Kaiser Kuo

Kaiser Kuo (; born March 7, 1966) is a Chinese American freelance writer and musician.

Early life and education

Kuo's grandfather, , was a historian of Chinese modern history who founded the Institute of Modern History at Academia Sinica in Taiwan and wrote the "Modern Chinese History" textbook. Kuo's brother is Jay Kuo, who wrote the musical, Allegiance. Kuo grew up in the US. Kuo has undescribed "degrees from UC Berkeley and the University of Arizona" per NYU Shanghai.

Career Kuo worked as a technology correspondent for Red Herring magazine,and later served as director of digital strategy for China at Ogilvy & Mather in Beijing.

From 2001 to 2011 he wrote a column for the foreigner-focused English-language magazine The Beijinger. He worked as director for international communications for Chinese search engine Baidu.

In 2010, Kuo started a current affairs podcast based in Beijing named Sinica that invites prominent China journalists and China-watchers to participate in uncensored discussions about Chinese political and economic affairs. Guests and co-hosts have included Gady Epstein, Mary Kay Magistad of Public Radio International, Tania Branigan of The Guardian, Evan Osnos of The New Yorker, Arthur Kroeber of Dragonomics, Jeremy Goldkorn of Danwei and Bill Bishop, founder of CBS MarketWatch. Sinica was recorded at the Popup Chinese studios in Beijing from 2010 to 2016.

In April 2016, Kuo announced that the Sinica Podcast was acquired by an unnamed New York startup and that he would return to the United States with his family to focus full-time on Sinica. Kuo was editor-at-large at the digital media company SupChina. Kuo and Goldkorn co-hosted the podcast until its sponsor, The China Project (formerly SupChina), announced in November 2023 that it was shutting down operations due to a lack of funding

As of 2025, he is a speaker for the China Speakers Bureau.

Personal life In 1989 Kuo was a founding member of the Chinese rock band Tang Dynasty. He returned to the US "shortly" after that. and later formed another Chinese heavy metal rock group, Spring and Autumn . Kuo's musical involvement also involved playing bass for Dirty Deeds, an AC/DC cover band based in Beijing. As of 2008 he was living in the US. In 2016 he lived in China and "returned" to the US.