This week on Sinica, veteran reporter Jane Perlez, who served as bureau chief for the New York Times in Beijing until 2019, joins to discuss her new podcast series Face-Off, which explores different facets of the U.S.-China relationship. We also talk about the state of Western journalism in China in the wake of tit-for-tat expulsions of reporters from the U.S. and China that took place during the Trump administration, and the challenges of covering China well without people on the ground in country.
5:16 – How Jane Perlez got into podcasting
7:59 – The challenge of understanding Xi Jinping
12:44 – The Face-Off podcast and appealing to a general audience
19:00 – Face-Off’s interview with Zhao Tong on the nuclear issue; the importance of quality diplomacy; and debating the efficacy of the S&ED
30:48 – The pleasure of meeting Yo-Yo Ma
36:52 – The state of Western journalists in China, and how the situation may eventually play out
48:44 – The difficulty of covering China from the outside
53:52 – What’s next for Jane Perlez and the Face-Off podcast
Recommendations:
Jane: Judgment at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia by Gary Bass
Kaiser: The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History by Serhii Plokhy
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