China Insider

Wilson Shirley and Miles Yu discuss what last week’s congressional hearing means for the future of TikTok and other Chinese technology companies in the United States, what Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin want after their summit in Moscow, and what to make of China’s move to isolate Taiwan by courting Honduras. Follow the China Center's work at: https://www.hudson.org/china-center

Miles Yu and Wilson Shirley discuss Xi Jinping’s summit with Vladimir Putin in Moscow, the plan on reforming the Chinese Communist Party and state institutions that came out last Thursday, and the latest from the World Health Organization and a group of Chinese researchers on the origins of COVID-19. Follow the China Center's work at: https://www.hudson.org/china-center

Miles Yu and Wilson Shirley discuss the China-brokered deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran and what it means for the future of great-power competition in the Middle East and elsewhere. They continue with the latest on two ongoing stories, first about China's declining popularity in much of the world, and second about how Congress and the World Health Organization are advancing their investigations into the origins of COVID-19.Follow the China Center's work at: https://www.hudson.org/china-center

The podcast discusses the recent Two Sessions in China and the House Select Committee's hearing on the Chinese Communist Party's threat to America. Topics include Xi Jinping's policies, bipartisan consensus on the China challenge, US foreign direct investment in Chinese companies, TikTok ban proposal, and challenges with China's capital flow restrictions.

The US Department of Energy has assessed that COVID-19 mostly likely originated in a lab leak in Wuhan, and last week the Chinese Communist Party released its twelve-point "peace plan" for Ukraine. Miles Yu and Wilson Shirley discuss what the DOE's assessment means and the history of the lab-leak investigations, going back to early 2020. They then dive into China's long and complicated history with Ukraine in light of Beijing's peace plan, tracing from the fall of the Soviet Union to the current no-limits partnership between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.Read Miles's WSJ op-ed on the lab leak here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-reckless-labs-put-the-world-at-risk-11614102828Follow the China Center's work at: https://www.hudson.org/china-center

The Chinese retiree protests that began in Wuhan have spread to other cities as local governments cut back on health-care subsidies. Miles and Wilson discuss where these protests are headed, and how Xi Jinping's policies have undermined government budgets throughout China. They follow up with a conversation about the disappearance of Bao Fan, one of China's top technology investors, before finishing with key takeaways from the Munich Security Conference, Wang Yi's meeting with Antony Blinken, and the future of China-Russia relations.Follow the China Center's work at: https://www.hudson.org/china-center

Protests broke out last week in the city of Wuhan over drastic cuts to healthcare subsidies. An unusual protest, driven mostly by retirees against the Municipal government in Wuhan, resulted in nearly ten thousand Chinese citizens sieging the city government, vowing to return in 10 days with much larger numbers and eventually receiving capitulation from local officials.  In light of this, Miles Yu and Wilson Shirley reflect on the glaring issues within the PRCs healthcare system writ large, and in particular, how decades of the One Child Policy and the bleak outlook for today’s Chinese youth places enormous stress on the system’s capacity to care for the elderly. They discuss how the Wuhan government's decision to cut costs points to larger economic issues for the PRC, as local governments who were previously bearing the brunt of Zero-covid costs are now running troubling deficits, and it is unclear whether the central government plans to bail them out. They then turn to discuss the "Hong Kong 47" standing trial under accusations of subversion under the National Security Law and reflect on the history of Hong Kong and its place in relation to the PRC and the world. Finally, Miles and Wilson reflect on the inspiring show of bipartisanship from the House of Representatives in response to the CCP's recent violation of U.S. sovereignty. Follow the China Center's work at: https://www.hudson.org/china-center

The Chinese Communist Party’s spy balloon may be a Sputnik moment for the United States, as millions of Americans saw pictures of a surveillance device sent by the United States’ top geopolitical rival flying freely over the heartland. Miles Yu and Wilson Shirley discuss the history of Chinese spy operations and what the downed balloon means for US-China relations, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s postponed trip to Beijing. Then they return to a story that’s gone largely unreported in the US press but that continues to go viral in China—a missing boy whose body was found recently. The incident raises questions about human trafficking, organ harvesting, and how trustworthy the Chinese people think their government really is.

The definitive memoir of foreign policy in the Trump administration is out: former Director of the CIA and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's Never Give an Inch. Miles and Wilson discuss the China-related highlights from the book, before delving into two big stories from inside China this week. The first is the increasingly nationalist rhetoric out of Beijing around the Lunar New Year, and the second is the terrible case of a 15-year-old Chinese boy who went missing for three months, and what it tells us about human trafficking in the People's Republic of China.  

The chief epidemiologist of the PRC's Center for Disease Control and Prevention claims that 80% of China's population has been infected with COVID-19. Miles and Wilson discuss what that means for the toll the pandemic continues to take throughout the country. Then, they cover Beijing's charm offensive at Davos and at other international forums, before finishing up with a discussion of who really controls China's top technology and social media companies, and what that means for Americans' security. Follow the China Center's work at: https://www.hudson.org/china-center