Artificial intelligence has been a frequent topic on Sinica in recent years — but usually through the lens of the two countries that have produced the leading models and companies: the United States and China. We’ve covered generative AI, national strategies, governance frameworks, and the geopolitical implications of AI leadership. This webinar, broadcast on the morning of August 14, broadens that lens to explore how other countries — and especially Ukraine — are approaching AI in the public sector. Around the world, governments are experimenting with AI well beyond chatbots and text generation: China’s “City Brain” optimizes traffic, energy use, and public safety; U.S. agencies are streamlining services and automating benefits processing; and elsewhere, smart grids, predictive infrastructure planning, and AI-enabled e-governance are reshaping public administration. These projects reveal both the promise and the complexity of bringing AI into government — along with valid concerns over privacy, fairness, and inclusiveness. We’ll look at what lessons Ukraine might draw from U.S. and Chinese experiences, the opportunities and challenges of adapting these practices, and the strategic risks of sourcing AI solutions from different providers — especially in the context of Ukraine’s eventual postwar reconstruction. Joining us are three distinguished guests:Dmytro Yefremov, Board Member of the Ukrainian Association of Sinologists, with deep expertise in China’s political and technological strategies and Ukraine’s policy landscape.Wang Guan, Chairman of Learnable.ai in China, bringing extensive experience in AI applications for public administration and education.Karman Lucero, Associate Research Scholar and Senior Fellow at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center, whose work focuses on Chinese law, governance, and the regulation of emerging technologies. Thanks to the Ukrainian Platform for Contemporary China, the Ukrainian Association of Sinologists, and the Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill for organizing and sponsoring today’s event. Special thanks to Vita Golod for putting together the panel and inviting me to moderate. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Join me for a conversation with four fantastic panelists about nuclear safety and security issues brought on by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and more broadly on the state of nuclear security globally during this era of dramatic change. This program was made possible by the Ukrainian Platform for Contemporary China and the Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.Nickolas Roth is Senior Director for Nuclear Materials Security at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI). Nickolas works at the intersection of arms control, risk reduction, and institutional resilience, and previously directed nuclear security work at the Stimson Center and contributed to Harvard’s Project on Managing the Atom.Mariana Budjeryn is a Senior Research Associate with Managing the Atom at Harvard’s Belfer Center and author of Inheriting the Bomb, a definitive study of Ukraine’s post-Soviet disarmament and the limits of the Budapest Memorandum. Her scholarship grounds today’s debates about guarantees, coercion, and nuclear restraint.Pan Yanliang is a Research Associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS). He studies the Russian and Chinese nuclear industries and the nuclear fuel cycle, and works on CNS engagement with Chinese counterparts—giving him a distinctive cross-regional vantage.Lily Wojtowicz is a Research Fellow at the Hertie School (Berlin) and a USIP–Minerva Peace & Security Scholar, whose work focuses on extended deterrence credibility, European security, and alliance adaptation under great-power rivalry. 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, Paul Triolo of DGA Albright Stonebridge and tech investor Ryan Cunningham join to talk about their observations and insights from the World AI Conference (WAIC), held in July in Shanghai, and what it tells them about China's ambitions in the fast-moving world of artificial intelligence. Don't miss this one! 04:21 - Ryan on his Edgerunner fund 06:23 - Impressions of the World AI Conference in Shanghai 13:52 - Approaches to AI development in the US and China 24:04 - China’s role in global AI safety  33:42 - AI market: US vs China 38:20 - AI diffusion in China 44:56 - AI safety frameworks 52:06 - Domestic development of Chinese AI 1:04:06 - Pressure of Domestic AI Alternatives 1:08:43 - Can AI have a dual role in the U.S.? 1:17:25 -Paying it Forward  1:20:16 - Recommendations Paying it Forward: Kevin Xu, Kyle Chan, Helen Toner (Rising Tide Substack),   Piotr Mazurek and Felix Gabriel (LLM Inference Economics from First Principles). Recommendations: Paul: Neil deGrasse Tyson - Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution (book),  Sara Imari Walker’s Life As No One Knows It (book) Ryan: Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon (video game) Kaiser: The Studio (TV series), Platonic (TV series) 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: On my final two days in Shaxi in Yunnan, Chris Thomas and Stephanie Li, the hosts of the marvelous YouTube channel Chinese Cooking Demystified, joined me for some cooking and lots of chatting about food! We recorded this show together and focus our conversation on their heroic attempt at a taxonomy of different Chinese cuisines. We don't talk about all 63 that they identify, but we do get into their 04:31 - Flavors of Yunnan  08:44 - On balancing between the “exotic” and “normal” China  11:53 - The origin story behind “Chinese Cooking Demystified” 14:56 - The Breath of the Wok (Wok Hei, 鑊氣 / huo6 hei3) 21:05 - A Comprehensive Taxonomy on Chinese Cuisine  32:25 - Correlations between dialects and cuisine  37:15 - Efforts behind the work 39:09 - Promoting local specialties 44:23 - Chinese identity and food trends 52:30 - "Minority" cuisine in Yunnan 01:00:52 - Yunnan cuisine and the Chinese hipster generation 01:05:52 - Dali dish recommendations Recommendations:  Chris & Steph: Shunde Lao Baby, Pin Nuo, Lao Dongbei Kaiser: Taking time off to do something you love! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I'm in Shaxi, a wonderful little town in the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, and I was joined here by the Columbia economic historian Adam Tooze, who shared his thoughts on what he sees happening on the ground in China. Adam's been in China for the last month and reflects on his experiences learning about the country — and even attempting the language! 03:49 - The economic situation in China 10:42 - Patterns of consumption in China 14:38 - China’s industrial policy and renewable energy  18:52 - China vs. the U.S. on renewables 26:15 - China’s economic engagement with the Global South 33:13- Beijing’s strategic shift and Europe’s rethinking 37:49- The recent European Parliament paper 42:43 - Learning about China as an “Outsider”  51:31 - Adam’s evolving views on China  59:30 - Paying it Forward 01:01:07 - Recommendations  Paying it Forward: Kyle Chan, Pekingology. Recommendations: Adam: Caught by the Tide, Jia Zhangke (movie). Kaiser: Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI, Karen Hao (book), Vera, or Faith, Gary Shteyngart (book). 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, in a show taped in early June in Washington, Kaiser chats with Tong Zhao (赵通) of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a leading expert on Chinese nuclear doctrine, about why the PRC has, in recent years, significantly increased the size of its nuclear arsenal. Zhao offers a master class in the practice of strategic empathy. 03:12 – China’s nuclear doctrine: core principles 06:56 – Xi Jinping’s leadership and nuclear policy 12:33 – Symbolism vs. strategy: Defensive or offensive buildup? 16:55 – What’s driving the nuclear expansion? 28:33 – Trump’s second term: Impact on China’s strategic thinking 34:34 – Nukes and Taiwan 41:45 – Washington and Beijing nuclear doctrines perceptions 48:04 - China’s perspective on the Golden Dome program 52:32 - China’s Stance on North Korea’s nuclear program  01:01:00 - Beijing’s View on North Korean troops in Ukraine Paying it forward: David Logan, at Tufts University Recommendations: Tong:  Yellowstone, TV series  Kaiser: Gomorrah, TV series  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In 2014, the writer Christopher Beam published a humorous, heartwarming story in The New Republic about an unlikely team of American football enthusiasts in Chongqing who went on to defeat their archrivals in Shanghai to win a championship. The piece was optioned by Sony Pictures, and had some big names attached, but was ultimately never made — not, at least, by an American studio. Eleven years later, Chris has written about a film that was made: Clash, produced by iQiyi, hit theaters in China earlier this year and followed the Chongqing Dockers in the same story arc, but with important and telling differences. His new story was published in The Atlantic, and he talks to me about the Dockers and the long, strange story of the film that wasn't and the one that was. 03:50 – The Meaning of Chinese YOLO 05:33 – Chris’s First Meeting With the Chongqing Team 13:11 – Chris McLaurin’s Background 15:54 – American Football as a Symbol of Masculinity 19:50 – The Failed Hollywood Adaptation 25:34 – First Impressions of the Film 31:55 – Bridging Perspectives: Can a Movie Speak To Both Sides? 36:42 – A Lost Moment in Globalization Paying it Forward: Viola Zhou Recommendations:  Chris: Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte (short story collection) Kaiser: Becoming Led Zeppelin (documentary); the Beijing-based artist Michael Cherney. 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, I chat with Stephen Platt, historian at UMass Amherst and author, most recently, of the book The Raider: The Untold Story of a Renegade Marine and the Birth of U.S. Special Forces in World War II. Like his previous works, Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom and Imperial Twilight, it offers a compelling narrative history of an overlooked chapter through a deeply empathetic and well-researched examination of individual lives. Please make sure to listen to the excerpt from the audiobook at the end of this podcast. 04:21 - Evans Carlson: A forgotten hero 07:49 - The Real Carlson vs. the constructed Carlson 10:04 - The book's origin 12:20 - Carlson's ideological transformation 16:50 - Carlson's religious beliefs and public perception 20:04 - Emerson's influence on Carlson's thinking  23:46 - Inner conflicts: Soul-searching or regret? 27:15 - Carlson's relationship with President Franklin D. Roosevelt 30:39 - Gung Ho Meetings: meaning, practice, and legacy 33:34 - Zhu De’s influence on Carlson  40:28 - Carlson’s relationships with Agnes Smedley and Edgar Snow 47:49 - Hopes for U.S.-China alliance  51:57 - Carlson’s death and his legacy  58:01 - Lessons from Carlson Paying it Forward: Peter Thilly, Emily Mokros Recommendations:  Stephen: 11.22.63 by Stephen King; Ted Chiang (author); Otoboke Beaver (band); Book of Mormon (musical) Kaiser: Wobbler (band); The Religion by Tim Willocks; Zappa (2020) 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, I chat with Jostein Hauge, political economist and an Assistant Professor in Development Studies at the University of Cambridge, based at the Centre of Development Studies and the Department of Politics and International Studies, and author of the book The Future of the Factory: How Megatrends are Changing Industrialization. 3:09 – Self Introduction: Jostein Hauge 4:23 – Anti-China Sentiment in Western Discourse 7:40 – Misconceptions and Prevailing Narratives 10:08 – Technological Transfer and the Political Economy 12:18 – Historical Periods of Economic Rivalry  14:36 – Evolving Industrial Policy: From Japan’s MITI to China and the U.S. today 18:59 – China’s Contemporary Industrial Policy: Quality or Quantity?  21:13 – China as a Rising Power: Is History Repeating? 24:18 – The Sustainability of China’s Industrial Policy  26:43 – China, Overcapacity, and Global Imbalances 34:07 – Overcapacity: Economic Reality or Ideological Construct? 36:04 – China's domination in the renewable energy market 39:13 – China’s greenhouse gas emissions 43:17 – How China is reshaping the IP regime  48:14 – The U.S. national security stance and the trade war with China 55:10 – Europe’s approach to China Paying it forward: Kyle Chan at High Capacity Recommendations: Jostein: The White Lotus (TV Series) Kaiser: The Raider: The Untold Story of a Renegade Marine and the Birth of U.S. Special Forces in World War II by Stephen R. Platt 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, I speak with Kendra Schaefer, the partner at Trivium China who heads their tech practice. She recently published a fascinating paper looking at the Cyberspace Administration of China's comprehensive database of generative AI tools released in China, and she shares the insights and big takeaways from her research on that database. It's a terrific window into what Chinese firms, both private and state-affiliated, are doing with generative AI. 03:51 – Mandatory registration of generative AI Tools in China 10:28 – How does the CAC categorize AI Tools? 14:25 – State-affiliated vs. non-state-affiliated AI Tools 18:55 – Capability and competition of China's AI Industry 22:57 – Significance of Generative Algorithmic Tools (GAT) registration counts 26:06 – The application of GATs in the education sector 29:50 – The application of GATs in the healthcare Sector 31:00 – Underrepresentation of AI tools in other sectors 32:56 – Regional breakdown of AI innovation in China 36:07 – AI adoption across sectors: how companies integrate AI 40:21 – Standout projects by the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) 42:42 – How multinationals navigate China's tech regulations 47:50 – Role of foreign players in China's AI strategy 49:38 – Key takeaways from the AI development journey 53:41 -– Blind spots in AI data 57:25 – Kendra's future research direction Paying it Forward: Kenton Thibaut. Recommendations: Kendra: The Chinese Computer: A Global History of the Information Age by Thomas Mullaney. Kaiser: the Rhyming Chaos Podcast by Jeremy Goldkorn and Maria Repnikova See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jeremy Goldkorn joins for this largely unedited throwback to the early, sweary days of the show. We talk about the announcement made on Wednesday, 28 May 2025, on the "aggressive" revocation of Chinese student visas for students with Party "connections" or who study "critical fields." You've been warned! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A bonus episode this week. On May 22, I moderated a panel organized by Vita Golod and the UNC Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies. The focus was on the U.S.-Ukraine Mineral Security Partnership, and it features Ivan Us, Chief Consultant at the Center for Foreign Policy at the National Institute for Strategic Studies; Jim Mullinax, a Senior Foreign Service Officer and former Consul General at the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu (closed in 2020); Grzegorz Stec, Senior Analyst and Head of the Brussels Office at MERICS; and Xu Qinduo, journalist at CGTN and Senior Fellow at the Pangoal Institution. The panel explores the background and the implications of the minerals deal, signed on May 1, 2025, for the ongoing war in Ukraine, and prospects for post-war reconstruction. I hope you enjoy what I thought was a fascinating conversation. 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, I chat with Eva Dou, technology reporter for the Washington Post, about her terrific new book about Huawei. From its prehistory to its fight for its life under tremendous U.S. pressure, she tells its story in a way that's both deeply engaging and very evenhanded. 04:53 – Meng Wanzhou’s case and its impact on media interest in Huawei 07:13 – How did Ren Zhengfei’s experiences in the PLA shape the corporate culture of Huawei? 10:21 – The impact of his father on Ren Zhengfei  13:42 – Women in Huawei’s leadership and Sun Yafang as a chairwoman  18:41 – Is Huawei a tool of the state? 23:21 – Edward Snowden’s revelations and how they influenced the perception of Huawei  26:34 – The Cisco lawsuit influence on the company’s approach to foreign markets 28:07 – Reasons for Huawei working with embargoed or sanctioned states 30:46 – Huawei’s international expansion  33:04 – Huawei’s management style and internal competition  36:33 – Meng Wenzhou’s detainment as a turning point for Huawei and China-U.S. relations 38:09 – Ren Zhengfei’s media campaign and narrative shift after the Meng affair 40:44 – Huawei’s involvement in Xinjiang’s surveillance  43:09 – Huawei’s success in shaping 5G standards despite global pushback 46:27 – The “Huawei index”: tracking Chinese investment abroad through Huawei’s market presence 48:35 – Huawei’s push into chip development amid sanctions: real progress or just hype? 52:23 – Huawei: a proxy, a leading or lagging indicator, or just a bellwether? 54:11 – Huawei’s “too big to fail” status: benefits and risks amid U.S. government pressure 56:29 – Huawei’s perspective on the backlash from sanctions 58:19 – Concluding question: about Huawei’s ownership and governance Paying it forward: Raffaele Huang at The Wall Street Journal Recommendations:  Eva: The Party's Interests Come First by Joseph Torigian; Yang Jie at The Wall Street Journal; Piranesi by Susanna Clarke Kaiser: Adolescence on Netflix; Kyle Chan's high-capacity.com  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Sinica Network proudly presents a new podcast: China Talking Points, featuring Kaiser Kuo (host of the Sinica Podcast), Eric Olander (host of the China-Global South Podcast and China In Africa Podcast) and Andrew Polk, co-founder of Trivium China and host of its podcast. We'll be joined regularly by Lizzi Lee, Fellow on Chinese Economy at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s (ASPI) Center for China Analysis. Tune in live every other week for unscripted thoughts on the major China-related news of the week. This week, we focused on the truce in the trade war that Donald Trump launched with the so-called "Liberation Day" tariffs of April 9. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met with top Chinese trade negotiator He Lifeng and his team in Geneva over the weekend, and we look at what came out of those meetings and what we can expect to happen next. We also discussed the dogfight that took place between India and Pakistan last week, in which the Pakistani air force claims to have downed as many as five Indian planes, significant for China because the Pakistani planes were Chinese-made J10-C fighters. Eric, who wrote about the Chinese reaction to this and offered his take on the reasons for their success, managed to incur a lot of online Indian wrath — an occupational hazard — but presents a compelling case for why the fully integrated Chinese military systems gave Pakistan the edge. Watch us live on YouTube starting May 28th. Check out the new Sinica Network YouTube channel here! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I had scheduled a show to record while I was in Providence last week, but it fell through and had to be rescheduled, so please give this talk I delivered at Carnegie Mellon last month a listen! Hope you enjoy. Kaiser 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, I chat with veteran Wall Street Journal reporter Bob Davis, who has covered the U.S.-China relationship for decades. He recently published a new book called Broken Engagement, which consists of interviews with U.S. policymakers who were instrumental in shaping American policy toward China from the George H.W. Bush administration through the Biden administration. It's an eye-opening look at the individuals who fought for — and against — engagement with China. 2:58 – Bob’s thoughts on engagement: whether it was doomed from the start, when and why there was a shift, people’s different aspirations for it and retrospective positioning, and whether it could have a transformative effect   13:28 – The Nancy Pelosi interview: her approach, her Taiwan visit, and her critique of capitulation to business interests 17:18 – Bob’s interviews with Charlene Barshefsky, Lawrence Summers, and Bob Zoellick: the WTO accession, the China shock, Zoellick’s “responsible stakeholder” concept, and diplomacy as an ongoing process  27:24 – The Robert Gates interview: security-focused engagement, and his shift to realism  31:14 – Misreading Xi Jinping 34:42 – Bob’s interviews with Stephen Hadley and Ash Carter regarding the South China Sea  39:19 – The Matt Pottinger interview: his view on China and how COVID changed everything  46:14 – Michael Rogers’ interview: cyber espionage and cyber policy  51:25 – Robert O’Brien’s interview: the “reverse Kissinger” and Taiwan  54:14 – Bob’s interview with Kurt Campbell: his famous Foreign Affairs essay, differentiating between decoupling and de-risking, and technology export restrictions and trade deals  59:28 – The Rahm Emanuel interview: his response to wolf warrior diplomacy 1:01:57 – Bob’s takeaways: the long-term vision of engagement, introspective interviewees, and his own increased pessimism  Paying It Forward: Lingling Wei at The Wall Street Journal; Eva Dou at The Washington Post and her book House of Huawei: The Secret History of China’s Most Powerful Company; and Katrina Northrop at The Washington Post  Recommendations:  Bob: The TV series Derry Girls (2018-2022) and Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000-2024); and Margaret O’Farrell’s novels, including Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait  Kaiser: The BBC and Masterpiece series Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light  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, I chat with SCMP Senior Europe Correspondent Finbarr Bermingham, who joins from Brussels where he's been covering the EU-China relationship in fantastic depth and with great insight. 3:17 – EU-China relations in early 2025: the effect of the 2021 sanctions, who advocated for engagement versus confrontation with China, and the importance of the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) 13:49 – How Brussels initially reacted to the rupture in the transatlantic alliance  17:14 – China’s so-called charm offensive  21:03 – The idea of de-risking from Washington  23:10 – The impact of the Oval Office meeting with Zelensky  24:55 – Europe’s dual-track approach with China and shift toward pragmatism  29:35 – National interests versus EU unity regarding Chinese investment, and whether Brussels could extract concessions  35:20 – Brussels’ worry over Trump cutting a deal with China  38:06 – Possible signs of China’s flexibility on different issues 40:25 – The lifting of the sanctions on European parliamentarians  42:21 – The decrease in calls for values-based diplomacy, and whether securitization is happening in Europe 47:05 – How the EU might address tensions over China’s industrial overcapacity  50:17 – The possible future of EU-China relations, and whether the transatlantic relationship could go back to normal 55:50 – The knee-jerk element of looking past Europe Paying It Forward: Ji Siqi at SCMP, Cissy Zhou at Nikkei, and Kinling Lo and Viola Zhou at Rest of World Recommendations: Finbarr: The Stakeknife podcast series; Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe; and the 20th anniversary edition of Wilco’s album, A Ghost Is Born  Kaiser: The Ottomans: Khans, Caesars, and Caliphs by Marc David Baer  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, in a show recorded at the University of Pittsburgh, I speak with Benno Weiner, Associate Professor of History at Carnegie Mellon University, about how China's policy toward its minority nationalities (or minzu) have shifted from their older, Soviet-inspired form to the policies of assimilation we now see. 2:29 – How the so-called second-generation minzu policy evolved, and its shift away from the first-generation policy 17:15 – China’s language policy, comparisons to other historical cases, and the difficulty in striking a balance between language autonomy and the state interest of economic equality 25:26 – Debating the assumption of Uyghur forced labor  28:20 – How the minzu policy shift is driven by economic and political stability concerns  30:07 – The limited ability of minzus to make themselves heard 32:01 – The difficulty of advocacy in the face of accusations of U.S. hypocrisy  37:30 – Han guilt as a galvanizing idea  40:21 – Whether the shift in minzu policy is reversible, and the effect of external pressure  43:46 – Why Xinjiang has received greater global attention than other places  45:50 – How future historians may view minzu policy under Xi Jinping Paying It Forward: Guldana Salimjan, at the University of Toronto  Recommendations: Benno: The Red Wind Howls by Tsering Döndrup, translated by Christopher Peacock Kaiser: The Six: The Untold Story of the Titanic’s Chinese Survivors by Steven Schwankert 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, I chat with Yawei Liu, Senior Advisor for China at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, and Yukon Huang, former China country head of the World Bank and now Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The show was taped live at the 2025 Columbia China Summit at Columbia University, put on by the Columbia University Greater China Society, on April 13,. Special thanks to them for inviting us to attend! 3:53 – Columbia University’s history with China  7:52 – How Beijing views the current trade war  11:32 – Yawei’s idea of “the clash of misperceptions” 18:18 – The actual origins of America’s trade deficits and China’s trade surpluses  23:14 – How the inevitable talk between Trump and Xi Jinping may play out 32:04 – Sinophobia versus changing attitudes toward China  35:43 – How the current trade war is related to innovation in China  45:31 – How we can wage peace  Paying It Forward: Nicholas Zeller and his Substack newsletter, The U.S.-China Perception Monitor Recommendations: Yawei: Americans in China: Encounters with the People’s Republic ed. by Terry Lautz, and Chinese Encounters with America: Journeys That Shaped the Future of China ed. by Terry Lautz and Deborah Davis Yukon: David Brooks’ April 2022 article, “The End of Globalization: The Dominance of Global Cultural Wars”  Kaiser: The Weimar Years: Rise and Fall 1918-1933 by Frank McDonough  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, I chat with Hazza Harding, a young Australian who began learning Chinese and made his way to China where he became a pop singer with hits on Chinese pop charts and a state media newscaster — and also lost his husband tragically, suffered through the COVID lockdowns while grieving for his loss. Yet he remains committed to furthering understanding and engagement, and has shown admirable resilience. Read his remarkable essay on his experiences here. 6:51 – How Hazza started in China, and how his career changed throughout his time there  19:27 – Hazza’s experiences feeling alienated in China  27:00 – Hazza’s experience working in Chinese state media  34:04 – How China shaped Hazza and Wayne’s love story, and how grief has shaped Hazza’s perspective on life 56:08 – The loveliness of everyday interactions  58:43 – Hazza’s advice on giving oneself time and leniency  1:02:38 – How Hazza may find his way back to China in the future  Paying It Forward: James Laurenceson at UTS Sydney  Recommendations: Hazza: China Blonde: How a newsreader’s search for adventure led to friendship, acceptance… and peroxide pandemonium in China by Nicole Webb  Kaiser: The TV series Xi Bei Sui Yue (Into the Great Northwest) (2024 - ) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.