Sinica Podcast

Kaiser Kuo
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  • POLITICS
  • EVERY TWO WEEKS
Sinica Podcast

A weekly discussion of current affairs in China with journalists, writers, academics, policymakers, business people and anyone with something compelling to say about the country that's reshaping the world. Hosted by Kaiser Kuo.

  1. 6 DAYS AGO

    U.S.-China Crisis Management and Crisis Prevention, with Michael Swaine

    This week on Sinica, I chat with Michael Swaine, Senior Research Fellow at the Quincy Institute for the last couple of years, prior to which he spent nearly two decades as a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he led extensive work on Chinese defense and foreign policy, U.S.-China relations, and East Asian international relations more broadly. He was also a senior policy analyst at the RAND Corporation, where he developed a reputation for rigorous research on Asian security and crisis management. We focus on his recent report, “Avoiding the Abyss: An Urgent Need for Sino-U.S. Crisis Management,” which offers both a framework for understanding the forces driving U.S.-China crises and a roadmap to prevent or manage these crises effectively. He drew on his many decades of experience working on the security dimension of the bilateral relationship, including his participation in many Track II dialogues and simulations of crisis scenarios over the years. 4:51 – Defining "crisis" and "crisis prevention"  10:13 – The possibility of a crisis in the South China Sea 12:31 – Lessons from past crises   20:08 – The problematic moralistic stances and tit-for-tat escalation produced by yǒulǐ, yǒulì, yǒu jié 有理, 有利, 有节 27:37 – U.S. concern over the credibility of its alliance commitments  34:50 – The problem of perception  38:16 – Examples of how each side is sometimes unable to see how its own actions are perceived by the other  41:20 – The dangers of failing to understand and making assumptions about the China’s historical memory  45:42 – Problems of signaling and how best to solve them  51:17 – Mike’s suggestions for a crisis toolkit and his proposal of a civilian-led two-tier dialogue structure  58:41 – Track II dialogues  1:02:47 – The importance of educating leaders up and down the system on crisis management  1:06:08 – The structural issues of the decision-making systems in China and the U.S. Recommendations: Michael: Art critic Brian Sewell’s The Reviews That Caused the Rumpus; Robert Suettinger’s The Conscience of the Party: Hu Yaobang, China’s Communist Reformer   Kaiser: The Great Transformation: China’s Road from Revolution to Reform by Odd Arne Westad and Chen Jian  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    1h 17m

  2. 14 NOV

    Granta's Chinese Literature Issue: A Chat with Editor Thomas Meaney

    The British literary quarterly Granta has published a new issue dedicated to Chinese writers, featuring familiar mainstays of contemporary literature and some fresh new voices. This week on Sinica, I chatted with Thomas Meaney, editor of Granta, about what's happening in the literary scene in China today and how this fantastically interesting issue came together. Tom is wonderfully thoughtful and articulate, and we really get into some of the individual stories and the larger trends they may or may not represent. 3:17 – Tom’s familiarity with Chinese literature and China 4:40 – Why Granta dedicated this issue to Chinese literature, how the issue came together, and how Granta found its translators  10:54 – Balancing political considerations with artistic merits in curating this issue  17:20 – The Chinese literary obsession with losers and the role of losers in Xiao Hai’s “Adrift in the South” 25:11 – The so-called Dongbei Renaissance, and Wu Qi’s interview and why he pushes back on the idea of the Dongbei Renaissance genre  33:02 – Granta staff favorites  35:18 – The phenomenon of gratuitous name-dropping and borrowing stylistically from other writers  38:05 – The issue’s three photo essays by Feng Li, Li Jie and Zhan Jungang, and Haohui Liu  44:36 – Yu Hua’s “Tomorrow I’ll Get Past It” 50:09 – Mo Yan’s “The Leftie Sickle”  53:10 – Yan Lianke’s “Black Pig Hair, White Pig Hair”  57:56 – The "filmability" of some of the short stories and the connection between the film world and literary writers in China  1:00:08 – Where you can get Granta and pick up this issue Recommendations: Tom: The Egalitarian Moment: Asia and Africa, 1950-1980 by Anthony Low, a comparative history of land reform  Kaiser: The ever-expanding library of guitarless backing tracks on YouTube to play along to See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    1h 9m

  3. 7 NOV

    Decoupling, De-risking, and the Great U.S.-China Disconnect, with Supply Chain Expert Cameron Johnson

    This week on Sinica in a show taped live at China Crossroads, Shanghai's premier event series, I'm joined by my good friend Cameron Johnson, who is on the governing board of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, specializes professionally in supply chains in China, and teaches at NYU Shanghai. 4:20 – What makes up a supply chain ecosystem, and why it is difficult to build out  8:39 – A brief history of decoupling, the warning signs, and whether it matters “who shot first”  16:43 – Personal protective equipment (PPE) manufacturing in America, the lessons we (should have) learned, and Washington’s response 25:13 – EVs and batteries: manufacturing in America, and what it looks like on the ground in China  30:46 – The semiconductor industry  34:24 – “China Week” in Congress, and the different responses of GOP versus Democratic congressmen  38:36 – De-risking as globalization 2.0 42:21 – Cameron’s predictions on the effects of the [upcoming] U.S. elections  44:10 – Inside Chinese factories  47:44 – American shortfalls in manufacturing  50:21 – The importance of seeing China’s competitive markets and ecosystem clusters for oneself  53:09 – Cameron’s advice for the next U.S. administration  Recommendations:  Cameron: Gōngyìng liàn gōngfáng zhàn 《供应链攻防战》 (Supply Chain Offensive and Defense War) by Lin Xueping; No Trade is Free: Changing Course, Taking on China, and Helping America’s Workers by Robert Lighthizer  Kaiser: The Praise of Folly by Desiderius Erasmus  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    1h 2m

  4. 31 OCT

    Tsinghua's Da Wei: New Survey Research on Chinese Perceptions of Security

    This week, in a show taped in Beijing at the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, I speak with Professor Da Wei about a new public opinion poll on China's perception of international security and review its important findings. We also discuss Chinese views on the Russo-Ukrainian War and the upcoming U.S. presidential election. 2:11 – Da Wei’s new podcast  4:05 – CISS’s “Public Opinion Poll: Chinese Outlook on International Security 2024” 7:46 – The poll’s findings on pessimism about global security and the global influence of the U.S. and China 11:56 – China’s growing national confidence and growing pessimism about the U.S.-China relationship  18:26 – Paradoxical poll findings: proactive foreign policy stance vs. prioritizing domestic affairs, and involvement in global scientific cooperation vs. withdrawing in other areas of international agreement  24:30 – Why older respondents tended to be more pessimistic about China’s international security situation  25:58 – Understanding negative attitude toward the United States and the effectiveness of diplomacy  30:17 – The belief that the U.S. goal is containment of China’s development and the shift in view of America from a values-based country to a power-based country  36:12 – Chinese viewpoints on the Russo-Ukrainian war  39:22 – Da Wei’s travels in the U.S. and the changes he has perceived  45:04 – The U.S. agenda to dissuade China from deepening its involvement with Russia  49:02 – How Chinese views on the upcoming U.S. election have changed since Kamala Harris’ nomination Recommendations: Da Wei: Chen Jian’s Zhou Enlai: A Life; for Chinese to travel to the U.S. more Kaiser: Chen Jian and Odd Arne Westad’s The Great Transformation: China’s Road from Revolution to Reform; for Americans to travel to China (and Beijing)  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    59 min

  5. 24 OCT

    Xinhua's Liu Yang and Jiang Jiang of "Got China" Get Western Journalism

    This week on Sinica, in a show recorded in Beijing, I speak with Liu Yang and Jiang Jiang, the authors of two excellent newsletters — The Beijing Channel and Ginger River Review, respectively — and two of the guys behind the YouTube show "Got China." They're making a great effort to bridge Chinese journalism with Anglophone reporting on China with perspectives and insights from within the Chinese state media system. 4:24 – How Jiang Jiang and Liu Yang became journalists  11:42 – How Liu Yang and Jiang Jiang decided to launch their newsletters, and the advantages of being tǐzhì nèi 体制内 20:29 – Jiang Jiang and Liu Yang’s Got China show  25:46 – Liu Yang’s and Jiang Jiang’s empathy for American perspectives  29:53 – The negative American discourse on the Chinese economy and “China collapse theory”  37:21 The recent press conferences on monetary and policies, and the response in the realty market in Beijing  46:17 What’s next for Got China  Recommendations: Liu Yang: Modern Chinese Government and Politics 《当代中国政府与政治?》, a Chinese-language textbook Jiang Jiang: The Chinese podcast Bié de diànbō 别的电波; and Shan Weijian’s Out of the Gobi: My Story of China and America Kaiser: The album The Last Will and Testament by Swedish metal band Opeth; and the Provincial Cuisine Club in Beijing, for trying food from different parts of China See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    55 min

  6. 17 OCT

    Veteran China Ad Man Bryce Whitwam on China's Livestreaming e-Commerce Market

    This week on Sinica, in a show recorded at Syracuse University on September 30, I chat with my old pal Bryce Whitwam about the remarkable rise of live-streaming e-commerce — and how it's already making its way to the U.S. 4:28 – Why Bryce chose to leave Shanghai and pursue a doctorate in the States 8:08 – How big livestream e-commerce has gotten and its predicted trajectory  9:37 – E-commerce livestreaming and the pursuit of celebrity  14:08 – The different types of livestream commerce 17:30 – Xiaohongshu  20:45 – Why Taobao has lost its dominance  22:07 – The value-add of an influencer’s pitch  27:00 – The demographics of Chinese livestream e-commerce consumers  29:09 – Insights from Bryce’s 25 interviews 36:36 – Buying food on livestream e-commerce and how agribusinesses are getting involved in the trend  41:21 – Livestream commerce in the United States 44:34 – How livestream e-commerce has changed the retail experience in China  46:43 – Potential future disruptions in the industry Recommendations: Bryce: Jeffree Star on TikTok as an American livestream commerce example and Omar Nok’s “Egypt to Japan Without Flying” TikTok stream  Kaiser: The album True by Jon Anderson and The Band Geeks  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    58 min

  7. 10 OCT

    Retrofitting Leninism and Re-examining Hawkishness in China with Dimitar Gueorguiev

    This week, a show taped live at Syracuse University on September 30 with Associate Professor Dimitar Gueorguiev, author of the excellent Retrofitting Leninism: Participation Without Democracy in China. We discuss his book, his recent paper exploring hawkishness in Chinese public opinion, and his thoughts about the upcoming U.S. presidential election. 1:59 Syracuse University’s MAX 132 class ("the globalization class") 4:10 Dimitar’s background and how he became interested in China  7:44 How the genre of authoritarian resilience took off  14:26 China’s understanding of democracy (whole-process democracy) 17:40 Features of Leninism that have allowed the Chinese Communist Party to survive 21:21 Why China in the 1980s and '90s admired Singaporea's authoritarian PAP  23:37 The idea of the mass line 27:16 China’s sentiment analysis through technology, and using bottom-up information as performance evaluation  34:03 The COVID-19 pandemic and the confirmation bias of the regime-type explanation 37:37 The National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) 40:14 Dimitar’s research on hawkishness in China: how he got the data, what drives Chinese hawkishness, and the national security vs. economic lens  51:08 Why those who are dissatisfied with the government lean more hawkish and those who are satisfied with the government lean more dovish  56:30 The upcoming U.S. election: how things may play out under the two different administrations, and understanding Chinese preferences  Recommendations: Dimitar: The TV series The Expanse (2015-2022) Kaiser: Anthea Roberts’ Six Faces of Globalization: Who Wins, Who Loses, and Why It Matters; and the documentary Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos (2024) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    1h 12m

  8. 4 OCT

    Criticism and Conscience: A Conversation with David Moser

    This week on the Sinica Podcast, I chat with my dear friend David Moser, a longtime resident of Beijing, formerly an occasional co-host of Sinica and associate professor at Beijing Capital Normal University. We have a long history of exploring the underlying issues in our approach to China, and this week, we unpack some of those, focusing on the role of outsiders in Chinese society and their role in "changing China," drawing on David's response to an essay I recently published. 3:46 —David’s thoughts on Kaiser’s essay (“Priority Pluralism: Rethinking Universal Values in U.S.-China Relations”) 5:18 —How David thinks about going on state media and the reasons he does so 10:37 —How David’s engagement with state media has changed over time  15:04 —Conscience, moral intuition, drawing lines, and whataboutism  26:35 —The outsider urge to change China: the differences between the U.S. and Chinese governments and COVID as a test of the two systems; the role of American policy in working toward positive change and the importance of continuing engagement; and so-called Enlightenment values and priority pluralism  50:46 —The debate over cultural differences 57:09 —China’s notion of whole-process democracy versus American democracy   1:05:55 — “Give them time:” Anticipating when we will see big changes in China’s political culture  Recommendations: David: Richard Nisbett’s The Geography of Thought; and his own article, “A Fearful Asymmetry: COVID-19 and America’s Information Deficit with China” Kaiser: The “Open Database for China Studies Resource Guide” published by ACLS  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    1h 21m
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Hosts & Guests

About

A weekly discussion of current affairs in China with journalists, writers, academics, policymakers, business people and anyone with something compelling to say about the country that's reshaping the world. Hosted by Kaiser Kuo.

Information

  • Creator
    Kaiser Kuo
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2024
  • Episodes
    473
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    Sinica Podcast

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