The US-China Podcast

Drawing on original research, fieldwork, and policy experience, Leland Lazarus examines China's efforts to establish "strategic support points" across Latin America and the Caribbean in his new book, Dragon in the Americas: China's Power, Presence, and Regional Influence . The book explains how Beijing increasingly blends economic engagement with strategic ambition, even as countries in the region...

Over $6 trillion of trade flows through 8 chokepoints in the South China Sea, with at least 50% going through the Taiwan and Malacca Straits alone . The United States, China, and other countries heavily rely on these maritime routes to import and export crucial goods . As t he Strait of Hormuz c risis continues to unfold, countries across the globe are now looking at the South China Sea as the nex...

In November 2025, during an unscripted exchange in the Japanese Diet, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that a hypothetical Chinese attack on U.S. forces defending Taiwan could constitute a survival-threatening situation for Japan. The remark set off the sharpest downturn in relations between Tokyo and Beijing in years. China responded with a broad pressure campaign , including a travel advisory,...

Discussions of U.S.-China competition in artificial intelligence (AI) tend to focus on chips , but AI also runs on electricity, and here the two countries diverge sharply. China generates roughly twice as much electricity as the United States, and its capacity continues to grow rapidly . The United States leads in AI laboratories and chip technology, but interconnection backlogs and equipment shor...

In July 2026, a bipartisan delegation of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) , led by Chair Randall Schriver and Vice Chair Mike Kuiken, traveled to China for the first time since 2019. The delegation met with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, and the People's Liberation Army in Beijing, then traveled to Hangzhou and Shanghai. Along...

The pool of top AI talent is limited, but they play a crucial role in building this transformational technology. More than half of the world's top AI researchers come from China , but not all of them stay there. In 2022, 46% of top global AI talent was working in the United States and 27% in China, but by 2025 that changed to 34% in the United States and 41% in China. What can the United States do...

Over the past year, China-related  products , aesthetics, and  digital content  have gained traction in the United States, from Chinese New Year marketing campaigns and consumer brands to memes, shopping apps, tourism videos, and C-dramas. This growing visibility marks a notable shift from the intense Sinophobia that peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic and amid heightened geopolitical tensions.  O...

China's center-local relationship is one of the clearest signals of where the country is headed. Beijing sets broad, nationwide goals while provinces, cities, and counties decide how to carry them out. Drawing on cases from high-speed rail, the electric vehicle industry , and population policy , this conversation examines how local governments bargain to advance projects they favor while resisting...

By 2025, China had twice as many  college students  as the United States, four times as many STEM graduates, and double the number of STEM Ph. D.'s. In   Higher Education in China , Gerard A. Postiglione examines the world's largest state-directed higher education system within the complex interplay of China's social, economic, and geopolitical ambitions.   Dr. Postiglione describes the tension be...

Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming part of everyday life in China, shaping how people learn, work, communicate, and interact with technology. How are these experiences shaped by generation, geography, and access to digital technology ? This conversation will explore AI's impact across Chinese society , from education and digital literacy to the future of work and workforce adaptation.  On...

For decades, China's rapid economic rise has drawn  Western businesses eager to tap its vast market  — but that bilateral trade relationship is now under severe strain. Escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing are threatening global commerce and forcing businesses to fundamentally rethink their China strategies.  In this conversation, National Committee President Steve Orlins interviews...

Clinical trials are an essential part of developing new medicines and treatments. In recent years, China has become an increasingly important center for clinical research and drug development .  On September 22, 2026 , Dr. Amy Abernethy , cofounder of Highlander Health and former principal deputy commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration , and Dr. Ruby Wang of LINTRIS discussed the dif...

Chinese public opinion is often overlooked in discussions of U.S.-China competition, yet it shapes how Beijing defines threats, prioritizes interests, and calibrates its foreign policy. As tensions span trade, technology, Taiwan, and regional security, understanding how Chinese citizens view these issues offers critical insight into both domestic constraints and external behavior.  In this intervi...

At the beginning of the current decade, views of China were near historic lows in many countries. Recently, however, positive opinions of China have become more widespread,  as measured in a recent Pew Research Center survey , and more people now have confidence in Chinese President Xi Jinping to do the right thing regarding world affairs. Still, in most of the 37 countries surveyed, and particula...

The strategic landscape of the Korean Peninsula is shifting. President Trump's recent reduction in military exercises with Seoul and his olive branch to Pyongyang raise new questions regarding the future of the U.S.-South Korea  alliance , especially as  North Korea  deepens its military partnership with Russia .  Meanwhile, denuclearization, previously a common goal of Washington and Beijing, gro...

On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel launched a major  military campaign against Iran , resulting in the assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The campaign triggered a rapidly evolving crisis across the  Middle East , disrupting energy markets, closing Gulf airspace and waterways, and sending geopolitical and diplomatic shockwaves through the region, including casti...

How did an American teacher turn $5,000 into 50,000 trees in China, changing a desert into a forrest? Ron Sakolsky joined us on September 8, 2026 , to share his story.

From territorial disputes over uninhabited islands to the threat of military action in the Taiwan Strait , the East China Sea is a tense environment. Japan, China, and the United States have strong economic and security interests in the region, positioning it to be a major geopolitical flashpoint if conflict breaks out. As politics in the area are further complicated by Russia-China military colla...

Trade between the EU and China account for almost 30% of global trade and 35% of global GDP , but the balance and structure of their trade relationship has changed in recent years. As China 's exports moved up the value chain , the goods it sent to Europe started competing with products already manufactured in Europe , c reating tens ion. However, it's difficult for the EU to confront and change i...

In Chinese Global Environmentalism, Alex L. Wang examines China's embrace of green development on the global stage. He traces Chinese global environmentalism's evolution and motivations and analyzes its deployment through the governance tools of green ideology, diplomacy, economic statecraft, and international development cooperation. He conceives of Chinese global environmentalism as a wide-rangi...

On June 12, 2026, the U.S. government placed Anthropic's two most capable models under export controls, the first time a frontier AI model itself, rather than the chips beneath, it was treated as a controlled item. While the controls were later removed, it presented a new source of uncertainty for closed models coming out of American frontier labs. At almost exactly the same time, Chinese firms, s...

With a growing young population, vast natural resources, and emerging technology hubs, countries across Africa have become key sites for diplomatic competition between the United States and China. Focusing on Ethiopia, Maria Repnikova examines the ambitious and disjointed display of Chinese diplomatic influence in Africa, developing a new theoretical approach to understanding China's practice of s...

In an interview conducted on May 4, 2026, Laura Silver joins Steve Orlins to discuss the data on how American perceptions of China have changed over the past year. Americans' views toward China are changing, according to a recent Pew Research Center report published this April: today, 27 percent of Americans have a positive opinion of China, up six percentage points from last year and nearly doubl...

Why does the United States rely on China for critical minerals and what are the economic and security implications of this interdependence? From fighter jets to fridges, critical minerals are everywhere , shaping the global economy and our daily lives. Today, China dominates many points along critical mineral supply chains , such as mining and refining, following decades of intentional industrial...

U.S. companies in China are navigating a widening gap between opportunity and risk. Even as profitability rebounds and China remains critical to companies' global competitiveness, escalating tariffs, tightening export controls, and a fragile trade truce are forcing American businesses to rethink how —and whether— they operate there.  In this conversation on August 3, National Committee President S...