The Wire China Podcast

The Wire China
  • 5.0 (3)
  • NEWS

Covering China like no one else.  The Wire China is a weekly digital magazine dedicated to understanding and explaining one of the biggest stories of our time: China’s economic rise and its influence on the world. In this podcast, we’ll be taking you behind the scenes of the stories we cover each week. Subscribe: thewirechina.com  Follow us on social media:  https://x.com/thewirechina https://bsky.app/profile/thewirechina.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/thewirechina https://www.instagram.com/thewirechina/?hl=en

  1. APR 24

    Super Micro’s Super Smugglers

    Another day, another AI chip smuggling ring has been busted by the United States government. But this one is different: for the first time, executives from U.S. server manufacturer Super Micro have been charged with selling NVIDIA chips to Chinese buyers — a violation of U.S. export controls. Reporter Eliot Chen returns to the podcast with editor Andrew Peaple to discuss how the operation worked, and why smuggling chips to China is seemingly so hard to stop. Also, we’ll have a clip from our forthcoming Q&A with author Nicholas Niarchos on the impact that the push for clean energy is having on the countries that supply many of the key resources needed for products like batteries and electric vehicles.  Subscribe to our free newsletter: https://www.thewirechina.com/newsletter/  Follow us on social media: https://x.com/thewirechina https://bsky.app/profile/thewirechina.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/thewirechina https://www.instagram.com/thewirechina/?hl=en

    22 min

  2. APR 17

    Crypto Leverage: a Controversial Chinese Export

    In the high-stakes world of cryptocurrency, traders are writing big checks with borrowed funds — a risky investment trend known as leveraging. To understand whether this will help or hurt the industry, The Wire looks back at the trend's emergence in China. In this episode, we are joined by a new guest: journalist Grady McGregor, who discusses his upcoming piece on crypto leverage and its Chinese origins with features editor Tom Mitchell. His cover article will be published this weekend on our website, thewirechina.com.  Subscribe to our free newsletter: https://www.thewirechina.com/newsletter/  Follow us on social media: https://x.com/thewirechina https://bsky.app/profile/thewirechina.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/thewirechina https://www.instagram.com/thewirechina/?hl=en

    20 min

  3. APR 10

    Chinese EVs are Charging Up for Canada

    After so many years of Canada and the United States presenting a united front against Chinese electric vehicles, some were surprised by Canada's announcement earlier this year it would drop its high tariffs on EVs — and even allow them to set up factories. But, as reporters Eliot Chen and Savannah Billman discuss, security risks haven't disappeared as the tariffs have. In this episode, Eliot explains why the two North American neighbors fell out over EV policy, and traces the close ties between one Chinese car company and a sanctioned surveillance firm. Follow us on social media: https://x.com/thewirechina https://bsky.app/profile/thewirechina.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/thewirechina https://www.instagram.com/thewirechina/?hl=en

    18 min

  4. APR 3

    Chinese Solar's Sunny Future in Africa

    China's solar imports aren't welcome everywhere, but that's not the case in Africa. Solar exports to the continent as a whole increased by almost 50 percent last year.  In our latest episode, editor Andrew Peaple and reporter Noah Berman discuss his upcoming reporting on Chinese solar's booming sales to the continent. Solar proponents spy opportunity to improve electrical grids across African nations with Chinese imports, but are widening trade deficits and China's anti-involutionary policies going to slow the rush? In the second part of this episode, we look at how the U.S. intelligence community viewed the Hainan spy plane crisis through the eyes of Dennis Wilder, who was then CIA China Division Chief. Our oral history of the incident continues this week on our website, thewirechina.com, where Part II will be released this Sunday evening. Follow us on social media: https://x.com/thewirechina https://bsky.app/profile/thewirechina.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/thewirechina https://www.instagram.com/thewirechina/?hl=en

    16 min

  5. MAR 27

    The Hainan Spy Plane Crisis 25 Years Later

    25 years ago, a Chinese and a U.S. plane collided over the waters off of China's southern coast. The Chinese pilot was never found, while the 24 surviving American crew members made an emergency landing on a Chinese military base on the island of Hainan. In this special episode, The Wire China kicks off our two-part oral history series on the Hainan spy plane crisis, a defining diplomatic test for both nations at the beginning of the so-called "Asian Century." Editor Tom Mitchell, reporter Rachel Cheung, and the Wire China Team bring together the voices of the officials, pilots, diplomats, and military personnel who were there to understand how they navigated the crisis — and if such an incident might occur again. The full oral histories will release in two parts on thewirechina.com over the next two weeks.  Audio: President Bush/Chen Ci from AP Archive Shenyang J-8 audio from Wikimedia Commons Follow us on social media: https://x.com/thewirechina https://bsky.app/profile/thewirechina.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/thewirechina https://www.instagram.com/thewirechina/?hl=en

    15 min

  6. MAR 20

    The U.S.-China AI Scorecard

    It seems as if everything is AI now — well, not this podcast. But you can't discuss U.S.-China relations without understanding which one is ahead in artificial intelligence. Who leads on the scorecard? In our eighth episode, reporters Rachel Cheung and Savannah Billman discuss Rachel's upcoming story on where the United States and China score across the stack of technologies and capabilities that make AI possible.  We also have an excerpt from our upcoming Q&A with veteran diplomat Sarah Beran on the role of U.S.-China diplomacy in an evolving international environment. You can read these stories and more at thewirechina.com.  Follow us on social media: https://x.com/thewirechina https://bsky.app/profile/thewirechina.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/thewirechina https://www.instagram.com/thewirechina/?hl=en

    19 min

  7. MAR 13

    Mules, Moonshine, and Magnets

    Reporter Noah Berman and editor Tom Mitchell take us to small-town North Carolina, where a new magnet factory has set up shop. Vulcan Elements wants to make magnets without sourcing any materials from China — a difficult task, because Chinese companies monopolize the supply and production chain for the rare earths needed in the process. Also in this episode, an excerpt from this week's Q&A with Kei Koizumi, former Deputy Director at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and a preview of our upcoming issue, which you can read this weekend at thewirechina.com  Follow us on social media: https://x.com/thewirechina https://bsky.app/profile/thewirechina.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/thewirechina https://www.instagram.com/thewirechina/?hl=en

    17 min

  8. MAR 6

    AI vs The Big Screen

    In our sixth episode, reporters Eliot Chen, Rachel Cheung, and Savannah Billman discuss the latest breakthroughs in Bytedance’s AI video generation tool, Seedance 2.0. The extremely lifelike videos went viral around the world, but also triggered existential questions for the film industry and the Chinese startups looking to make a profit from AI cinema. We also explore why AI diffusion in China is so low despite the high technical capabilities of domestically developed models and tools. Coming up this week, we have an extract from our latest Q&A with the economist Eswar Prasad about his new book, The Doom Loop: Why the World Economic Order is Spiraling into Disorder, and a guide to the other articles you can read in this week's edition, published every Sunday evening EST at thewirechina.com Follow us on social media: https://x.com/thewirechina https://bsky.app/profile/thewirechina.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/thewirechina https://www.instagram.com/thewirechina/?hl=en

    17 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Covering China like no one else.  The Wire China is a weekly digital magazine dedicated to understanding and explaining one of the biggest stories of our time: China’s economic rise and its influence on the world. In this podcast, we’ll be taking you behind the scenes of the stories we cover each week. Subscribe: thewirechina.com  Follow us on social media:  https://x.com/thewirechina https://bsky.app/profile/thewirechina.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/thewirechina https://www.instagram.com/thewirechina/?hl=en

Information

  • Creator
    The Wire China
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Wire China Podcast
  • Show Website
    The Wire China Podcast

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