Academic Background, Army Experience, and Entry into Foreign Service

Roger is a former diplomat, development banker, and capital market development advisor, who twice served in the British Embassy in Beijing, and is the author of the highly acclaimed Coming Alive: China After Mao, which explained how Deng Xiaoping won the struggle to succeed Chairman Mao Zedong and what he would do with his power. He has recently published a provocative new book China Coup: The Great Leap to Freedom. In the podcast, we talk about:

1. Why China is outwardly strong and inwardly weak
2. The debt and efficiency problems of the state sector
3. The role of corruption
4. The centralisation of power around President Xi
5. How a top-down coup could occur in China
6. The role of the US in forcing regime change
7. How COVID has impacted the Chinese political structure
8. Why China is more fragile today than in the past
9. Books that influenced Roger: The Bible and Capitalism and Freedom (Friedman)