Cohen, who died on Monday, was professor emeritus at New York University’s School of Law and the founder of its US-Asia Law Institute, as well as a senior fellow for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank.
The author and editor of over a dozen books and dozens of journal articles, Cohen began his career in Chinese law in 1960, at age 30, and was the first American to practice law in the country under Communist rule. His writings on Chinese criminal procedure and China’s interactions with international law are considered groundbreaking and remain widely read by legal scholars. He also built a reputation as both an advocate for Chinese dissidents and a proponent of continued engagement with Beijing.
