China's recently-issued 'white paper' on its space program contains new revelations about its ambitions to rival the U.S. and Russia in exploring the moon, Mars and beyond. It also lacks details about military aspects of China's space efforts. In this week’s podcast, Michael Lipin tells you what new space goals China has set for itself and why those relating to its military remain little known. Featuring analysis from independent space researcher Morris Jones and GBTIMES journalist Andrew Jones.

Donald Trump's nomination of two figures to help him manage U.S.-China relations is sending mixed messages to Beijing. China welcomed Iowa Governor Terry Branstad’s selection as U.S. ambassador to Beijing, calling him an 'old friend'. But the choice of ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State has raised concerns in the Chinese oil industry. This week, Michael Lipin examines those signals with Andy Serwer of Yahoo Finance and Robert Daly of the Kissinger Institute on China and the U.S.

Airbnb, the top U.S. and global short-term home rental company, is ramping up its China profile, creating a new legal entity in the country and reaching tourism-promotion deals with four major Chinese cities. But Airbnb has a long way to go to dominate the Chinese market, where many consumers are unfamiliar with home-sharing and where two Chinese companies have an advantage in home listings. This week, Michael Lipin looks at Airbnb's China prospects with New York University’s Arun Sundararajan.

Donald Trump's popularity grew among Chinese social media users for much of this U.S. election year, but that trend appears to have stopped. Many are shocked by Trump's decision to break with longstanding U.S. policy and receive a December 2nd phone call from the president of Taiwan, viewed by China as a renegade province. This week, Michael Lipin discusses Chinese netizens' shifting attitudes toward Trump with the University of Notre Dame's Michel Hockx and WhatsOnWeibo.com's Manya Koetse.

China has seen an influx of black migrants to big cities in recent years, leading to friction with the majority Han Chinese population. But China's black community also has had positive experiences, highlighted in an upcoming British documentary. In this week's podcast by Michael Lipin, we meet two Beijing-based black migrants who attended a preview of the documentary. Delaware State University historian Yinghong Cheng also explains the Chinese people's reactions to the migrants' rising profile.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's vow to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership on his first day in office has drawn greater attention to China's plan for a rival free trade zone in the Asia-Pacific. In this week's podcast, Michael Lipin explores how much the world's 2 biggest economies stand to gain from a big shift in Asia-Pacific economic integration efforts. Featuring analysis from Clayton Dube of the USC U.S.-China Institute, and from Daily Beast and Forbes contributor Gordon Chang.

Washington has responded cautiously to Hong Kong's disqualification of two election-winning independence activists from its Legislative Council, and Beijing's ruling that those activists should be disqualified for failing to sincerely swear allegiance to China. VOA's Michael Lipin asks two Hong Kong watchers in Washington - Robert Daly of the Kissinger Institute and Richard Bush of the Brookings Institution - why the U.S. is not more critical of Beijing's treatment of the independence activists.

Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin is growing his influence in U.S. entertainment, adding Dick Clark Productions to recent acquisitions of a major U.S. film producer and two cinema chains. Wang's purchases have raised concerns in Congress, where 16 lawmakers persuaded the Obama administration to consider calls for more oversight of foreign takeovers of U.S. businesses. How could that affect Chinese investments in the U.S.? This week, Michael Lipin asks legal analyst Eric Shimp of Alston & Bird.

How do the two leading U.S. presidential candidates differ on their policies toward China? In this week's edition of VOA China 360, Michael Lipin brings you exclusive VOA interviews with senior advisors to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, who explain how the Democrat and Republican presidential nominees would handle the sometimes tense U.S. relationship with Asia's top power. Featuring comments from Clinton foreign policy advisor Laura Rosenberger and Trump defense advisor Alexander Gray.

U.S. video-streaming service Netflix has hit a road block in its quest to launch throughout Asia this year, saying it won't enter the China market directly due to regulatory challenges. Why has China proven to be such a tough environment for Netflix and other U.S. entertainment companies, and what are the prospects for overcoming those challenges? This week, Michael Lipin brings you perspectives of Sinica podcast co-host Jeremy Goldkorn and Dow Jones MarketWatch senior columnist Therese Poletti.