Sinica Podcast

This week on the Sinica Podcast, in a show taped on March 23, Chinese foreign policy expert Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, and former national intelligence officer for East Asia Paul Heer join Kaiser for a discussion of possible scenarios that China might face in the eventual aftermath of the Russo-Ukrainian War.5:03 – The uncertain outcome of the war10:06 – Russia as a pariah state14:43 – Which is the junior partner, Russia or China?17:17 – Can China impact the course of the war?22:32 – The three levels of Chinese support for Russia31:39 – What inducements could the U.S. offer China to move decisively away from Russia?36:35 – Scenarios beyond the war: Pax Americana, the Extended Director's Cut; and the Law of the Jungle40:43 – The West Divided, the Pivot Delayed44:19 – Bandung II51:01 – What about India?A transcript of this podcast is available at SupChina.com.Recommendations:Yun: The Great Game In The Eurasia Continent by Fang JinyingPaul: Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate by Mary Sarotte; and Nazis of Copley Square by Charles GallagherKaiser: The Avoidable War: The Dangers of a Catastrophic Conflict between the US and Xi Jinping's China by Kevin RuddSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser is joined by Susan Thornton, former Acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and a veteran diplomat. Susan makes a compelling case for the importance of diplomacy in the U.S.-China relationship — and the alarming absence of real diplomacy over the last several years. She helps interpret American and Chinese diplomatic engagements over the Russo-Ukrainian War and assesses the prospects for China actually playing a role in negotiating an end to the conflict.3:42 – What diplomacy is really all about, and why it's so conspicuously absent7:32 – Does it make sense for the U.S. to expect Beijing to outright condemn the invasion?10:40 – What should the U.S. actually expect from China?13:55 – Is China willing and able to play a meaningful role as a mediator?17:06 – What's up with the leaks?21:32 – Reading the readouts28:20 – What is China's optimal endgame here?32:06 – China's "southern strategy"34:50 – Do upcoming U.S. midterm and presidential elections matter to Beijing?41:29 – What are we missing when we talk about China's perspectives on the war?A full transcript of this interview is available on SupChina.comRecommendations:Susan: Butter Lamp, a short film directed by Hu Wei, nominated for Best Live Action Short at the 87th Academy AwardsKaiser: Birria Tacos. Here's a good recipe! (These should come with a doctor's warning)   See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica: Chén Dìngdìng 陈定定, professor of international relations at Jinan University in Guangzhou, offers his perspective on how Beijing views the war in Ukraine that began on February 24 with the Russian invasion. He concludes that while Beijing's short-term alignment with Russia is fairly locked in and unlikely to shift soon, the long-term prospects for the partnership are far less certain. Kaiser and Dingding discuss where Russian and Chinese worldviews are congruent, the unlikelihood that China will put itself forward as some kind of mediator in the war, and China's domestic considerations in the Russo-Ukrainian War.4:37 – China's assessment of Russia's comprehensive national power8:09 – Has the course of the war and Russian underperformance caused Beijing to recalibrate?10:37 – When did the Sino-Russian convergence really happen?24:47 – India and Vietnam as complicating factors in the Russo-Chinese relationship27:26 – Does Xi's personal relationship with Putin matter?29:16 – The leaks of alleged intel showing Russia asked for Chinese military assistance38:23 – The significance of the Hu Wei essay calling for Beijing to break with Moscow over the war46:38 – Domestic considerationsA transcript of this interview is available on SupChina.com.RecommendationsDingding: The late Ezra Vogel's Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of ChinaKaiser: Kingdom of Characters: the Language Revolution That Made China Modern by Jing TsuSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with Maria Repnikova, assistant professor of global communications at Georgia State University, who recently published a short book under the Cambridge Elements series called Chinese Soft Power. A native Russian speaker who also reads and speaks Chinese, Maria has been a keen observer of China's response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and offers her perspectives on Chinese media coverage of the war and the impact of China's pro-Russian tilt on Beijing's soft power ambitions. She recently co-authored a piece in The Atlantic arguing that China's apparent pro-Russian position is about one thing only: the United States and China's opposition to American unipolar hegemony.4:25 – Definitions of soft power: Joseph Nye's and China's8:49 – The Chinese discourse on soft power: three major schools14:09 – How talking about soft power allows the airing of hard truths23:24 – Chinese soft power in the global South37:49 – How badly has the Russo-Ukraine War eroded Chinese soft power?41:44 – How Russian media has been talking about China since the invasion of Ukraine began44:50 – Why China's pro-Russia lean is really all about America54:40 – Is Russia's media style the future of Chinese media? On the "RTification" of Chinese mediaA full transcript of this podcast is available on SupChina.com.Recommendations:Maria: Prototype Nation by Silvia Lindtner; and an anti-recommendation for the show Inventing Anna, which is streaming on NetflixKaiser: Season 5 of the show The Last Kingdom; and the sequel to Vikings, called Vikings: Valhalla. Both are on Netflix.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on the Sinica Podcast, Kaiser chats with Evan Feigenbaum, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, former vice-chairman of the Paulson Institute, and (during the second George W. Bush administration), Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs under Condoleeza Rice. Evan offers a very compelling analysis of the difficult position that Beijing now finds itself in after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine — caught on the horns of a dilemma and unable to resolve conflicting commitments to, on the one hand, territorial sovereignty and, on the other, opposition to American unipolar hegemony. Meanwhile, Beijing is fearful of the repercussions of siding with Russia, fearing that sanctions may have a real bite. Evan also shares his thoughts on how China and Russia differ significantly in their posture toward the “rules-based international order,” on misguided thinking about Taiwan and the “strategic triangle,” and on the reshaping of the geopolitical and geoeconomic order that the Russian invasion of Ukraine will usher in.4:48 – The basic contradictions in China's competing objectives25:58 – Did Xi know about Putin's intention to invade?31:34 – Are the U.S. and NATO pushing China into the Russian embrace?35:15 – The economic impact of the war: China and sanctions40:30 – Taiwan takes and why straight-line thinking doesn't cut it48:53 – Does Beijing have an accurate sense of its ability to affect outcomes here?50:26 – China and Russia: the differences in their international behavior57:44 – The geopolitical and geoeconomic impact of Russia's invasion of UkraineA transcript of this interview is available at SupChina.com.Recommendations:Evan: Summer Kitchens, a Ukrainian cookbook by Olia HerculesKaiser: Fareed Zakaria on the Ezra Klein Show from March 4, 2022; and the new Steven Spielberg remake of West Side StorySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with Jeff Bader, who served as senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council during the first years of the Obama presidency, until 2011. Now a senior fellow at the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institute, Jeff was deeply involved in U.S.-China affairs at the State Department from his first posting to Beijing back in 1981 continuously for the next 21 years, through 2002. He later served as U.S. ambassador to Namibia and was tapped to head Asian Affairs at the NSC after Obama took office. Jeff is the author of a fascinating book on Obama’s China policy, Obama and China’s Rise: An Insider’s Account of America’s Asia Strategy. In this conversation, he offers a candid critique of the Biden China policy to date.Note that this conversation was taped in mid-February — before the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, and before the Department of Justice announced the end of the "China Initiative."3:23 – How viewing China over 40 years of rapid development has shaped the way Jeff thinks about China8:54 – Jeff Bader's critique of the Biden administration's China policy19:40 – Is it important to have a China strategy?24:55 – Right-sizing China's ambitions: Is Rush Doshi right?31:17 – Defining China's legitimate interests38:31 – Has China already concluded that the U.S., irrespective of who is in power, seeks to thwart China's rise?43:16 – How can China participate in the rules-based international order?47:52 – Is it still possible for Biden to change his tune on China?52:57 – How much room does Biden have politically? Can he exploit to electorate's partisan divide on China?59:54 – What is the "low-hanging fruit" that Biden could pluck to signal a lowering of temperature?1:12:09 – Jeff Bader's precepts for better understanding of — and better policy toward — ChinaA transcript of this podcast is available at SupChina.comRecommendationsJeff: Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom, a book by Stephen Platt about the Taiping Civil War focusing on Hong Rengan.Kaiser: Re-recommending two previous guests' recommendations: Iaian McGilchrists's The Master and his Emissary recommended by Anthea Roberts; and Unfabling the East: The Enlightenment's Encounter with Asia by Jurgen Osterhammel, recommended by Dan Wang.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with William (Bill) Klein, who served as acting deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing from 2016 to mid-2021. In a wide-ranging conversation, he offers insights about his postings at AIT in Taiwan in the aftermath of the Sunflower Movement, the APEC meeting in Hangzhou, and the vicissitudes of Sino-American diplomacy during the turbulent Trump years — Taiwan issues, the trade war, Huawei and diplomatic hostage-taking, the COVID-19 outbreak, and much more. Bill offers a measured and balanced view, exhibiting the same thoughtfulness and empathy that made him a great diplomat.2:56 – The aftermath of the global financial crisis as the inflection point in U.S.-China relations4:14 – Taiwan and the Sunflower Movement: Bill's years at AIT8:33 – The G20 meeting in Hangzhou, 201612:12 – Chinese perspectives on the U.S. presidential race of 201616:40 – The Tsai Ing-wen phone call19:17 – Trump pulls out of Paris21:09 – The onset of the Trade War24:44 – Ambassador Terry Branstad, his relationship with Xi, and what he accomplished27:48 – The conflict over Chinese technology: Huawei, Meng Wanzhou, and the Two Michaels.35:20 – The Trump response to early reports of the Xinjiang camps39:35 – The view from the U.S. Embassy as the SARS CoV-2 virus began to spread47:26 – The emerging Chinese consensus on U.S. intentions toward China — and how the Houston Consulate closure was a turning point.A transcript of this interview is available on SupChina.com.Recommendations:Bill: Project Hail Mary, a science fiction novel by Andy Weir.Kaiser: "The Modern Chinese Novel," an online course available free on YouTube by Christopher Rea.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on the Sinica Podcast, Kaiser chats with Megan Walsh, journalist, literary critic, and author of the brand-new book The Subplot: What China Is Reading and Why It Matters. The book offers an accessible overview of China's literary scene, from better-known writers like Mò Yán 莫言 and Yán Liánkē 阎连科 to writers working in fiction genres like crime and sci-fi, and from migrant worker poets to the largely anonymous legions of writers churning out vast amounts of internet fiction. Megan talks about the burden of politics in the life of writers, the wild popularity of dānměi 耽美 (gay-male-themed web fiction), and the surprising streak of techno-optimism in Chinese science fiction.7:09 – The long shadow of the May Fourth Movement12:09 – Politics and the western gaze17:51 – Why Yan Lianke is Megan's favorite Chinese writer26:51 – The literary scene in Beijing in the 2000s29:05 – China's ginormous and mostly terrible internet fiction industry39:19 – What makes Chinese science fiction Chinese?A transcript of this interview is available on SupChina.com.Recommendations:Megan: Yiyun Li's memoir, Dear Friend, from my Life I Write to You in Your Life; and the New Zealand singer-songwriter Aldous HardingKaiser: The Audible Original epistolary audio drama When You Finish Saving the World by Jesse EisenbergSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on the Sinica Podcast, Kaiser chats with Indiana University political scientist Jason Wu about his work on China's ideological landscape. With so many now framing the contest between the U.S. (or, more broadly, "the West") and China in terms of ideology, it makes sense to examine what "ideology" means to each party, to get a sense of what China's actual ideology consists of, and how Chinese people understand their own ideological positioning relative to concepts like "left" and "right" that are familiar in the West. Wu's research yields some very surprising results: In most countries that have been studied, the degree of ideological constraint — coherence or consistency among different issue positions — tends to be higher among people with greater knowledge of politics. But in China, as with so many other things, just the opposite appears to be true.4:23 – What is the meaning of "ideology"?15:37 – What is China's ideology?20:17 – On "The Nature of Ideology in Urban China" and the odd inverse correlation between political knowledge and ideological consistency in China40:18 – On "Categorical Confusion: Ideological Labels in China" and the meaning of "left" and "right" in ChinaA transcript of this podcast is available on SupChina.com.Recommendations:Jason: The campus novels Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis and Straight Man by Richard Russo; and the two-person board game Twilight StruggleKaiser: The Magic Mountain by Thomas MannSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with Jeremy Daum, senior research scholar in law and senior fellow at Yale University's Paul Tsai China Center. Jeremy runs ChinaLawTranslate.com, a Wiki-style resource for translations of Chinese laws and regulations and an invaluable resource not just for legal scholars but for anyone interested in understanding China's policy direction. In a wide-ranging conversation, Jeremy talks about why the law remains important despite frequent assertions that there is no rule of law in China, critiques the "techno-authoritarian" narrative on China, and offers an informed take on the much-maligned "social credit system." Jeremy's work on the social credit system has earned him a reputation as a debunker, and in this episode, he makes clear what the system is and is not.3:28 – The ChinaLawTranslate.com project and its origins5:21 – Why does the law matter in China?10:09 – The technology narrative in Xinjiang13:12 – Can the U.S. learn anything from Chinese law?17:59 – Juvenile law and the Chinese conception of the state's role in the family24:13 – The paternalistic conception of law and the COVID-19 response in China28:49 – Mythbusting and the social credit system42:21 – China's Plea Leniency System and the case for engagement in jurisprudenceA transcript of this interview is available on SupChina.com.Recommendations:Jeremy: The Fixer, a novel by Bernard MalamudKaiser: Going back to basics: Chinese stir-fry lessons on the YouTube channel "Chinese Cooking Demystified"See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on the Sinica Podcast, Kaiser welcomes back Rory Truex, who teaches politics and international affairs at Princeton. In a fascinating as-yet-unpublished paper, Rory draws on extensive survey research that examines both political attitudes and personalities among Chinese participants and finds a strong correlation between political discontent and "isolating personality traits," like introversion, disagreeableness, and lack of close personal ties with others. Rory and Kaiser discuss the paper, the fascination with authoritarian resilience among Rory's cohort of China scholars, and the fertile intersection of psychology and politics.4:03 – What's with the obsession among young China-focused political scientists with authoritarian resilience?10:02 – The problem of "preference falsification" in social science research in China — and the solution!16:29 – Rory describes the dataset and the approach behind his paper on personality and political discontent33:14 – What do the personalities of Party members look like?42:15 – Personality and politics in Russia vs. ChinaA transcript of this podcast is available at SupChina.com.Recommendations: Rory: The work of the Center for Security in Emerging Technology (CSET); and the Fan Brothers' oeuvre of children's books, including The Night Gardner and The Barnabus ProjectKaiser: The immensely popular daily word game WordleSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on the Sinica Podcast, Kaiser welcomes back Dan Wang, technology analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics, to talk about this year's annual letter. Dan's letters have become something of an institution: wide-ranging, insightful, and always contentious, his missives are read by a great many observers of contemporary China and spark some lively conversations. This year's letter contrasts the major megacities that Dan has lived in (Beijing, Shanghai, and the "Greater Bay Area" of the Pearl River Delta), examines Xi Jinping's efforts to shift the energies of China's technologists and entrepreneurs away from the consumer internet and toward deep tech, ponders the causes of China's "cultural stunting" and the challenges that China faces, and has not yet overcome, in creating cultural products that the rest of the world wants, and warns of the dangers of focusing only on China's weaknesses and problems and ignoring its prodigious capabilities. Tune in for a fascinating conversation with one of the Sinosphere's more original thinkers.4:15 – Dan appraises Beijing, Shanghai, and the PRD Greater Bay Area20:48 – How to think about the "common prosperity" agenda (a.k.a. the Red New Deal)39:21 – The tradeoff between efficiency and resilience: China as an inefficient but anti-fragile economy45:34 – Should the United States be learning from China? The case for reform of American institutions50:38 – A technocratic resurgence in China? The rise of a "Beihang Clique"58:17 – The causes of "cultural stunting" in ChinaA transcript of this podcast is available on SupChina.com.Recommendations:Dan: Charles Dickens, Bleak House, and Jurgen Osterhammel, Unfabling the East: The Enlightenment's Encounter with AsiaKaiser: Ritchie Robertson, The Enlightenment: The Pursuit of Happiness, 1680 to 1790See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What we think about China depends in large measure on how we think about China. As a nation of 1.4 billion people in the throes of world-historic change, it's more important than ever to examine our own mental models when it comes to our understanding of China. This week on the Sinica Podcast, Kaiser kicks off an informal series on "thinking about thinking about China" with a conversation with Anthea Roberts and Nicolas Lamp, co-authors of the book Six Faces of Globalization: Who Wins, Who Loses, and Why it Matters. While the book focuses on globalization, in which China has been a central actor, it's really a book about ways to approach all complex issues — and will equip you with immensely useful ways to conceptualize any number of problems related to China. Kaiser calls the book "an upgrade to [his] mental operating system." Please enjoy this fascinating discussion with two brilliant scholars.5:36 – What are the building blocks of a "narrative?"8:08 – The six main narratives on globalization laid out26:23 – The challenge of articulating problematic or objectionable narratives in good faith53:54 – How China fits into the six "Western" narratives on globalization56:55 – Chinese perspectives on globalization1:11:58 – Different metaphors for integrative complexity1:21:01 – Disciplines and training that prepare or predispose people toward complexity1:24:33 – Name-checking the influencesA transcript of this conversation is available on SupChina.com.Recommendations:Anthea: The Master and His Emissary, by Ian McGilchristNicolas: The Once and Future Worker, by Oren Cass; and the China Trade Monitor website, run by Simon Lester and Huan Zhu.Kaiser: "China's Reform Generation Adapts to Life in the Middle Class," by Peter HesslerOther Links: This episode mentions a great many books and authors. Here's a partial list!Isaiah Berlin, The Hedgehog and the FoxDaniel Kahneman, Thinking, Slow and FastHoward Gardner, Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons in Theory and Practice; and his memoir, A Synthesizing MindPhilip Tetlock and Dan Gardner, Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and ReligionPaul Blustein, Schism: China, America, and the Fracturing of the Global Trading SystemJulia Galef, The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don'tDavid Epstein, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized WorldC.P. Snow, The Two Cultures and the Scientific RevolutionEdward O. Wilson, Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge George Lakoff, Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives ThinkGareth Morgan, Images of OrganizationSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with David McCourt, associate professor of sociology at the University of California, Davis. For the last several years, David — who is not himself a China specialist — has undertaken a sociological study of "China-watchers," and has presented his findings to date in a series of papers as he prepares to publish a book. Focusing on China-watchers as a community, he offers fascinating insights into how they interact to shape the major narratives of "engagement" and "strategic competition.5:24 – Who counts as a “China-watcher”?13:53 – A taxonomy of China-watchers 21:43 – Small e engagement and capital E Engagement 28:35 – The sociological sources of China policy 37:54 – What China policy positions tell us about America 45:14 – Habitus and China policy orientation 55:19 – The China-watching community and American presidential administrations, Obama to Biden A transcript of this conversation is available at SupChina.com. Recommendations:  David: Gregoire Chamayou, The Ungovernable Society: A Genealogy of Authoritarian Liberalism Kaiser: The works of the great American political scientist Robert Jervis, who died on December 9, especially Perception and Misperception in International Politics and System Effects: Complexity in Political and Social LifeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with Damien Ma, managing director and co-founder of the Paulson Institute’s think-tank, MacroPolo. Damien discusses MacroPolo's new forecast of the property market in China and the likely impact of the predicted contraction of that market. Damien also offers advice on what smart China-watchers will be keeping their eyes on in the coming, highly political year in China in the leadup to the 20th Party Congress. And he shares the amusing story of what happened the evening after he last appeared on Sinica way back when.2:58 – Damien recalls how he nearly led Sinica's interns to their doom one fateful night in 20147:23 – MacroPolo's forecast of the property market through 202516:28 – How will local governments fund themselves without land sales?20:11 – Damien's take on Xi Jinping's "common prosperity" agenda28:53 – Understanding China today through the lens of scarcity30:49 – Tips for watching developments in China in this political year40:00 – Cool stuff from MacroPoloA transcript of this conversation is available on SupChina.com.Recommendations:Damien: Derek Thompson, "America is Running on Fumes," in The Atlantic.Kaiser: Peter Jackson's epic Beatles documentary Get Back on Disney+See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on the Sinica Podcast, Kaiser chats with Eileen Guo and Jess Aloe, two members of the three-person team of reporters at the MIT Technology Review who took a data-centered look at the U.S. Department of Justice's China Initiative and uncovered serious problems: an ill-defined mission, low conviction rates, post hoc efforts to remove cases previously described as falling under the China Initiative, and strong evidence of racial profiling.3:03 – The genesis of the report9:15 – How the Department of Justice defines — or doesn't define — the China Initiative19:00 – The deletion of China Initiative cases from the DoJ's website22:34 – Was the Anming Hu case a watershed?30:57 – The evidence for racial profiling38:26 – Biden's conundrumA transcript of this podcast is available on SupChina.com.Recommendations:Eileen: America for Beginners, a novel by Leah FranquiJess: The Expanse, a science fiction series on Amazon PrimeKaiser: Cloud Cuckoo Land, a novel by Anthony DoerrSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The recently-concluded Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) meeting in Dakar, Senegal, generated surprisingly little international press coverage — except for a few stories that seized on what looked, at first blush, like a significant decrease in Beijing's overall investment commitment on the continent. If Beijing sees a concerted effort by the U.S. and Europe to diminish, tarnish, or counteract China's position in Africa, it might well be excused: Its triannual Sino-African love fest, after all, didn't receive nearly as much attention as two problematic stories did: one centering on the alleged Chinese seizure of Uganda's Entebbe Airport, and another claiming that China plans to build a military base in Equatorial Guinea — a base that could threaten the East Coast of the United States, as reports suggested.And then there's the U.S.-led "Build Back Better World" (B3W) initiative, which was launched at the G7 summit in June, and the European Commission's own answer to China's Belt and Road Initiative: the Global Gateway Strategy, which was announced on the final day of FOCAC. This week on Sinica, Kaiser and Jeremy speak with the Nairobi-based development economist Anzetse Were and Eric Olander, host of the China in Africa Podcast. They both have a lot to say about FOCAC coverage, media narratives on China in Africa, and the likelihood that programs like B3W and Global Gateway can move the needle when it comes to China's position on the continent.5:08 – Major takeaways from FOCAC 20217:19 – Just how much money did China commit this time?15:57 – FOCAC 2021 as an inflection point in China-Africa relations19:05 – Media disconnects on the China-Africa story and "psychological self-soothing"23:33 – The mistaken reports on China's alleged seizure of Entebbe Airport in Uganda30:28 – The Wall Street Journal's report on China's alleged plans to build a military base in Equatorial Guinea44:55 – China's vaccine diplomacy in Africa52:12 – B3W (Build Back Better World) and Global Gateway as counters to the BRIA transcript of this episode is available on SupChina.comRecommendations:Jeremy: Political Pilgrims: Western Intellectuals in Search of the Good Society by Paul HollanderAnzetse: Market Power and Role of the Private Sector by the China-Africa Business Council; and "Africa's economic transformation: the role of Chinese investment," by Linda Calabrese and Xiaoyang TangEric: "Guānxì: Power, Networking, and Influence in China-Africa Relations," by Paul NantulyaKaiser: Beware of Pity, a novel by Stefan ZweigSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, we bring you a selection of the best of our China Stories podcast. Launched in late January this year, it has published nearly 400 narrated pieces from the best English-language media outlets focused on China: Sixth Tone, Caixin Global, The Wire China, Protocol China, The World of Chinese, and Week in China — plus, of course, SupChina. The stories are read by Chinese-speaking narrators who won't badly mispronounce Chinese names and other words. If you enjoy this sampling, please make sure to subscribe to China Stories wherever you get your podcasts.3:04 – Peter Hessler's last class, published in Sixth Tone, written by He Yujia, and read by Elyse Ribbons25:07 – Luo Jialing, a.k.a. Liza Hardoon, and the height of global Shanghai, written by James Carter, published in SupChina, and read by John D. Van Fleet37:22 – Qianlong Emperor: The worst poet in Chinese history?, written by Sun Jiahui, published in The World of Chinese, and read by Cliff Larsen46:52 – Partners in profit, published by Week in China, and read by Sylvia Franke52:36 – Shot heard round the world: China's Olympic return, written by Sam Davies, published in The World of Chinese, and read by Sarah Kutulakos58:32 – China's culture wars, now playing on Bilibili, written by Shen Lu, published in Protocol China, and read by Kaiser Kuo1:07:23 – I sacrificed 16 years to the mines, as told to Gushi FM in Chinese by Chen Nianxi, translated by Nathaniel J. Gan, published in The World of Chinese, and read by Elyse Ribbons1:34:50 – Family values, excerpted from One Thousand Years of Joys and Sorrows, by Ai Weiwei, published in The Wire China, and read by Kaiser KuoSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on the Sinica Podcast, we bring you Part 2 of a conversation with Lizzi Lee, an economist turned China analyst, and Jude Blanchette, the Freeman Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). In September, Lizzi and Jude joined Kaiser and Jeremy to discuss the wide-ranging set of regulatory moves by Beijing, touching on many disparate realms of Chinese life — from real estate to renewable energy, and from entertainment to education. But much has happened since then, and as we promised at the end of that episode, we reconvened to discuss the same topic at our NEXTChina 2021 conference on November 10-11. Don't miss this one!3:53 – A reappraisal and clarification of the Red New Deal9:02 – Kaiser's hypothesis about why Xi Jinping is pushing such far-reaching changes now10:29 – Lizzi Lee offers her take on the timing14:41 – Jude on why "Red New Deal" doesn't quite go far enough in describing the changes afoot18:50 – Lizzi on the dangers of bursting the real estate bubble27:26 – Has Xi Jinping left any off-ramps?A transcript of this episode is available at SupChina.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Recent polls conducted by organizations like Gallup and Pew have shown a precipitous decline in U.S. public opinion toward China. But how do the Chinese feel about the U.S.? This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with Yawei Liu, senior China advisor at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, and with Michael Cerny, associate editor of the Carter Center's China Perception Monitor, about a survey commissioned by the center on Chinese attitudes toward the United States and Chinese perceptions of global opinion on China.7:48 – The methodology behind the survey13:02 – The survey's central questions25:30 – The polarized 55-64 age group28:17 – The drivers of Chinese negative perceptions of the U.S.37:35 – Inflection points in Chinese perceptions of the U.S.45:31 – Generational effects on Chinese perceptions50:27 – The causal direction: Do negative perceptions of the U.S. boost Chinese notions about international perceptions of China?A transcript of this interview is available at SupChina.comRecommendations:Michael: Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner; and Causal Inference: The Mixtape by Scott CunninghamYawei: How the Red Sun Rose by Gao Hua;, translated by Stacey Mosher; and The Battle of Chosin, a documentary film from PBSKaiser: Y: The Last Man, a post-apocalyptic TV show from FX, available on HuluSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, a live show taped on November 11 at the fourth annual NEXTChina Conference at the China Institute in New York, featuring Peter Hessler. Pete returned to the U.S. from Chengdu over the summer after his contract at Sichuan University, where he was teaching journalism and freshman composition, was not renewed. His departure sparked speculation about government displeasure at his reporting for The New Yorker — despite earlier criticism that his coverage of China's COVID-19 response had been too favorable to Beijing. Pete joins Kaiser and Jeremy to discuss his latest book, The Buried: An Archaeology of the Egyptian Revolution, his approach to writing on China, his interactions with his students, and the real reasons for his departure from China.3:18 – How Egypt sheds light on China7:00 – Language-learning as a device in Pete Hessler's writing9:50 – How Pete kept in touch with over 100 students from Fuling — the making of a longitudinal cohort study18:33 – How Pete is viewed in China vs. in Egypt25:10 – Pete's writing on Chinese entrepreneurship29:02 – Why Pete & Leslie moved to Chengdu — and why they had to leaveA transcript of this podcast is available on SupChina.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser and Jeremy discuss mental health in China with George Hu, a Shanghai-based clinical psychologist who serves as president of the Shanghai International Mental Health Association and leads the United Family Mental Health Network. George describes how American ideas of psychiatry and psychology have shaped the way Chinese mental health professionals understand mental wellness and mental distress, resulting in the importation of approaches to diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders that may not always be the best fit with China's cultural, sociological, and historical realities.5:14: – Trying to assess the scale of mental illness in China9:45 – How mental health is diagnosed and classified in China19:00 – Mental health and the extraordinary competitiveness of life in China28:09 – The growing focus on the intersection between culture and mental health in China37:21 – Issues faced by American students in China 46:17 – Mental health and the COVID-19 pandemic50:42 – Bicultural therapyA transcript of this interview is available on SupChina.com.Recommendations:Jeremy: Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake George: Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche by Ethan WattersKaiser: Awakening from Dukkha from the Inner Mongolian band Nine TreasuresSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A warm Sinica welcome to our newest network member, the China Sports Insider Podcast!If it's about sports and there's a China angle, our hosts Mark Dreyer — the China Sports Insider himself — and Haig Balian, the show's producer, will talk about it. This week: fewer than a hundred days to go to the Beijing Olympics, and foreign athletes have been trickling in for test events. What's happening? What are they saying? (7:18)The IOC released their playbook — their game plan for the Olympics. How will visiting media and athletes react to Beijing’s health and safety measures? (12:42)Then we talk to USA Today’s Dan Wolken. He's covered four Olympics, and he's coming to Beijing. What does he make of the playbook? (19:06)And we end with the saga of China's men’s national ice hockey team. Their story is getting a lot of attention from foreign media. At the Olympic tournament they'll be in a group with Canada, USA, and Germany, and there's a real chance they’ll get blown out. How did we get here? What’s the way out? (41:06)Update: Since we recorded this, the IIHF has announced that China will not be kicked out of the Olympic tournament. For more stories read China Sports InsiderFind Mark Dreyer on TwitterFind Haig Balian on TwitterLearn about the Olympic playbooksSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, we present a deep-dive into the worldview of China’s leading Party theorist, Wáng Hùníng 王沪宁. Wang — the only member of the Politburo Standing Committee who has not run a province or provincial-level municipality — is believed to have been the thinker behind ideas as central (and as ideologically distinct) as Jiāng Zémín’s 江泽民 signature “Three Represents,” which brought capitalists into the Chinese Communist Party; Hú Jǐntāo’s 胡锦涛 “Scientific Outlook on Development” that focused on social harmony; and Xí Jìnpíng’s “Chinese Dream” that aimed at the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” While much of Wang’s life since he entered government has been hidden from view, his earlier writings contain many ideas that appear to have shaped Party policy across the tenure of three Party general secretaries over a period of nearly three decades, and offer clues about what still might be in store. Kaiser is joined by Joseph Fewsmith III, an eminent professor of political science at Boston University; the intellectual historian Timothy Cheek, professor of history at the University of British Columbia, whose work has focused on establishment intellectuals in the PRC; and Matthew Johnson, principal and founder of the China-focused consultancy AltaSilva LLC, who has studied and written about Wang extensively.4:31 – An outline of Wang Huning's career8:36 – Wang Huning's personality and temperament12:28 – Wang speaks16:45 – Wang as an example of post-charismatic leadership loyalty24:02 – Wang's America Against America31:04 – Wang Huning's concepts of cultural security and cultural sovereignty46:36 – Wang and Document Number Nine55:39 – Chinese conceptions of democracyA transcript of this podcast is available on SupChina.com.Recommendations:Matt: The Nerves of Government: Models of Political Communication and Control by Karl Deutsch; and The Logic of Images in International Relations by Robert Jervis.Joe: Now that more Americans recognize that China is not becoming "more like us," they need a deeper understanding of China, and not one just rooted in hostility and militarism.Tim: In Memory of Memory by Maria Stepanova.Kaiser: River of Stars by Guy Gavriel KaySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, we present a talk delivered on October 19 by Kaiser at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, as part of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations China Town Hall. In this 30-minute speech, Kaiser offers his views on Xí Jìnpíng's 习近平 "Red New Deal," discusses the many lenses through which China is viewed, and argues that the changes now afoot in China constitute a major historic shift — and perhaps even the end of the modern period in China's history.We'll be back next week with a conversation about Wáng Hùníng 王沪宁, the Chinese Communist Party's leading theorist, featuring three leading scholars on modern China's politics and intellectual history: Timothy Cheek of the University of British Columbia, Joseph Fewsmith III of Boston University, and Matthew Johnson, a historian who now runs a China-focused consultancy but has made Wang Huning a major focus of his work.A transcript of this episode is available on SupChina.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica: Did the Trump-era tariffs have their intended effects? In other words, did they prompt companies to pull up stakes in China and re-shore jobs to the United States? Kaiser chats with two political scientists, Samantha Vortherms of UC Irvine and Jack Zhang, director of the University of Kansas’s Trade War Lab, about the paper they recently published with the intention of answering that question. The paper is called “Political Risk and Firm Exit: Evidence from the US-China Trade War.” They share their findings and explore the paper’s policy implications.4:16 – Sam and Jack offer their thoughts on U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai’s recent speech on U.S.-China trade10:05 – Distinguishing between tariffs and other aspects of the trade war13:46 – Previously, on the U.S.-China Trade War: A brief recap of the trade war to date18:35 – The Foreign Invested Enterprises in China dataset23:14 – A summary of the paper’s findings: Tariffs did not increase the likelihood of firms exiting47:15 – What explains the relative reticence of affected firms when it comes to voicing opposition to tariffs?55:36 – What would you tell Katherine Tai and Gina Raimondo if they were your captive audience?A transcript of this interview is available on SupChina.com.Recommendations:Sam: The podcast Invisibilia, and specifically, a recent episode called “International Friend of Mystery.”Jack: The Masters of Chinese Economics and Political Affairs (MCEPA) degree program at UC San Diego's School of Global Policy and Strategy, and Amitav Ghosh’s River of Smoke (part of the Ibis series).Kaiser: A Song for Arbonne, a semi-historical fantasy novel by Guy Gavriel Kay.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with Shelley Rigger, Brown professor of political science at Davidson College and author of the new book The Tiger Leading the Dragon: How Taiwan Propelled China’s Economic Rise. Shelley recounts Taiwan’s rise as an export-led powerhouse and one of the Asian Tigers, and explains the wave of Taiwanese SMEs (small and medium enterprises) that transformed China into the factory to the world. She also opens a window on world-class Taiwanese companies like Foxconn, which employs some 15 million people in China and assembles some of Apple’s most iconic and consequential products, and TSMC, the world’s most valuable semiconductor company, and discusses how the island’s business relationship with China has complicated politics in Taiwan.4:34 - The story of Chen Tian-fu, Umbrella King of Taiwan9:27 - Explaining the psychological distance between Taiwanese and mainland Chinese19:08 - The conditions that created the Taiwan manufacturing boom33:42 - Why Taiwan manufacturing moved to the Mainland48:36 - The vulnerability of Taishang on the Chinese mainland53:03 - Moving up the value chain: Foxconn and TSMC1:07:31 - Beyond business: the impact of Taiwan on Chinese cultural life1:13:52 - Taiwan influence on Chinese institutionsA transcript of this interview is available on SupChina.comRecommendations: Shelley: Giri/Haji, a joint BBC-Japanese crime drama on Netflix.Kaiser: Jonathan Franzen’s new novel, CrossroadsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with Michael Davidson, a leading scholar on China’s environmental policy, who holds joint appointments at UC San Diego as an assistant professor at the School of Global Policy and Strategy and the Jacobs School of Engineering. Michael unpacks recent announcements out of Beijing, including Xí Jìnpíng’s 习近平 decision to cease all funding for coal-fired power plants outside of China, and explains the linkage between China’s push for non-fossil energy and the recent power shortages that have affected 20 provinces. He also explains China’s new emissions trading scheme, or ETS, and discusses what China still needs to do to meet the ambitious targets set by Xi Jinping last year: reaching peak carbon emissions by 2030, and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. 3:26 – Xi Jinping’s announced end to funding for coal-fired generators outside China at UNGA12:00 – China’s recent power outages and their relationship to emissions reduction19:32 – The basics of China’s new emissions trading scheme38:37 – Coercive environmentalism, command-and-control, and market instruments47:15 – Can U.S.-China competition result in a “race to the top” in emissions reduction?54:24 – GHG reduction and the Red New DealA transcript of this interview is available on SupChina.com.Recommendations:Michael: The Chair, a Netflix show starring Sandra Oh.Kaiser: Bewilderment, the new novel by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Overstory, Richard PowersMentioned in the show: Valerie Karplus’s paper on China’s ETS; New York Times Magazine piece on The Many Saints of Newark, a Sopranos prequel.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, Kaiser chats with Manfred Elfstrom, an assistant professor in the Department of Economics, Philosophy, and Political Science at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan. Manfred’s new book, Workers and Change in China: Resistance, Repression, Responsiveness, examines the state’s dynamic approach to handling labor actions — petitions, protests, strikes, and the like — and how it has blended compromise and coercion to address the demands of workers. The book makes an important contribution to a growing body of literature that seeks a deeper understanding of authoritarian governance in China and more generally among autocratic regimes. 3:27 – How the book’s argument fits into the broader literature on authoritarian governance9:32 – The book’s geographic focus: The Pearl River Delta and the Yangzi River Delta22:12 – Repression and responsiveness32:39 – Why repression and responsiveness undercut one another43:58 – The bureaucratic incentive to handle labor unrest well50:28 – Labor issues, common prosperity, and the “Red New Deal”55:58 – The Jasic protests and the crackdown on the Peking University Marxist study groupA transcript of this interview is available on SupChina.comRecommendations:Manfred: Elizabeth Perry’s book Anyuan: Mining China’s Revolutionary Tradition; and James Green’s The Devil Is Here in These Hills: West Virginia’s Coal Miners and their Battle for Freedom.Kaiser: The Ezra Klein Show, and particularly the episode featuring Adam Tooze, “Economics Needs to Reckon with What it Doesn’t Know.” See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on the Sinica Podcast, Kaiser welcomes former Acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton to discuss a recently published audit of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED), the annual set of high-level meetings with Chinese officials that were convened during the Obama administration by the U.S. Departments of State and the Treasury. The audit’s two lead authors, representing the two organizations behind the audit, the National Committee on U.S. Foreign Policy and the American Friends Service Committee, also join the conversation. Rorry Daniels is the Deputy Project Director at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy’s Forum on Asia-Pacific Security, where she organizes research and Track II discussions on security issues and conflict mediation in the Asia-Pacific. Daniel Jasper is the Public Education and Advocacy Coordinator, Asia, for the American Friends Service Committee, where his work focuses on China and North Korea. Susan, Rorry, and Dan make a strong case that, contrary to an emerging bipartisan consensus in Washington that engagement with China was a failure, the policy of engagement actually bore substantial fruit.6:12 – The SED and the S&ED — why the ampersand matters10:37 – The rationale behind the S&ED16:15 – In the room at the S&ED meetings30:12 – Critiques of the S&ED process36:47 – The mechanics of the S&ED audit44:13 – Five major accomplishments of the S&ED1:01:38 – Other surprising U.S. gains from the S&ED1:10:51 – How could the process be improved?A transcript of this interview is available on SupChina.com. Recommendations:Rorry: The Good Place (a TV show by Michael Schur) and the eponymous podcast hosted by Tara Brach.Dan: Silence: The Power of Quiet in a World Full of Noise, by Thich Nhat Hanh, and The China Hustle, a documentary on China-focused short sellers, by Jed Rothstein.Susan: The Incredible Dr. Pol, a reality show about a veterinarian on National Geographic; Hidden Forces, a podcast hosted by Demetri Kofinas; and China and Japan: Facing History, the last book by the great scholar Ezra Vogel.Kaiser: Wildland: The Making of America’s Fury, by Evan Osnos, especially in audiobook form, read by the author, and Grand Tamasha, a podcast about current affairs in India, hosted by Milan Vaishnav.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser and Jeremy welcome Lizzi Lee (李其 Lǐ Qi), SupChina contributor and host of the excellent Chinese-language YouTube channel Wall Street Today, and Jude Blanchette, Freeman Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), to talk about the spate of regulatory actions, new rules, and Party-led initiatives that, taken together, we at SupChina have started calling the “Red New Deal.” Can these be understood as different facets of a larger, overarching program to remake China’s economy and society? Or are they better understood as distinct moves by different bureaucracies within the Party-state that happen to coincide in time? Listen in as we try to sort through what it all means.11:42 - Lizzi’s contrarian take on whether the new regulation adds up to something bigger15:00 - The logic of the political calendar in China22:56 - What did the response to the Li Guangman viral post mean?33:14 - Kevin Rudd’s take on what it all means – the “red thread”43:32 - No, this isn’t the Cultural Revolution53:00 - Is this a return to true communism?57:34 - Is Xi Jinping China’s biggest tiger mom?A transcript of this interview is available on SupChina.com.RecommendationsJeremy: NüVoices Podcast: Barabara Demick on Eat the Buddha, the final NüVoices episode on SupChina; and the Vice video on YouTube, How China's Queer Youth Built An Underground Ballroom Scene.Lizzi: Desmond Shum’s book Red Roulette: An Insider's Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption, and Vengeance in Today's China.Jude: The New Class: An Analysis of the Communist System by Milovan Djilas.Kaiser: Shutdown: How COVID Shook the World Economy by Adam Tooze; Reservation Dogs (TV show from FX).See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Last month, the National Committee on United States-China Relations (NCUSCR) published a report for the Carnegie Corporation of New York titled “American International Relations and Security Programs Focused on China: A Survey of the Field.” This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with the report’s lead author, Rosie Levine, and with Jan Berris, long-serving vice president of the NCUSCR, who celebrates her 50th year with the National Committee this month. The report surveyed academic institutions, NGOs, and think tanks about the state of the field of American China studies at a time when relations between the U.S. and China are at their lowest in the five decades since the opening to China began under Nixon. Rosie and Jan review their findings and reflect on the challenges that the NCUSCR faces in these difficult days.1:53: The mysterious and tragic disappearance of Rye and Caraway Triscuits13:30: Growing demand for China-related content18:35: Choked-off information flows out of China, fears over detention and the Two Michaels27:35: The impact of the U.S. political environment on China discourse and scholarship34:22: The singular focus on national security in U.S. discourse on China48:22: How the National Committee is weathering the stormA transcript of this interview is available on SupChina.com.RecommendationsJan: Going back to summer camp, going off the grid, and re-reading HemingwayRosie: "Why does it cost so much to build thins in America?" from Vox; a Freakomics interview with Pete Buttigieg and Elaine Chao, the current and former Secretaries of Transportation.Kaiser: Ezra Klein's recent interview with Robert Wright on Afghanistan, China, and U.S. foreign policy; and the 1975 Steven Spielberg film Jaws, which is the favorite film of Jude Blanchette, interviewed recently in The Wire China.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

If corruption is a drag on economic growth, why does China appear to have undergone some of its fastest growth during its periods of deepest corruption? This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with Yuen Yuen Ang, an associate professor of political science at the University of Michigan, about her book China’s Gilded Age: The Paradox of Economic Boom and Vast Corruption, which sets out to explain this apparent contradiction. The author highlights the inadequacies of existing measures of corruption, suggests her own alternative means of measuring it, and explains how the prevalence of one particular form of corruption — what she calls “access money” — is something China has in common with the United States in the age of robber barons.5:00: A typology of corruption, and how drugs are a useful analogy10:05: Why all corruption is ultimately bad for a country20:25: Is the “revolving door” in the U.S. equivalent to access money corruption?27:44: The relationship between corruption and regime type41:45: Profit-sharing with Chinese characteristics59:37: Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption drive: are officials spared because of performance, or patronage?RecommendationsYuen Yuen: The documentary film Generation Wealth Kaiser: The Netflix miniseries The Chair  and the podcast Chinese Whispers by Cindy YuSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with William (Bill) Overholt, senior research fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a veteran China-watcher whose career has run the gamut from investment banking to academia to the leading think tanks. Bill recently weighed in on the U.S. Department of Commerce’s decision to place Esquel, a leading textile manufacturer headquartered in Hong Kong, on its entity list of companies alleged to be using forced labor from Xinjiang, lamenting that “it’s quite possible that the U.S. government has imposed sanctions on the world’s most socially responsible company and one that has been particularly beneficial to the Uyghurs.” Bill also discusses recent essays on other problems in American China policy.7:17: First impressions of Esquel, its technology, and its working conditions for Uyghurs21:47: Targeted sanctions vs. blanket sanctions35:06: Lack of China expertise in the highest ranks of the Biden administration’s foreign policy team44:43: Why the United States should return to an economic strategyA transcript of this episode is available on SupChina.com.Recommendations:Bill: Newsletters and podcasts from SupChina; articles from The Wire China; and the article “The Chinese Debt Trap is a Myth” published in The Atlantic, by Deborah Brautigam and Meg Rithmire.Kaiser: The novel The Lions of al-Rassan, by Guy Gavriel Kay.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with the Columbia historian Adam Tooze, who returns to the program a year after his first appearance. A prolific writer and wide-ranging public intellectual, Adam was trained as a Germanist and has focused, in his writings, largely on economic history. His books include The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy, The Deluge: The Great War, America and the Remaking of the Global Order, 1916–1931, and Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crisis Changed the World. In July, Adam published an ambitious essay titled “Why there is no solution to our age of crisis without China” in The New Statesman, in which he lays out a brief history of China from the crisis of the Qing Empire in the 19th century through China’s “Century of Humiliation” up to the project of national rejuvenation, which has been the focus of Xí Jìnpíng’s 习近平 time in office. Adam talks about why he feels it’s important to occasionally venture outside one’s own field of specialization, as he did in writing on China as a non-specialist; the folly of two oft-cited historical analogies, comparing China with both Wilhelmine and Hitlerian Germany; the importance of comparative history in making sense of contemporary international relations; and America’s difficulty, when it comes to China, in accepting pluralism from anything but a position of dominance.16:02: What we get wrong about the Thucydides Trap and other historical analogies about China21:17: Why the modern P.R.C. is not a mature fascist state28:58: The iterative nature of China’s economic modernization 46:59: China as a civilization vs. China as a nation stateA transcript of this episode is available on SupChina.com.Recommendations:Adam: Stalingrad, by Vasily Grossman.Kaiser: The Spanish-language television series The Legend of El Cid.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser and Jeremy chat with Peter Martin, a correspondent for Bloomberg based in Washington, D.C., about his book, China’s Civilian Army: The Making of Wolf Warrior Diplomacy. This highly readable and informative book tells the story of China’s diplomatic corps from its creation ex nihilo under the guidance of Zhōu Ēnlái 周恩来 during the Communist Party’s years in Yan’an in the 1930s and 1940s through the foundation of the P.R.C., the vicissitudes of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, and the period of reform and opening up to the current, more assertive, and often pugilistic present under Xí Jìnpíng 习近平. Peter also offers his take on last week’s interview on Sinica with Ambassador Huáng Píng 黄屏, the consul general of China’s New York consulate.7:48: The centrality of the national humiliation narrative to the institutional foundations of China’s Foreign Ministry15:02: The contributions and diplomatic styles of prominent contemporaries such as Qián Qíchēn 钱其琛, Dài Bǐngguó 戴秉国, Yáng Jiéchí 杨洁篪, and Wáng Yì 王毅24:46: The rise of Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhào Lìjiān 赵立坚47:28: Understanding Chinese diplomacy’s hard turn amidst a culture of disciplineA transcript of this episode is available on SupChina.com.Recommendations: Jeremy: Hummingbird feeders with homemade sugar water nectar.Peter: The podcast series Dolly Parton's America. Kaiser: The movie The Green Knight, based on the Arthurian legend, by David Lowery. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, we’re pleased to present a conversation with Ambassador Huáng Píng 黄屏, a veteran Chinese diplomat who has been consul general of China’s New York Consulate since November 2018. He formerly served as China’s ambassador to Zimbabwe, and as consul general of China’s Chicago Consulate. The interview, recorded on July 22, covers a range of topics in U.S.-China relations from human rights to Taiwan, and from COVID-19 to China’s so-called “wolf warrior diplomacy.”13:22: What Americans should understand about the Communist Party of China38:15: Evaluating the Biden administration’s position on China41:25: The American perspective on Taiwan46:20: The impact of the pandemic on Chinese people50:54: Beijing’s policies on Xinjiang A transcript of this episode is available on SupChina.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with Bill Bikales, who recently returned to the U.S. after 15 years in China as a developmental economist with the United Nations. In June, Bill published a paper titled “Reflections on Poverty Reduction in China” for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), raising important questions about China’s claims about poverty reduction but giving due credit for its impressive successes. In the paper, Bill situates the Chinese leadership’s bold push for the eradication of extreme poverty in a historical context, questions Beijing’s use of 1978 as a benchmark for measuring progress in poverty reduction, and offers suggestions for what Beijing must do to make poverty reduction sustainable.5:38: How the significance of poverty relief in China’s history has shaped the CCP’s priorities22:15: The detriments of the hukou (户口 hùkǒu) system on reducing poverty sustainably 46:00: Addressing the next set of poverty challenges and gaps in the current social protection system51:30: Deducing lessons from China’s poverty reduction achievements A transcript of this episode is available on SupChina.com.Recommendations: Bill: Destiny of the Republic, by Candice Millard, and the car-sharing company Turo. Kaiser: The audiobook version of The Ill-Made Knight, by Christian Cameron, and the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with Yiqing Xu, an assistant professor of political science at Stanford University, about his work in applying modern methods in political science to the politics of contemporary China. In a wide-ranging conversation, they discuss qualitative vs. quantitative approaches and how the debate parallels the debate between the area studies approach to China and the discipline-centered approach, as well as the pitfalls of the current data obsession in the social sciences. They also look at some of Yiqing’s recent scholarship on China’s ideological landscape, and preview a longitudinal comparative study looking at Chinese students at elite universities in China and their compatriots studying in the United States.7:44: The role of social scientists and the quantitative vs. qualitative methods debate in the political science field19:18: Mapping ideology in China with the “Chinese Political Compass” data set 31:21: Why policy preferences in authoritarian states matter40:33: How discrimination in the United States impacts Chinese students’ attitudes toward the political system in China A transcript of this episode is available on SupChina.com.Recommendations: Yiqing: The iconic Japanese rock band X Japan. Kaiser: The album Discipline (1981) by the progressive rock band King Crimson.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with Thomas Pepinsky and Jessica Chen Weiss, both professors of government at Cornell University, about their recent essay in Foreign Affairs, “The Clash of Systems? Washington Should Avoid Ideological Competition With Beijing.” In that essay, they argue that, despite all the talk of Chinese authoritarianism as an existential threat to American democracy, Beijing is mostly on the defensive, and does not seek to export its political system. This is not to say that American democracy is not under threat: It very much is — but not from China. Tom, a specialist on Southeast Asia, looks at the ASEAN countries and their relations with Beijing to show that ideological affinity is not a predictor of close ties to China. And Jessica offers an update to her influential 2019 essay on China’s effort to “make the world safe for autocracy.”8:08: Defining ideology and ideological competition 19:57: Beijing’s transactional conduct with nations in Southeast Asia and the geostrategic implications25:20: How the current rhetoric in the United States fuels Sinophobia and anti-Asian racism36:01: China as the disgruntled stakeholder A transcript of this episode is available on SupChina.com.Recommendations:Tom: The French television shows Lupin and The Bureau. Jessica: “The Ezra Klein Show” podcast interview with Jamila Michener, and anything written by Yangyang Cheng.Kaiser: Music to read by: The Goldberg Variations (particularly the 1982 version performed by Glenn Gould and the version performed by Lang Lang), The Well-Tempered Clavier, and The French Suites, by Johann Sebastian Bach, and the YouTube series “What Makes This Song Great?,” by Rick Beato.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with Isabella Weber, assistant professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, about her new book, How China Escaped Shock Therapy: The Market Reform Debate. Meticulously researched and persuasively argued, her book makes important contributions to our understanding of a critical period in China’s recent history: the decade of the 1980s, when a fierce debate between “package reformers” supporting sweeping price liberalization and gradualists who argued that state participation in the market was critical to dampen inflation and maintain social stability. And it sheds light on the run-up to the student-led demonstrations of 1989.12:20: Debunking a conventional wisdom on China’s economy22:05: The relationship between states and markets40:01: A universal need for reform in the early 1980s1:10:47: Student intellectuals in 1988 and the “full steam ahead” campRecommendations:Isabella: The movie Rashomon, directed by Akira Kurosawa and Cold War, directed by Paweł Aleksander Pawlikowski.Kaiser: Assigned reading from Kaiser: The Chinese Communist Party: A Chinese Century in Ten Lives, edited by Timothy Cheek, Klaus Mühlhahn, and Hans van de Wen.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser is joined by historian Timothy Cheek of the University of British Columbia, political scientist Elizabeth Perry of Harvard, and our very own Jeremy Goldkorn, editor-in-chief of SupChina, in a wide-ranging discussion of the Chinese Communist Party on the occasion of its 100th birthday. The three each contributed chapters to a new volume called The Chinese Communist Party: A Century in 10 Lives, edited by Timothy Cheek, Klaus Mülhahn, and Hans van de Ven. Don’t miss this one!8:59: Cosmopolitan traditions within the CCP13:10: Continuity and change within the Party20:19: The oscillations between flexibility and rigidity34:25: Intellectuals and their relationship with the Party50:37: Wang Guangmei and the Peach Garden ExperienceA full transcript of this episode is available on SupChina.com.Recommendations:Jeremy: The Dairy Restaurant, by Ben Katchor. Elizabeth: Middle Class Shanghai: Reshaping U.S.-China Engagement, by Cheng Li, and The Wuhan Lockdown, by Yang Guobin.  Timothy: The Internationale, performed by heavy metal band Tang Dynasty. Kaiser: The July/August edition of Foreign Affairs, especially the pieces by Wang Jisi and Yan Xuetong.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with Yong Cai, an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This episode — the first in-person interview since February 2020 — looks at the results of China’s 2020 census, the announcement of the much-maligned “three-child policy” that the Chinese government proclaimed shortly after the results of the census were released, and other measures the Chinese leadership is considering to avoid the demographic crisis it now faces.  6:55: China’s top-heavy demographic structure20:38: Techno-optimism and its impact on the declining workforce30:18: Implications for women in family planning38:53: An alternative approach to inclusive population studiesRecommendations:Yong Cai: A Village With My Name: A Family History of China's Opening to the World, by Scott Tong. Kaiser: The Kominsky Method, available on Netflix, and All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel, by Anthony Doerr.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Shortly after Deborah Seligsohn was last on Sinica, in April, the lab leak hypothesis seemed suddenly to gain traction — at least in American media. This week, Kaiser invites Deborah back to the show to talk about why the possibility that SARS-CoV-2 escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a notion long regarded by virologists as less probable than zoonotic transmission, has burst back into the conversation. Deborah served as the State Department’s Environment, Science, Technology and Health Counselor in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing from 2003 to 2007. She is an assistant professor of political science at Villanova University in Philadelphia. 3:00: The persistence of the lab leak theory11:40: Navigating the political and institutional landscape within China 25:36: A view from Beijing’s perspective31:02: Eliciting cooperation from Beijing, and what should our priorities beRecommendations:Deborah: The podcast This Week in Virology, particularly episodes 760 and 762, which touch on the COVID-19 pandemic. Kaiser: Richard L. Watkins, a candidate running for the U.S. Senate in North Carolina. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with Andrew Jones, a Helsinki-based reporter who over the last several years has secured a place as the go-to English-language journalist covering China’s space program. With the successful arrival of the Tianwen spacecraft in Martian orbit and the deployment of the Zhurong Mars rover, China is catching up quickly with NASA in space exploration milestones. But China’s space program also comes in for criticism for its opacity and for potentially dangerous practices — like the uncontrolled reentry of a large Long March 5B rocket in early May. Andrew gives the latest on China’s outer-space ambitions, including planned missions to Jupiter’s outermost Galilean moon, Callisto, and beyond the edge of our solar system.7:09: A look at the China National Space Administration13:02: Major missions done by China’s space program24:31: U.S. hesitance toward space collaboration with China48:39: China’s private space companies52:53: Potential future Chinese space missionsRecommendations:Andrew: The TV series The Expanse, available on Amazon Prime Video, the FIRST UP daily newsletter from Space News, the Axios Space newsletter, and the podcast Moonrise by the Washington Post.Kaiser: The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with Yingyi Ma, an associate professor of sociology at Syracuse University and the author of the book Ambitious and Anxious: How Chinese College Students Succeed and Struggle in American Higher Education. Yingyi’s book, which focuses on the specific experiences of Chinese undergraduates, examines the push-and-pull factors that have made studying abroad — and studying in the U.S. in particular — a “new education gospel” for many parents in China. She discusses why after 2006 Chinese students surged into American colleges and universities, and how despite their eagerness to build “cosmopolitan capital” by studying in the U.S., they’ve faced challenges in navigating American higher education.6:56: A duality of ambition and anxiety13:00: “Cosmopolitan capital” and globalization39:57: The sacrifices made by Chinese families and researchers43:58: American higher education and Chinese undergraduate students46:14: With regard to education, the grass is always greener on the other sideRecommendations: Yingyi: Invisible China: How the Urban-Rural Divide Threatens China’s Rise, by Scott Rozelle and Natalie Hell, and the popular Chinese-language podcast Story FM. Kaiser: The app Weee!, specializing in Asian and Hispanic food delivery. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Have China and Russia entered into a de facto anti-American alliance? Is Russia, which in Soviet days was for a time the “older brother” to Mao’s China, now comfortable with playing junior partner to Xi’s China? And has the United States, which in its opening to China demonstrated formidable acuity in managing the “strategic triangle,” now jettisoned that model and its logic? This week on Sinica, Kaiser is joined by Ali Wyne, a senior analyst with Eurasia Group's Global Macro practice, to discuss the motivations, the capabilities, and the strategies of Beijing and Moscow in their dealings with Washington — and with each other.3:54: What of the rules-based international order?15:04: The relationship between China and Russia27:35: Inflection points in the early 2000s48:52: Strategies and tactics employed by China and Russia Recommendations:Ali: Stronger: Adapting America's China Strategy in an Age of Competitive Interdependence, by Ryan Hass, and the documentary series Chasing Life, by Sanjay Gupta. Kaiser: The audiobook for The Committed, written by Viet Thanh Nguyen and narrated by Francois Chau. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Veteran China scholar Orville Schell has written a dozen books on China, but his latest book — which Schell published at the age of 80 — is his first novel. My Old Home: A Novel of Exile is a bildungsroman that follows the life of Li Wende and his father, Li Shutong, from the early days of the Cultural Revolution to the tragedy of Tiananmen in 1989. This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with Orville about the windows on China that nonfiction is unable to open but that fiction can; the challenges of writing a novel after a lifetime of publishing nonfiction; and continuity and change in modern Chinese history. Recommendations:Orville: The works of the famous writer and essayist Lu Xun, 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows, by Ai Weiwei (set for release in November 2021), and Blood Letters: The Untold Story of Lin Zhao, a Martyr in Mao's China, by Lian Xi.  Kaiser: Interior Chinatown: A Novel, by Charles Yu. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with Margaret (Maggie) Lewis, a professor of law at Seton Hall University, about her work on the U.S. Department of Justice’s “China Initiative.” Launched under former attorney general Jeff Sessions in November 2018, the China Initiative sought to bring criminal cases against perpetrators of industrial espionage benefiting China, but as Maggie argues, it has in fact resulted in discriminatory ethnic profiling and the criminalization of what she calls “China-ness.” Listen to the end to hear Kaiser’s impression of Cookie Monster as a death metal vocalist.8:24: Viewing China as an existential threat17:44: Where the framing and implementation of the China Initiative falls short28:11: Prosecuting “China-ness”37:38: The impact on American competitivenessRecommendations:Maggie: What Do You Do With an Idea?, What Do You Do With a Problem?, and What Do You Do With a Chance?, by Kobi Yamada; also, Beautiful Oops!, by Barney Saltzberg. Kaiser: The album Blackwater Park, by the Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Prince Han Fei, or Hán Fēizǐ 韓非子, is perhaps the most influential Chinese thinker that many Westerners have never heard of. With Jeremy hosting Sinica this week, we bring to you a conversation recorded in November 2020 featuring writer and journalist Zhā Jiànyīng 渣建英 and Geremie R. Barmé, editor of China Heritage. The three discuss the overlooked salience of the words of Han Fei in understanding modern China, the concept of legalism and its relation to the contemporary interpretation of fazhi (法治 fǎzhì), or rule of law, and the churn of being caught between the United States and China as relations between the two great powers continue to sour. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.