We're sunsetting PodQuest on 2025-07-28. Thank you for your support!
Export Podcast Subscriptions
cover of episode Corruption, power and the truth about my wife’s disappearance – with Desmond Shum

Corruption, power and the truth about my wife’s disappearance – with Desmond Shum

2024/10/14
logo of podcast Chinese Whispers

Chinese Whispers
AI Deep Dive AI Chapters Transcript
People
C
Cindy Yu
D
Desmond Shum
Topics
Desmond Shum讲述了他与其妻子Whitney Duan在中国经商的经历，以及他们与中国高层政治人物，特别是温家宝家族的密切关系。他们作为‘白手套’，参与了众多房地产、基础设施和酒店项目。Shum详细描述了与温家宝家族的合作方式以及他们之间的复杂关系。他认为，2017年Whitney的失踪与中国政治权力斗争有关，很可能是习近平阵营为了打击温家宝而采取的行动。Shum认为，纽约时报关于温家宝家族财富的报道，并非调查记者的结果，而是薄熙来阵营故意泄露信息的结果。他认为，习近平的反腐运动，很大程度上是为了巩固权力，清除异己。Shum还描述了当时中国顶级企业家的奢华生活方式，以及这种奢华生活方式如何润滑中国的商业和政治交易。他认为，2008年金融危机是转折点，改变了中国社会对政治和发展模式的看法，中国开始强调‘中国模式’，并逐渐收紧对社会的控制。Shum认为，习近平的政策改变了中国经济发展的轨迹，并可能导致长期损失。他认为，中国官方公布的经济增长数据不可信，实际情况远比官方数据糟糕。 Cindy Yu与Desmond Shum就其妻子Whitney Duan失踪案、中国政治权力斗争、以及中国经济发展等问题进行了深入探讨。她梳理了事件的来龙去脉，并就一些关键问题向Shum提问，例如Whitney失踪的原因、Shum对中国政治和经济的看法等。她还提到了中国一些小学教师被要求上交护照的现象，这反映了中国社会日益收紧的趋势。

Deep Dive

Chapters
Desmond Shum, who grew up in Hong Kong and later conducted business in China, describes his close relationship with the family of former Premier Wen Jiabao, offering insights into the political landscape of China in the 2000s and his own involvement.
  • Desmond Shum's background and early business dealings in China
  • Close relationship with Wen Jiabao's family
  • Description of their business partnership

Shownotes Transcript

** On October 19, Cindy Yu and a panel of special guests will be recording a live Chinese Whispers at London's Battle of Ideas festival, talking the latest on China’s economic slowdown and asking – what are the social and political implications? Is China in decline?

Chinese Whispers listeners can get a 20 per cent discount on the ticket price with the code WHISPERS24. Click here) to find out more and get your ticket. **

In the early 2000s, Desmond Shum and his wife, Whitney Duan, were among the richest people in China, with fingers in various real estate, infrastructure and hospitality projects. They also had some of China’s most powerful people on speed dial – including the family of then-premier Wen Jiabao. But that all changed in 2017 when Whitney was disappeared by the Chinese state. Desmond now lives in the UK where he published a memoir in 2021, Red Roulette, and is now an analyst and commentator on Chinese politics.

On this interview, we discuss why Shum thinks Whitney was the victim of a power struggle involving Xi Jinping, the reality of politics and corruption in the China of the 2000s, and how Xi has destroyed the economic trajectory of the once-booming People’s Republic.