Face-Off: The U.S. vs China

This week: China and Iran. 

The two countries have close ties and, yet, while China initially condemned the US-Israeli war on Iran, the Chinese government has stayed mostly quiet even as the bombing continues. 

Meanwhile the Iranian government is doubling down on this friendship. As of this taping,  Iran has opened up the Strait of Hormuz to Chinese ships.

To learn more about what this all means, Jane interviews Yun Sun, a Senior Fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington where she focuses on China’s relations with other authoritarian regimes. In her most recent article in Foreign Affairs - entitled “Why China Won’t Help Iran” - she points out that China is Iran’s most important partner in the Middle East. But she questions, how important is Iran to China? 

Guest: Yun Sun, Senior Fellow & Director of the China Program, Stimson Center 

Further Reading:

Why China Won’t Help Iran by Yun Sun, Foreign Affairs: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/china/why-china-wont-help-iran

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Face-Off: The U.S. vs. China is produced in partnership with ⁠Rowhome Productions⁠.
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In this episode, Journalist Barbara Demick talks with Jane about her latest book Daughters of the Bamboo Grove. It’s the story of Chinese twins separated as toddlers. One twin grows up with her family in rural China. The other twin is adopted by an American family in Texas. It’s a haunting, moving narrative about the harsh repercussions of the One-Child policy, and the realities of life in rural China and rural America.

Barbara and Jane know each other from their time together as reporters in China. They both lived in Beijing - Barbara the bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times, Jane the bureau chief of the New York Times. Jane thought of her as one of the bravest reporters - always fearless and open to getting the stories of real people. 

Daughters of the Bamboo Grove is another example of her excellent reporting and her unique ability to shine a light on the lives of ordinary people.

Guest: Barbara Demick, author & journalist, former bureau chief in Beijing for the Los Angeles Times 

Book Recommendations:

Daughter’s of the Bamboo Grove by Barbara Demick

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Face-Off: The U.S. vs. China is produced in partnership with ⁠Rowhome Productions⁠.
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We’re back! We’ll be publishing five brand new episodes of Face-Off bi-weekly starting today. In this episode, we welcome back Zhou Bo, a retired colonel in the People’s Liberation Army. 

Xi Jinping has unleashed a massive purge of the Chinese army, the biggest since the early days of Communist China. Nearly three dozen senior generals have been demoted or disappeared. Almost all have been accused of corruption. Then this past January the most senior general, General Zhang Youxia, essentially Xi Jinping's number two in the army, disappeared. 

No-one outside of China, and not many inside China, seem to know what’s going on. There's a reason the Chinese military is known as a black box. 

With Colonel Zhou, Jane discusses everything from Greenland to Taiwan to China’s military strength in the South China Sea. 

Guest: Zhou Bo, Retired Senior Colonel in the People’s Liberation Army

Book Recommendations:

Should The World Fear China by Zhou Bo

China’s Quest for Military Supremacy by Joel Wuthnow and Phillip Saunders

Face-Off: The U.S. vs. China is produced in partnership with ⁠Rowhome Productions⁠.
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Jensen Huang built the company that powers the AI revolution—and he's playing both Washington and Beijing. The Taiwan-born Nvidia CEO holds the keys to artificial intelligence. But whose side is he really on? Inside the rise of tech's most important power broker.

Guest: Tripp Mickle  New York Times Tech Reporter

Book Recommendations 

The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia and the World’s Most Coveted Microchip by Stephen Witt. 

After Steve by Tripp Mickle 

Face-Off: The U.S. vs. China is produced in partnership with ⁠Rowhome Productions⁠.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Trump trashes American soft power, can China fill the void? A top Chinese academic explains why Beijing struggles to win hearts and minds and why being feared isn't the same as being loved. Plus: How American influencers are going viral in China.

Guest:  Da Wei, Professor, Tsinghua University

Book Recommendations 

Sparks: China’s Underground Historians and their Battle for the Future by Ian Johnson

Other Rivers: A Chinese Education by Peter Hessler

Face-Off: The U.S. vs. China is produced in partnership with ⁠Rowhome Productions⁠.

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