Jerome Alan Cohen (born July 1, 1930) is a professor of law at
New York University School of Law
New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in N ...
, an expert in Chinese law, a senior fellow for Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves as "of counsel" at the international law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.
Cohen is an advocate of human rights in China, and has taken active roles in securing the release of
Song Yongyi and
Chen Guangcheng
Chen Guangcheng (born November 12, 1971) is a Chinese civil rights activist who has worked on human rights issues in rural areas of the People's Republic of China. Blind from an early age and self-taught in the law, Chen is frequently descr ...
from under Chinese custody. His former students include Taiwanese president
Ma Ying-jeou
Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, 馬英九, born 13 July 1950) is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese politician who served as president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he served as justice minister from 1993 to 1996 and mayor of Taipei fro ...
, and
Annette Lu
Annette Lu Hsiu-lien (; born 7 June 1944) is a Taiwanese politician. A feminist active in the tangwai movement, she joined the Democratic Progressive Party in 1990, and was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1992. Subsequently, she served as Ta ...
, former Taiwanese vice president under
Chen Shui-bian
Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whic ...
.
Chinese name
Cohen was originally known in Chinese as Kong Jierong (), giving him the same family name as
Confucius
Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...
. Mainland Chinese communists rejected this name, however, along with the Confucian values it evoked. Cohen was thus renamed 柯恩 (pinyin: Kē'ēn), a phonetic translation, although he remained known as Kong Jierong in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Early career
Cohen was born in
Elizabeth, New Jersey, and spent his early years in
Linden, New Jersey, the son of a local government attorney. After graduating from
Linden High School, Cohen received his B.A. degree from
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
in 1951 where he graduated
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...
. Following graduation, he spent a year in France as a Fulbright scholar studying international relations before returning to Yale and earning his
J.D. from
Yale Law School
Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...
in 1955. While at Yale, he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the ''
Yale Law Journal''. From 1955–56 he clerked at the Supreme Court, first under Chief Justice
Earl Warren and then under Justice
Felix Frankfurter
Felix Frankfurter (November 15, 1882 – February 22, 1965) was an Austrian-American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1939 until 1962, during which period he was a noted advocate of judic ...
.
Career in China
Cohen joined the faculty of
University of California, Berkeley School of Law
The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (commonly known as Berkeley Law or UC Berkeley School of Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley, a public research university in Berkeley, California. It is one of 1 ...
in 1959. It was here that he was asked to find a candidate for a four-year grant to study China offered by the
Rockefeller Foundation, and, when no clear candidate emerged, decided to pursue the opportunity himself. He began studying the Chinese language, but as Americans were not permitted to enter China at the time, he could only travel as far as Hong Kong, where he met with refugees and questioned them on Chinese criminal procedure. These interviews served as the basis for his book, "The Criminal Process of the People's Republic of China: 1949–1963."
In 1964, Cohen became a Professor at
Harvard University School of Law
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating la ...
, where he would remain for 17 years, and created the school's East Asia Legal Studies Association. During this time, Cohen advocated for normalized relations with China, and was influential in securing the release of
John T. Downey
John Thomas Downey or Jack Downey (April 19, 1930 – November 17, 2014) was an American judge and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer. As a CIA operative, he was shot down over China during the Korean War and was held prisoner for ov ...
in the early 1970s. Downey, a former classmate of Cohen's from Yale, had been held in a Chinese prison since the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, accused of being a CIA operative. In 1972, Cohen was able to make his first trip to the Chinese mainland as part of a delegation of the
Federation of American Scientists and was able to meet with Premier
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman Ma ...
. In 1977, he accompanied Senator
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...
to Beijing where they met with
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CCP ...
.
Following China's economic reforms in 1979, Cohen's obscure specialty of Chinese law was thrust into the spotlight as foreign companies began to consider investment opportunities. When he was offered the opportunity to live and practice in Beijing in exchange for teaching American contract law to commerce officials, Cohen took a sabbatical from Harvard. When the sabbatical concluded in 1981, he decided to remain in China and work at the law firm of
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (known as Paul, Weiss) is an American multinational law firm headquartered on Sixth Avenue in New York City. By profits per equity partner, it is the fifth most profitable law firm in the world.
...
.
Following the suppression of student uprising in Tiananmen Square in 1989, Paul Weiss closed its Hong Kong Office, and Cohen returned to the United States where he became a Professor of Law at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, th ...
School of Law in 1990. He concurrently serves as
Of Counsel for
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (known as Paul, Weiss) is an American multinational law firm headquartered on Sixth Avenue in New York City. By profits per equity partner, it is the fifth most profitable law firm in the world.
...
. At NYU, he established the U.S.-Asia Law Institute, dedicated to facilitating the development of the rule of law throughout Asia.
Human rights work
Over the course of his career, Cohen has been a tireless advocate for human rights. In addition to striving for legal reforms in China, he has been instrumental in realizing the release of political prisoners, including
Song Yongyi, a librarian at Dickinson College who was charged in China for selling intelligence overseas after he mailed newspapers, books, and Red Guard posters to the U.S. He regularly uses his bi-weekly column in the ''South China Morning Post'' as a platform to criticize rights violations in China and Taiwan.
Cohen assisted and advised Chinese civil rights activist
Chen Guangcheng
Chen Guangcheng (born November 12, 1971) is a Chinese civil rights activist who has worked on human rights issues in rural areas of the People's Republic of China. Blind from an early age and self-taught in the law, Chen is frequently descr ...
, after Chen escaped from house arrest in 2012. After a series of negotiations between the U.S. and Chinese governments, Chen was allowed to travel to the U.S. and become a fellow at New York University.
Cohen also serves on the Board of Directors for the
U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea.
Taiwan
Cohen's influence has been particularly strong in Taiwan where his former student,
Ma Ying-jeou
Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, 馬英九, born 13 July 1950) is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese politician who served as president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he served as justice minister from 1993 to 1996 and mayor of Taipei fro ...
(馬英九) was president from 2008 to 2016.
In 1985, Cohen played a key role in securing the release of political prisoner
Annette Lu
Annette Lu Hsiu-lien (; born 7 June 1944) is a Taiwanese politician. A feminist active in the tangwai movement, she joined the Democratic Progressive Party in 1990, and was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1992. Subsequently, she served as Ta ...
(呂秀蓮) who had been a student of Cohen's at Harvard and who would later become vice-president of Taiwan. Cohen asked his former student Ma Yingjeou who was now secretary to the Republic of China's President
Chiang Ching-kuo
Chiang Ching-kuo (27 April 1910 – 13 January 1988) was a politician of the Republic of China after its retreat to Taiwan. The eldest and only biological son of former president Chiang Kai-shek, he held numerous posts in the government ...
to intervene. Lu had been sentenced to 12 years in prison for her role in the
Kaohsiung Incident
The Kaohsiung Incident, also known as the Formosa Incident, the Meilidao Incident, or the ''Formosa Magazine'' incident,tang was a crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations that occurred in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on 10 December 1979 during Taiwan's ...
. A week after Cohen arrived in Taiwan, Lu was freed. Ma has never commented on his role in Lu's release but Cohen is grateful.
Also in 1985, following the murder in California of
Henry Liu
Henry Liu (; 7 December 1932 – 15 October 1984), often known by his pen name Chiang Nan (), was a Taiwanese-American writer and journalist. He was a vocal critic of the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party), then the single ruling party of th ...
, a Taiwanese-American author critical of the martial law government, Cohen served as a pro-bono representative of Liu's widow at the trial in Taipei. On appeal of what he thought was a show trial convicting reputed gangsters, he sought to show that the government was directly involved in the plot. The sentences were upheld, and later, Taiwan's chief of military intelligence was also convicted for his involvement.
Korea
In 1972, Cohen became the first American academic to visit North Korea.
In South Korea, Cohen was able to intervene in the kidnapping of
Kim Dae-jung
Kim Dae-jung (; ; 6 January 192418 August 2009), was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003.
He was a 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient for his work for democracy and human ...
(김대중), who would later become president and receive the Nobel Peace Prize. In August, 1973, Cohen received an urgent call from Kim's aide, telling him that Kim had been kidnapped by Korean intelligence officials in Tokyo and imploring Cohen to request Henry Kissinger's help. Cohen did and Kim's life was saved, although Kim later reported that he had been bound and blindfolded aboard a boat with weights tied to his wrists, before the execution was suddenly called off.
Works
Cohen's writings regularly appear in Hong Kong's English daily ''
South China Morning Post''.
*
The Struggle for Autonomy of Beijing's Public Interest Lawyers" ''China Rights Forum,'' 2009, no. 1.
* ''Investment Law and Practice in Vietnam'' (
Longman
Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publishing company founded in London, England, in 1724 and is owned by Pearson PLC.
Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman brand is also ...
, 1990)
* ''Contract Law of the People's Republic of China'' (Longman, 1988) (with Yvonne Y.F. Chan and Ho Yuk Ming)
* ''People's China and International Law'' (
Princeton University Press
Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large.
The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financia ...
, 1974) (with H.D. Chiu)
* ''The Criminal Process in the People's Republic of China, 1949–63: An Introduction'' (
Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...
, 1968)
See also
*
Derk Bodde
Derk Bodde (March 9, 1909November 3, 2003) was an American sinologist and historian of China known for his pioneering work on the history of the Chinese legal system.
Bodde received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University in 1930. He ...
(1909–2003): U.S. scholar of ancient Chinese law and society
*
*
*
William P. Alford
William P. Alford (Chinese name: 安守廉; ''An Shoulian'') (born 1948) is a United States legal scholar. He is currently Henry L. Stimson Professor of Law and Vice Dean for the Graduate Program and International Legal Studies at Harvard Law Scho ...
: current
Harvard Law School scholar of Chinese law
*
Institutes studying Chinese Law
*
Chinese law
Chinese law is one of the oldest legal traditions in the world. The core of modern Chinese law is based on Germanic-style civil law, socialist law, and traditional Chinese approaches.
For most of the history of China, its legal system h ...
References
External links
Cohen's profile at NYU Law schoolBibliography of Cohen's workNYU's US-ASIA Law Institute directed by Cohen and publishing his recent work*Jerome A. Cohen:
三十而立:1960年的我是如何投身中 国研究的How I started to study China in 1960 Financial Times (Chinese version),2017-03-02
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Jerome A.
1930 births
Yale Law School alumni
American legal scholars
American sinologists
Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States
Scholars of Chinese law
Linden High School (New Jersey) alumni
Living people
New York University School of Law faculty
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison people
People from Elizabeth, New Jersey
People from Linden, New Jersey