Sharp China Podcast

This episode of Sharp China is outside the paywall. Show Notes: On today's show Andrew and Bill begin by reviewing the readouts from last week's Fifth Plenum, including signs that corruption crackdowns will continue, additional targets may include retired cadres, and an area of convergence with the US on policing "corrupt acts carried out through the internet, virtual currencies ... and the like."...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sinocism.com Show Notes: On today's show Andrew and Bill begin with five questions on the Fifth Plenum as Xi continues his corruption crackdowns and propaganda campaigns emphasize ideological unity and discipline. Topics include: The logistics of this week's meeting, the challenge of implementing policies throughout the country, the rea...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sinocism.com Show Notes: On today’s show Andrew and Bill begin with a raft of proposed export controls from Beijing on AI-related technologies, solar-related technologies, and machinery, as well as continued angst surrounding Japan’s rare earth access. Then: Reactions to strong Q3 GDP numbers in the PRC, continued stock market struggles...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sinocism.com Show Notes: On today’s show Andrew and Bill begin with an extended survey of EU-PRC trade dynamics in the wake of an eventful week. Topics include: a deal on hybrid exports that may have averted a trade war, potential loopholes that may complicate the effectiveness of that reform, the tools proposed by France and Germany th...

This episode of Sharp China is outside the paywall. Show Notes: On today’s show Andrew and Bill talk through Xi Jinping’s trip to Washington last week, including low expectations that were met, lots of pageantry in between, why both sides are incentivized to preserve stability for now, and how Mao Zedong’s writing on “strategic stalemate” may inform Xi’s understanding of the current moment. From t...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sinocism.com Show Notes: On today's show Andrew and Bill discuss Xi Jinping's visit to the United States and what to expect in Washington D.C. this week. First: Reactions to the meeting between Scott Bessent and He Lifeng in New York City Sunday, including outstanding questions about the "hotline" that was mooted for AI, details that re...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sinocism.com Show Notes: On today’s show Andrew and Bill look at several dimensions of the PRC’s approach to AI. First: The various reasons a push for an agreement with U.S. labs to “pace” AI development is unlikely to bear fruit and the history of the CPC’s approach to control over technology. Then: The head of the MSS offers a view in...

This episode of Sharp China is outside the paywall. Show Notes: On today's show Andrew and Bill begin with a perspective on PRC strategy under Xi, including what the party wants from global institutions, how the PRC differs from the U.S., and political security as a paramount priority. Then: Thoughts on the heartbreaking flood at the Nepal-Tibet border, including the party’s response, censorship a...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sinocism.com Show Notes: On today's show Andrew and Bill begin with a series of questions on the US and China, including a look at the likely toothless threats implied by Trump's "Economic D-Day" agenda, China's role or lack thereof in a breakdown between the US and Canada, questions about the next four weeks and four months of the rela...

This episode of Sharp China is outside the paywall. Show Notes: On today's show Andrew and Bill with Wang Yi's visit to South Korea this week, including the fortunate timing for the PRC in the wake of President Trump's decision to scale back joint US-ROK exercises, PRC concerns around North Korea, and dynamics on the peninsula that are shifting in ways that aren't entirely clear. Then: Zhu Rongji'...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sinocism.com Show Notes: On today's show Andrew and Bill begin with reactions to CXMT's IPO success this week, including responses from legislators in Washington and the stakes of Apple's continued lobbying fight to relax restrictions on US companies working with PRC memory firms. Then: The FCC announces rules restricting the import of...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sinocism.com Show Notes: On today's show Andrew and Bill focus on the arrival of Moonshot's Kimi K3 model and the "DeepSeek 2.0 concerns" among investors and policymakers. Topics include: The incoherent U.S. approach to the open source AI ecosystem, levers the U.S. side could pull to thwart Chinese progress, and why the Trump Administra...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sinocism.com On today’s show, Andrew and Bill begin by parsing the economic data released by the PRC this week, including slower-than-expected growth, the Party’s response to the status quo, export-powered growth that is widening trade imbalances, and the questions all of this will raise for foreign policymakers. From there: The Party's...

This episode of Sharp China is outside the paywall. Show Notes: On today's show Andrew and Bill begin with Monday's SLBM test from the PLA Navy, including questions surrounding its timing and location, regional angst, and a reminder that the PLA continues to enhance its nuclear triad capabilities. Then: Two new PLA generals are promoted while rectification continues and five CMC seats remain vacan...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sinocism.com Show Notes: On today’s show Andrew and Bill begin with Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building and further signs that one year after from a summer of rumors and one year out from the 21st Party Congress, Xi’s power remains entrenched as ever. Then: MOFCOM and the Ministry of Finance announced restrictions on several dozen US f...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sinocism.com Show Notes: On today's show Andrew and Bill begin with takeaways from Xi's visit to North Korea this week, including the conspicuous silence on North Korea's nuclearization, Kim Jong Un's assistance to Russia's war in Ukraine, Beijing as Kim's top priority, U.S.-Japan dialogue on regional nuclear threats, and an email about...

This episode of Sharp China is outside the paywall. Show Notes: On today's show Andrew and Bill begin with Xi Jinping's call to seize the commanding heights of science, technology, and industry across six industries of the future, as well as the State Council's move to release a 34-article law that will implicate domestic firms, foreign businesses and potentially foreign governments, as well as PR...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sinocism.com Show Notes: On today's show Andrew and Bill begin with the news that Beijing moved to further ease hukou restrictions, including why this is a welcome change for millions of Chinese citizens, as well as a look at questions and challenges as the reforms are implemented. Then: A report that Chinese AI talent has been restrict...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sinocism.com Show Notes: On today's show Andrew and Bill parse the messaging from both sides of last week's US-China summit in Beijing. Topics include: What the PRC means by "a constructive relationship of strategic stability," why the US side adopted the framing as well, a relative absence of tangible deliverables, and why "a calculate...

This episode of Sharp China is outside the paywall. Show Notes: On today's show Andrew and Bill talk through 360 degrees of President Trump's trip to Beijing this week. Topics include: Jensen Huang hitching a ride in Alaska, general expectations for deliverables after limited leaks and hurried advance planning, Trump's reception in Beijing, and the limits of "upper hand" analysis. From there: A co...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sinocism.com Show Notes: On today’s show Andrew and Bill begin with the news that the Meta-Manus deal will likely be unwound in its entirety in the wake of a ruling from the NDRC on Monday. Topics include: The legal grounding cited by Beijing, reports that Manus failed to seek regulatory approval prior to its relocation and acquisition,...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sinocism.com Show Notes: On today's show Andrew and Bill return to discuss the PRC's posture amidst the ongoing war in Iran. Topics include: Xi's call to re-open the Strait of Hormuz, an interdicted Iranian ship that may have been carrying missile precursors from China, Trump's posture toward China three weeks before his summit in Beiji...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sinocism.com Show Notes: On today's show Andrew and Bill begin with the tentative ceasefire in Iran and reports that the PRC applied pressure to the Iranians to defuse the tensions. Topics include: The lack of clarity on what the PRC actually did and why, China's vote at the UN this week, why the PRC would like the war to end sooner rat...

This episode of Sharp China is outside the paywall. Show Notes: On today's show Andrew and Bill begin with thoughts on China's response to the war in Iran, including a peace plan co-authored with Pakistan, why the PRC is not necessarily interested in global leadership, how China sees a deepening U.S. rift with NATO countries, and President Trump's visit to Beijing rescheduled for May 14th. From th...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit sinocism.com Show Notes: On today's show Andrew and Bill begin with last week's indictment of Wally Liaw, the co-founder of Super Micro, and its implications for US chip policy. Topics include: Incredible details from the indictment, US enforcement options, and bipartisan calls for government action on Nvidia exports to China and Southe...