Few individuals have approached human rights advocacy in China from the perspective of a businessman. John Kamm has spent more than five decades engaging with China, first through business and trade, and later through a distinctive form of human rights diplomacy. On Thursday, October 15 at 9:00 am PT, the Pacific Council on International Policy will host a webinar, “From Businessman to Human Rights Advocate: A Conversation with John Kamm on China’s Political Prisoners.” In the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, Kamm began advocating directly for political prisoners, drawing upon relationships and networks developed during his years in the business community. His approach centered on sustained, personal engagement with Chinese officials by seeking information about detainees and engaging counterparts through dialogue grounded in Chinese law and regulations. Since his first intervention on behalf of a Chinese prisoner in 1990, Kamm has made more than 100 trips to China and submitted requests for information on more than 1,000 prisoners. In 1999, Kamm founded the Dui Hua Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing human rights through well-informed and mutually respectful dialogue with China.

The conversation will explore Kamm’s remarkable transition from businessman to human rights advocate and will examine what his decades of engagement reveal about the possibilities and complexities of people-to-people diplomacy in U.S.-China relations. Moderated by Matthew Tuchow, former General Counsel to the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of State and Pacific Council member, the discussion will examine how trust, personal relationships, perseverance, and an understanding of China’s political and legal systems have informed Kamm’s advocacy on behalf of political prisoners. The conversation will then broaden to consider the contemporary landscape of human rights and the challenges facing those seeking to advance human rights in China.

Why it's important:

• China’s treatment of political and religious prisoners remains a significant human rights issue. Human Rights Watch World Report 2026 documents continued imprisonment and persecution of government critics, human rights defenders, religious groups, and others.
• President Donald Trump met with Xi Jinping in Washington D.C. in September after more than 10 years since Xi’s last official state visit. 

To register for this webinar, visit the Zoom Registration Page.

Speakers include:

• John Kamm, Founder and Chairman, The Dui Hua Foundation 
• Matthew Tuchow, Former General Counsel to the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of State, & Member, Pacific Council on International Policy

Guest Speakers:

John Kamm

John Kamm is an American businessman and human rights campaigner active in China since 1972. He is the founder and chairman of The Dui Hua Foundation. Kamm was awarded the Department of Commerce’s Best Global Practices Award by President Bill Clinton in 1997 and the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights by President George W. Bush in 2001. In September 2004, Kamm received a MacArthur Fellowship for “designing and implementing an original approach to freeing prisoners of conscience in China.” Kamm is the first businessman to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. In 2022, he was awarded the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Centennial Medal, citing his “tireless, personal commitment to opening mutually respectful dialogues with Chinese officials about at-risk prisoners, an innovative approach that has spared and improved the lives of so many.”

Since his first intervention on behalf of a Chinese prisoner in May 1990, Kamm has made more than 100 trips to China to engage the government in a dialogue on human rights, focusing on the treatment of prisoners and conditions in prisons. He has made 10 visits to Chinese prisons and has submitted requests for information on more than 1,000 prisoners. In the words of The New York Times, “No other person or organization in the world, including the State Department, has helped more Chinese prisoners.”

Kamm received a BA from Princeton University (1972) and an MA from Harvard University (1975). He was the Hong Kong correspondent and representative of the National Council for US-China Trade (1975-1979) and President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong (1990). He also managed Occidental Chemical Corporation’s business in China and the Far East (1986-1991).

Matthew Tuchow

Matthew Tuchow is a former senior U.S. government official, attorney, and international affairs professional whose career hasspanned foreign policy, international trade and commerce, human rights, and global business. Most recently, he served as General Counsel to the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of State from 2020 to 2025, providing legal, policy, and strategic counsel on oversight and accountability of the Department’s bureaus and worldwide diplomatic posts.

Earlier, Tuchow served as Senior Advisor for Global Affairs to Congressman Sander Levin, where he worked on international trade and U.S.-China policy and helped establish the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. He contributed to the Commission’s inaugural report to the President and to Congress on human rights and the rule of law in China.

Tuchow also spent more than two decades in the private sector in senior international legal, compliance, and ethics roles, with a particular focus on East Asia and Europe, international trade, global supply chains, and business and human rights. His international experience includes living and working in Hong Kong, Tokyo, and London. He began his engagement with China as a Yale-China Teaching Fellow at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Tuchow also served as Chief Compliance and Business Integrity Officer for the Veterans Health Administration and as a member of the federal Senior Executive Service. He is a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy and a Leadership Circle member of Foreign Policy for America. He received his B.A. in History from Yale University and J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he focused on international law.