In this episode of The Burn Bag Podcast, A’ndre Gonawela sits down with Zhengyu Huang — former President of the Committee of 100 and author of Rethinking China — to examine the assumptions driving U.S. policy toward China.

The conversation covers U.S.-China competition across trade, technology, national security, and Taiwan, while examining where current policy debates may benefit from what Zhengyu believes are more evidence-based assumptions. Zhengyu also discusses economic decoupling, deterrence, the China Initiative, and the role of Chinese Americans in U.S. national security debates.

Together, A’ndre and Zhengyu discuss how Washington can think more clearly about competition with China while avoiding overreach, miscalculation, and unnecessary escalation.