[1] Cohen is an advocate of human rights in China, and has taken active roles in securing the release of Song Yongyi and Chen Guangcheng from under Chinese custody.

[8] Following graduation, he spent a year in France as a Fulbright scholar studying international relations before returning to Yale and earning his J.D.

During this time, Cohen advocated for normalized relations with China, and was influential in securing the release of John T. Downey in the early 1970s.

Downey, a former classmate of Cohen's from Yale, had been held in a Chinese prison since the Korean War, accused of being a CIA operative.

In 1972, Cohen was able to make his first trip to the Chinese mainland as part of a delegation of the Federation of American Scientists and was able to meet with Premier Zhou Enlai.

Following China's economic reforms in 1979, Cohen's obscure specialty of Chinese law was thrust into the spotlight as foreign companies began to consider investment opportunities.

When he was offered the opportunity to live and practice in Beijing in exchange for teaching American contract law to commerce officials, Cohen took a sabbatical from Harvard.

When the sabbatical concluded in 1981, he decided to remain in China and work at the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.

In South Korea, Cohen was able to intervene in the kidnapping of Kim Dae-jung (김대중), who would later become president and receive the Nobel Peace Prize.