Search this book on .
- ↑ Template:Url=https://nowthisnews.com/videos/news/uns-gay-mcdougall-speaks-on-chinas-detention-of-uighur-muslims
- ↑ Template:Url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-rights-un/u-n-seeking-access-to-chinas-re-education-camps-in-xinjiang-bachelet-idUSKBN1O416U
- ↑ Template:Url=https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d674e3441444e31457a6333566d54/share p.html
External links
Media related to Laurence Brahm at Wikimedia Commons- Himalayan Consensus – www.himalayanconsensus.org
- Shambhala Serai Heritage Hotels – www.shambhalaserai.com
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