For years, Amazon recruited Chinese sellers aggressively. But many Chinese sellers' bad practices now have the e-commerce giant on the defensive.
In Shanghai, on December 11, 2019 — just weeks before a mysterious virus would be discovered 500 miles to the west — more than 10,000 people crowded into the National Convention Center’s large dark hall. As the crowd waited for Eric Broussard, Amazon’s vice president of international marketplaces and retail, to make his keynote address, the screen over the stage projected the gathering’s slogan: “A World Without Boundaries.”
It was the annual “Cross-Border Summit for Amazon’
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Bob Fu's relationship with China has gone through phases. First, he thought money would solve his problems there; then he joined protesters at Tiananmen Square, thinking the politics could change. In the end, he determined, only God could save China, and he's been fighting for religious freedom in China ever since he resettled in Texas. With his nonprofit, ChinaAid, prospering like never before, he says the U.S. is finally catching on.
A podcast about how the two nations, once friends, are now foes.
Hear why things are so complicated now. Host Jane Perlez, former New York Times Beijing bureau chief, talks with diplomats, spies, cultural superstars like Yo Yo Ma, and more to understand why the dangers are so high, and why relations went awry.