The Sinofile

China is running a record-high merchandise trade surplus of approximately $1.2 trillion, the largest annual trade surplus ever recorded by any country. However, as the West restricts access to its markets for high tech Chinese products, it faces the catastrophic danger of overcapacity. Between governments protectionism and consumer demand, how far wide will the next China Shock be felt in the world?

China is not only competing with the United States in AI, it is also wielding its influence in the world to compete directly with the international "rules based" order. China views the Global South as vital to its success. It holds significant influence in the BRICS organization and leads the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. As Chinese President Xi Jinping's prepares for a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, he is focused on rallying more support from potential Global South members to increase its leverage.

Last week, China invited 29 countries to sign an agreement establishing the China-backed World AI Cooperation Organization at the 9th World AI Conference. Attending for the first time, President Xi Jinping announced that China will welcome outside investment to develop and govern an open AI that should benefit the international community, namely the Global South. But the AI race between China and the United States is being run on two very different tracks. And that means, there will be two versions of AI in the world: One open, and one closed.

From Maoist and Marxist revolutions exporting their respective ideologies abroad, to U.S. President Truman's power struggle with General MacArthur, this episode dives into how international events are connected with domestic audiences and issues.

Few countries have direct access to the Hermit Kingdom of North Korea in the way China does, but Russia is one of them. As Russia–DPRK collaboration reaches new heights, Beijing has grown increasingly uneasy. In response, Chinese President Xi Jinping has prioritized North Korea as his first foreign destination for 2026. How does China really view North Korea? How close is the China–Russia–DPRK alignment? And what, if anything, truly binds these three powers together?

For years, Western analysts have concluded that China is "playing the long game" in their effort to replace the United States as the world's new hegemony. However, most of what China has been achieving in recent years suggests the opposite. So why the persistent rhetoric? The answer lies in a discussion between U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, before official US-China relations were ever established.

After nearly a decade of not hosting a sitting U.S. president, and years of no communication with Washington, what moved Beijing to host its biggest adversary now? US-Taiwan relations cannot be ignored when analyzing the US-China relationship; and most importantly US arms sales to Taiwan.

After years of failed attempts at decoupling between the world's largest economies, the leaders of the United States and China meet among what they both have come to realize is their true shared common interest: tech billionaires.

Following a historic U.S. weapons sale to Taiwan, what does KMT Chair Zheng Liwen's recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping mean for the future of Taiwan? What does it mean about China today?

For decades, Beijing has wielded economic coercion against foreign nations to achieve political gains. After Japan's new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, vocalized support for Taiwan last November in the event of a Chinese attack, Beijing did what it knows best: it riled up the Chinese population through its state-run media to impact Japanese business in China and Chinese tourism in Japan. However, this time it has backfired. Tune in to hear why and what it all means for China.