ChinaTalk

Why aren't elderly people in China getting vaccinated? To talk all things vaccine from the early days of the PRC to Covid-19, this episode's guest is Cambridge University associate professor in global studies of science, technology and medicine Mary Brazelton (@brazelton_hps). She is also the author of the 2019 book Mass Vaccination: Citizens' Bodies and State Power in Modern China. Co-hosting is Henry Li (@AliusHenricus), policy lead at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. We discuss Covid-19 vaccinations and why some citizens need incentives to get vaxxed Unit 731 and the history of biological warfare in China What China learned from SARS The role of Traditional Chinese Medicine in modern health Outro music: Love Will Prevail by Various Artists including Jackie Chan and Wang Leehom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt2-5NrWQbU I HAVE CHINATALK NEWSLETTER WHICH YOU SHOULD ALL SIGN UP TO READ! I even bought a new url for you: chinatalk.media Click here to listen to ChinaTalk in your favorite podcast app. ChinaTalk substack: https://chinatalk.substack.com ChinaTalk Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jugurtha656 Support ChinaTalk on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ChinaTalk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prepare a nice cup of tea and put your feet up for a special episode of stories and anecdotes about the late American historian and Sinologist Jonathan Spence, as told by his friend and colleague Paul Kennedy. He takes us through Why the worst thing about being stationed in Germany was the drunk British soldiers Conversations about Chinese history with Henry Kissinger How archaeological digs win you contracts with provincial governments Spence's approach to research and scholarship Outro Music: 'This Map' from the opera The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci (!!!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71cJopakfAw Here's a video recording of the whole opera: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_susz11wE9Q PLUS I HAVE A NEWSLETTER! Check it out! https://www.chinatalk.media/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AI safety is having a moment. To discuss why AI safety matters for national security, today I have on Paul Scharre (@Paul_scharre). He’s the Vice President and Director of Studies at CNAS. He previously served in OSD Policy and as a US Army Ranger. We discuss What the future of war looks like as militaries around the world adopt AI technologies Why using AI in warfare isn't as easy as people think How supply chains can be used as a form of arms control Historical weapons so horrible people simply didn't use them How to get a job at CNAS (they're hiring at cnas.org/careers) Outro music: A.I. 爱 by 王力宏 Wang Leehom, a very much cancelled Taiwanese pop star https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4DuqEL0ChQ. I HAVE CHINATALK NEWSLETTER WHICH YOU SHOULD ALL SIGN UP TO READ! I even bought a new url for you: chinatalk.media Click here to listen to ChinaTalk in your favorite podcast app. ChinaTalk substack: https://chinatalk.substack.com ChinaTalk Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jugurtha656 Support ChinaTalk on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ChinaTalk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does America need an industrial policy to compete in biotech? Today I'm joined by two guests, Ryan Fedasiuk (@RyanFedasiuk) and Gigi Gronvall (@ggronvall). Ryan is a fellow currently on leave from Georgetown's Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET). Gigi is a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. We discuss: The growing uses of biotechnology Biotech security in China and the US How biotech students can be better supported Whether Dwight Schrute was right about the value of beets all along Outro music: 发现美的耳朵 by 马思唯 and 也是福 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaJHDriJGPE I HAVE A NEWSLETTER! Check it out! https://www.chinatalk.media/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wouldn't it be nice to have a world where important policy decisions were decided based on evidence and data rather than narratives and turf battles? Dan Spokojny thought so too, and that's why he's the founder of fp21, a think tank dedicated to changing the processes and institutions of US foreign policy. Along with Jon Bateman, a senior fellow in the technology and international affairs program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, in this episode we talk about some of the failings of contemporary foreign policy decision making processes and what can be done to fix them, including: How to bring more rigor to making policy decisions Why the current system loves a good storyteller What sort of training future foreign policy makers should be getting - but aren't Outro music: Good Bayesian by Baba Brinkman, MC Lars and Mega Ran https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV6Wc_f1Cgo&t=195s I HAVE CHINATALK NEWSLETTER WHICH YOU SHOULD ALL SIGN UP TO READ! I even bought a new url for you: chinatalk.media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Aug 9th Biden signed the Chips + Science Act into law. What’s it gunna do for science? Joining us today is Tim Clancy, founder of Arch Street consulting and former COngressional staffer and NSF official. Toby Smith, Senior VP for Science Policy at the Association of American Universites Cohosting with me is Jacob Feldgoise, Who recently wrote a column on the Act on the CHINATALK NEWSLETTER WHICH YOU SHOULD ALL SIGN UP TO READ! I even bought a new url for you: chinatalk.media. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I HAVE A NEWSLETTER! Subscribe to it at https://www.chinatalk.media/ A few weeks back, Congress actually did something, passing the Chips and Science Act. Most of you have probably heard of the billions going toward subsidizing domestic manufacturing, but a far less-heralded part of the bill may end up matting more in the long run. The Act created the ‘National Semiconductor Technology Center.’ What is it and why does it matter? To discuss, Eric Breckenfeld of the Semiconductor Industry Association and Hassan Khan, who holds a PhD in engineering and public policy, join the show. Outtro music: 发现美的耳朵 by 马思唯 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaJHDriJGPE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I HAVE A NEWSLETTER! Subscribe to it at https://www.chinatalk.media/ To discuss, Eric Breckenfeld of the Semiconductor Industry Association and Hassan Khan, who holds a PhD in engineering and public policy, Outtro Music: Leo王 - 陪妳過假日 feat. 9m88 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS89Vb07C-U Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This year marks ten years since Wang Lijun's fateful flight to the US Embassy in Chengdu, a decision which set in motion a chain of events that ultimately brought down one of China's most powerful politicians, Xi's most credible rival for power in 2012, Bo Xilai. The former mayor of Chongqing remains in prison to this day for bribery, embezzlement and abuse of office, along with his wife Gu Kailai, who is serving life imprisonment for the murder of a British businessman. But a decade later, how much of an impact does Bo's story have in the halls of power? New York Times reporter Chris Buckley joins the show this episode to discuss Bo's legacy and share anecdotes about his encounters with him prior to his arrest, along with formerly Chongqing-based author Xujun Eberlein. Former ChinaTalk producer Alex Boyd co-hosts. We discuss Bo's rise to power in Dalian and his move to Chongqing How Chongqing's man-on-the-street viewed Bo during his tenure - and after The similarities and differences between Bo and Xi Jinping Where is Bo now? I HAVE A NEWSLETTER! Check it out! https://www.chinatalk.media/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I HAVE A NEWSLETTER! Check it out! Joseph Torigian’s “Prestige, Manipulation and Coercion, Elite Power Struggles in The Soviet Union and China After Stalin and Mao” is in pole position for my best China book of 2022. Books that deeply engage with both Soviet and CCP primary sources around elite politics basically never come out nowadays. I for one am deeply grateful that Joe, one of the few folks on the planet with the training, language skills, and motivation to this sort of work, was able to produce this book. Joe puts forward convincing revisionist interpretations of Khrushchev’s triumph after Stalin’s death, had me reconsider my conception of the Gang of 4 after Mao’s death, and made me feel for Hua Guofeng getting done dirty by Deng. His new model of how power transitions really work in authoritarian countries with weak institutions left me more scared than hopeful for whatever happens once Xi exits stage left. Cohosting with me is Lizzi, a video journalist at Wall Street TV, a New York-based independent Chinese language media outlet focusing on Chinese politics and economics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Churchill announced in 1946 that an iron curtain had descended over Europe, the US government only employed two dozen experts on the Soviet Union. Two years later, with the cold war well underway, the CIA only had 12 Russian speakers. Over the following decades, philanthropists and the US government started an intellectual mobilization that had profound effects on the course of the cold war. To talk about this, David Engerman, author of Know Your Enemy: The Rise and Fall of America's Soviet Experts, joins the show along with cohosts Chris Miller, a professor at Tufts, and Sam George, who just finished a masters in East Asian studies at Stanford. We discuss: How America created a cadre of Sovietologists. What their impact was on US policy. Why the experiment ultimately failed. What lessons the story has for contemporary area studies and China studies in particular. Outro music: We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFTLKWw542g Check out David's book here: https://www.amazon.com/Know-Your-Enemy-Americas-Experts/dp/0199832471 ChinaTalk substack: https://chinatalk.substack.com ChinaTalk Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jugurtha656 Support ChinaTalk on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ChinaTalk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In light of Abe's assassination, I thought it would be worthwhile to reflect on the man and his legacy. Last year I recorded an episode discussing Abe Shinzo, second only to Xi as the most consequential East Asian politician of the 21st century. Tobias Harris of the Center for American Progress joined to discuss his new biography of Abe, The Iconoclast. Tobias and I discussed His dramatic rise, fall, and rise again to power How he reshaped governance in Japan through bureaucratic reform How he managed relations with the US and China How tasty his wife's Izakaya is Please consider supporting ChinaTalk at https://glow.fm/chinatalk/ Outtro Music: あそびたりない by Pop Art Town https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icqfJx_0_W0&list=PL0Lwt5eNBHLmL8zP03KbqekrRbje8FCbu&index=92 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm off getting married/honeymooning for the next couple of weeks so in my absence please enjoy this fine ChinaTalk vintage. How can China be so corrupt and yet grow so fast? What's the relationship between corruption and competent governance? How does 'access money' at the higher levels differ from the "profit-sharing" you see lower down in the bureaucracy? How does China in the 21st century compare with America's gilded age? And why won't anyone give me dinosaur eggs? To discuss, Prof. Yuen Yuen Ang joins the show to talk about her fantastic new book, China's Gilded Age. The incredible propaganda rap song feat. Xi Jinping here. ChinaTalk substack: https://chinatalk.substack.com ChinaTalk Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jugurtha656 Support ChinaTalk on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ChinaTalk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mister Softee, the famed northeastern American ice cream brand, in Suzhou, China? Yes, that was a thing. Turner Sparks, rising from humble beginnings as just another English teacher making his way in the world, achieved fame and fortune thanks to a catchy jingle and some tasty mango-flavored soft serve. Yet his vision of China-wide ice cream domination dissolved amid a deluge of backstabbing regulators, slashed tires, and stolen cones. Listen here to learn about the circumstances that finally melted Turner’s ice cream dream. ChinaTalk substack: https://chinatalk.substack.com ChinaTalk Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jugurtha656 Support ChinaTalk on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ChinaTalk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From then-PM David Cameron knocking back pints with Xi at the local pub to the Chinese ambassador being banned from Parliament: how has China's relationship with the UK changed since the so-called Golden Era? This week we have on Sam Hogg (@BeijingToBrit), the recently unmasked writer behind the Substack Beijing to Britain. Co-hosted by ChinaTalk's editor and crypto journalist Callan Quinn (@Quinnishvili). We discuss The decline of the UK-China relationship UK attitudes and policy towards Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan The building up of Chinese expertise within Parliament and the government Confucius Institutes, higher education and Liu Xiaoming's foot fetish Outro music: Shook Ones Part 2 by Mobb Deep https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTKpYJ80OVQ Check out Beijing to Britain here: https://beijingtobritain.substack.com ChinaTalk substack: https://chinatalk.substack.com ChinaTalk Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jugurtha656 Support ChinaTalk on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ChinaTalk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 current tech policy - US public strategy on China and tech and why it’s not very clear. - How LCD panels made it onto the list of critical tech in mid-nineties but mobile phones didn’t. - Why it’s so difficult for intelligence analysts to assess and predict the behavior of a foreign leader. John's report: https://carnegieendowment.org/2022/04/25/u.s.-china-technological-decoupling-strategy-and-policy-framework-pub-86897 What American policymakers read: https://scholars-stage.org/american-policy-makers-do-not-read-books/ Outro music: Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues by Bob Dylan, live at Carnegie Hall 1963 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5Xn9YOKPcQ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 companies could run into supply chain issues if any of their raw materials for goods come from Xinjiang. - What it means for Chinese entities. - The difficult appeals process for disputing customs seizures. Outro music: Alenurkhan performed by Ayshemgul Memet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvVJrSXiwOI Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Hollywood. Along with co-host Irene Liu, a research analyst at Rhodium Group, we get into: Why the director of Seven Years in Tibet apologized to China 15 years after its release Which tech giant has a minority stake in Steven Spielberg’s production company Whether Richard Gere is unhireable Why the Kenyan official responsible for importing films loves Chinese ones The American movies makers involved in Wolf Warriors Irina Nistor, the Romanian translator of Rambo: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/18/opinion/vhs-vs-communism.html. Chuck Norris vs Communism was a fantastic movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znp1dNaPp3k Outro music: My New Swag (我的新衣) by VAVA feat. Ty. and Nina Wang https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aknkofx2bHg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 impacted the broader trajectory of the Cold War The US’s never-ending cycles of self-confidence and self-doubt Today’s Sinologists versus Cold War Sovietologists Why the only person who can stop the war in Ukraine is the one who started it Outro music: Nancy by Ak Benjamin ft. Marz23 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agIvGYMA7Cw CHECK OUT THE CHINATALK SUBSTACK! https://chinatalk.substack.com Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ChinaTalk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 creation of Chinese paintings Painting, the CCP and the four olds Why so many Chinese paintings have writing on them Which university exhibited a 12 by 20 foot oil painting of yours truly without prior permission Check out the newsletter at https://chinatalk.substack.com/ James Cahill lecture series: https://ieas.berkeley.edu/publications/ieas-publications/james-cahill-video-lectures/pure-and-remote-view-all-lectures Cover art is the random giant painting of me. Check out my teacher's paintings here! https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/KnvizfUxkr6TDlZk6sf6_Q Outtro music: 良宵引, a Ming dynasty banger https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s99gDVECTro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Setting since 1880. Together with co-host Jacob Feldgoise, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, we talk about how international standards were established at the impact this had on China’s development. We also discuss How standardized shipping containers made China’s rise possible Why Tim Berners Lee is a benevolent overlord Who has the most influence in setting international standards Why Europe might be more annoying than China from a US standards perspective Outro music: Gonna Be An Engineer by Peggy Seeger https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IGVxBb5uYk CHECK OUT THE CHINATALK SUBSTACK! https://chinatalk.substack.com Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ChinaTalk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 leaders in the CCP and a member of the Politburo Standing Committee. Freelance journalist Chang Che (@Changxche) sat down to talk with me about the book and what it tells us about Chinese interpretations of US - and Western - culture. We also discuss The Shanghai lockdown Why the teaching of Western classical civilization took off in China... ...But also makes very little mention of religion The CCP take on the US culture wars and rewriting curriculums CHECK OUT THE CHINATALK SUBSTACK! https://chinatalk.substack.com Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ChinaTalk Chang’s Wang Huning Article: https://www.newyorker.com/books/second-read/how-a-book-about-americas-history-foretold-chinas-future Chang’s western classics education article: https://supchina.com/2022/01/13/china-looks-to-the-western-classics/ Outro Music: 锦上添花 FREESTYLE by 盛宇 Damnshine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRaoDr1Cbbg Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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-hosting is Schwarzmann Scholar Raven Witherspoon. We also discuss Why China sees NATO as the aggressor and Russia as the victim Why policy experts’ lack of technical literacy is a big problem How China understands nuclear deterrence China’s argument for Putin being a rational actor Whether there is any hope Outro music: 七里香 Remix (original version by Jay Chou) by MACOVASEAS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVvpgNG0giM ChinaTalk is on Substack! See, share, subscribe: https://chinatalk.substack.com Also now on Youtube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXOtILmQEo3pL_1bJfUOFWw And please consider supporting ChinaTalk on Patreon so we can eat more Haidilao before the world ends: https://www.patreon.com/ChinaTalk Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 the war in Ukraine https://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA05/20220330/114573/HHRG-117-FA05-Wstate-LinB-20220330.pdf Check out Bonny's piece on military blunders https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR768.html Subscribe to the ChinaTalk feed! https://chinatalk.substack.com/ And consider supporting the show at https://patreon.com/chinatalk Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 indie music dating app How Wang Leehom’s divorce drama overshadowed a national referendum Song links" 拍謝少年 Sorry Youth - 歹勢中年 Sorry No Youth TALACOWA - Collage ABAO阿爆（阿仍仍)【tjakudain 無奈】 feat. 李英宏 aka Dj Didilong Sonia Calico - Mukbang Roller 無妄合作社 No-nonsense Collective - 平靜的告別 Quiet Farewell 鍾翔宇 Xiangyu - 流言蜚語 Rumors and Slanders Rainbow Chan - Stanley Outro Music: The Moon Represents My Heart by Teresa Teng https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk3VQoAKMUI CHECK OUT THE CHINATALK SUBSTACK! https://chinatalk.substack.com Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ChinaTalk Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 FAT LEONARD, and previously wrote a New York Times bestseller on Jho Low titled Billion Dollar Whale. We discuss How Fat Leonard managed to earn millions through US Navy contracts The fate of the Navy officers who got mixed up with him The secret orgy recordings now in China’s possession Which Chinese historical events deserve the Death of Stalin treatment Support ChinaTalk on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ChinaTalk Check out the Substack: https://chinatalk.substack.com/ Outtro music: V - Swizz Beats by Lil Jon feat. Jho Low (unreleased) Bonus: The song Tom mentions about Jho Low and Leonardo DiCaprio is Check My Steezo by Blind Scuba Divers, from the 22 Jump Street official soundtrack https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcnMvZC6pb0 Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 president had to give new Chancellor Olaf Scholz a shake The new “democracies versus authoritarians” paradigm Consider applying to intern at Rhodium! https://rhg.com/job/research-interns-china-practice/ Outro music: 99 Luftballons by Nena https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpu5a0Bl8eY Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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-world-s-greatest-music-festival-675f3da2ae24) This conversation was recorded Feb 27th. Outtro music (a slovak banger): gleb - Zešlach Crunk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMxLdOQns_o Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Rode to Crimea for Salt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1j9t7Bd_fg Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 This podcast was recorded midday US time on Sunday the 27th. Please consider making a donation to https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/ukraine-crisis-relief-fund/faq/#menu Outtro music: DakhaBrakha - Sho z-pod duba - ДахаБраха - Шо з-под дуба https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2VihbgWGF8 Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.globalgiving.org/projects/ukraine-crisis-relief-fund/faq/#menu Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.globalgiving.org/projects/ukraine-crisis-relief-fund/faq/#menu Outtro music: KALUSH - Не маринуй https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqG2pkbRgr8&list=PLQCynOki8DRB9hWY1WiAV03bXcjrV3Txd Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 system is hurting its ability to attract the best scientists Making electricity from air How much it would cost to send me into space Check out Casey’s blog here: https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com Outtro music: To The Moon by Jnr Choi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzrbpG6UI7c Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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: Which slang phrases have been co-opted into party talk Luckin Coffee founder Charles Lu’s latest venture Whether idioms are fortelling the fates of Chinese celebrities The best sites Chinese-language sites and accounts for Chinese news See Andrew’s full list here: https://newsletter.slowchinese.net/p/china-in-2021-in-21-words Outro Music: Hip Hop No Party MC (嘻哈沒有派對) HotDog (熱狗) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzfMegHg2tY Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 for Thatcher Tiananmen and rebuilding China back from diplomatic isolation Why Chinese right-wingers send the foreign ministry calcium pills Whether Wang Yi can handle Maotai Check out Peter's book here: https://www.amazon.com/Chinas-Civilian-Army-Warrior-Diplomacy/dp/0197513700 Outro music: I Am the Wife of Mao Tse-tung from Nixon in China by John Adams, performed by Kathleen Kim https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mtMI_huRtY Public notice: ChinaTalk's editor Callan is currently in London and planning an informal meetup up on February 24th. Details here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/china-nerds-meetup-tickets-261114549647 Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 world away from Cultural Revolution China. Along with Schwarzman scholar Jason Zhou, we dissect the international diplomacy up to Kissinger’s visit to China. Please consider supporting ChinaTalk at https://patreon.com/chinatalk Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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), with Scholar’s Stage essayist Tanner Greer (@Scholars_Stage) cohosting. We discuss What motivated Japan to invade China Why FDR was particularly worried about a Japanese invasion of the USSR Why Japan and the Nazis thought the West would be on their side The benefits of paying attention to mid level bureaucrats For an ad-free feed, please consider supporting ChinaTalk on Patreon or Substack! Outro music: Bei Mir Bist Du Shein by The Andrew Sisters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe2UXccid40 Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe0DIG0PlM3PxRZVoBs6BZYiTgQr8945Y44llRazzqQVzwwjw/viewform Here's how to record a voice memo. https://www.npr.org/2017/08/15/496888150/nprs-guide-to-sending-audio Outtro music: 弹壳 Danko - 《ANYWAY》https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLcEXu4cSUA Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Xiran thinks Confucius was an arsehole Link to Iron Widow: https://www.amazon.com/Iron-Widow-Xiran-Jay-Zhao/dp/0735269939 Rhodium' careers site: https://rhg.com/careers/ Outtro Music: Lexie Liu's Manta: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fvUnPl5_BA Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's it like to live across the US-China scientific divide? Yale Law School postdoc, particle physicist and essayist Yangyang Cheng (@yangyang_cheng) joins me alongside undergrad Alex Liang to talk about understanding the other, how the personal can be lost in the noise of geopolitical tension and science across borders. We also discuss Power hierarchies and identities The “new red scare” and scrutiny on Chinese scientists The Large Hadron Collider as a Language as an instrument of state power "Brain drain" and other phrases Yangyang doesn't like Please consider supporting ChinaTalk on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/ChinaTalk Links to Yangyang’s articles: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/opinion/sunday/coronavirus-china-US.html https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/05/west-china-threat-real-place-domestic-agendas https://thebulletin.org/premium/2020-12/the-edge-of-our-existence-a-particle-physicist-examines-the-architecture-of-society/ Outro music: I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free by Nina Simone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inNBpizpZkE Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dewey Murdick, director of CSET, discusses how the organization has brought a new level of rigor to hot topics ranging from chips to immigration and AI safety policy. We also discuss: CSET's Map of Science and the fate of Google Scholar Being beholden to the checkbooks of funders Topics that make policymakers' eyes roll - but shouldn't The optimal employment conditions for growing temperate, nice, low-ego, tasty fruit Please consider supporting ChinaTalk at https://www.patreon.com/ChinaTalk for an ad-free feed. Outtro music that Dewey eventually got around to sending me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41U78QP8nBk Daisy Bell - the first computer to sing Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can eating your sons be morally justified? Stratagems of the Warring States is a collection of stories compiled during the Han dynasty about the many states that fought for control of all under heaven in the Warring States Period between the fifth and third centuries BC. Featuring tales of hostages, statecraft, assassinations and throwing shade on princelings, in this special episode of ChinaTalk, voice actors Jacob Guenther and Chara Lin perform excerpts of Jennifer Dodgson's translation into English, while Dodgson herself discusses each piece. Check out Jennifer's website hosting her translations here. Performances include Qin recruits troops and advances on Zhou to demand the nine cauldrons East Zhou wishes to grow rice Gong Ta defects from West Zhou Zhang Yi runs out of money in Chu An attack on Zhongshan The Queen Dowager of Zhao takes over the running of state affairs Outtro music: Prince Qin Breaking Through the Enemy Array, traditional Tang-era music performed by Hubei Chime Bells Orchestra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvTul5_js_A&list=RDadcGeuTMmBA&index=8 Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does the 6th Plenum communique tell us about where Xi wants to take China? What can you learn by reading the People’s Daily daily and writing a substack on it? And how would you design a course to learn how to read the CCP? To discuss, Manoj Kewalramani (@theChinaDude) of the https://trackingpeoplesdaily.substack.com/ and https://manojkewalramani.substack.com/ newsletters, joins to discuss. For an ad-free feed, please consider supporting ChinaTalk at https://www.patreon.com/ChinaTalk Outtro music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m1Uf1hbrxU Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Winner of the inaugural Rhodium and China Talk essay contest, recent college grad Maggie Baughman discusses her essay on how the Chinese government uses Western social media to promote their desired image of China internationally with myself and co-host Jeff Kao, a computational journalist at ProPublica. We discuss: The companies offering Chinese entities access and marketing on western social media How China's approach to western social media differs to that in Russia and Iran Foreign influencers on Weibo Why tourism bureaus love pandas, sunsets and happy workers Please consider supporting ChinaTalk at patreon.com/chinatalk Outtro Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reYOZ8BrVeg Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Red Roulette, Desmond Shum’s memoir of a fast life, deep in the bowels of Chinese politics, is the bombshell China book of 2021. It tells the story of his rise from an impoverished childhood in cultural revolution-era Shanghai and Hong Kong to his marriage to his social climbing wife with ties to the premier of China, and ultimate downfall as Xi’s anti-corruption push caught up with him. New York Times reporter Mike Forsythe (@PekingMike) and Lizzi C Lee (@wstv_lizzi), a journalist at the independent Chinese outlet Wall St TV, join me to discuss. We get into: Corruption crackdowns under Xi Jinping Western reporters reporting on China The not-so-well-hidden fortunes of Politburo members The dietary habits of traveling Chinese officials For an ad-free feed, please consider supporting ChinaTalk on Patreon at https://patreon.com/chinatalk Outtro music: The Reform Group is Two Years Old by CCTV feat. Xi Jinping https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhU8C5RCbBs&t=3s Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

China's energy problems are back in the news. Joining me to discuss them is Yan Qin, lead analyst at Refinitiv, with my Rhodium colleague Irina Liu as co-host. We discuss Whether China is serious about its climate pledge Why Chinese industry is moving westwards How "carbon neutral" became a hot topic The importance of global cooperation on climate change For an ad-free feed, please consider supporting ChinaTalk on Patreon here https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/1959352 check out masterworks.io/chinatalk to buy some art! Outtro music: 020 by Tizzy T https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKqjZMA-F88 Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lisa Porter joins me with Eric Lofgren from AcquisitionTalk as cohost to reflect on how R&D works and doesn't work `in the Pentagon. Lisa served as was deputy director of Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering in the DoD, founding director of IARPA, and executive vice president of In-Q-Tel. We touch on: How the error correction of free markets is absent in DoD A round of overrated/underrated on critical S&T areas How successful government organizations empower their staff Why the US lost its dominance in space launch Please consider supporting ChinaTalk on Patreon here! https://open.acast.com/public/patreon/fanSubscribe/1959352 Outtro Music: 甜甜圈🍩 - KKLUV/WOLF GANG https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sj0_J1KnbM Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hosts of the Dongfang Hour (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3UXwB0UbUIg4z4vssUHPBw), a podcast focusing on the Chinese aerospace industry, Blain Curcio and Jean Deville join me in another ChinaTalk space episode to talk about launches in China and public enthusiasm for space projects. We discuss The Belt and Road in space The differences between the Starlink and Guowang networks Europe’s dilemma on selling to the US and China China’s ambitious space projects in the 2020s Why the vibe in the Chinese private space industry is “smiley and optimistic” Check out https://www.masterworks.io/chinatalk Please consider supporting the show at https://www.patreon.com/ChinaTalk Outtro Music: Young Thug ft Elton Jon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqIyH_9uaOQ Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Logan Wright of the Rhodium Group returns to the pod to discuss Evergrande's implosion, how we got here, and what this week means for China's economy. Read Credit and Credibility! https://www.csis.org/analysis/credit-and-credibility-risks-chinas-economic-resilience If you only have time for one section, start with section 6. Check out Jon's substack here https://jonathonpsine.substack.com/ Come work for Rhodium! https://rhg.com/careers/ My email is jorschneider @ gmail or on twitter at https://twitter.com/jordanschnyc Outtro music: 朱添澤 - 想 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfRvjlcMuoY Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices