John Pomfret

John Pomfret is a former Beijing bureau chief of The Washington Post and author of The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom: America and China, From 1776 to the Present. His latest book, From Warsaw with Love: Polish Spies, the CIA, and the Forging of an Unlikely Alliance, was published in October, 2021.

Articles

How Taiwan’s November Local Elections Could Change the World

If the DPP performs well next month it could boost President Lai Ching-te's re-election hopes — and stir Beijing into greater efforts at coercion.

The Thornton Touch

Since his retirement from Goldman Sachs in 2003, John Thornton has done everything in his power to be seen as a trusted intermediary between the U.S. and China. So far, the closest he’s gotten was when he helped orchestrate an intimate meeting between Donald Trump...

The Diary Duel

What should be done when values like the free-flow of information conflict with equally important values like the rule of law and the protection of personal and property rights? The legal battle over the diaries Li Rui, a former secretary to Mao Zedong, asks that very...