This week on Sinica, Kaiser and Jeremy talk to Wall Street Journal reporters Bob Davis and Lingling Wei about their great new book, Superpower Showdown: How the Battle Between Trump and Xi Threatens a New Cold War.

5:11: The increasingly insulated Chinese political elite

18:08: Chinese import competition and its effect on U.S. manufacturing employment

28:27: Líu Hè 刘鹤 and internal politics within Chinese trade negotiations

41:28: Chinese negotiators’ perceptions of their American counterparts

1:03:29: Huawei’s role in the trade war

Recommendations:

Jeremy: This Chinese-to-pinyin generation tool by 蛙蛙工具 (“Frog Tools”). Conversely, Jeremy does NOT recommend Quibi.

Lingling: The book Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, by Joan Chang.

Bob: The new TV series Perry Mason, available on HBO, as well as the Australian TV series Rake.

Kaiser: The dark comedy TV series Search Party, available on HBO Max.

This podcast was edited and produced by Kaiser Kuo and Jason MacRonald.

‘Superpower Showdown’: A conversation with authors Bob Davis and Lingling Wei