Overview

After living and working in Beijing, China for nearly 5 years of my life, learning to speak Mandarin, and co-founding a successful business in my mid-20's; something happened. I was arbitrarily detained by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities, falsely accused of working in the country illegally (alongside colleagues from Germany and Spain), forced to sign "confession" documents in Chinese, abducted, and hauled-off to a black-site prison compound on the outskirts of Beijing. I endured nearly a month of CCP detention, torture, sleep deprivation, malnutrition, and extreme violence. I almost died on several occasions and was routinely told that it was "illegal" to contact the US embassy. The conditions were so horrific, "suicide" warning signs were plastered on the walls. I was routinely extracted from my cell by CCP guards to translate for foreign inmates who refused to continue eating. Fortunately, the US government got involved and dispatched consular officers from the American embassy in Beijing. Somehow, I survived this utter nightmare. I authored a book about the entire experience, Surviving Chinese Communist Detention. For years, I tried to conceal this horrific experience from public life as if I had something to feel guilty or ashamed of. Eventually, however, you realize you have to take ownership of experiences like this. I learned that it's ok to be a survivor. I write, blog, and speak publicly about the CCP captors that abducted me and nearly took my life. Not one day goes by where I forget the countless people suffering in the same black-site prison compound that nearly took my life. We have a collective moral, ethical and social responsibility to help those who yearn for freedom, liberty, and the global pursuit of happiness.