Wednesday, March 30, 2011

John Kamm to Speak in Oregon and Washington

From Monday April 4 to Thursday April 7, Dui Hua Executive Director John Kamm will be making a speaking tour through Oregon and Washington.

On Monday April 4, Kamm will be giving a talk, Ethical Challenges of Doing Business in China, at Washington State University Vancouver (WSU Vancouver) in Vancouver, Washington.  While China is the world’s fastest growing major economy, ethical challenges abound.  Kamm will address three of the most challenging areas confronting foreign businesses in China: commercial information as state secrets, corruption and censorship. He will illustrate each area with a case study.  The talk will begin at 7 p.m. at the Administration building, room 129, at the WSU Vancouver campus.

On Wednesday April 6, Kamm will be speaking on Human Rights: What Role in US-China Relations? in Portland. The event will be co-hosted by the Northwest China Council and Portland State University’s Institute for Asian Studies, Oregon.  The GOP’s victory in the midterm elections virtually guarantees that Congress, notably the House of Representatives, will pay more attention to human rights in China in the run-up to the 2012 elections.  There has been a recent sharp increase in the number of arrests for endangering state security and a corresponding drop in the number of early releases of political prisoners.  Not all is bad news however. Human rights dialogues and innovative approaches to human rights issues where the two countries share much common ground -- issues like juvenile justice and women in prison -- raise the hope that the countries can in fact cooperate on human rights.  The talk will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Willamette Falls Ballroom, University Place Hotel & Conference Center, 310 SW Lincoln St., Portland.

On Thursday, Kamm will be giving a talk, Human Rights in China: Steps Forward, Steps Backward, at Western Washington University (WWU) in Bellingham, Washington.  For more than 20 years, Kamm has conducted a dialogue on human rights with the Chinese government, first as a business person and later as founder and executive director of The Dui Hua Foundation.  Kamm will share his personal journey from the world of business to the world of activism. He will discuss pressing human rights issues in China, including the recent crackdown on protest and dissent, increased censorship and the slow pace of political reform.  The talk will begin at 7 p.m. at Academic Instructional West, Rm 210 (AW 210), at the WWU campus.