Sinica Podcast

Jiayang Fan, a staff writer for The New Yorker, discusses her article on Donald Trump and his appeal among young Chinese. She also talks about mainland Chinese attitudes toward Hong Kong's Umbrella Revolution and the prejudices against Asian-Americans. Additionally, she mentions her recommendations for children's books and a restaurant in New York City.

Adam Segal is the Maurice R. Greenberg Senior Fellow for China Studies and director of the Digital and Cyberspace Policy Program at the Council on Foreign Relations. His latest book, The Hacked World Order, provides an in-depth exploration of the issues that most states and large companies now confront in cyberspace. It covers everything from the Twitter wars over Gaza to German reactions to the Snowden leaks. Our conversation focuses on how China sees cyberwarfare, cyberespionage, internet security and sovereignty, and how the nation's perspectives differ from America's. Adam presents a sometimes unsettling but sober and balanced analysis of Chinese and American approaches to attacking, defending and spying in digital realms. He defines a moment he calls “Year Zero” of the hacked world order, a period from mid-2012 to mid-2013 that saw cyberspace abandon its utopian tendencies and transform into a full-on battlefield. Our conversation also covers specific incidents, such as the U.S. Department of Justice's espionage charges against five Chinese hackers and the Chinese infiltration of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's database, as well as the capabilities and ethical concerns of China, the United States and other nations. Recommendations: Jeremy: My wife Wu Fei’s improvisation music videos: Facebook.com/RealWufeiMusic, YouTube.com/WuFeiMusic or Twitter.com/WuFei Adam: The Gunpowder Age: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World History by Tonio Andrade Kaiser: Dan Carlin’s Common Sense podcast Kaiser and Jeremy: Steve Orlins, the president of the National Committee on U.S.–China Relations who recently joined us on the podcast along with his colleague, Jan Berris, will lead a discussion on June 27 with former national security advisors. The event in Washington, D.C., is open to the public, but you need to RSVP. More info is here: http://goo.gl/yBT43o See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of Sinica, we present an in-depth interview with Arthur Kroeber, the founding partner and head of research for Gavekal Dragonomics, an independent global economic research firm, and the editor-in-chief of its journal, China Economic Quarterly.  Arthur's new book, China’s Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know, superbly explores China's astonishing expansion during the "reform and opening up" period and the challenges the country now faces as growth slows. He provides a clear-eyed take on a huge range of subjects, from the internationalization of the renminbi to local debt to the way China's state-owned enterprises function (or don't). The book is a refreshing antidote to much of the commentary in the media, where "The Conventional Wisdom" we discuss in the podcast consists of doomsayers predicting China's imminent collapse and Pollyannas who see the country as an unstoppable economic juggernaut. We love feedback: Please write to sinica@supchina.com. Recommendations: Jeremy: The Silk Road: A Very Short Introduction by James A. Millward Arthur: The Ibis Trilogy by Amitav Ghosh Kaiser: Soulstealers: The Chinese Sorcery Scare of 1768 by Philip A. Kuhn — Kaiser and Jeremy See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this week's episode of Sinica, we are proud to announce that we're joining forces with SupChina. We're also delighted that our first episode with our new partner is a conversation with President Stephen Orlins and Vice President Jan Berris of the National Committee on United States–China Relations, recorded at their offices in Manhattan. Since 1966, the same year that China's Cultural Revolution began, the National Committee has been the standard bearer for a deeper understanding of the increasingly vital relationship between the United States and China. This month marks the 50th anniversary of the organization's founding. From 1976 to 1979, Orlins served in the Office of the Legal Advisor of the U.S. Department of State, first in the Office of the Assistant Legal Advisor for the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs and then for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. While in the latter role, Orlins worked on the legal team that helped set up diplomatic relations with China. Berris has been a major force behind the visits of hundreds of American and Chinese delegations to each other's countries, including a journey undertaken in 1972 by the Chinese table tennis team, part of an exchange that became known as Ping Pong Diplomacy. We want to say a huge thank-you to David Lancashire at Popup Chinese in Beijing for six wonderful years of partnership. Best of luck to you, Dave! Please take a listen and send us feedback at sinica@supchina.com.   Recommendations Jeremy Goldkorn: The Chinese Mayor, a film by Zhao Qi Steve Orlins: This Brave New World: India, China and the United States by Anja Manuel Jan Berris: America has Never Been so Ripe for Tyranny by Andrew Sullivan Kaiser Kuo: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (particularly the Second Epilogue on historiography) See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Fifty years ago, Mao Zedong launched the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, inaugurating a decade of political turmoil with his calls for young people to "bombard the headquarters." In this special live edition of our podcast recorded at The Bookworm Literary Festival in March, Kaiser Kuo and David Moser welcome Melinda Liu, the longtime China bureau chief of Newsweek for a discussion of the 50th anniversary of this definitive event. Melinda shares stories about her brother, who remained in China after the civil war and experienced it firsthand. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The immense popularity of social media has afforded China watchers a terrific window onto public opinion in China. In recent years, a slew of English-language websites have emerged to interpret the various trends, phenomena, discourse and debates on the Chinese internet for non-Chinese audiences, but for our money, the very best of the bunch is Chublic Opinion — public opinion with Chinese characteristics. Written by Ma Tianjie, a graduate of Peking University who now works for China Dialogue, the blog offers penetrating insight and analysis with great flare. He joins Kaiser Kuo, Jeremy Goldkorn and Ada Shen in the studio for a wide-ranging discussion that reveals the mysterious origins of "diaosi" culture and looks at some of the controversies and conversations that have dominated Weibo and WeChat in recent months. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Members of the Politburo are rarely praised for their dancing skills, but consider Xi Jinping's almost flawless execution of a political two-step: first casting himself as the voice of liberal moderation in the face of Bo Xilai's mass propaganda, and then draping himself in the mantle of Maoist China and the Communist Revolution once his position was secure. The changes are enough to prompt anyone to ask: How exactly did this happen and does it even make sense? Today on Sinica we take a look at the political movement that some academics are calling neo-Maoism, a group composed of the traditionally conservative politicians and Communist Party members whose influence began eroding with market reforms in the 1980s but who have arguably witnessed a comeback in the last two years. In a conversation with Jude Blanchette, the former assistant director of the 21st Century China Program at the University of California San Diego and currently the associate engagement director at The Conference Board’s China Center for Economics and Business in Beijing, Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn take a look at the history of the movement, its major players and how it is treated in the Chinese media. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Kaiser and Jeremy recorded today's show from New York, where they waylaid Holly Chang, founder of Project Pengyou and now the Acting Executive Director of the Committee of 100, for a discussion on spying, stealing and Broadway. Yes, you read that right. After catching the Broadway musical Allegiance, which is about the Japanese-American internment camps in WWII, we wanted to do a show discussing the experiences people of Chinese heritage have with racial profiling today, and particularly the experiences of the Chinese diaspora community in the United States. Recommendations: Project Pengyou Corn Wars by Ted Genoways This American Life - Kaiser Kuo Edition Committee of 100 Jeremy Goldkorn: 1. One the Media: George Takei Has A Play 2. "My Personal Vendetta" An Interview with Hong Kong Publisher Bao Pu by Ian Johnson Holly Chang: Fateful Ties: A History of America's Preoccupation with China Kaiser: The Broad Way Show Allegiance and the original cast recordings available on iTunes   See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Kaiser Kuo and David Moser are joined this week by Howie Southworth and Greg Matza, creators of the independent video series Sauced in Translation, a reality show that journeys into the wilder parts of China in search of local Chinese specialities that can be repurposed into classic American dishes. The show is a great concept, brilliantly executed, and we're delighted to have Howie and Greg here to share some behind-the-scenes stories and talk about how they got started mixing Chinese and American cuisine. Recommendations: http://www.saucedintranslation.com/ https://www.facebook.com/SaucedInTranslation https://twitter.com/HowieSouthworth http://www.amazon.com/Cadillac-Desert-American-Disappearing-Revised/dp/0140178244/ David Moser http://www.chinafile.com/multimedia/video/drinking-northwest-wind Howie Southworth http://www.vogue.com/13376846/baijiu-cocktail-recipes-chinese-liquor/ Greg Matza Oliver Sacks Seeing Voices http://www.amazon.com/Seeing-Voices-Oliver-Sacks/dp/0375704078/ Oliver Sacks The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Mistook-His-Wife/dp/0684853949/ Kaiser Kuo Medieval Two Total War http://store.steampowered.com/app/4700/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The hosts discuss the current state of the Chinese stock market and its impact on global faith in China's economic decision-makers. They also explore China's progress in rebalancing its economy towards services and domestic consumption, as well as the challenges faced in deleveraging and shifting from manufacturing to services. Additionally, they discuss the influence of billionaires on politics and the economic implications of wealth inequality in China.