Red roulette : an insider's story of wealth, power, corruption and vengeance in today's China / Desmond Shum.

Red roulette : an insider's story of wealth, power, corruption and vengeance in today's China / Desmond Shum.

Alternate Title
Insider's story of wealth, power, corruption and vengeance in today's China

By
Shum, Desmond.

Publication Date
2021

Publication Information
New York : Scribner,

Physical Description
310 p., [8] p. of plates : col. ill.

Subject Term
Political corruption -- China -- History.
 
Businesspeople -- China -- Biography.
 
Upper class -- China.
 
Detention of persons.
 
Political prisoners -- China -- Biography.

Geographic Term
China -- Politics and government -- 2002-

Bibliography Note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 289-293) and index.

Summary
After the Communist Revolution, Desmond Shum's grandfather was marked as belonging to a "black category" that included former landlords and rich peasants--meaning the Shums would be stigmatized and impoverished. As Desmond was growing up, he vowed his life would be different. Through hard work and sheer tenacity Shum earned an American college degree and returned to China to establish himself in business. There, he met his future wife, the highly intelligent and equally ambitious Whitney Duan who was determined to make her mark within China's male-dominated society. Whitney and Desmond formed an effective team and, aided by relationships they formed with top members of the red aristocracy, vaulted into China's billionaire class. Soon they were developing the massive air cargo facility at Beijing International Airport, and they followed that feat with the creation of one of Beijing's premier hotels. They were dazzlingly successful, traveling in private jets, funding multi-million-dollar buildings and endowments, and purchasing expensive homes, vehicles, and art. But in 2017, their fates diverged irrevocably when Desmond, while residing overseas with his son, learned that his now ex-wife Whitney had vanished along with three coworkers. This is both Desmond's story and Whitney's, because she cannot tell it herself.

Language
English

ISBN
9781982156152


LibraryCollectionCollectionCall Number
St. John's - A.C. HunterAdult NFicAdult Non-Fiction338.092 SH9