Who is Keyu Jin? Alleged link to Chinese economist surface in Larry Summers-Epstein emails

Larry Summers, the former United States treasury obligations secretarial assistant and Harvard University president, has stepped away from public life after his email exchange with Jeffrey Epstein surfaced in the recently released emails of the disgraced financier.

What has particularly caused a ruckus is a supposed 2018-2019 exchange between Summers and Epstein about Keyu Jin, a Chinese economist who was Summers' mentee at the time.

Summers, a regular communicator with Epstein over emails, stayed in touch with him till before his arrest in 2019. Starting in November 2018, Epstein and Summers discuss Summers' romantic interest in a woman, seemingly Keyu Jin, a tenured professor at the London School of Economics at the time of the emails, according to The Harvard Crimson.

Over the course of their exchanges, Summers seeks advice on Jeffrey Epstein on his pursuit, allegedly of Jin. Notably, Summers has been married since 2005 to Elisa New, a Harvard English professor.

Keyu Jin is a Beijing-born economist specializing in international macroeconomics and China’s economic model. Jin's connection with Summers comes through Harvard, as she studied at Harvard University from 2000 and 2009, before starting off her teaching career at the London School of Economics in 2011.

The daughter of China's vice minister of finance, Keyu Jin is currently a professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and serves in multiple advisory and teaching roles, such as the board of Credit Suisse and the World Economic Forum.

In over 20,000 pages of materials on the Jeffrey Epstein emails released by the US House Oversight Committee last week, the emails of Larry Summers have repeatedly come up. The discussion between Summers and Epstein started when Summers asked Epstein to help him with a potential relationship with Jin, whom he described as a "mentee" then.

The two then go on to discuss the contours of the Summers' pursuit, which retrospectively looks controversial with blurred professional boundaries.

“Think for now I’m going nowhere with her except economics mentor,” Summers says in a November 2018 email to Epstein. “I think I’m right now in the seen very warmly in rear view mirror category.”

Their exchanges continued till the days prior to Jeffrey Epstein's arrest in 2019. For instance, in March 2019, Summers tells Epstein: "She must be very confused or maybe wants to cut me off but wants a professional connection a lot and so holds to it."

Also read: Ex-Harvard president Larry Summers steps away from public duties after Epstein files reveal 'close relationship'

Epstein, meanwhile, told Summers on two occasions that "she is doomed to be" with him and she is "already beginning to sound needy," among other things.

The Crimson reported that in some of the emails, Summers appears to refer to Keyu Jin. However, though the name appears, there is no confirmation that it indeed is Jin, as neither Summers nor Jin has confirmed it.

On Monday, Larry Summers released a statement saying that he is “ashamed” of the revelations made in the emails and is stepping away from public life.

"I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused. I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr Epstein," he said in a statement to CBS News.

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