Épisodes

  • Foreign Affairs Editor Daniel Kurtz-Phelan on Shifting Views of China

    Foreign Affairs Editor Daniel Kurtz-Phelan on Shifting Views of China
    Oct 30 2025
    This week on Sinica, I chat with Daniel Kurtz-Phelan, editor of Foreign Affairs, about how the journal has both shaped and reflected American discourse on China during a period of dramatic shifts in the relationship. We discuss his deliberate editorial choices to include heterodox voices, the changing nature of the supposed "consensus" on China policy, and what I've called the "vibe shift" in how Americans across the political spectrum think about China. Daniel also reflects on his own intellectual formation, including his work on George Marshall's failed mission to mediate China's Civil War and the cautionary lessons that history holds for today's debates. We explore the challenges of bringing Chinese voices into Foreign Affairs, the balance between driving and reflecting policy debates, and whether we're witnessing a genuine opening of the Overton window on China discussions.7:15 – Foreign Affairs in the era of Iraq and "China's peaceful rise" 12:09 – The Marshall mission and the "Who Lost China?" debate 17:17 – China's changing role and the journal's coverage density 19:43 – The Campbell-Ratner "China Reckoning" and subsequent debates 25:00 – The challenge of including authentic Chinese voices 29:42 – How Chinese leadership perceives and reads Foreign Affairs 32:12 – The "vibe shift" on China across the American political spectrum 35:56 – Cultivating contrarian voices: Van Jackson, Jonathan Czin, and David Kang 40:17 – Avoiding the trap of making everything about U.S.-China competition 43:12 – Diversifying perspectives beyond the Washington-Beijing binary 48:18 – The big questions: American exceptionalism and Chinese identity in a new era 51:42 – The dangers of cutting off U.S.-China scholarly conversations 56:26 – The uses and misuses of historical analogies 58:09 – Spain's Golden Age and late Qing memes as contemporary analogiesPaying it forward: The unsung editorial staff at Foreign AffairsRecommendations: Daniel: Equator.org; The Rise of the Meritocracy by Michael Young; Granta's new India issue; The Party's Interests Come First by Joseph Torigian; The Coming Storm by Odd Arne Westad Kaiser: The Spoils of Time by C.V. WedgwoodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    1 h et 5 min
  • The Symbolism of the Flying Tigers: Peking University's Wang Dong on the American Volunteer Group and its Historical and Diplomatic Usages

    The Symbolism of the Flying Tigers: Peking University's Wang Dong on the American Volunteer Group and its Historical and Diplomatic Usages
    Sep 29 2025

    This week on Sinica, I chat with Peking University's Professor Wang Dong (王栋), an international relations scholar at the School of International Studies at Peking University, where he also serves as Deputy Director and Executive Director of the Office for Humanities and Social Sciences and the Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding. Professor Wang’s scholarship and public commentary focus on U.S.–China relations, Cold War history, and the uses of historical memory in diplomacy. He has been an especially thoughtful voice in connecting the Flying Tigers legacy with today’s efforts to stabilize and strengthen the people-to-people ties between our two countries.

    Check back in a day or two for the full podcast page and the transcript!



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    39 min
  • Jasmine Sun on Silicon Valley through a Chinese Mirror

    Jasmine Sun on Silicon Valley through a Chinese Mirror
    Sep 22 2025

    This week on Sinica, co-host Tianyu Fang makes his debut on the show to join me in interviewing his Stanford classmate and talented writer Jasmine Sun, who studies the anthropology of disruption. This summer, she took a trip to China with a group of friends with different levels of China experience, from people raised in the country to total novices. She reflects on how it hit, and how a group of young people reckoned with the reality of Chinese hypermodernity, which she wrote about in a terrific essay titled "america against china against america: notes on shenzhen, shanghai, and more."

    06:10 – Getting to know the new co-host: Tianyu Fang

    07:17 – Meet the guest: Jasmine Sun

    08:47 – Is there really an “American Vibe Shift” in how people see China?

    13:56 – The stories nations tell: America vs. China

    18:26 – Why that title for the essay?

    21:05 – Surveillance, awe, and future shock: China vs. San Francisco

    28:19 – Chinese tech’s power to surprise (and scare) + U.S.–China perceptions

    34:34 – China vs. Silicon Valley: patriotism and motivation

    39:51 – The involution phenomenon: China vs. U.S.

    45:41 – China’s public services and the U.S. gap

    52:33 – What U.S. cities could learn from China

    56:13 – Guests’ tips for understanding China

    Recommendations:

    Jasmine: Yunnan food

    Tianyu: Mad Men (Tv series)

    Kaiser: The Origins of Political Order and Political Decay by Francis Fukuyama

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    1 h et 11 min
  • Yascha Mounk on China and Western Liberalism

    Yascha Mounk on China and Western Liberalism
    Sep 17 2025

    This week on the Sinica Podcast, I chat with well-known author and public intellectual Yascha Mounk about his recent fascination with China, his approach to learning about the country and learning Chinese, and his thoughts on how China fits into the current crisis of Western liberal democracy.

    7:15 – Yascha’s experience of living in China and learning Chinese

    12:18 – Yascha’s perspective on China’s strengths and weaknesses

    20:12 – China in a global comparative perspective: Generational aspirations and demographic decline

    29:45 – China’s Soft Power vs. Japan, Korea, and the U.S.

    45:30 – Media narratives on China: have they shifted?

    54:20 – Western Liberalism confronts China

    01:07:07 – Backlash & criticism

    01:11:35 - Polarization and “China as enemy” narratives

    Recommendations:

    Yascha: The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (book), The Leopard (1963) (movie)

    Kaiser: A Thousand Small Sanities: The Moral Adventure of Liberalism by Adam Gopnik (book)


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    1 h et 22 min
  • What Did the September 3 Parade Mean?

    What Did the September 3 Parade Mean?
    Sep 10 2025

    This week on Sinica, I speak first with retired Senior Colonel Zhou Bo, a frequent commentator on Chinese military and security affairs and a prolific writer now at the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, and with Rana Mitter of the Harvard Kennedy School and author of Forgotten Ally, a book about World War II in China.

    4:08 – The primary objectives behind the September 3rd parade

    10:03 – China’s position in the global arms market

    14:45 – The strategic importance of the new weapons on display

    21:10 – China, Russia, and North Korea: strategic dynamics

    33:14 – Perspectives on the China–Russia relationship

    44:13 – Avoiding security dilemma spirals

    50:32 – Rana Mitter: Wartime memory, national narratives, and the 2025 shift

    57:06 – Narratives of China’s role in World War II

    01:19:01 – The significance and performative Dimension of the 2025 parade

    01:26:26 – China’s postwar role and evolving global ambitions

    Recommendations:

    Rana: Face-Off (podcast), Enchanted Revolution by Xiaofei Kang

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    1 h et 43 min
  • What Does China Want? The Authors of a New Paper Challenge the DC Consensus

    What Does China Want? The Authors of a New Paper Challenge the DC Consensus
    Sep 2 2025

    This week on Sinica, I chat with Dave Kang (USC), Zenobia Chan (Georgetown), and Jackie Wong (American University in Sharjah, UAE) about their new paper in International Security titled "What Does China Want?" The paper, which has generated quite a bit of controversy, takes a data-driven approach to examine the claim that China seeks global hegemony — that it wants to supplant the U.S. as a globe-spanning top power.


    I'm traveling much of this week, so I'll update this podcast page when the transcript comes back!



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    1 h et 30 min
  • Trump's India Tariff Tirade: A Gift to Beijing? With Evan Feigenbaum

    Trump's India Tariff Tirade: A Gift to Beijing? With Evan Feigenbaum
    Aug 27 2025

    This week on the Sinica Podcast, I welcome back Evan Feigenbaum, Vice President for Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Evan served for many years as a State Department official, was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia and Central Asia among his numerous positions in government, and was instrumental in building the U.S.-India relationship after 2000 — only to watch Trump round on India in recent months, slapping large punitive tariffs on the South Asian giant ostensibly over its purchases of Russian oil. What motivated Trump? And how does this look from New Delhi and from Beijing? Will China capitalize on the strains in the U.S.-Indian relationship? Listen and find out.

    04:12 – Building "trust" in politics

    10:22 – Changes in U.S. policy

    15:11 – Did India take advantage of Russia?

    20:07 – How U.S. rules shape India

    25:21 – "Rebuilding" the U.S.–India relationship

    29:56 – Beijing on Trump vs. India

    42:48 – India, Quad, and Indo-Pacific strategy

    49:55 – Managing U.S.–India tensions

    Paying it Forward: Kenji Kushida

    Recommendations:

    Evan: How China Is Reshaping International Security Cooperation by Sheena Greitens and Isaac Kardon

    Kaiser: How Sino-centrism and U.S.-centrism warp(ed?) Beijing’s foreign policy thinking by Tang Shiping and Qi Dapeng





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    1 h et 4 min
  • The Engineering State and the Lawyerly Society: Dan Wang on his new book "Breakneck"

    The Engineering State and the Lawyerly Society: Dan Wang on his new book "Breakneck"
    Aug 21 2025
    This week on Sinica, I'm delighted to be joined by Dan Wang, formerly of Gavekal Dragonomics and the Paul Tsai Law Center at Yale University, now with the Hoover Institute's History Lab. Dan's new book is Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future, and it's already one of the year's most talked-about books. In this conversation, we go beyond what's actually in the book to discuss the origins and implications of the Chinese "engineering state" — the world's biggest technocratic polity — and what the United States should and should not learn from China. We discuss how Dan's ideas sit with Abundance by Derek Thompson and Ezra Klein, and much more. Don't miss this episode!03:51 – Guitar industry in Guizhou09:49 – Engineering state vs. lawyerly society23:13 – Downsides of the engineering state34:24 – Process knowledge: U.S. vs. China43:01 – Attitudes toward technology: U.S. vs China52:32 – Historical roots of the engineering state in China59:48 – Building institutions that bind outcomes to rights01:04:15 – What can be learned from the COVID lockdowns01:07:51 – The tradeoff between resilience and efficiency01:10:52 – Dan's view on Derek Thompson and Ezra Klein's "Abundance" argument01:13:41 – Legitimacy in China and the U.S.01:21:13 – Building toward cultural pluralism Paying it Forward: Afra Wang, He Liu.Recommendations:Dan: Mozart's Italian operas, written with Lorenzo Da Ponte; The Red and the Black by Stendhal; In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust; Moby Dick by Herman Melville; Bleak House by Charles Dickens.Kaiser: China is enjoying Trump 2.0 by Yun Sun (article), books: Revolutionary Spring, The Sleepwalkers by Christopher ClarkSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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    1 h et 33 min