Dr. George Koo

America Must End Funding a Hit List

This is the edited transcript of the presentation of Dr. George Koo to Panel 2, “Defend the Right to Deliberate! Speak Out Against Blacklists and the Suppression of the Search for Truth,” of the Schiller Institute’s Sept. 10–11 Conference, “Inspiring Humanity to Survive the Greatest Crisis in World History.” Dr. Koo is a retired business consultant, and the founder and current Chairman of the Burlingame Foundation. The full video of Panel 2 is available here.

Hello everyone! My name is George Koo. I’m a retired international business advisor, and I write commentaries on U.S.-China relations as a hobby, an occupation.

I was somewhat surprised really, and puzzled that somehow my name was placed on that blacklist which we’re all talking about. The only thing I know about Ukraine and Russia is, I’ve been to both countries as a tourist, but otherwise, I don’t claim to have any expertise on either country.

I participated in a Schiller conference where I was primarily invited to comment about where China stood in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, and I probably said something to the effect that the U.S. and NATO were really responsible and complicit in pushing Russia into this particular conflict. But I certainly didn’t say anything about the history of corruption of Ukraine; I certainly didn’t say anything about the right-wing Nazis dominating Ukraine.

So, it’s on the one hand, flattering to be part of all the luminaries who have been made into this blacklist; on the other hand, I strongly resent that if this blacklist is the result of government funding from the U.S., it seems to be a wanton waste of our taxpayers’ money, and it’s not justified.

Heaven knows, our leaders—military, government, and otherwise—kill other people routinely. We use drones to assassinate leaders from other countries, and so far as I know, none of them has made any blacklist of any kind. And here we are considered to be the enemies of Ukraine.

So, I just want to add my two cents, and voice my displeasure and complaint and protest for the existence of this particular blacklist. I hope that the people in our government will take this to heed and investigate, and stop this kind of nonsense. Thank you very much.