Documenting China's Crony Capitalism: Why it Matters
Mike Forsythe is a reporter for the New York Times. In February 2017, he joined the newspaper's investigative team in New York after working for three years in Hong Kong. For many years, Forsythe has been focused on reporting on the confluence of money and politics in China, first for Bloomberg News, where he worked in Beijing and Washington, and then with the New York Times.
Forsythe was the lead reporter for Bloomberg News for its groundbreaking investigation in 2012 that documented the vast wealth accumulated by relatives of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Bloomberg's website has been blocked in China since then and Bloomberg has removed the article from its own website. That article was part of a series that won the George Polk Award for international reporting as well as many other honors. Since joining the New York Times, Forsythe has continued to write about the wealth of China's princelings and their financial ties to some of China's biggest companies.
Forsythe is a veteran of the United States Navy, serving on ships in the Pacific Ocean and making two tours to the Persian Gulf area. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and Harvard University.
Mr. Forsythe's Athenaeum presentation is co-sponsored by the Keck Institute for International and Strategic Studies.