Kent Kedl is a Senior Partner in Control Risks’ Greater China and North Asia region. Based in Shanghai, he is responsible for the overall commercial and business operations of the company in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, the Koreas and Mongolia. Mr. Kedl has consulted with multinational and local Chinese and Korean corporations across all industries on a diverse range of complex risk issues, from crisis management and operational business controls, to strategic and organizational development programs. He has particular expertise in the healthcare, food and beverage, and consumer product sectors. Prior to joining Control Risks, Mr. Kedl was general manager and co-owner of Technomic Asia, a boutique strategy consulting firm in Shanghai. His work included target selection, and pre-transaction corporate investigations and negotiations. He has worked as a journalist and radio broadcaster and is a frequent contributor to Asia-based media outlets, as well as the co-author of The China Ready Company (2006, China Pathways). He has a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in East Asian studies from the University of Minnesota. He has also completed graduate studies in journalism and mass communication as a scholar at the China Times Centre for Mass Media and Social Studies.

A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Hanscom Smith has been Consul General at the United States Consulate General in Shanghai since September 2014. He previously served at the United States embassies in Yaounde, Copenhagen, Phnom Penh, Bangkok, Kabul, and Beijing. In addition, Mr. Smith has served in the Office of Japanese Affairs at the Department of State, and was team leader at the United States Provincial Reconstruction Team in Muthanna Province, Iraq. He has also worked at the American Institute in Taiwan. Mr. Smith holds a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University and master's degrees from the London School of Economics and Princeton University. His foreign languages are French, Danish, Khmer, and Mandarin Chinese. A native of Maine, Mr. Smith is the spouse of Eric Lu.

Dr. ZHANG Zhexin is a research fellow at the Center for Asia-Pacific Studies and Assistant Director of the Institute of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Studies, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS). He is a non-resident fellow at the Charhar Institute of China. His research focuses on East Asian geopolitics, Sino-U.S. relations, and Chinese diplomacy. He is Deputy Editor-in-Chief of China Quarterly of International Strategic Studies, English editor of Cross-Taiwan Strait Studies, and an editorial board member of the Journal of Political Marketing. He was a visiting fellow at the Henry L. Stimson Center in 2011 and at Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in 2016. He is the translator of two books and author to dozens of journal articles and book chapters. His recent publications include: “Construction of a New Asia-Pacific Security Architecture: Core Concepts, Past Actions and Future Approaches” (Global Review, No. 6, 2016); “Beyond the Strategic Deterrence Narrative: Deploying THAAD May Trigger Immediate Security Crises in Asia” (CSIS cogitAsia, March 28, 2016); “China’s International Strategy and Its Implications for Southeast Asia” (ISEAS: Southeast Asian Affairs 2016); and “China’s Pursuit of a New Asia-Pacific Security Architecture: Underlying Rationale, Ongoing Actions, and Future Prospects” (China Quarterly of International Strategic Studies, Winter 2015).