ChinaTalk

By Jordan SchneiderNews Technology Government Politics

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ChinaTalk episodes

July 26, 2023EMERGENCY POD: Qin Gone!
Until yesterday, Qin Gang 秦刚 was serving as China’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. But on Monday, July 24, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee announced an emergency meeting for the next day, July 25, during which Qin was “removed” 免职 (albeit not “dismissed” 撤职) from his position as China’s #2 diplomat.
To dissect the rumors and make sense of it all, we have on Matt Brazil — a senior China analyst at BluePath Labs, writer for SpyTalk, fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, and longtime friend ChinaTalk. (Check out our January 2021 show with Matt!)
We discuss:
Precisely what we know and don’t know about l’affaire Qin;
How journalist Fu Xiaotian 傅晓田 is wrapped up in all of this — and how those with CCP connections somehow end up with private jets and buy-ins to elite universities;
Qin’s possible connections to the Ministry of State Security — and why that might rub his subordinates the wrong way;
How the CCP has dispensed with previous political elites, and whether Qin’s treatment resembles theirs; and
Why it is that sometimes even the heads of CCP security don’t even know what’s going on!

Outro music: 我要你的愛, by 葛蘭; “Saving All My Love For You,” by Whitney Houston
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33 min
July 25, 2023Taiwan’s Presidential Elections: A Primer
ChinaTalk welcomes Taiwan expert and Hoover research fellow Kharis Templeman. This episode is all things 2024 Taiwan elections — slated for January 13, 2024.
In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Kharis is the program manager of the Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific, and previously was the program manager of the Taiwan Democracy and Security Project.
In this show, we discuss:
The frontrunners’ profiles — Lai Ching-te 賴清德, Hou Yu-ih 侯友宜, and Ko Wen-je 柯文哲 — and what makes this three-way race different from previous elections;
Why the KMT’s nomination process was somewhat quirky this time around;
The importance of party unity, and why some Taiwanese political parties have failed to unify in past election cycles;
What’s on Taiwanese voters’ minds — beyond national-security concerns;
The CCP’s preferred winner — plus if and how any PRC-based interference may manifest over the coming months;
Why Taiwan’s election system is “unhackable”;
What to make of the spread of disinformation and hyper-partisanship in Taiwan’s domestic media;
And some pro tips on escaping the DC bubble and understanding the Taiwanese populace.
Outro music: Bubble Tea, by Mango Street Papa 芒果街老爸
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1 hr 5 min
July 22, 2023 Why Chinese EVs Will Take Over the World
• How did the Chinese EV industry become so dominant?
• What institutional and cultural factors shape China’s auto market?
• What can Western democracies learn from Chinese industrial policy?

To discuss these questions, I brought on GWU professor John Helveston, an expert in tech and innovation policy and Chinese electric vehicles.

Outro music:
https://open.spotify.com/track/4QQEzkxcONBthDLfzqIh9S?si=2af235017c8c4449

Photo: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images

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1 hr 16 min
July 12, 2023AI Beyond OpenAI
What companies beyond OpenAI matter to the future of AI?
What is the relationship between closed and open source source?
When will researchers lose the reins to government on AI's trajectory?

To discuss, this week I brought on Matt Lynley of the fantastic Supervised News substack as well as Lux Capital's Danny Crichton.
Jade Leung's thesis: https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:ea3c7cb8-2464-45f1-a47c-c7b568f27665
Outtro music: https://open.spotify.com/track/2opgXfgG4tdM2fuHiamoaG?si=e1eabaf135d846d3

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1 hr 3 min
July 07, 2023Moneyball for Foreign Aid
Foreign aid is dominated by just a few huge players that receive the bulk of grants from the US government. But is bigger better? And are local players with innovative solutions to global issues missing out?
Unlock Aid wants to see smaller stakeholders get access to more funding and seats at the table. The group’s executive director, Walter Kerr and COO Amanda Arch explain why.
We also discuss:
How much the US spends on foreign aid each year and who gets that money.
How to make the distribution of foreign aid more efficient.
Why Unlock Aid wants to break down the barriers to accessing public funding.
How AI could be used in foreign aid.
China’s latest attempts to restrict data access to international researchers.

Outro music: 好了啦 (Piss Off) by 鼓鼓呂思緯 (GBOYSWAG) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D-ixUMcTPY
Check out the Substack at ChinaTalk.media!

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1 hr 4 min
July 03, 2023PLA Invasion: Is Taiwan's Military Ready?
Paul Huang, Taiwan military expert and research fellow at the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation, returns to ChinaTalk! Today he gives us an update on Taiwan’s military readiness, the PLA’s expansion, and whether Xi Jinping would really send it.
If you missed his episode back in 2020, give it a listen, too. And check out his recent thoughts posted on NBR, as well as his long-form special report, “Threats to Taiwan’s Security from China’s Military Modernization.”
In this episode, we cover:
The status quo of Taiwan’s reservist forces and command-and-control capabilities — and how Western countries perceive that status quo;
How the PLA’s military capabilities stack up against Russia’s performance in the Ukraine war thus far;
What insights we can glean from PLA-facing propaganda;
Why Ukrainian forces have been successful in repelling the Russian military thus far, and why Xi Jinping would loathe a protracted war over Taiwan;
Paul’s take on the PLA’s recent military maneuvers against US and Canadian assets in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea;
What the Taiwanese populace believes about PLA military action, US military support for Taiwan — and why these trends have changed over time;
China’s robust satellite expansion program, and how it plays a role in its aircraft carrier “kill chain”;
Likely and unlikely PLA invasion scenarios — and the corresponding discussions that would occur in the White House;
What Taiwan military officials — like Admiral Lee Hsi-ming (Ret.) 李喜明 — think about Taiwan’s military readiness for an invasion.

If you liked the podcast, make sure to hop on our newsletter, too! https://www.chinatalk.media
Outro music: 逆光 - Kimberley Chen 陳芳語 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDw1B_hWwbw
This interview was taped on June 16, 2023, in Taipei.

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48 min
June 27, 2023 EMERGENCY EDITION: Coup in Russia with Kamil Galeev
What happened over the past few days in Russia? What does this mean for the future of Putin and the war in Ukraine? To discuss, I recorded today a show with Kamil Galeev, a PKU classmate of mine formerly of the Wilson Center.
Outtro music: Repo Man, Coup d'etat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJjuVzZQj0U

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49 min
June 20, 2023 Blinken to Beijing!
Blinken went to China to meet with Qin Gang, Wang Yi, and Xi himself!
What happened, why does it matter, and does this make it any less likely we'll be in WWIII anytime soon?
Do discuss, I bought on Dali Yang, political science professor at UChicago, and Nathaniel Sher of Carnegie.
Subscribe to ChinaTalk at https://chinatalk.substack.com/!
Outtro music (a two-parter!):
Selena Gomez: Lose You to Love Me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlJDTxahav0
Beyonce: Start Over https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJAXC1lz65I

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55 min
June 09, 2023 Chinese TV PilotTalk: Farmers, Murders, and Anime
We're talking Chinese TV this week on ChinaTalk! Hollywood writer Trey Kollmer and ChinaTalk editor Irene Zhang discuss farming reality tv, a dongbei murder, and some super creative animated content out of Bilibili.
Farmer show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fklN-OnYuGc
Dongbei show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs0OJVemJz4
Animated show: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0gnw1pNh6C1yA3EUU-aQrOjI3hvBC7oQ

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43 min
June 03, 2023NVIDIA and the Future of AI
Doug O'Laughlin of the Fabricated Knowledge substack and I discuss:
NVIDIA's corporate history and how it arrived at such a dominant position today
What makes it so irreplacable in the coming AI revolution
The national competitiveness implications of NVIDIA in a US-China context

Outtro music: 邓典果DDG/李尔新 -《帅到没朋友》 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CqvpDd1xK0

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50 min

About ChinaTalk

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Conversations exploring China, technology, and US-China relations. Guests include a wide range of analysts, policymakers, and academics. Hosted by Jordan Schneider.