ChinaTalk

Where should US-China tech relations go? What should “Competitive when it should be. Collaborative when it can be. Adversarial when it must be” actually mean in practice? To discuss, on this episode we have John Bateman, a newly minted senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and my Rhodium colleague Charlie Vest as co-host. We get into - Analyzing the China tech threat and...

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act will come into force in the US on June, 21, 2022. On this episode, John Foote, a partner and the head of the customs practice at Kelley Drye & Warren, discusses the ins and out of what it will mean for companies importing to the US. We also get into: - The legal history of preventing goods produced by forced labor from being imported to the US. - How companie...

China is now the largest market for movies globally, and there have long been whispers about exactly how this impacts Hollywood decisions when it comes to scripts and casting. This episode I’m joined by Erich Schwartzel, author of Red Carpet: Hollywood, China, and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy, for a deep dive into the world of Chinese cinema, Chinese movies abroad and China in Hollywoo...

Hal Brands (@HalBrands), professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, is the author of The Twilight Struggle: What the Cold War Teaches Us about Great-Power Rivalry Today. Along with co-host Emily Jin @ew_jin) of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), we discuss: How the US capitalized on Soviet heavy-handedness in the developing world How technology...

How did Chinese painting, arguably the elitist of arts, fare during the Cultural Revolution? To discuss ink paintings, socialist realism, oil paintings and the political upheavals that formed their backdrop, I’m joined by artist Arnold Chang and Curator of Chinese Paintings at the MET in NY, Joe Scheier-Dawlberg. We discuss: Whether chaotic periods produce the best art The role of escapism in the...

Standards. Who has them? From shipping containers to screws to tech gadgets, how is it that something made in China can have certain attributes identical to another product made by another company half a world away? And why does it matter? MIT professor and business history JoAnne Yates and Wellesley professor of political science Craig Murphy are the authors of Engineering Rules: Global Standard...

In 1991, a young Chinese academic published America against America, a look at the contradictions and paradoxes he observed while traveling there. His book was largely forgotten until last year when it went viral for its observations on US cultural decline, becoming a hot topic on Chinese-language forums.   It was no less fascinating for who its author was. Wang Huning is today one of the top lead...

Is a nuclear arms race inevitable? China has been building up its nuclear arsenal over the past few years. While it remains significantly smaller than the US and Russia’s, what does this mean for geopolitics against the backdrop of US-China tensions and the Russian invasion of Ukraine? Tong Zhao (@zhaot2005) is a fellow at the Carnegie Center in Beijing who focuses on China’s nuclear program. Co-h...

CSIS' Bonny Lin joins to discuss how Beijing is responding to the war in Ukraine, potential future paths for Chinese policy, whether the IC could pull the same intelligence coups in Beijing as they did in Moscow, how the PLA may adapt to lessons from in theater, and what Biden should do if Putin drops a tactical nuclear weapon. This show was recorded on March 31st. Bonny's testimony on Beijing and...

Taipei-based DJ and New Bloom editor Brian Hioe (@brianhioe) takes us on a tour of the local indie music scene and explains what some of last year’s top tunes can tell us about Taiwanese politics and culture, from the influence of indigenous communities to attitudes towards China. We also discuss Earning a living making music in Taiwan v China Brian’s twitter fights with tankie rappers Taiwan’s in...

In the 2010s, US Navy officers took cash, prostitutes and more from a Malaysian defense contractor known as Fat Leonard. To tell a story that bears more than a hint of resemblance to the Jho Low 1MDB scandal, award-winning journalist Tom Wright (@tomwrightasia) joins me to discuss Fat Leonard’s relationship with the military and how it all came crashing down. Tom is the host of the podcast series...

Will Germany’s policy changes towards Russia have a knock-on effect on its attitude towards China? To get the view from Germany, I’m joined by Berlin-based Noah Barkin (@noahbarkin), the managing editor of Rhodium Group’s China practice. We discuss Whether Europe is pushing China to exercise its influence over Russia How Ukraine has changed Germany’s attitude towards the military Why the Polish pr...

Una Aleksandra Bērziņa-Čerenkova, Head of Riga Stradins University China Studies Centre, Head of the Asia program at the Latvian Institute of International Affairs, and a member of the European Think tank Network on China, joins to discuss. Outtro music: Stefania (Kalush Orchestra) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nRQWc4YKGU Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-ou...

Matej Šimalčík, Executive Director of the Central European Institute of Asian Studies, joins from Bratislava to discuss: The reception of BRI in Eastern and Central Europe 10 years on How the war will accelerate changes in opinion towards China Jordan and Matej reminiscing about Pohoda, the greatest music festival on the planet (my writeup from 2015 https://medium.com/@jordanschneider/pohoda-the-w...

Adam Tooze and Matt Klein return to ChinaTalk to discuss the war in Ukraine. We get into Why Adam is as scared as he's ever been What caused the EU to rally together 'NATO for Trade' for sanctions What this means for Taiwan Recorded on Sunday Feb 27th at 4pm est. Please consider making a donation to https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/ukraine-crisis-relief-fund/faq/#menu Outtro Music: As Chumaks...

Ivana Karásková, China Research Fellow and a Project Coordinator at the Association for International Affairs (AMO), shares her view from Central Europe. We discuss Why so many Europeans came out in the streets today The German political about-face in favor of supporting Ukraine What this means for the future of the EU What Xi thinks about all of this My half-baked sleep-deprived Biden hottakes Th...

Chris Miller of Tufts joins to discuss Why Putin invaded Why he humiliated his security council If Putin is on drugs US public opinion and the politics of sanctions Sanctions' impact on the Russian economy Russia/China tech trade in the context of global sanctions The far-reaching implications of Ukrainian heroism This show was recorded on Feb 26. Please consider making a donation to https://www.g...

Justin Sherman of the Atlantic Council joins to discuss Putin's history of cyber operations How he sees the current state of play What is Putin thinking about as he considers escalating in the cyber domain The tradeoffs of various policy choices facing American and Europeans leaders thinking about more aggressive offensive cyber operations Please consider making a donation at https://www.globalgiv...

What’s the point of NASA? Will Starlink end up funding Elon’s Mars dreams? To discuss the US space ecosystem in both the private and public sector, I am joined by Casey Handmer (@CJHandmer), former NASA Jet Propulsion Lab system architect and founder of Terraform Industries. We also talk about The potential for Starlink to improve internet access in developing countries Whether the US immigration...

Do you know your breaking porcelain from your eating human-blood-soaked steam buns? Slow Chinese author Andrew Methven (@AndrewMethven) joins me to talk about some of the newest and most interesting Chinese internet slang from the previous year and their origin stories. We discuss new words and phrases inspired by Haidilao cockroach scams, misbehaving tech companies and 996 culture, as well as: Wh...

Author of China's Civilian Army: The Making of Wolf Warrior Diplomacy Peter Martin (@PeterMartin_PCM) and Schwarzman scholar Jason Zhou return to take us from the young diplomats venturing out of China in the eighties to today’s Wolf Warriors and the adoption of more nationalist rhetoric. We also discuss Chinese diplomats’ and Canadian retirement homes Xi Jinping’s father-in-law and his admiration...

Why has China and its foreign ministry struggled to communicate with the world? In his book, China’s Civilian Army: The Making of Wolf Warrior Diplomacy, Peter Martin (@PeterMartin_PCM) traces the history of China’s post-1949 diplomatic corps, from the impact of Zhou Enlai’s experiences in Paris to reluctant guerrilla-generals-turned-ambassadors trying to get to grips with manning embassies half a...

What can US-China relations learn from US-Japan relations in the leadup to WWII? To discuss, I’m joined by Stony Brook University’s Michael Barnhart, author of the 1987 Japan Prepares for Total War: The Search for Economic Security, 1919–1941 and the more recent Can You Beat Churchill?: Teaching History through Simulations (https://www.amazon.com/Can-You-Beat-Churchill-Simulations/dp/1501755641),...

See here for the Year in Review in text form with lots of links: https://chinatalk.substack.com/p/2021-year-in-review-future-plans Support ChinaTalk on Patreon at https://patreon.com/chinatalk Fill out this form to help my 'market research' on how to construct the CCP course! https://forms.gle/dXKjzfXWyxyi2ixg9 Wanna cohost a ChinaTalk episode? Fill out this form here: https://docs.google.com/form...

NYT bestselling YA author Xiran Jay Zhao (@XiranJayZhao) joins me to talk about her new book, Iron Widow, a Pacific Rim meets Handmaiden's tale sci-fi retelling of the story of Wu Zetian. Co-hosting is ChinaTalk's editor Callan Quinn (@quinnishvili). We discuss: Chinese history Easter eggs in Iron Widow Going viral and Youtube China content How censorship is stifling creativity in C-dramas Why Xir...