China 21

Tai Ming Cheung, Mikko Huotari and Barry Naughton unpack the China factor in the case of the U.S. government’s protection of Qualcomm, and discuss what kind of tools and policies will emerge as the rules of engagement in international investment and technological competition continue to become murky and fraught with geopolitical tensions. Dr. Barry Naughton is one of America’s most highly respecte...

21st Century China Center faculty reflect on Sunday's announcement by Chinese Communist Party to end term limits on the presidency, clearing the way for President Xi Jinping to stay in power indefinitely. Even in the context of the party's authoritarian rule, it is a significant break from rules established in the 1980s to prevent the country from returning to the days when Mao Zedong dominated ev...

Professors Fukuyama and Naughton trace the origins of the Chinese state, its historic economic modernization, and how the current Xi Jinping era is challenging assumptions and theories about political order and decay. They also discussed the relationship between political freedom and technological innovation and roles of China and US in global leadership. Dr. Francis Fukuyama is professor of polit...

UCLA sociologist Ching Kwan Lee discusses her new book that is the result of over six years of ethnographic research in Zambia on Chinese capital and labor. In The Specter of Global China: Politics, Labor, and Foreign Investment in Africa, Prof. Lee analyzes the peculiarity of outbound Chinese state capital by comparing it with global private capital in copper and construction in Zambia. Refuting...

Dr. Somkiat Tangkitvanich, President of the Thailand Development Research Institute, discusses current Thailand-China relations and the impact of Chinese investment and infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia. Dr. Tangkitvanich is a leading Thai expert in the areas of trade and investment policies, innovation policy, education policy and information, communication and technology policy. He is an...

Does the Trump Administration have a grand strategy in Asia? How does an "American First" posture square with the idea of a free and open Asia Pacific? Stephan Haggard interviews Michael Green on the president's visit to Asia and how it reflects the recurring themes in the long arc of American strategic thinking. Dr. Michael Green is senior vice president for Asia and Japan Chair at the...

Scholars Jennifer Pan & Yiqing Xu discussed their paper on “China’s Ideological Spectrum,” which has generated widespread acclaim and discussion. They analyzed data from an opinion survey of more than half a million Chinese citizens, and find that public preferences in ideology are not simply split along a pro-regime or anti-regime divide in authoritarian contexts. The paper can be accessed vi...

Caixin's Managing Editor Wang Shuo 王烁 describes the challenge for investigative journalists in China in the context of a changing media landscape and state control of information. He also discusses the stories his team has worked on, from high-speed rail accidents, to the one-child policy, to shadow banking - and Caixin's growing international audience. Wang Shuo 王烁 is the co-founder and manag...

Director Evans Chan (陳耀成) talks about his latest documentary “Raise the Umbrellas,” the politicization of Hong Kong identity and media, and the city's democratic future and implications for Greater China. (Trailer: https://youtu.be/Q2kxtQW-nAA) Chan is an independent filmmaker, who has been described by critics as one who "has made a singular contribution to Hong Kong cinema and at the sam...

Gordon Hanson and Charlene Barshefsky discuss China’s commitments and market reforms since joining the WTO and the path ahead in the trade relationship between the world’s two biggest economies. They explore the policy and enforcement tools the US has to confront China over the imbalance and lack of reciprocity, and the immediate political pressure on US policy makers to address the loss of jobs d...

China is now the biggest auto market, including electric vehicles. Michael Dunne discusses the government's role in guiding the car industry, competition and cross-border investment among Western and Chinese firms, and implication for clean energy, infrastructure and job-creation in both countries. Dunne is the author of the book titled “American Wheels, Chinese Roads” and is a commentator on majo...

Dr. Karl Gerth interviews Dr. Tom Mullaney about his journey in building a digital humanities community for Asian studies and how a new set of analytic tools are disrupting and transforming the practice of teaching history and understanding various phenomena in China. Karl Gerth is a professor of Modern Chinese history and holds the Hwei-Chih and Julia Hsiu Endowed Chair here at UC San Diego, he i...

Two China policy veterans: Prof. Susan Shirk and Amb. Winston Lord are members of a high-level bipartisan task force that launched a report on US Policy Toward China, with detailed policy recommendations for the Trump administration. They offer an overview of the comprehensive list of issues covered in the report, and discuss the priorities that 45th President must address in his first year, such...

Intercultural comedian Jesse Appell, founder of US-China Comedy Center in Beijing, shares his fun and educational journey of learning what makes Chinese people laugh, and bridging cultural gaps with humor. www. ChinaFocus.us hosted Jesse's performance at UC San Diego on Feb. 6 as part of his “Great LOL of China” North American tour. Jesse Appell (艾杰西) is a Fulbright Scholar alumni whose researc...

Dr. Julio Friedmann unpacks the environmental and energy challenges in China - the world’s largest energy user, largest emitter, largest market and largest cleantech enterprise. Interview is followed by excerpt from conversation with Dr. David Victor Dr. Friedmann is the senior advisor for energy innovation at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He has extensive experience at the intersect...

Dr. Melanie Hart reviews America's foreign policy towards China in the last eight years, and looks ahead to opportunities and challenges in US-China Relations in light of constructive milestones and the US presidential elections. Dr. Hart is currently a Senior Fellow and Director of China Policy at the Center for American Progress, a think-tank based in Washington D.C. She focuses on U.S. foreign...

The Chinese Communist Party issued new directives for religious affairs earlier this year, especially calling for religions to serve national interests. What does this new project to “sinicize” religions imply for religious practice in China? For Christians in China, how are they adapting as rising nationalism clashes with religions that have foreign roots? Sociologist Richard Madsen reflects on t...

Deborah and Jack unpacks the details and highlights of China’s latest five-year-plan, the most basic and authoritative document that charts out the country’s strategic vision, covering policies, measures and targets on domestic social issues, to the environment, to education and economic development. The document is meant to mobilize the nation’s officials and state-owned enterprises to work joint...

Professor Victor Shih speaks with Ken Wilcox of Silicon Valley Bank on the lessons learned from running a joint-venture with a state-owned bank and how banking practices have evolved during recent financial crises in China. Victor Shih is a leading expert in examining the intersection of China’s elite politics and the People’s Republic’s financial policies. He has written widely on the topic and t...

Two of the most influential China Hands, Professor Susan Shirk and Ambassador J. Stapleton Roy, discuss the current state of Chinese politics, the South China Sea, and US foreign policy toward China. Susan Shirk is the esteemed chair of the 21st Century China Program, and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State. Ambassador J. Stapleton Roy is one of the most respected diplomatic experts on East...

Professor Albert Park of Hong Kong University of Science & Technology talks with Samuel Tsoi about his research on human capital and labor, firm performance, poverty and inequality, rural-urban migration, and the social safety net in the People's Republic of China. China 21 is produced by the 21st Century China Program, at UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy. This podcast featu...

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Barboza reflects on his decade-long journey of reporting on China's economy, culminating in his investigative article on the hidden wealth of China's political elite, published by the New York Times in 2013. David Barboza has been a Shanghai-based correspondent for The New York Times since November 2004. He was a freelance writer and a research assistant for...