Chris Miller of Tufts and I discuss our report Labs over Fabs, our case for the US to be spending money more broadly than currently conceived by the CHIPS act. ( https://chinatalk.substack.com/p/labs-over-fabs-risc-vs-promise ) Please consider supporting ChinaTalk! https://glow.fm/chinatalk/ JP Kleinhans (@JPKleinhans) joins to cohost and discuss his April 2021 report that argues it's dumb for Europe to drop billions on some shiny new fabs. https://www.stiftung-nv.de/sites/default/files/eu-semic...
Jul 15, 2021•46 min
Why does Xi govern like he's running out of time? Rhodium's Dan Rosen and CSIS' Jude Blanchette discuss their recent Foreign Affairs pieces recapping the past years of Xi's rule from an economic and political perspective. We get into failed financial liberalization, anti-corruption, the prospects for war over Taiwan, lessons from Sputnik, and vertical farming. Dan's FA piece: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2021-06-22/chinas-economic-reckoning Jude's FA Piece: https://www.foreignaf...
Jul 10, 2021•46 min
How did Chinese firms come to dominate the global solar industry? Now that the Biden administration has banned imports for some key components of solar panels made in Xinjiang, how will global solar buyers adapt? Andy Klump, CEO of Clean Energy Associates, a firm tasked with monitoring Chinese solar supply chains, joins the podcast to discuss. Outtro Music: 星球坠落（FALLING）by 艾热, a rapper from Xinjiang https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN8lxL1gvOE&list=OLAK5uy_mxe6tOdJnF3FcOOYFaBPPW2wKbrE7mKwU&am...
Jul 07, 2021•51 min
Is China different? Does secular stagnation apply? How have Chinese economic policymakers changed over time? Should industrial policy be a thing? What should American academia navigate its relationship with China? To discuss, ChinaTalk welcomes its first former cabinet secretary to the show! Larry Summers is a professor at Harvard, who previously served as Clinton’s Secretary of the Treasury and Obama’s NEC Director. Cohosting with me is Logan Wright, Director for China Markets Research at Rhodi...
Jul 01, 2021•40 min
Xi Jinping will not rule China forever. What have CCP leadership transitions looked like in the past, and what can we expect when Xi exits stage left? To discuss we have today Richard McGregor, an Aussie journalist with decades of experience in East Asia and author of three absolutely mandatory China books The Party, Asia’s Reckoning, and Xi: The Backlash , and Peter Vanderslice, a recent college grad who just wrote a fantastic thesis on CCP leadership transitions. I'm hiring a new editor for Ch...
Jun 27, 2021•1 hr 1 min
Dave Aitel, who started his career at NSA and spent the past twenty years in offensive cybersecurity, comes on ChinaTalk to discuss What he's learned in his quest to read every cyber policy paper What blindspots remain in the field How China ranks in offensive and defensive cyber ceapabilities relative to the US and what we can all learn from the Tianfu Cup ( http://www.tianfucup.com/ ) Why Cyberpunk 2077 is a masterpiece Please consider supporting ChinaTalk at https://glow.fm/chinatalk/ Apply t...
Jun 19, 2021•51 min
Ben Reinhardt , an independent researcher and robotics PhD, discusses Why DARPA has so many hits to its name Why NASA wasted the past two decades What needs to be subtracted from the US research ecosystem Sci-fi book recommendations Please consider supporting ChinaTalk at https://glow.fm/chinatalk/ Intro Music: Mura Masa, Messy Love https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwXuBAd7Hh4 Outtro Music: 贝贝 / Melo - backbone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26EDDCQcPEQ Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com...
Jun 09, 2021•40 min
Dr. Yan Zheng, senior technical staff specializing in microelectronics at In-Q-Tel, discusses What it's like to invest in startups for the CIA and the rest of the US intelligence community What's broken in the early stage chip ecosystem and how to fix it Why the US government should consider expanding its direct investments in hard tech companies How the US needs to counterbalance CFIUS with carrots How anti-Asian violence has influenced the research community Please consider supporting ChinaTal...
Jun 04, 2021•56 min
Bell Labs is dead, long live Bell Labs! This week's guest, Ilan Gur , the CEO of Activate.org , has a plan to improve America's R&D apparatus: fund start-ups that allow entrepreneurial researchers to pursue the practical applications of their world-class basic research. We discuss why we're lucky to have Moderna and BioNTech (beyond the obvious reasons), the impact of research moving from corporations to universities, the Endless Frontier Act, why patents don't equal innovation, and more. Pl...
May 29, 2021•52 min
The Endless Frontier Act, the most important piece of legislation no one's heard of, got blown to bits in committee this week. Sam Hammond of the Niskanen Center joins to discuss. My recent coverage in the ChinaTalk newsletter https://chinatalk.substack.com/p/endless-frontier-the-most-important Sam's coverage: https://www.niskanencenter.org/how-congress-ruined-the-endless-frontier-act/ Outtro Music: Live As You Like by (my new favorite artist) Takayan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85NA-prJZJE ...
May 21, 2021•17 min
Why hasn’t North Korea emulated Deng’s Opening & Reform? Are China’s wealthy, educated, urbane youth liberals? Could the PLA cooperate with the U.S. military in the event of Korean reunification? Dr. Sungmin Cho of the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies joins ChinaTalk for a discussion of the Korean Peninsula as viewed by Beijing. This episode is a companion to this week’s ChinaTalk with Odd Arne Westad . Ainikki Riikonen , a research assistant at Center for a New American Security, jo...
May 19, 2021•42 min
Odd Arne Westad joins ChinaTalk to discuss his latest book Empire and Righteous Nation: 600 Years of China-Korea Relations . Westad’s work is a diplomat’s handbook that connects the sweeping currents of history to the geopolitics of today. Co-hosting today is Danny Crichton of Techcrunch. We explore how Korea, past and present, navigates its relationship with the powerful empires on its doorstep. Korea’s unique Confucianism serves as a launching point into a discussion on empire and nation-state...
May 16, 2021•50 min
For Part Three of ChinaTalk's industrial policy series, we are joined by two leading lights of the American left: Saikat Chakrabarti , AOC's former Chief of Staff, and Zack Exley of the 2016 Bernie campaign. (Don't forget to check out Part One with Rob Atkinson and Part Two with José Fernandez .) Co-hosting is Vishnu Kannan, a junior fellow in Carnegie's Technology and International Affairs Program. Saikat and Zack take us inside the creation of the Green New Deal, lay out how bold leadership ca...
May 14, 2021•1 hr 27 min
Kevin Xu of the fantastic Interconnected newsletter, and formerly of Commerce and the Obama White House, ran through a grab bag of some of the hottest topics in US-China tech. We got into the politics of Tesla in China, what Morris Chang of TSMC thinks about the future of the semiconductor industry, how open source is key to the future of American industrial policy , why the Endless Frontier Act (which I wrote about in the most recent edition of the ChinaTalk newsletter ) is the most important b...
May 11, 2021•50 min
Student Research Symposium: https://forms.gle/FYoSeHS7t3ZLLwEh9 Work with me! https://rhg.com/job/research-assistant-china-technology-and-industry-research/ Thomas Shugart joined me and Eric Lofgren on another cross-over episode of China AcquisitionTalk . Thomas spent 25 years in the US Navy and is currently an adjunct senior fellow at CNAS. This possibility is made more dangerous considering the rise of China’s military, particularly in long-range missiles, bombers, and navy. The expansion of t...
May 07, 2021•55 min
Fascinated (or stunned) by China’s recent anti-monopoly moves against tech giants Ant and Meituan? Want to get inside the head of Chinese regulators as they plan their moves against the globe’s largest corporations? ChinaTalk has you covered. This week I’m joined by Dr. Angela Zhang , a professor at The University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Law, to discuss her new book “ Chinese Antitrust Exceptionalism: How The Rise of China Challenges Global Regulation ”. Yvonne Yu, my colleague at Rhodium , co...
May 01, 2021•47 min
Enzo Chen, author of the Substack 推播助栏The Podcast Pick , and Caiwei Chen , the host of 定向跳转 The Redirect Podcast and the superb newsletter Chaoyang Trap , discuss all things podcasting in China and Taiwan. We get into the best Chinese-language shows, what makes China's leading podcast app so special, the demographics of podcast listeners, censors efforts to control the newly popular medium, and Jordan's auditory forays into classic Chinese literature. Please consider supporting ChinaTalk at http...
Apr 27, 2021•39 min
What as the rise of streaming, idols, and increased censorship done to Chinese TV? Co-hosting is Ina Yang , one of the founders of the Chinese-language podcast Loud Murmurs . We discuss Chinese dramas with AvenueX , the intrepid YouTuber who has an encyclopedic knowledge of the Chinese TV scene. AvenueX explains how the internet changed Chinese dramas (and not always for the better), why China’s censorship system leads to stilted plots (it’s not quite what you’d think), and why Zi Jinchen is the...
Apr 20, 2021•41 min
What is Huarong and why do its struggles explain the central contradictions of China's financial system? To discuss, Logan Wright of Rhodium joins the show. In the first ten minutes, Logan catches us up on the news of the week. Then in the following hour, I rerun an episode we recorded together in late 2018 discussing his report Credit and Credibility , which explains why the big one hasn't hit yet. Want to get in touch? We can be reached at clientservice@rhg.com Outtro music: Miraie & Milko...
Apr 17, 2021•1 hr 15 min
What was the Chongqing Model and why does it still matter? Yueran Zhang, a PhD student in sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, discusses. We talk about how Bo Xilai utilized mass mobilization against his enemies in the central government and China’s labor movements, and the significance of the 2018 Jasic protests. Zhang’s two recent articles for Made In China journal, “ The Chongqing Model One Decade On ” and “ Leninists in a Chinese Factory: Reflections on the Jasic Labour Organ...
Apr 14, 2021•1 hr 1 min
Scott Rozelle (legend, Stanford professor, co-director of the Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions ) joins ChinaTalk to discuss his recent book Invisible China: How the Urban-Rural Divide Threatens China’s Rise , co-authored with Natalie Hell. We discuss how China’s 900 million-strong low-income population will decide China’s future development path. Is China is the next Mexico? Why is it easy to solve poverty but not low income? Why don’t local governments spend enough on rural e...
Apr 09, 2021•53 min
To discuss, ChinaTalk assembled two of my favorite Japanese think-tankers, Yuka Koshino , a Research Fellow at the UK think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), and Akira Igata , the Executive Director at the Tama University-affiliated Center for Rule-making Strategy (CRS). Joshua Fitt of The Center for a New American Security cohosts. Thanks to CNAS for making this show possible. Outtro songs: Takayan, What’s the meaning of living: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGDQQnBVU...
Apr 04, 2021•48 min
Derek Sandhaus is the author of Drunk in China: Baijiu and the World's Oldest Drinking Culture and part of the team behind Ming River Baijiu , the first (good) Baijiu created especially for the international market. We discuss AA in china, Baijiu's origins, different varieties of Baijiu, the drink's evolving role in modern China, as well as the challenge of bringing such a polarizing drink to Europe and the US. Please consider supporting ChinaTalk at https://glow.fm/chinatalk/ Outtro music: Hipe...
Apr 02, 2021•49 min
Are the US and China in ideological competition? How does one go about answering that question? Dan Tobin of the US Intelligence Community's National Intelligence University and Ryan Manuel of Official China have a dangerous amount of fun debating guiding ideologies and what they mean for geopolitics. Dan's 2020 congressional testimony on CCP ideology: https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/testimonies/SFR%20for%20USCC%20TobinD%2020200313.pdf Ryan's PhD thesis on CCP bureaucracy (which really ...
Mar 30, 2021•1 hr 28 min
John Verwey of the Substack “Semi-Literate" (and formerly of Commerce’s BIS, USITC, and USTR) talks the history and future of China's chip industry. We get into government guidance funds, the CHIPS Act, “Fabs not Labs,” export controls, and more. John's substack: https://semiliterate.substack.com/ Outtro Music: Justice‘s Genesis (Live Version) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdsEaSx7u90 Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ...
Mar 27, 2021•1 hr
Michèle Flournoy joined AcquisitionTalk's Eric Lofgren and me for another crossover episode of China-AcquisitionTalk. Flournoy is a former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, co-founder and new board chair of CNAS (where I'm a fellow), and currently the founder and managing partner of WestExec Advisors. I dove deep into the archive, digging up copies of Flournoy's undergraduate and master's theses to discuss "psycho-social approaches to international relations" and 1980s nuclear policy. We als...
Mar 24, 2021•42 min
In her years as a Wall Street Journal foreign correspondent in Hong Kong and Beijing, Te-Ping Chen came across a lifetime of remarkable characters and events. Most of these didn’t make her newspaper articles, so she began collecting them in short stories, which were collected in a book published just last month, Land of Big Numbers . Mara Hvistendahl guest hosts an interview with Te-Ping, where we discuss her writing process, journalism versus fiction writing, and some of the stories behind the ...
Mar 20, 2021•34 min
Dan Rosen is the founding partner of the Rhodium Group and leads the China team. He is also my boss! We talk about our plans for China tech coverage, lessons from thirty years of China-watching, how he thinks about decoupling, China's debt situation. We also play underrated/overrated on whether track two dialogues are a waste of time, PDF length, and talking to government officials. Want to work with me? Please get in touch at jschneider@rhg.com . Outtro Music: YTH Chopie ft YOUNG13DBABY -《Best ...
Mar 16, 2021•41 min
Rory Medcalf, head of the National Security College at Australia National University discusses his new book ' Indo-Pacific Empire. ' We talk 15th-century Korean maps, the promise of the 1947 Asian Relations Conference, Australia and India's shifting conceptions of their place in the region, the origins of the Quad, China-Australia relations, and advice Rory has for the Quad countries as they try to figure out what this 'minilateral' should amount to. Megan Lamberth of CNAS cohosts. Also discusse...
Mar 13, 2021•53 min
Adam Tooze ( now on Substack! ) and Matt Klein, author of Trade Wars Are Class Wars , return to ChinaTalk and pick up right where they left off in September . We discuss whether Ricardo’s theories of comparative advantage actually work in a globalized age, why Stalin’s embrace of “socialism in one country” was a response to the hegemonic power of British (and American) capital, whether a Bolshevik Revolution is the best way to solve global inequality, how intra-elite conflict drives sovereignty-...
Mar 11, 2021•55 min
