China Desk

Steve Yates sits down with David Lin, Senior Director for Future Technology Platforms at the Special Competitive Studies Project and former CIA analyst, to discuss the evolving U.S.-China technology competition.

Lin shares insights from his 12 years in government service, including his time at the State Department and the CIA, and explains why he transitioned to the private sector to better tackle the emerging tech threats posed by China. From Made in China 2025 to artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and cybersecurity, Lin details the strategic challenges America faces and the policy shifts needed to maintain global tech leadership.

The episode also highlights the upcoming AI+ Expo in Washington, D.C., a major public event bridging government, industry, and academia around cutting-edge innovation. Watch Full-Length Interviews: https://www.youtube.com/@ChinaDeskFNW

Award-winning journalist Barbara Demick joins host Steve Yates on The China Desk Podcast for a powerful and emotional conversation about China's one-child policy, forced adoption, and the story behind her latest book, Daughters of the Bamboo Grove. Demick, a former Beijing bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times, shares her investigation into the brutal enforcement of population control and the heartbreaking case of twin sisters separated by coercive policies and reunited years later.

From her reporting in Sarajevo and North Korea to deep dives into Tibetan life and Chinese orphanages, Demick sheds light on life under authoritarian regimes and the hidden human cost of policy decisions. This episode explores the personal, political, and global consequences of one of the most consequential social engineering projects of the modern era.

📘 Daughters of the Bamboo Grove is available starting May 20.

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In this episode of The China Desk Podcast, host Steve Yates welcomes Susan Crabtree, national political correspondent for RealClearPolitics and co-author of Fool’s Gold: The Radicals, Cronies, and Traitors Who Killed the California Dream and Now Threaten Us All. Susan shares her personal journey from a military family upbringing to a career in investigative journalism, highlighting her reporting on religious persecution in China, the human rights abuses of the CCP, and California’s evolving political landscape under Governor Gavin Newsom.

Together, they explore California’s deepening ties to China through economic, political, and ideological avenues — from controversial PPE deals during COVID to foreign land ownership and Chinese influence in state institutions. Susan also reveals what inspired her to write Fool’s Gold and why the California model could be a cautionary tale for the rest of America.

Don’t miss this insightful conversation on China’s influence in U.S. politics, California’s unique trajectory, and what it all means for national security and freedom. Watch Full-Length Interviews: https://www.youtube.com/@ChinaDeskFNW

In this episode, Steve Yates sits down with Luke de Pulford, co-founder and Executive Director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (iPAC). From his early inspiration by William Wilberforce to launching an international coalition of lawmakers, Luke shares his remarkable journey in human rights, modern slavery advocacy, and China policy.

They discuss:

- The role of faith and conviction in confronting authoritarian regimes

- The origins and global impact of iPAC

- The challenges of building consensus across political lines on China

- The CCP’s growing aggression, transnational repression, and its global consequences

- The controversy around the Chinese embassy expansion in London

- Why reciprocity in international relations with China is no longer optional

This is a deep dive into the intersection of values, strategy, and global security. A must-listen for anyone interested in geopolitics, human rights, and the future of China policy.

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🌐 Visit chinadeskpodcast.com for archives and updates. Watch Full-Length Interviews: https://www.youtube.com/@ChinaDeskFNW

Isaac Stone Fish is the CEO and founder of Strategy Risks, a company specializing in assessing and mitigating risks, particularly related to China. A fluent Mandarin speaker with seven years of experience living in China, he has traveled extensively across the country. He authored America Second: How America’s Elites Are Making China Stronger (2022), examining the Communist Party of China’s influence in the U.S. Isaac is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Truman National Security Project fellow, and contributes to CBS News, the Atlantic Council, and Barron’s. A seasoned journalist and academic, his insights have been featured in major global media outlets and leading publications such as The New York Times and The Atlantic. Watch Full-Length Interviews: https://www.youtube.com/@ChinaDeskFNW

My guests today are commissioners from the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, Randall Schriver and Kimberly Glas.

Randall Schriver is the Chairman of the Board of the Project 2049 Institute and a partner at Pacific Solutions LLC. He is also a lecturer for Stanford University’s “Stanford-in-Washington” program, is on the Board of Advisors to the Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA, and is on the Board of Directors of the US-Taiwan Business Council.

Kimberly Glas is president and CEO of the National Council of Textile Organizations. She served previously served as executive director for Blue Green Alliance and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Textiles, Consumer Goods and Materials at the US Department of Commerce. She also worked on Capitol Hill, where her efforts helped lead to the establishment of the House Trade Working Group. Watch Full-Length Interviews: https://www.youtube.com/@ChinaDeskFNW

Mark Clifford is president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong, the former executive director of the Asia Business Council, and a former board member at Next Digital. He is editorial chair of the Asian Review of Books, and served as editor in chief of both English-language papers in Hong Kong, The Standard and the South China Morning Post. An honors history graduate of UC Berkeley and a Walter Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University, he holds a Ph.D. in Hong Kong history from the University of Hong Kong. Watch Full-Length Interviews: https://www.youtube.com/@ChinaDeskFNW

Philip Lenczycki is a Daily Caller News Foundation senior investigative reporter, China watcher, and former professor of Mandarin and East Asian Civilizations.

Twitter: @LenczyckiPhilip Watch Full-Length Interviews: https://www.youtube.com/@ChinaDeskFNW

Grant Newsham is a Senior Fellow with the Center for Security Policy. He also is a Research Fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies focusing on Asia/Pacific defense, political and economic matters. Newsham is a retired U.S. Marine Colonel and was the first US Marine Liaison Officer to the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. He also served as reserve head of intelligence for Marine Forces Pacific, and was the U.S. Marine Attaché, US Embassy Tokyo on two occasions. Watch Full-Length Interviews: https://www.youtube.com/@ChinaDeskFNW

Rushan Abbas is a Uyghur American activist and advocate from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China. She is the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Campaign for Uyghurs. Abbas became one of the most prominent Uyghur voices in international activism following her sister's detainment by the Chinese government in 2018.

She testified in 2019 before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in regard to the emergence of concentration camps in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and the threat of Chinese power in the Eastern Pacific. She has also testified before the House of Representatives on international religious persecution, forced labor, and human rights abuses as they relate to Uyghurs. Watch Full-Length Interviews: https://www.youtube.com/@ChinaDeskFNW