In a new episode of China Considered, Elizabeth Economy widens the lens from Taiwan to the broader Indo-Pacific with Isaac Kardon, a leading scholar of China’s maritime strategy, to examine how the United States and China are coexisting, conflicting, and sometimes confronting each other across the region. Drawing on his recent paper for the Hoover Global Commons project, Kardon explains why he calls China “hyper-sovereigntist”—opposed to conflict in principle but doing next to nothing to prevent it in practice—and lays out Beijing’s three security goals in the region: restoring sovereignty over Taiwan and other claimed territory, weakening America’s military position and alliances, and securing the trade routes and resources it would need to weather a prolonged crisis. The two discuss why the PLA has added no formal overseas bases since Djibouti in 2017, what Xi Jinping’s “Asian security model” amounts to, and how the second Trump administration’s treatment of allies has damaged U.S. credibility even as military cooperation deepens. Kardon also assesses the PLA’s readiness for operations against Taiwan, from cyberattacks and blockades to a full-scale invasion, along with how the Iran war has affected US readiness and whether Russia, Iran, and North Korea would join a conflict. They close with his recommendation of Emily Feng’s Our Hearts Burned for Home: Uyghur Militants in Syria’s Civil War and his advice for President Trump.

Recorded on October 19, 2026.

ABOUT THE SERIES

China Considered with Elizabeth Economy is a Hoover Institution podcast series that features in-depth conversations with leading political figures, scholars, and activists from around the world. The series explores the ideas, events, and forces shaping China’s future and its global relationships, offering high-level expertise, clear-eyed analysis, and valuable insights to demystify China’s evolving dynamics and what they may mean for ordinary citizens and key decision makers across societies, governments, and the private sector.

In a new episode of China Considered, Elizabeth Economy sits down with Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific Program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, to assess why tension in the Taiwan Strait is markedly higher than it was a decade ago. Glaser lays out Xi Jinping’s strategy for making progress toward unification without firing a shot—military pressure, psychological warfare, efforts to divide Taiwan politically, and legal and diplomatic moves that erode its sovereignty—and explains why sweeping purges of the PLA and the steep costs of an invasion weigh against the use of force. The two discuss how the Chinese public views a war over Taiwan, the progress and gaps in Taiwan’s defense reforms and civilian resilience, and why Beijing’s interest in semiconductor chip foundry TSMC is not what drives its decisions. Glaser also reflects on why her research has drawn fire from both sides of the Strait, then assesses the second Trump administration’s approach to Taiwan and US allies and what depleted US munitions stockpiles mean for deterrence. They close with her recommendation of Steve Tsang and Olivia Cheung’s China’s Global Strategy under Xi Jinping and her answer to the question posed by her book, US-Taiwan Relations: Will China’s Challenge Lead to a Crisis?

Recorded on October 16, 2026.

ABOUT THE SERIES

China Considered with Elizabeth Economy is a Hoover Institution podcast series that features in-depth conversations with leading political figures, scholars, and activists from around the world. The series explores the ideas, events, and forces shaping China’s future and its global relationships, offering high-level expertise, clear-eyed analysis, and valuable insights to demystify China’s evolving dynamics and what they may mean for ordinary citizens and key decision makers across societies, governments, and the private sector.

In a new episode of China Considered, Elizabeth Economy sits down with Martin Chorzempa, the Dennis Weatherstone Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, to ask whether the United States and China are in an AI race—and, if so, what the prize is. Drawing on his work on Chinese fintech, Chorzempa explains how lessons from that sector’s boom and crackdown have shaped Beijing’s approach to AI, from registration and censorship requirements to quiet, behind-the-scenes supervision of its labs. The two examine why China may not be as far ahead in AI adoption as many assume and compare US labs’ proprietary models with China’s open-weight approach. Chorzempa outlines three races—for frontier capabilities, domestic diffusion, and international diffusion—and weighs the trade-offs of chip export controls before turning to what the new US-China AI dialogue could achieve. They close with Chorzempa’s recommendation of Ray Huang’s 1587, A Year of No Significance and his advice for the White House on AI strategy.

Recorded on October 5, 2026.

ABOUT THE SERIES

China Considered with Elizabeth Economy is a Hoover Institution podcast series that features in-depth conversations with leading political figures, scholars, and activists from around the world. The series explores the ideas, events, and forces shaping China’s future and its global relationships, offering high-level expertise, clear-eyed analysis, and valuable insights to demystify China’s evolving dynamics and what they may mean for ordinary citizens and key decision makers across societies, governments, and the private sector.