This week on Sinica, I chat with Peking University's Professor Wang Dong (王栋), an international relations scholar at the School of International Studies at Peking University, where he also serves as Deputy Director and Executive Director of the Office for Humanities and Social Sciences and the Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding. Professor Wang’s scholarship and public commentary focus on U.S.–China relations, Cold War history, and the uses of historical memory in diplomacy. He has been an especially thoughtful voice in connecting the Flying Tigers legacy with today’s efforts to stabilize and strengthen the people-to-people ties between our two countries. Check back in a day or two for the full podcast page and the transcript! 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, co-host Tianyu Fang makes his debut on the show to join me in interviewing his Stanford classmate and talented writer Jasmine Sun, who studies the anthropology of disruption. This summer, she took a trip to China with a group of friends with different levels of China experience, from people raised in the country to total novices. She reflects on how it hit, and how a group of young people reckoned with the reality of Chinese hypermodernity, which she wrote about in a terrific essay titled "america against china against america: notes on shenzhen, shanghai, and more." Check back on this page in a couple of days for the full podcast page with time stamps and recommendations! 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 well-known author and public intellectual Yascha Mounk about his recent fascination with China, his approach to learning about the country and learning Chinese, and his thoughts on how China fits into the current crisis of Western liberal democracy. 7:15 – Yascha’s experience of living in China and learning Chinese 12:18 – Yascha’s perspective on China’s strengths and weaknesses 20:12 – China in a global comparative perspective: Generational aspirations and demographic decline 29:45 – China’s Soft Power vs. Japan, Korea, and the U.S. 45:30 – Media narratives on China: have they shifted? 54:20 – Western Liberalism confronts China 01:07:07 – Backlash & criticism 01:11:35 - Polarization and “China as enemy” narratives Recommendations: Yascha: The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (book), The Leopard (1963) (movie) Kaiser: A Thousand Small Sanities: The Moral Adventure of Liberalism by Adam Gopnik (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, I speak first with retired Senior Colonel Zhou Bo, a frequent commentator on Chinese military and security affairs and a prolific writer now at the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, and with Rana Mitter of the Harvard Kennedy School and author of Forgotten Ally, a book about World War II in China. I will update this page when the transcript is ready. Check back in a couple of days! 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 Dave Kang (USC), Zenobia Chan (Georgetown), and Jackie Wong (American University in Sharjah, UAE) about their new paper in International Security titled "What Does China Want?" The paper, which has generated quite a bit of controversy, takes a data-driven approach to examine the claim that China seeks global hegemony — that it wants to supplant the U.S. as a globe-spanning top power. I'm traveling much of this week, so I'll update this podcast page when the transcript comes back! 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 welcome back Evan Feigenbaum, Vice President for Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Evan served for many years as a State Department official, was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia and Central Asia among his numerous positions in government, and was instrumental in building the U.S.-India relationship after 2000 — only to watch Trump round on India in recent months, slapping large punitive tariffs on the South Asian giant ostensibly over its purchases of Russian oil. What motivated Trump? And how does this look from New Delhi and from Beijing? Will China capitalize on the strains in the U.S.-Indian relationship? Listen and find out. As this show is news pegged, I decided to release it as soon as I finished the edit, rather than wait for the transcript. I'll update this podcast page when the transcript comes back. 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'm delighted to be joined by Dan Wang, formerly of Gavekal Dragonomics and the Paul Tsai Law Center at Yale University, now with the Hoover Institute's History Lab. Dan's new book is Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future, and it's already one of the year's most talked-about books. In this conversation, we go beyond what's actually in the book to discuss the origins and implications of the Chinese "engineering state" — the world's biggest technocratic polity — and what the United States should and should not learn from China. We discuss how Dan's ideas sit with Abundance by Derek Thompson and Ezra Klein, and much more. Don't miss this episode! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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.