Perspectives with Wenchi Yu

As America’s 250th birthday coincides with a turbulent second half of 2026, host Wenchi Yu examines the implications of the U.S.–Israel war in Iran for the global economy, a fraught Trump–Xi meeting over Taiwan, and AI’s rise as a new strategic resource. She explains how these forces accelerate shifts in global power, fuel AI backlash, and test America’s ability to look inward while still leading...

Host Wenchi Yu speaks with filmmaker Hao Wu about his latest documentary, TikTok Never Dies , which recently premiered at the Tribeca Festival. Hao chronicles the legal fight between TikTok and the U.S. government — a case many expected the Supreme Court to decide on national security grounds. What he ended up capturing was a story about three American content creators caught in the middle, a pres...

Host Wenchi Yu speaks with Kevin Xu, investor and author of the newsletter, Interconnected , about China’s leading AI labs and the country’s AI trajectory after the DeepSeek moment. From the rise of open‑weight models and a new generation of homegrown PhD‑level AI researchers to working around constraints on advanced chips and grappling with AI‑induced anxiety in Chinese society, Kevin shares insi...

Host Wenchi Yu speaks with Mark Atkeson, a veteran aviation executive with over three decades of on-the-ground experience across both the American and Chinese aerospace industries, to unpack what the latest US–China summit and a smaller‑than‑expected Boeing deal really mean for the future of flying in and out of China. Drawing on decades of experience working with Air China, Pratt & Whitney, G...

Host Wenchi Yu speaks with Dr. Alexander C. Huang, a former KMT Director of International Affairs, a cross-strait war game strategist, and an expert on the PLA, about why the Taiwanese government’s US$40 billion proposal was cut to US$25 billion, what the fight over special versus regular budgets reveals about Taiwan’s politics, and how decisions on Foreign Military Sales (FMS), commercial deals,...

Host Wenchi Yu speaks to Allen Fung, formerly with Hong Kong Aerospace Technology Group, about China’s emerging commercial space sector and the broader “second space age,” tracing how SpaceX’s 2015 Falcon 9 landing helped spur Beijing to open its rocket industry to private firms and create a fast-growing ecosystem around launch and satellites. Allen explains how reusable rockets and cheaper access...

Host Wenchi Yu speaks with Noah Barkin — senior advisor at Rhodium Group and author of the popular “ Watching China in Europe ” newsletter — about the rapidly shifting landscape of Germany's relationship with China. Germany is losing roughly 10,000 manufacturing jobs per month. As European leaders line up to visit Beijing and global trade tensions intensify, Germany finds itself caught betwee...

Host Wenchi Yu speaks with Patrick Wilson—who until recently served as Vice President of Government Affairs for MediaTek—about how semiconductors went from an obscure, capital‑intensive niche to the center of global industrial strategy. Drawing on two decades in Congress, industry, and the first Trump administration, Patrick explains why Washington woke up to its dependence on Taiwan and Asia, how...

Host Wenchi Yu speaks with UK‑based Fraser Howie in the wake of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s ice‑breaking trip to China. Fraser—a veteran China markets analyst and co‑author of several books on the Chinese financial system—reflects on three decades of watching China’s rise from inside Beijing, Hong Kong, and Singapore. He traces how early hopes that finance and WTO integration would liberalize Ch...

Host Wenchi Yu speaks with Wade Senti, President of Florida-based Advanced Magnet Lab (AML) , about why magnets and rare earths have become a central battleground in the new era of manufacturing and national security. Wade traces AML’s journey from a small robotics‑adjacent lab to a leading U.S. magnet producer, then explains how permanent magnets underpin everything from industrial motors and EVs...

Host Wenchi Yu speaks with Wesley Chu, a research fellow of the Ash Center at Harvard Kennedy School and former General Counsel of Foxconn—one of the world’s largest manufacturers—about how Trump 2.0’s trade deal is reshaping the future of Taiwanese manufacturing. As the administration accelerates its push to “make it in America,” Taiwan’s firms find themselves at the center of a historic supply‑c...

Host Wenchi Yu speaks with UK-based economist and author Stewart Paterson about how Beijing has used the renminbi (RMB), trade surpluses, and industrial policy to fuel its rise—and why he believes Western engagement with China was flawed from the start. Drawing on decades of experience analyzing China from Hong Kong, Singapore, and London, Paterson explains how deliberate RMB undervaluation, subsi...

Host Wenchi Yu speaks with Bart Linssen, an onshore wind expert who has spent over two decades in Taiwan, about how the island's energy system is struggling to move from cheap coal and nuclear to renewables while keeping prices and supply stable. As Taiwan and the US sign a landmark trade and investment deal centered on semiconductors, some of Taiwan’s most sensitive yet least understood stra...

Host Wenchi Yu speaks with Dr. Ruby Wang, a London-based surgeon turned health-policy and strategy expert, about how China has rapidly evolved from a “copycat” drug producer into a critical source of cutting-edge biotech innovation. Drawing on her experience leading the UK government’s health team at the British Embassy in Beijing during the pandemic and now advising global life sciences clients,...

As we close out 2025—the first year of Perspectives with Wenchi Yu , now at 28 episodes—here are a few quick reflections on US–China–Taiwan dynamics in 2025 and some predictions for 2026. For more discussions and work from Wenchi Yu DC Insiders by TaiwanPlus Global Women Asia Perspectives with Wenchi Yu YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkK1a7U8kP0TgXhvI5Bj70H4cPPlapCdQ&si=RuA_jZROR2...

Host Wenchi Yu speaks with Jane Perlez, host of the podcast Face‑Off: The U.S. vs China and a former New York Times foreign correspondent and Beijing bureau chief. The conversation traces Jane’s journey from an aspiring reporter in Australia to a Pulitzer Prize–winning correspondent who covered conflicts and political transitions from East Africa and the Balkans to Pakistan, Indonesia, and ultimat...

Host Wenchi Yu speaks to the Hong Kong-born aerospace entrepreneur, Michael Blum, about the evolution of the global space industry through the lens of US and Chinese competition. As the co-founder of Firefly Space Systems, Blum recounts his inspiration for space and aerospace, his early days in Silicon Valley, and direct involvement with Elon Musk and SpaceX, highlighting the transformative impact...

Host Wenchi Yu speaks with Olivia Plotnick, a Shanghai-based social media and marketing entrepreneur, who recently completed a marketing research project spanning 30 cities in 60 days in China. The conversation attempted to answer the question: How’s China’s economy faring? Has the trade war’s impact been felt on the ground? How are consumers spending their money? Olivia’s findings of health &...

Host Wenchi Yu speaks with Wang Xiangwei , former editor-in-chief of the South China Morning Post (SCMP), about covering China over the last three decades, as well as Hong Kong after 2019. Wang led the expansion and digital transformation of SCMP's China coverage, striving to provide insider, balanced, and insightful reporting amid complex political pressures from both Beijing and Hong Kong,...

Host Wenchi Yu speaks to Rui Ma of Tech Buzz China about the divergence in AI development and cultural attitudes between China and the US. Driven by its strong manufacturing capabilities, China deeply integrates robotics with AI, focusing on practical, cash-flow-positive applications like service robots for food delivery or pool cleaning, rather than advanced "sci-fi" level projects. The...

Host Wenchi Yu speaks with the UK-based macroeconomist, Kelvin Lam, a long-time China observer, about the current state of China’s economy. The conversation highlights several issues, including the challenges in the property sector, the country’s transition towards a high-tech economy, and the need to boost domestic consumption. The discussion also touches on the issue of inequality, the phenomeno...

Host Wenchi Yu speaks with Carl Wegner, President of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Taiwan , about the implications of Trump 2.0's policies for Taiwan. The conversation highlights that beyond tariffs, American businesses also worry about energy stability, lack of a US-Taiwan double-taxation treaty, Taiwan's aging population, and geopolitical dynamics. Wegner explains that d...

Host Wenchi Yu speaks with Bryce Whitwam, a seasoned marketing professional with extensive experience in Asia, including 17 years in China, where he led major advertising agencies and founded his own. Bryce highlights the "seismic shift" in marketing and consumer behavior brought about by the rise of multifunctional digital platforms such as WeChat, Taobao, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu (also...

Host Wenchi Yu speaks with Professor Philip Hsu 徐斯勤 of National Taiwan University about the intricate political landscape of Taiwan, focusing on the 7/26 recall elections, public opinion regarding identity and relations with China, and the evolving dynamics of Taiwan's relationship with the U.S. Taiwan is the flashpoint where technology, business, and geopolitics intersect. A deeper unders...

Host Wenchi Yu speaks with Ethan Tu (杜奕瑾), founder of Taiwan AI Labs , Asia's first open AI research institution. Taiwan AI Labs is dedicated to advancing AI through open algorithms, open-source code, and federated learning, an approach that enables collaborative machine learning without centralizing data, thus preserving privacy and preventing monopolies. Ethan's career includes foun...