Political economist Chenggang Xu grew up amid the upheaval of China’s Cultural Revolution and in the 1970s was beaten, imprisoned, and subjected to years of forced labor by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Today, he is a senior research scholar at the Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions, a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and author of the new book, “Institutional Genes: Origins of China’s Institutions and Totalitarianism.”

For decades, Beijing has repeatedly deceived the world about its true intentions, Xu says. So why do we keep falling for it?

In this episode, we dive into the origins of the Chinese Communist Party and why Xu believes its model of totalitarianism is distinct from any other regime today.

Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.