Thorsten Pattberg and Frank Sieren - Vertrauen Wagen (Peking University Conference)

Thorsten Pattbergwith Frank Sieren, Bestselling Author, Journalist, and Political Commentator

PEKING UNIVERSITY - I have been frequenting Beijing since 2003 –lived, studied, and created here- but never met in person who is possibly the Number One of all German “China-Experts”: Frank Sieren. Mr. Sieren is best known for his close relation to former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt who is a known "Friend of China" and who met many of China’s most influential leaders, including the great dictator Mao Zedong himself. Sieren and Schmidt produced very influential books, articles, and interviews. As a result, Frank Sieren became a superstar in all things related to China in the German-speaking world (his books became bestsellers in Germany and have been translated into Chinese), and a famed public speaker and moderator on Sino-German relations –political and cultural. He lives in China –in Beijing, mainly- for almost two decades now. Not always easy, I guess –the air quality, the traffic jams, the party dictatorship- but as the expat saying goes: Someone’s got to do it! Best of luck! [GO TO FRANK SIEREN'S WEBSITE]

Thorsten Pattberg with Herta Däubler-Gmelin, former German Minister of Justice

PEKING - Ms. Däubler-Gmelin was the German Minister of Justice from 1998-2002; so, technically, she was my boss (my Minister, so to speak) during my employment at the Court of Law in Munster, NRW. Now we met in China - It's a small world. She is one of the few, very few Germans - during my long years at PKU - who is not intimidated by the Chinese Communist Party's megalomania and hubris, and she feels free to exercise criticism against any authoritarian regime where needed. She would not betray her principles. This is called integrity. That's what you learn when you work in the German judiciary. It is precisely for her outspokenness and sense for justice and the rule of law, I think, that she is respected (or feared) among democrats, human rights activists, and politicians on the left and the right, here and abroad. Just saying. [BACK TO MAIN]