Resume Builder
American University Professor Quansheng Zhao is an oversight in due diligence.
Quansheng “John” Zhao (赵全胜) is a professor at the School of International Service (SIS) at American University (AU) in Washington D.C. After a career spanning four decades, Zhao is considered an authority on Chinese foreign policy.
According to Zhao’s bio, he’s a member of the National Committee on US-China Relations (NCUSCR). Surprisingly, a search for Zhao’s name on the NCUSCR website yields zero results.
The NCUSCR Wiki-page lists former Washington State Governor and US Ambassador to China Gary Locke, former Clinton White Adviser Kenneth Lieberthal, and former Utah Governor and US Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman Jr. as members, but again, Zhao’s name is not included.
A Google search on Zhao and NCUSCR offers his repeated claim that he’s a member of the group, but nothing more. For example, articles or academic reports highlighting Zhao’s NCUSCR work experience are either hard to find or were never written.
In a stranger twist, Google search results do not reveal Zhao’s affiliation with China’s Huazhi Institute for Global Governance.
Huazhi was founded in 2017 with aspirations of becoming a high-end think tank. The joint effort by Nanjing University and the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office (OCAO) of Jiangsu Province is a CPC lapdog in disguise.
To his credit, Zhao is listed as an academic committee member on Huazhi’s official website.
Chinese search engine Baidu, Google’s Chinese counterpart, also confirms Zhao’s membership with Huazhi.
Huazhi won first place in the National United Front Theory and Policy Research Innovation Achievement Awards. It’s somewhat difficult to delineate if the award was an achievement or an albatross.
Zhao is often quoted in Xinhua and other CPC mouthpieces. Meanwhile, US media has done a superb job of ignoring him.
In an interview with New China TV, Zhao was asked if there would be trade war between the US and China. Instead of answering the question he shares a few generic ideas on what a trade war would be mean for either side.
Before Covid, Zhao maintained a busy schedule balancing his teaching job at AU and speaking at events in China.
In 2018, and while employed at AU, Zhao attended a seminar hosted by the Guoguan Think Tank. While discussing Sino-US relations, Zhao said China should find a way to deal with how the US had historically suppressed emerging economies. Zhao also emphasized that China could learn from Japan and Germany when dealing with US trade pressure.
In November 2021, AU newspaper The Eagle reported Zhao (72) had filed a discrimination lawsuit against his employer. It would be Zhao’s second attempt to sue the university since he began teaching there in 1996.
By then, Zhao was at the mid-way mark of his university suspension. In 2020, AU officials relieved Zhao of his teaching duties, and without pay, for a period of no less than two years. The punishment stemmed from Zhao’s graduate students who complained they were being overworked.
Zhao’s lawsuit was also directed at earlier accusations levied against him that he was affiliated with the CPC. The Chinese professor thought he was a victim of stereotyping. Based on Zhao’s known involvement with Huazhi, the allegations weren’t unfounded.
According to The Eagle, Zhao had requested a jury trial and was seeking an “unspecified compensation for a number of counts, including emotional distress, pain and suffering.”
It’s impressive and embarrassing how Zhao’s NCUSCR membership, an organization whose vice chairman is Henry Kissinger, has remained unchallenged. Why due diligence wasn’t performed on Zhao’s resume is more than a mere oversight for an institution like American University.
Whether Zhao is on the Hauzhi payroll remains unknown. Assuming he is, it seems it’s not enough by Washington D.C. living standards, thus explaining his cash-grab discrimination lawsuit against American University.
Adding another layer of unfortunate circumstance surrounding the finer details of Zhao’s bio, it seems his work experience with Harvard’s Fairbank Center for East Asian Research has either been forgotten or that too never happened.
Zhao claims he was a research associate for “many years” at the Ivy League Asian research center. Although possibly true, Zhao’s name is absent from the center’s website.
In October 2021, and with the help of a new legal time, Zhao made a second attempt to sue AU for discrimination. Although stretching longer than his original lawsuit, Zhao’s case would meet the same fate.
Today, Zhao continues to teach at AU. Outside of the classroom, Zhao spends his time in McLean, Virginia, where he lives in a $1 million dollar home.