Sinobabble: Recent Episodes
Edi Obiakpani
A relaxing, educational podcast covering China's modern history, current events, and academic analyses of China's politics, society, and culture in a variety of mini-series. Starting with the history of the 20th century, this podcast aims to explore all facets of the history of China, from the major events to the smallest local changes, to give you a full picture of the development of one of the world's most powerful nations. As the series develops, we will discuss Chinese art, religion, politics, culture, and economics, bringing the country's past to life. If you're more interested in modern China, stay tuned for the modern China series where we talk about how the CCP exercises control, makes people disappear, and encourages loyalty. We also get on the ground and talk to the people of Hong Kong about their recent experiences with the protests in the territory in 2019.
For more on the book club, including upcoming books and where to buy them, head to this webpage.
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Across China and the Chinese diaspora, digital spirituality is growing as users flock to online platforms seeking services to help with luck, love, and wealth. However, these spaces are also hotbeds for scammers, who prey on prey on loneliness, uncertainty, and cultural vulnerability to exploit hundreds if not thousands of people. In this episode, I do a deep dive to explore how post‑Mao moral crises, revived but fragmented spiritual practices, and China’s low‑trust social environment have created fertile ground for spiritual conmen. We look at why victims often hide their experiences, how “face culture” and filial piety complicate intervention, and why enforcement struggles to keep up with an ever-evolving scene.
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Alexander from China Books Review joins us to talk about evolutions in the Chinese book space, upcoming works by notable authors, and his favourite China books you may not have heard of before. He also gives tips on how to read more, what not to read, and how to create a good book club list!
Read more from Alexander and the team at Chinabooksreview.com and don’t forget to find out more about the Sinobabble bookclub here!
Books mentioned
The Shanghai Agents: The Soviet Plot to Start a Revolution in Interwar China by Heather Salter
Red Dawn Over China: How Communism Conquered a Quarter of Humanity by Frank Dikötter
Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy by Liu Cixin
The Highest Exam: How the Gaokao Shapes China by Ruixue Jia, Hongbin Li, Claire Cousineau
I Deliver Parcels in Beijing by Hu Anyan
Adrift in the South by Xiao Hai
Private Revolutions by Yuan Yang
Song of Praise for a Flower: One Woman’s Journey through China’s Tumultuous 20th Century by Fengxian Chu and Charlene Chu
Fly, Wild Swans by Jung Chang
Crazy Rich Asians Series by Kevin Kwan
Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zi
To Live 活着 by Yu Hua
Hunter by Shuang Xuetao
To Rule All under Heaven: A History of Classical China, from Confucius to the First Emperor by Andrew Seth Meyer
Uncanny Beliefs: Superstition in Modern Chinese History Edited by Emily Baum and Albert Wu
Why China Needs Democracy by Dongxian Jiang
Make China Great Again: Online Alt-History Fiction and Popular Authoritarianism by Rongbin Han
Anyuan: Mining China’s Revolutionary Tradition by Elizabeth J. Perry
On the Edge: Feeling Precarious in China by Margaret Hillenbrand
Negative Exposures: Knowing What Not to Know in Contemporary China by Margaret Hillenbrand
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After reading the story about a young woman abused and kidnapped by her family, I went down a rabbit hole to learn why police and judiciary avoid prosecuting what they consider to be 'family disputes'. In this episode, I unpack how domestic violence is routinely dismissed as a “family affair,” why police and courts avoid intervention, how cultural norms around shame and harmony shape reporting behaviour, and why China’s 2016 Anti‑Domestic Violence Law still has no real teeth. We cover clan and kinship networks, cultural attitudes, and political pressures to understand the roots of a system that places family harmony above victim protection.
Read the original story here
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For more on the book club, including upcoming books and where to buy them, head to this webpage.
To support the show, head over to my Buy Me a Coffee page to give a one-off or monthly donations, if your discretionary entertainment funds allow!
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In 2022, Freedom House released a report titled “Beijing's Global Media Influence 2022”, highlighting the numerous ways in which the Chinese government seeks to influence media across the world. They stated that China’s main tactics were the mass distribution of content, harassment and intimidation of outlets that publish negative news, disinformation campaigns, and training for media workers and officials in different locales.
The provision of free or subsidised training for local journalists in the Global south is a foundational aspect of China’s efforts to ‘tell China’s story well’ through legitimate means. By co-opting local voices, China is able to disseminate its own message through local partners in an organic way and free of charge.
But what does this training look like? Who is participating and what are they learning? And how does China ensure that after journalists return home, they continue to talk about China in the right way? Today’s guest is here to discuss this and more.
Dr Emeka Umejei is currently Senior Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg. He has a PhD in Journalism and Media Studies and has taught in institutions across Africa including the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, the American University of Nigeria, and the University of Ghana. Prior to this he worked as a journalist in Nigeria for leading national newspapers and served as an African correspondent for U.S.-based media outfit LNG Publications.
He has written two books on Chinese influence on African journalism: Chinese Media in Africa: Perception, Performance, and Paradox (2020) and China in African Media: Between Influence Operations and Decolonization which came out this year.
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For more on the book club, including upcoming books and where to buy them, head to this webpage.
To support the show, head over to my Buy Me a Coffee page to give a one-off or monthly donations, if your discretionary entertainment funds allow!
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*This is a bonus episode for paid subscribers. If you would like to become a paid sub and receive bonus content, head over to Buy Me a Coffee using the link in the description, or upgrade your Substack account*
An article in the Journal of Contemporary China inspire me to dip my toe in the Chinamaxxing trend and discuss how foreign influencers in China promote state approved nationalist narratives at home and abroad. We look at the different types of influencer (Western, non-Western, couples, students, teachers, and more) and get to the bottom of the types of content they produce, what's in it for them, and how the CCP maintains their control over what's produce at all times.
Imported Nationalism: How Foreign Influencers and Local Followers Amplify the Chinese Dream in Weibo’s Attention Economy
Too Simple, Sometimes Naive article
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Earlier this week, I read a Substack article discussing the rise in viral anti-Japanese content on Chinese social media. The gruesome posts and recent polling data all point to the fact that anti-Japanese sentiment is increasing among Chinese people, despite increasing economic ties and a move away from 'wolf warrior' style diplomacy. Why, when China seems to be more doveish, does Japan still draw so much ire? What is about the history, proximity, and perceived injustices between the two nations that causes continuous rifts? And how does the CCP harness these feelings of hatred and disgust for their own benefit?
In this episode we push the envelope a bit further on the nationalism theme, and examine how sometimes xenophobia can go really right, and how at other times it can go terribly wrong.
Check out the article I mention at the beginning of the episode here "Japanophobia — a quick way to go viral in China"
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Nick and I ramble about nationalism for about an hour.
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A (late!) review of our April Book club book The Last Quarter of the Moon by Chi Zijian. A 90-year-old Evenki woman who has spent her life in the forests of northeast China herding reindeer recounts the story of her life, her people, and the encroachment of modernity and imperialism on how they live. A story of nature, love, loss, despair, and change, we also ask if someone who is not part of a particular ethnic group can truly capture their spirit, or are they doomed to orientalism at worst and essentialisation at best.
May's book is The Party's Interests Come First by Joseph Torigian, check out the link below if you still need to buy a copy!
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In early March, the PRC's National People's Congress passed a law titled the P.R.C. Law on the Promotion of Ethnic Unity and Progress. According to the government the law, which has been in development since 2023, the law "lays out the overall requirements, important principles, and responsibilities and duties of relevant entities concerning the promotion of ethnic unity and progress. It also outlines specific measures to build a common cultural home, facilitate interaction, exchanges, and integration, and promote shared prosperity and development."
In this episode we do a close reaading of the letter of the law, and look at some of the analyses that have come out in support or condemnation of its contents. We'll also look at some of the wider academic discourse on the treatment, place and role of ehtnic minorities in the Chinese nation-building project, so that we can understand the law in its full context.
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Chapters
(00:00) Introduction to the Ethnic Unity and Progress Law
(12:25) The Letter of the Law
(32:20) Initial reactions to and analyses of the law
(48:48) Further discussion on ethnic minorities in China
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Over the Easter break, the next two episodes of the podcast will be archival episodes covering the medieval and modern history of Mongolia and Xinjiang. This is in preparation for an episode I'll be doing when I get back on the New Ethnic Unity Policy released by the Chinese government. Our book club book for this month is The Last Quarter of the Moon, also on the theme of ethnic minorities in China, so it's a very topical month!
This episode discusses the historical background of the relationship between China and the Xinjiang region, putting into context the current situation of the Uyghur people. It traces Chinese imperial attempts to first turn the area into a vassal, and then incorporate the region entirely into the empire, creating a new nationalist ideology based on a multicultural identity. The discussion starts from the 8th century AD and the fall of the Uyghur Khaghanate, and ends with the story of the reintegration of Xinjiang into the PRC after 1949, and the CCP's views on the status of the region since then.
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Over the Easter break, the next two episodes of the podcast will be archival episodes covering the medieval and modern history of Mongolia and Xinjiang. This is in preparation for an episode I'll be doing when I get back on the New Ethnic Unity Policy released by the Chinese government. Our book club book for this month is The Last Quarter of the Moon, also on the theme of ethnic minorities in China, so it's a very topical month!
The second episode of three on the CCP’s incorporation of the periphery into the PRC after 1949. We discuss the historical relationship between the Mongolian people and the Mainland Han Chinese people, to give context to why modern China feels that Inner Mongolia is part of the great Chinese nation.
At the end of the episode, we discuss the numerous articles on attitudes towards sex in China that I've come across in my casual reading. We highlight a woman working towards bringing foreplay into Chinese couples' bedrooms, and a survey revealing the lack of sexual knowledge among Chinese university students.
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This episode is the third installment in our book club, we’re doing well guys. The Troublemaker: How Jimmy Lai Became a Billionaire, Hong Kong’s Greatest Dissident, and China’s Most Feared Critic certainly tries to live up to its name. It covers the “‘extraordinary life story’ (Publishers Weekly) of the billionaire businessman Jimmy Lai, a leading Hong Kong democracy activist fighting for freedom of speech who became China’s most famous political prisoner.”
My review of this book is very, very mixed. All will become clear when you listen! Please do leave your own thoughts in the way of comments, I’d love to hear what you thought about the book.
Oh and I forgot to mention in the review that Lai also blocks a state pension law using his media outlets to push anti-pension propaganda. And that’s probably why you still see old men and women picking up cardboard for pennies every morning. Enjoy!
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A look at three recent papers published in the China Quarterly, and what they say about local governance, internal propaganda and the politics of 'getting things done' in modern China.
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China’s post 90s and 00s generation are burnt out, mentally and emotionally drained, and apparently are not getting enough sunlight. While grinding in the city seems to have led to a law of diminishing returns -- typically referred to as ‘involution’ -- many young hopefuls are still seeking opportunity elsewhere. In this episode I explore the phenonmenon of the ‘rural reset’, the idea that one can up sticks and move down to a beautiful rural idyll and live out the dream life running a coffee shop and farming a small veg patch.
But is taking your urban ways of life and grindset mentality down to the countryside the true path to happiness? Is a bucolic setting all one really needs to reinvent the self? Is it really possible to outrun admin? We discuss all this and more as we try to determine whether or not this is a sustainable, long-term vision that can be supported by the government, or another flash in the pan fad for the downtrodden laobaixing to cling to while they can.
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Today's guest is Yaling Jiang. Yaling is a former journalist who currently uses her research and reporting skills to provide businesses with insights and analysis on the Chinese consumer market. She is the founder of research agency Aperture China, alongside which she runs the newsletter Following the Yuan on Substack, which provides nuanced takes on Chinese consumer trends.
We discuss how Chinese people see themselves as consumers first and political citizens second, the CCP's attempts to influence the consumer market, and how a rise in China's soft power is linked to trends like Chinamaxxing. We also talk about how movements like involution, lying flat, and feminism present in people's lives, and prove once more that Chinese people and Americans are more similar than we think.
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This is a recording of the livestream of our monthly book club. In this livestream we discuss the book Serve the People! by Yan Lianke, a banned book set during the Cultural Revolution in China.
If you would like to find out more about the book club and which books we’re reading, please click here.
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Part 8 of reuploading classic history episodes in the run up to our book club review of Serve the People! by Yan Lianke.
The death of Mao Zedong and the trial of the Gang of Four are traditionally used as the signifiers of the end of the Cultural Revolution. The violent and turbulent 10 year period came to a sudden stop as political in-fighting continued until Deng Xiaoping was able to quash his foes and come out on top.
In this episode, we cover how the Cultural Revolution finally came to an end, how the period is interpreted both in the West and in China, and what effect the Cultural Revolution has had on Chinese society as a whole.
Intro: 00:00
Opening: 01:09
The end of the Cultural Revolution: 6:20
Interpreting the CR: 20:25
Aftermath of the CR and memory in contemporary China: 31:23
Outro: 41:25
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Part 7 of reuploading classic history episodes in the run up to our book club review of Serve the People! by Yan Lianke.
In this episode, we discuss the changes made to China's cultural realm during the Cultural Revolution. As the main target of the Cultural Revolution Group, cultural production including art, literature, theatre, and film were all subject to the new rules of the decade. But were those rules made to last? And were the CRG able to impose their will completely when they relied on the existing bourgeois cultural producers to cultivate their new vision?
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Part 6 of reuploading classic history episodes in the run up to our book club review of Serve the People! by Yan Lianke.
In this episode we look at how the economy and educational system fared during the Cultural Revolution decade. We discuss how a period of chaos led into a period of stagnation, where things neither got much better nor much worse. We also talk about differences between the countryside and the cities, and how every day life was irrevocably impacted by the social turmoil that occurred.
0:00 Introduction
2:11 Economy and Education to 1969
9:57 The Economy after 1969
22:45 Education after 1969
29:28 Urban and Rural life during the CR
38:53 Conclusions
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Part 5 of reuploading classic history episodes in the run up to our book club review of Serve the People! by Yan Lianke.
In this episode we explore the mysterious and complex character of Lin Biao, and his even more mysterious demise. We ask how he rose to prominence so quickly after being a largely background figure in the party for so many years, and what effect his vice-chairmanship and sudden death had on the Cultural Revolution.
I accidentally say Liu instead of Lin at around the 22:30 minute mark
00:00 Introdution
05:02 Early career in the CCP
13:05 Lin Biao in the Cultural Revolution
19:58 Lin's position challenged?
27:51 The 'conspiracy'
36:31 Evaluating the coup theory
39:10 The impact of Lin's death
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Part 4 of reuploading classic history episodes in the run up to our book club review of Serve the People! by Yan Lianke.
In episode 4 of the Cultural Revolution series, we look at how the party began to rebuild itself in the period 1968-1972 through a series of internal meetings, some last-minute purges, and a few devastating mass campaigns that would end up having a much higher impact than anything the Red Guards had carried out in previous years.
Though much had happened in China during the last few years, to many people it seemed like nothing had fundamentally changed. Though the people running the government were different, the structure of the party-state itself had remained the same. If anything, the only real difference was the preeminence that Mao Zedong Thought gained during this period, largely thanks to the support of the PLA.
Songs: Long Live Chairman Mao and March of the Revolutionary Youth
0:00 Introduction ("Long live Chairman Mao")
3:18 Rebuilding the system
14:45 "March of the revolutionay youth"
15:05 The dismissal of Liu Shaoqi
25:40 The 9th plenum
28:20 The final campaigns
43:00 Lessons learned
50:22 Outro
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Part 3 of reuploading classic history episodes in the run up to our book club review of Serve the People! by Yan Lianke.
In this episode, we look at how Mao reversed the course of the Cultural Revolution, bringing in the army to end the violence and destruction caused by the factionalism between the Red Guards and other mass organisations. We discuss the much vaunted revolutionary committees, temporary governments made up of a triple alliance between the mass organisations, the Cultural Revolution Group, and the People's Liberation Army.
The original aim of the revolution to promote the masses to positions of power in place of corrupt cadres was replaced by the singular quest to restore the country to order. To do this, Mao relied heavily on the PLA, as well as the cadres who not too long ago were seen as public enemy #1.
Music clips are from "Sailing the Seas Depends on the Helmsman" and "The People of the World Will Surely be Victorious"
00:00 Song "Sailing the Seas Depends on the Helmsman"
00:25 Introduction
06:23 January Revolution
11:50 Song "The People of the World Will Surely be Victorious"
12:05 The Triple Alliance
14:10 The February adverse current
23:20 The Wuhan incident
26:24 The 516 purge
29:30 Resitance to demobilisation
38:10 The failure of the revolution
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Part 2 of reuploading classic history episodes in the run up to our book club review of Serve the People! by Yan Lianke.
In this episode we talk about the violence that gripped the Chinese nation at the height of the Cultural Revolution. We discuss the difference between the brutality that took place in the cities, which was mainly perpetrated by Red Guards and affected culture as much as people, and the countryside, which pitted neighbour against neighbour.
Music clips are from "The East is Red" and "We Walk on the Great Road".
(Apparently I keep hitting my microphone throughout this episode, which is what that hollow sounding noise is.)
00:00 Clip from the song "The East Is Red"
00:18 Introduction
4:47 Red guards in the cities
9:10 The revolution in Shanghai
21:14 The revolution in the countryside
35:15 The impact of the violence on China and the Cultural Revolution
40:08 Outro
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A reupload of a classic history episode in the run up to our book club review of Serve the People! by Yan Lianke.
The first of 8 episodes covering the build up, events, and aftermath of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, which took place in China from 1966 to 1976. In this episode we discuss what the Cultural Revolution was supposed to be, recap its principal causes, discuss the events that led to the declaration of the CR, and cover the formation and expansion of the Red Guards, Mao's children of the Revolution.
00:00: Introduction
4:23 - What was the Cultural Revolution?
15:45 - Events leading up to the Cultural Revolution
29:43 - The first stages of the Cultural Revolution
37:06 - The formation of the Red Guards
43:48 - Those of black class background join the Red Guards
46:56 - Outro
Some mispronunciations - I found that I mispronounced LUO Ruiqing as LIU Ruiqing, and HAI Rui as HA Rui a few times. My bad, Luo and Hai are the correct terms!
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I’m very excited to have on Rory Truex as my guest for today’s episode. Rory is Associate Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University. His research focuses on Chinese politics and authoritarian systems, and his work has been published in the American Political Science Review, British Journal of Political Science, The China Quarterly and many more. He has been featured in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Hill, South China Morning Post, and The New York Times. He is also the host of The Civic Forum Podcast, a weekly public speaker series on democracy featuring leading scholars and practitioners.
We talk the decline in funding for China related research grants in the US, the role of the government and individual institutions in creating a productive and protective relationship with China, and the golden age of China studies (and if it's possible to ever get back there).
Read the working paper here
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I’m very excited to have on David Fishman as my guest for today’s episode.
David is Head of Lantau Group in Shanghai, where he works as a consultant for stakeholders in the power sector, and advises on energy development, energy infrastructure, and electricity consumption. But I know him as the author of the Substack Crossing the River by Feeling the Stones, a travel and geography publication where he shares his experiences exploring the less-covered corners of China’s economic transformation. This is by far one of my favourite Substacks, and hopefully through this conversation you’ll come to understand why, and become a subscriber yourself.
We talk travel during Covid, conversations with taxi drivers, and the transformation of ghost cities. I also ask him a very silly question about renewable energy. Be prepared to be a China geography expert by the end!
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This livestream was recorded on Tuesday 27th January 2026
We discuss the book Breakneck by Dan Wang. A huge hit towards the end of 2025, we talk about whether the hype is merited, the strengths and weaknesses of his narrative, and whether or not his ideas stand up to scrutiny. At the end, we (and by we, I mean I) ramble about the Three Body Problem trilogy for 10 minutes.
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Recently, news of Hebei villagers freezing in their homes this winter has sparked heated discussion online. The villagers are part of a government scheme to convert the population to 'clean' energy sources, mainly via a coal-to-gas policy. But as subsidies taper and the cost of gas rises, poorer residents are opting out of the policy, either using traditional heating methods to stay warm or suffering the cold. In this episode we explore the origins of the coal-to-gas policy, the real-term effects it's had on the population, and its relationship to the CCP's wider goals of net zero and rural revitalisation. And ultimately we ask, how does this policy affect people on the ground? How has this increased the burden on local officials in impovrished areas? And how do people practice acts of resistance against government policy, regardless of potential punishment?
Chapters
(00:00) Intro: Villagers in Hebei are freezing in their homes
(06:49) 12 China Books Book Club
(07:50) China's climate policy and the politics of energy
(12:45)Coal-to-gas and rural resistance
(31:31)BUY ME A COFFEE
(35:15) Rural revitalisation and the limits of state coercion
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In 2025, the Chinese Cyberspace Administration introduced a new policy that aims to police online content that promotes violence, aggression, pessimism and negative emotions. While censorship is nothing new in China, this new law poses a new set of questions: what exactly is the difference between censorship and misinformation? What is a legitimate grievance, and what is a blatant attempt by someone to spread fake news or stir up a gender war? And how exactly do you police a bad vibe?
Chapters
(00:00) Introduction to the new cyberspace policy
(07:04) 12 China Books Book Club
(07:45) Policy targets: lying flat and involution
(14:50) Censorship vs moderation
(25:45) Buy me a Coffee
(26:40) Misinformation vs the public interest
(34:10) The fight against debbie downers
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China shock 2.0, $1trillion surplus, Adam Smith. Is the neoliberal global order coming to an end? Is it China's fault? Do they care?
In this episode we tackle the underlying questions surrounding fears of China's domination of all major manufacturing industries. Should China stop what they're doing? If so, why? And if why, how should they bring back balance and let us poor Westerners keep some of our jobs?
We also talk globalisation, who's really to blame for the current situation, and why Orientalism plays a bigger role than you might think.
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Leave your recommendations below. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Chapters
(00:00) About the books
(2:20) The Dean of Shandong
(12:35) Private Revolutions
(20:35) The New China Playbook
(29:20) I Deliver Parcels in Beijing
(40:40) Final thoughts
(42:30) Books for next year, book club?
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In recent months news of purges at the very top of the PLA have gripped headlines, with many speculating as to the cause and outcomes of this series of high-profile oustings. Many have concluded that regardless of the cause -- coup attempt, rampant corruption, incompetence, paranoia -- the result is that Xi has tightened his control over an historically elusive and opaque arm of the party-state.
Xi is an outside figure -- he is not a military man, he has seen no bloodshed, commanded no battles, won no victories. And yet he now towers above the PLA as its ultimate leader, his mandate served willingly and devotedly.
How has Xi managed this feat where his predecessors have failed? The truth is the most recently publicised purges are just one in a long line of adjustments to the military that have allowed Xi Jinping to strengthen his grip on the PLA. In this episode we discuss those adjustments, how they differ to those that came before, and what the results of Xi's strategy may be.
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I'm joined by Nick Zeller (https://uscnpm.substack.com/) and Craig Kafura (https://bsky.app/profile/ckafura.bsky.social) to discuss a public opinion poll carried out earlier this year and what it tells us about what Chinese people really think about China. Broken down into 4 reports, we talk about the economy, China-US relations, global leadership, the impact of demographics on answers and why the reaction from westerners reveal an ideological bent and a lack understanding of Chinese society.
Read the reports here: https://globalaffairs.org/sites/default/files/2025-09/CCGA-Carter%20Center_China%20International%20Relations%20Report.pdf
https://globalaffairs.org/sites/default/files/2025-09/CCGA-Carter%20Center_China%20Economics%20Report.pdf
https://globalaffairs.org/sites/default/files/2025-09/CCGA-Carter%20Center_China%20Global%20Role%20Report.pdf
https://globalaffairs.org/sites/default/files/2025-09/CCGA-Carter%20Center_China-US%20Relations%20Report.pdf
Chapters
(00:00) Introduction & what the survey is about
(06:00) Challenges of doing a survey in China
(11:00) How faithful do you think the answers are?
(14:50) Report 1: Friends with benefits
(28:10) Report 2: Economic outlook
(40:00) Report 3: Relations with the US
(53:55) Report 4: China as a global leader
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Latest Substack post: https://open.substack.com/pub/sinobabble/p/famine-and-food-security-in-chinese?r=bgkuv&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
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Today we'll be examining the argument of a prominent Chinese scholar that China has built too much High-Speed Railway that is underutilised, unprofitable, and will cause major economic problems in the future. We ask why the state-government would pursue such a misguided policy, and how it's beginning to affect the rest of the world too.
Read Lu's original essay here: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/-iBh9BPpi7kl2BGhkGWHaw
Chapters
(00:00) Introduction - HSR and white elephants
(05:00) The history of China's HSR
(11:10) Arguments against HSR
(25:56) Spillover
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Latest Substack post: https://open.substack.com/pub/sinobabble/p/famine-and-food-security-in-chinese?r=bgkuv&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
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highspeedrail #HSR #China
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Hangzhou is a city once famed for its poets, tea, and silk, but it’s now capturing attention for something entirely different: AI labs, robotics startups, and IPO-hungry tech firms. The rapid rise of innovative and globally competitive tech startups has led to Hangzhou being dubbed “China’s Silicon Valley.” But not everyone agrees that the comparison is so black and white.
Chapters
(00:00) Introduction - Hangzhou
(02:15) Historical role of Hangzhou
(03:28) A bit on Alibaba
(09:45) How Hangzhou created its own growth model
(14:45) How Hangzhou and Silicon Valley differ
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Latest Substack post: https://sinobabble.substack.com/p/chinas-rise-was-planned?r=bgkuv
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Hangzhou #chinatech #deepseek #siliconvalley
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Starbucks recently announced that it's looking to sell part of its stake in its China operations, and is looking for a domestic partner to help boost the company's profile. This comes at a time when a host of foreign firms are seemingly struggling in China after years of riding the wave of the rising middle class. What are the main factors leading to these struggles? What are these brands missing? And what can they do to reverse their fortunes?
Chapters
(00:00) Introduction - The Starbucks Story
(05:45) Changes in the Chinese consumer market
(09:00) Foreign brands history in China
(20:15) Localisation and the sinking market in China
(30:45) Chinese brands go global
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A discussion of trending China news articles published in w/c 9th June. We look at how rare earth minerals may be the deciding factor in this trade war and potentially all trade wars to come. We look at an interview with Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei who states that Chinese chips are still behind the US and more 'basic research' is needed'. And we catch up with some of the latest developments in Hong Kong regarding the national security law.
Links: https://www.reuters.com/world/china/trump-says-china-will-supply-rare-earths-us-allow-students-2025-06-11/
https://substack.com/home/post/p-165729238
https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/pc/content/202506/10/content_30078133.html
https://substack.com/home/post/p-165599519
https://www.theguardian.com/games/2025/jun/11/hong-kong-police-taiwan-mobile-games-reversed-front
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/3313909/english-lessons-hong-kong-primary-schools-cover-national-security?utm_source=rss_feed
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We take a thorough look at the nature of soft power, how it can be used, and whether or not a country truly needs it to explore China's soft power deficit and what can be done to fix it. While China does have SOME soft power, arguably its lack of the charm of its neighbours and rivals means its culture and ideology is often met with suspicion or outright rejection. This can lead to difficulties when interacting on the global stage, for example when it comes to pandemic management, border relations, or the promotion of language and culture. Do small wins like the success of the video game Black myth: Wukong present a way out for China's cultural tzars? Or is the hand of the state just too heavy to allow the organic spread of a rich cultural heritage that has the potential to bring China into a new era of prestige and attractiveness?
Chapters
(00:00) Introduction - South Korea's soft power boom
(04:50) What is soft power?
(17:22) How soft power can be used and the failure of Confucius Institutes
(26:52) Does China need or want soft power?
(41:25) Consequences of China's lack of soft power
(47:50) Missed soft power opportunities
(52:45) Black Myth: Wukong and a potential new era of Chinese soft power
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A discussion of trending China news articles published in w/c 2nd June. China accuses the US of trying to reverse the temporary trade truce in place, affecting the future of Chinese students in the US. Also, China's twist on Klarna and why the UK is choosing to
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Links: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/29/us-revoke-chinese-student-visas
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/02/china-us-trade-war-truce-donald-trump
https://www.economist.com/china/2025/05/29/chinas-crazy-reverse-credit-cards
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c071jr159p0o
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A discussion of trending China news articles published in w/c 12th May. Will China be the main beneficiary of the clashes between India and Pakistan? Also, we find out where all those stolen iPhones end up, and whether or not China replacing the US as a global health leader is a good thing or a bad thing.
Links: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3311270/china-urges-trust-cooperation-pakistan-afghanistan-regional-tensions-mount
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1w3dln352vo
https://www.voanews.com/a/taliban-accuse-pakistan-of-sowing-distrust-between-afghanistan-china-/7638230.html
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/mobile-phone-theft-london-met-police-b2693476.html
https://www.wral.com/news/state/charlotte-woman-tracks-stolen-iphone-china-may-2025/
https://9to5mac.com/2025/05/21/many-iphones-stolen-in-the-us-and-europe-end-up-in-one-building-in-china/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/21/china-who-donation-500-million/?utm_source=reddit.com
https://chinahealthpulse.substack.com/p/no-china-wont-replace-usaid-but-here
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In January of this year, Chinese actor Wang Xing went viral after being kidnapped in Thailand having travelled for what he thought was a job opportunity, only to be rescued after his girlfriend made a post begging for the authorities to help. After a 4 day ordeal, Wang made a dramatic TV appearance alongside Thai police, with his head shaved but otherwise seemingly unscathed.
Wang’s case shed light on an issue that had been getting little coverage in the national press. To date, over 3,000 Chinese nationals are being held in scam compounds in Southeast Asian nations like Cambodia and Laos, many of them run by other Chinese nationals. What caused the rise of these scam centres? How do they target Chinese white collar workers? Why is the Chinese government not doing anything to shut these operations down?
Let's explore the world of sprawling forced labour compounds in Southeast Asia, their ties to local governments and police, and how they're getting rich in crypto scams targeting pensioners in pig-butchering schemes around the world.
Chapters
(00:00) Introduction
(04:00) The rise of scams around the world
(06:09) SE Asian scam centres and their targets
(21:45) The rise of the scam centres and pig-butchering scams
(33:00) No justice, no peace of mind
Latest Substack post: https://sinobabble.substack.com/p/i-asked-4-china-experts-4-questions?r=bgkuv
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A discussion of trending China news articles published in w/c 12th May. We discuss the outcome of the China-US tariff deal and how no one in China seems to really care. Starbucks is losing out to domestic coffee brands as its lack of strategy and reliance of hollow premium branding fall flat. Also, Xi's success with Latin American and Caribbean countries, and China's role in the India-Pakistan dispute.
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Links: https://www.economist.com/china/2025/05/13/a-great-trade-victory-over-america-is-being-celebrated-in-china
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202505/1334079.shtml
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202505/15/WS682520e7a310a04af22bf58c.html
https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3310407/starbucks-kicks-process-sell-stake-its-sprawling-china-business-growth-stalls?utm_source=rss_feed
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/chagee-mixue-luckin-china-chains-global-success-5086271
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202505/15/WS68252021a310a04af22bf57a.html
https://fortune.com/asia/2025/05/14/colombia-joins-beijing-belt-road-initiative-china-us-fight-control-latin-america/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/14/pakistans-use-of-j-10c-jets-and-missiles-exposes-potency-of-chinese-arms
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Apologies for the late upload for this one!
A discussion of trending China news articles published in w/c 5th May. We discuss the upcoming scheduled talks between US and Chinese representatives in Switzerland to move towards a resolution on the trade war, as well as Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow ahead of the Victory Day parade.
Links: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/08/xi-jinping-vladimir-putin-china-russia-kremlin
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3309454/xi-jinpings-russia-visit-balances-symbolism-and-strategy-europe-watches?utm_source=rss_feed
https://merics.org/en/china-russia-dashboard-facts-and-figures-special-relationship#:~:text=China%2DRussia%20trade%20has%20surged%20since%20Ukraine%20invasion,-Development%20of%20monthly&text=In%202024%2C%20total%20trade%20reached,the%20types%20of%20goods%20traded.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8rgrejkvmjo
https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-signals-china-initiated-planned-trade-meeting-2025-05-07/
https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3309589/how-chinas-self-sufficiency-drive-dividing-global-tech-ecosystem?utm_source=rss_feed&firstTimeRegister=true
https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3309569/huawei-unveils-first-laptop-running-self-developed-harmonyos-windows-licence-expires
https://www.valueadded.tech/p/industrial-policy-for-the-knowledge
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A discussion of trending China news articles published in w/c 28th April. We discuss the CIA's attempt to recuit spies in the Chinese government, China's plans for an AI dominated future, and why China is annoying South Korea once again.
china #chinanews #AI #USChina
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This is a rant video about the 'expert' 'analysis' coverage of the China-US trade war/tariff skirmish. There is no analysis or even coherent thought process here. This is basically just my train of thought about why it's a bad idea to try and predict the future. I try and relate it to Fukuyama as well, I don't know, just listen and have your own opinions.
"The End of History?" Francis Fukuyama: https://pages.ucsd.edu/~bslantchev/courses/pdf/Fukuyama%20-%20End%20of%20History.pdf
Chapters
(00:00) Introduction
(04:26) How is any of this relevant to tariffs?
(10:48) Pro-US and Pro-China analyses are equally bad
(21:10) All articles are the same info with a different conclusion
china #tariffwar #chinausrelations
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This is last week's news analysis episode. For the most recent episode head over to Buy Me a Coffee and become a member to get the episodes as soon as they come out!
A discussion of trending China news articles published in w/c 21stApril. We discuss mysterious Deepseek news and some of China's latest diplomacy moves in Asia. While China claims it wants peace and even allyship with its Asian neighbours, its actions often seem contrary to its words.
Links: https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3307814/deepseek-opens-roles-product-and-design-start-keeps-mum-new-ai-model?utm_source=rss_feed
https://aiproem.substack.com/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2kv93y4289o
https://sinobabble.substack.com/p/xenophobia-and-anti-japanese-sentiment
https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3307220/chinas-c909-passenger-jet-spreads-wings-vietjet-after-transnusa-lao-airlines
https://www.yicaiglobal.com/news/china-eastern-airlines-launches-first-c919-route-outside-chinas-mainland
https://www.ft.com/content/55b17d8a-c8c2-457c-adda-7134eb7580ad (https://archive.fo/SEsAc)
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First episode in a new series where I go through some trending news stories in China and analyse their impact. This version is from last week, for the most recent episode head over to Buy Me a Coffee and become a member to get the episodes as soon as they come out!
A discussion of trending China news articles published in w/c 14th April. We discuss how the tariff war between China and the US is spilling into different industries, and how some manufacturers are suffering unexpected consequences in trying to circumvent the US market.
For the most up to date version, head over to the Buy me a coffee page and become a member today!
https://buymeacoffee.com/sinobabblepod/membership
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A billionaire with a lavish property portfolio promises to save the US from the evil clutches of the Chinese Communist Party, partnering with right-wing media figures to attract thousands of followers, only to be revealed as a criminal whose businesses scammed fans of hundreds of millions of dollars. Have you figured out who we're talking about yet? That's right, it's Guo Wengui (Miles Guo? Guo Haoyun?)! After a period of self-imposed exile, mysterious Chinese tycoon Guo Wengui begins attracting the attention of powerful political figures in the US by promising the secrets to the annihilation of the CCP and establishment of a new China. The failure of this scheme and the exposure of Guo as a fraud poses an important question: how much should you invest in someone who promises you the key to bringing down your enemy with absolutely nothing to back it up?
New York Times Magazine article: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/10/magazine/the-mystery-of-the-exiled-billionaire-whistleblower.html
Chapters
(00:00) Introduction
(04:06) New York Times Magazine article
(22:16) Guo's shady dealings in China
(35:27) Guo's shady dealings in the US
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When we talk about the making of modern China, no name looms larger than Deng Xiaoping. But despite the heavy media bias and weighty political legacy China's architect carries, he did not build modern China alone. In fact, he cannot claim sole responsibility for coming up with the most iconic ideas that shaped China's future, like Special economic zones and new systems of economics. Some of the credit belongs to a much less well known figure: Zhao Ziyang. Removed from power after clashing with the elders of the CCP over the Tiananmen Square Incident, Zhao was crucial to forming some of the ideas that would shape China in the 1980s. A reformer and open minded man, Zhao tried his best to avoid politics, but having been forced to take up a position he didn't want, had to come face to face with his beliefs, which ultimately led to his downfall.
This is also a sort of 80s Chinese politics recap episode, as we didn't cover that period in the history episodes at all. Hopefully we can cover more topics from this period over time!
Chapters
(00:00) Introduction
(03:50) Biography of Zhao Ziyang
(09:13) Deng Xiaoping vs Hua Guofeng
(18:35) Zhao Ziyang Thought
(24:32) Social, economic and political tensions of the 1980s
(32:35) The dismissal of Hu Yaobang
(40:50) The events of 1989
(51:50) Zhao's Downfall
(55:20) Zhao's plans for the future
Seeking truth from facts translation: https://gaodawei.wordpress.com/2022/01/03/hu-fuming-author-of-mind-opening-guangming-daily-commentary-practice-is-the-only-criterion-of-truth/
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Why are Western (or Global North, whatever) nations pursuing decoupling at this particular moment in history? What is the link between decoupling and de-globalisation? Is either achieveable, or are we doomed to live in an interconnected world with two rival powers threatening nuclear war till the end of time?
Chapters
(00:00) Introduction
(02:50) Secondary sector
(19:11) De-globalisation
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In 2020, Donald Trump made a speech where he announced plans to decouple the US' economy from China's, leading to a media outburst and a half-hearted response from the EU. 4 years later, Trump is back in power and the question of decoupling is back on the table, but the real question here is: is decoupling even possible?
In part 1 (of 2? 3?) we take a look at the primary sector of the global economy to see just what decoupling would actually take and how much of a stake China has the in the extraction of raw materials used around the world. As we look at different industries, from forestry to mining, we discover that un-linking or even stepping back from China is not as easy as it may seem.
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*REUPLOAD*In today's episode we're going to pick up where we left off, at the very beginning of the new Republic of China. We'll look at the rise of Yuan Shikai and the descent of China into a period of warlordism. We will explore the changing nature of China's politics and culture, right up until the next big event to hit the Chinese stage, the May 4th movement.
Some famous people we will be discussing include Sun Yatsen, Cai Yuanpei, Hu Shi, Lu Xun, and some of the founders of the Chinese Communist Party, Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, and Mao Zedong.
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*REUPLOAD*Currently in the process of reuploading old episodes from the history portion of the podcast starting with this one!
DescriptionOn October 9th 1911 an accidental explosion in a revolutionary base in Hubei province in central China triggered a revolution that would mark the end of China’s imperial past and usher in its modern future. While the series of events that followed seem to indicate a straightforward revolution on the surface, recent scholarship on the topic shows that the exact nature, objective, outcome, and legacy of the Republican movement is anything but uncontentious.
In this episode we’ll be discussing the build up to the revolution and the events as they took place to understand who the main actors were and what objectives they had, if any. Finally, we’ll look at the different debates surrounding the truth about the Xinhai Revolution, including the notion that it wasn’t really a revolution at all.
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What is the origin of the Chinese writing system? Where did Chinese characters come from, and how did they evolve over time? Are they pictographs? Ideogographs? Logographs? Phonographs? Or all of the above? This is the nature of one of the most famous debates in Sinology, which took place in the 1930s between historian Herrlee Creel and linguist Peter Boodberg. The debate not only reveals the complexity of including many diverse fields under the single umbrella of 'Chinese studies', but also reveals a deeper controversy about the way Chinese history, language, and thought is understood and interpreted in the Western canon.
Chapters
(00:00) Introduction
(04:10) Sinology, Chinese characters, and the Shang Oracle Bones
(08:00) Origins of the debate
(10:33) Creel's argument
(26:56) Boodberg's response
(40:55) Back and forth
(48:03) The end of the debate
(50:07) Sinology and Sinologism
Characters mentioned:
牛(niu, 'cow') was originally drawn like the top of a stick man with a U shape for horns; similarly sheep 羊(yang) was a stick figure with 'M' shaped horns
见 (complex character 見), was written on oracle bones as a man with an eye for a head, and evolved over time so the eye was turned on its side and the man's body simplified into just legs
鲜 (xian, 'fresh') Creel argues is a compound of fish 鱼 and sheep 羊, but Boodberg argues 羊(yang) was originally the phonetic element of the word
里 (li, 'village'); 俚(li, 'rustic', 'vulgar') has the radical for man in front, changing the meaning ffrom noun to adjective
集(ji, 'to gather') according to Creel was originally 3 birds gathered on top of a tree, but over time evolved to be just one bird on a tree for simplicity (隹 zhuī short-tailed bird + 木 mù tree)
東(dong, 'east') is interpreted by Creel to be the sun behind a tree, 杲(gao, 'bright') is the sun above the tree, and 杳(yao, 'dim, dusky') is the sun below the treeline
圕 （tushuguan, 'library'), one of the few standardised polysyllabic Chinese characters used in Mandarin, but no longer in use. sometimes pronounced 'tuan' as a contraction
自(zi, 'self') could originally have meant 'self' or 'nose', and been read alternatively 'zi' or 'bi'. Over time, the signifier was added to the word for nose to make it 鼻,(bi, 'nose'), the bottom part 畀(bi, 'confer', 'give') being the phonetic determinate
名 (ming, 'name'), in Boodberg's argument made up of 夕(xi 'dark, night') and 口(kou, 'mouth, to utter'). However, he argues that 夕(xi) should be read as ming when used to mean 'dark', as it's the same meaning as 冥 (ming, 'dark, dim').
他，她，它 meaning he, she and it are all pronounced 'ta' (there is also 祂, meaning 'He' like a god, also pronounced 'ta')
夜(ye,'night'), which has been interpreted to be a man (人) with the moon (夕) tucked under his arm under a roof, is dismissed by Boodberg as a ridiculous interpretation
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Much has been made in Western media about the Chinese social credit system. It's been painted as a totalitarian form of surveillance akin to 1984, where all citizens are tracked, monitored and ranked according to an arbitrary set of rules set up by the state. It's seen as something to be feared, something that could be coming to your country and taking over your life sooner than you think. But the truth of the real social credit system may be a lot more banal. From mistranslations to misunderstandings, let's delve into why the social credit system may be the thing the west has got wrong about China the most in the past 100 years, and why Chinese people might even welcome such an overbearing measure into their lives.
Chapters
(00:00) Introduction
(04:25) What's in a name?
(07:04) Historical precedents and inspiration for the social credit system
(17:25) The Social Credit System[s]
(42:42) Emergent problems
(50:00) The problem of perverse incentives
(56:47) Public reception to the SCS
(1:01:11) Final Thoughts
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In this episode we discuss Western (mainly US) think tank analysis of China in the 1990s and early 2000s and ask ourselves if they provide any value either for the public discourse or as pieces of policy advice. While experts work hard to produce piece after piece, report after report, looking at China's economic, military, political and technological developments, the actual usefulness of these works either individually or as a collective needs to be evaluated. What started off as the search for a common thread in the evolution of China analysis over a 10 year period ended up being a lambasting of a staple of the intellectual economy. Whoops. We also discuss the problem with information overload in our modern age and the dangers of trying to predict the future.
This is a big talky episode, so be prepared to strap in for a whole lot of yappin'.
Chapters
(00:00) Introduction
(02:00) What is a think tank
(06:28) Think tanks analysed
(15:00) 1991-1995 - a period of foreshadowing
(31:50) 1996-1999 - a period of chaos
(46:36) 2000-2004 - a period
(53:12) The problem with information overload and predicting the future
(58:00) Conclusions
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When Xi became General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, no one assumed he would take up that position for life. But when Presidential term limits were abolished in 2018, it was widely understood that Xi had made himself supreme leader, and would remain head of the state, party, and military indefinitely. But how did Xi manage to pull this off, and how did everyone seemingly miss the signs? According to some sources, Xi made a swift powergrab, sweeping over party consensus and using guile and manipulation to crush his foes. The truth, however, may be a lot less straightforward (or exciting). Analysis suggest Xi not only went through tried and true boring procedures to gain his position, but that he did so with the explicit support of his fellow party members.
Chapters
(00:00) Introduction
(04:29) Background on Xi
(11:40) Predicitons about Xi's leadership
(19:50) The state of China in 2012
(34:50) Xi will be a weak leader
(40:30) How Xi managed to turn the tide
(47:45) The consensus of the Party as deciding factor
(54:15) Conclusions
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Why are so many cultural heritage sites in China fake? Why is the architecture all the same? And why does no one care that all these old towns were built in the past 20 years? Let's take a deep dive into the history of the cultural heritage industry in China, the role of the CCP party-state, the agency of local actors, and try and figure out why Chinese tourists love fake reconstructions of mini European villages in the middle of their megacities.
*Diary of the visit to Furong was in 2022 not 2002!!
China #culturalheritage #unesco #culturalrevolution #chinesehistory #chinatourism
Chapters
(00:00) Introduction
(03:45) Attitudes to cultural heritage around the world
(06:45) The destruction of China's cultural heritage
(11:11) Reasons for rebuilding China's cultural heritage sites
(12:38) Defining authenticity
(17:00) Examples of Disney-fied heritage sites
(40:25) What tourists want
(44:45) Does authenticity matter?
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Hi everyone,
I’m really excited to announce that I will be hosting my first ever livestream this Friday 10th May over on Youtube. This is just a casual event, where you guys can ask me any questions you want, we can discuss current affairs and China news, and we can brainstorm future episode ideas as a collective.
The stream will be at 10pm BST. You can join us at this link on Friday - I’m really looking forward to chatting with everyone!
See you soon,
Edi
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There’s a lot of outrage currently about China’s attempts to grow its EV market, at the expense of the US economy. But the truth is that the Chinese EV market wouldn't be where it is today without the generous funding it received (and continues to receive) from the US, Western governments, and multinational companies looking to cash in on the next big thing.
So let's talk about the ways in which China's EV industry is funded by the US, both directly and indirectly, partly with the help of your pension fund.
Chapters
(00:00) Introduction
(03:15) Timeline of China's EV industry
(12:20) The threat of Chinese made EVs
(15:00) #1: The West was happy with China’s EV development (when it benefited them)
(20:40) #2: China's EV market was funded with US FDI and investor capital
(28:45) #3: China's investment scene is better than Silicon Valley
(39:30) The West as get rich quick scheme
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"Safeguarding National Security Bill", also known as Article 23 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong, was passed in March to no public opposition. I read through the whole bill and discussed how it may be used to transgress human rights and common sense in Hong Kong. I also discuss the history of recent protests in Hong Kong, and how they paved the way for Beijing to get its way and increase its control over its people
Chapters
(00:00) Introduction to Article 23
(03:15) Background: protests and new legislation 2019 - 2021
(13:07) Going through Article 23
(16:00) Part 2: Treason
(18:45) Part 3: Sedition
(22:55) Part 4: Espionage
(26:55) Part 5: Sabotage
(27:27) Part 6: External Interference
(31:15) Part 7: Enforcement
(36:08) Foreign commentary
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In the face of economic turbulence, China's youth are struggling to find jobs that are suited to their skills and can give them the life that they want and were promised. While China's government strives to alleviate youth unemployment, societal and cultural factors pose significant challenges. China's young people are reacting in unpredictable ways - finding alternate ways to get jobs, taking time out to become full time kids, or forging their own paths altogether.
Chapters
00:00 Background: Employment in China vs the West
03:50 Reasons for youth unemployment in China
08:55 Crazy job requirements
11:30 Chinese gov helps youth find jobs
17:20 Caveat about youth unemployment
18:37 Chinese social culture and jobs
27:18 Young people's response to joblessness
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The newer and nimbler players in Chinese e-commerce are pushing buttons in the West. Rock-bottom prices, fast fulfilment and addictive interfaces are pushed to their limits to take China's dopamine economy global. What's going on, where does AI fit in the picture and what can we do to take on these new standards of consumption?
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Yoghurt bowls. Lululemon leggings. Ugg slippers. More young Chinese women embrace what they identify as the "white woman aesthetic" as an antidote to the pressures of high maintenance beauty standards and material achievement. As more Chinese women question the grind and settle for less, is the "white woman aesthetic" really an innocent social media fad or a deeper awakening of class consciousness?
Chapters
3:15: Introduction to the "White Woman aesthetic"
12:00 Chinese middle class anxiety
14:31 Defining the Chinese middle class
21:05 Morality and responsibility of the Chinese middle class
27:32 Limitations of the Chinese middle class
37:08 Conclusions
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This is part 2 of 3. In this episode we discuss the gaokao exam, the toll it takes on young people, and the increasing divide between those from richer, more developed areas and students from the margins of society.
In part 1 we explored life for middle schoolers racing to the top of an increasingly steep hill: https://youtu.be/hg86rP15eOE
Sources
The Mental Health Camp Treating China’s Troubled ‘Gaokao’ Kids, Sixth Tone
Choice of Higher Education Institutions: Perspectives of Students from Different Provinces in China, Ashraf et al.
Fairness in Admission: Voices from Rural Chinese Female Students in Selective Universities in Chinese Mainland, Ma and Wang
Access to Higher Education in China: Differences in Opportunity, WANG Houxiong
Higher education expansion and inequality in educational opportunities in China, Lingli Wu & Kun Yan & Yuqi Zhang
Rural students’ evolving educational aspirations and the sense of ‘ft’ in the changing context of China’s higher education: a life history approach, Jiexiu Chen
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After reading an article on mother's who sacrifice everything to make sure their children get into middle school in China, I was inspired to take a deep dive and learn more about one of the world's biggest school systems. Why has China's education system become so fiercely competitive? How is this impacting children? And who are the people making huge profits from parental anxiety?
This is part 1 of at least 2 episodes (potentially 3)!
Sources
Education Development in China: Education Return, Quality, and Equity, by Guo, Huang and Zhang
Exploring Compulsory Education Policy of Rural and Urban Area in China, by Yizhong Mao
Hopes and Hurdles: Rural Migrant Children’s Education in Urban China, by Gu and Yeung
The education of China’s migrant children: The missing link in China’s education system, Lai et al.
A Studied Sacrifice: Why China’s Moms Bet All on Education, Sixth Tone
China Is Cracking Down on ‘Hidden’ Tutoring Schools, Sixth Tone
China’s anxious parents turn to tutoring black market after Xi Jinping’s crackdown, FT
China Tried to Ban Private Tutoring. It Created a Huge Black Market. Sixth Tone
China’s TikTok Launches Campaign to Protect Parents From ‘Anxiety Marketing’ During Summer, Sixth Tone
Zhongkao, Not Gaokao, Now the Make-or-Break Exam, Parents Say, Sixth Tone
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china #socialism #xijinping #communism
Socialism with Chinese characteristics is a phrase that comes up when discussing Chinese politics. It's a cornerstone of Chinese political theory and heavily relied on by leadership when formulating new internal policies and deciding the direction the country is headed.
Socialism with Chinese characteristics is an evolving theory that encapsulates the thoughts of China's major leaders, and is the lens through which the country sees itself and the party sees its mission. It includes concepts like economic prosperity, territorial integrity, social stability, and the continued political leadership of the CCP.
Link to the Youtube poll to vote for the next episode: https://www.youtube.com/post/Ugkx_LM44S61UAXDi7zJT-X44KsO-je_K_EU?lc=Ugz2EJGLmmQ6YHZTcip4AaABAg&lc=Ugz2EJGLmmQ6YHZTcip4AaABAg
The Zhao Ziyang biography that I mention is called Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Zhao Ziyang
Intro
Definition 1:20
Deng era (1980-1992) 7:52
Jiang Zemin era (90s) 18:12
Hu Jintao era (00s) 22:12
Xi Jinping era (10s-20s) 24:30
Policy application 33:10
The 14th 5 year plan 40:22
Outro 44:45
*My voice changes noticeable at around 21:25. Had to stop recording and restart after a break after which point my cold was significantly worse. Apologies!
Sources
2012 Full Text of Hu Jintao's Report at 18th Party Congress
2018 Backgrounder_ Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era - Xinhua
China’s Plan for Economic and Social Development - Jun Yin and Jia Xu
Chinese Economic Statecraft from 1978 to 1989 The First Decade of Deng Xiaoping’s Reforms - Priscilla Roberts eds
Constructing Political Economy with Chinese Characteristics - Fang Cai and Xiaojing Zhang
Socialism with Chinese Characteristics - Roland Boer
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Every nation has to deal with the horrifying issue of human trafficking in one way or another, but the nature of human trafficking in China is relatively unique. While China does have problems with kidnapping and sex trafficking, it also has a black market where women and children are sold and bought by desperate families by middlemen posing as matchmakers or pseudo-adoption agencies.
What is the nature of the trafficking of children and women in China? How does this market interact with Chinese culture and Confucian society? How does the prevalence of social media affect how these cases are dealt with by authorities?
Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:30 Background cases: Liu Xuezhou & Xiao Huamei
10:30 Trafficking of Women
24:30 Trafficking of Children
32:00 Justice for victims in the social media age
43:20 Next episode
Sources
Child Trafficking in China, Quanbao Jiang and Jesús J. Sánchez-Barricarte
Child trafficking in the Yunnan and Guangdong provinces of China, Songcai Yang , Ling Han & Yingxi Bi
Evidence of Son Preference in the Child Trafficking Market for Illegal Adoption in China, Wanru Xiong
Female Perpetrators in Internal Child Trafficking in China: An Empirical Study, Anqi Shen
Mapping Trafficking of Women in China: Evidence from Court Sentences, Yiwei Xia, Yisu Zhou, Li Du & Tianji Cai
Marriage Trafficking: Demand, Exploitation, and Conducive Contexts—A Study in China–Vietnam Border Areas, Xiaochen Liang
Easy Prey: Illicit Enterprising Activities and the Trafficking of Vietnamese Women in China, Weidi Liu & Geping Qiu & Sheldon X. Zhang
Chained woman case: Six jailed in trafficking case that horrified China, BBC
Liu Xuezhou: Outrage over death of 'twice abandoned' China teen, BBC
China’s Human Trafficking Problem Goes Far Beyond the ‘Chained Woman’, Sixth Tone
As a Long-Lost Son is Found, a Dilemma: Arrest His Other Parents?, Sixth
Tone
Policymakers, lawmakers respond to opinion voiced online, China Daily
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China's housing market has been shaken by a series of crises in recent years, with events such as the Evergrande default scandal threatening to bring the whole system crashing down. But the truth is the property market in China was built on shaky foundations, and the government has trapped itself in a presale system from which it may not be able to escape.
Will China's housing bubble pop, bringing the economy down with it? Or will the government and CCP be able to find a solution to a system riddled with corruption and bad practices? More importantly, will those who bought homes through the presale system ever actually get a house to live in?
Check out the previous episode on urbanisation in China: https://youtu.be/LQptYyczH64
Chapters
00:00 Intro
03:03 Boom
14:30 Bust & Evergrande
22:48 Future
Sources
Can China Fix Its Broken Housing Market?, Sixth Tone https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1011103
“China’s real estate market”, Chang Liu and Wei Xiong
'No Way Out’: Why China’s Mortgage Strikers Refuse to Back Down, Sixth Tone https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1011767/no-way-out-why-chinas-mortgage-strikers-refuse-to-back-down
China property recovery will be slow and unevenly distributed amid income insecurity, distrust of debt-laden developers, analysts say, SCMP, https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3215956/china-property-recovery-will-be-slow-and-unevenly-distributed-amid-income-insecurity-distrust-debt?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=article&utm_source=Twitter
Real estate supports rapid development of China's urbanization, Zhaoyang Cai, , Qing Liu, Shixiong Cao
Real Estate Bubble Resolution with Chinese Characteristics: Integrate Fragmented Vacant
Resources, Guangze Wang
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Guanxi can be loosely understood as instrumental social relationships that form a network to be used by individuals for their personal benefit. Guanxi is a long-enduring part of Chinese society, but how is it used in a modern context. Is it still important for doing business? How should foreigners understand guanxi? And is guanxi now doing more harm than good in modern world?
Chapters
00:00: Intro
2:18: Definitions of Guanxi
11:39: Origins of Guanxi
19:03: Building Guanxi Relationships
31:51: Guanxi in China's Business World
40:58: Guanxi goes abroad?
44:27: Negative Societal Effects of Guanxi
49:Negative Societal Effects of Guanxi
Sources
- Guanxi: How China Workds, Yanjie Bian, 2019
- Chinese Guanxi: An Integrative Review and New Directions for Future Research, Chao C. Chen, Xiao-Ping Chen, and Shengsheng Huang, 2013
- Cultivating Guanxi as a Foreign Investor Strategy, John A. Pearce II and Richard B. Robinson, Jr., 2000
- Cultural and Organizational Antecedents of Guanxi: The Chinese Cases, Liang-Hung Lin, 2011
- Entering Guanxi: A Business Ethical Dilemma in Mainland China?, Chenting Su and James E. Littlefield, 2001
- Guanxi Networks in China: Its Importance and Future Trends, Jin Ai, 2006
- Guanxi's Consequences: Personal Gains at Social Cost, Ying Fan, 2002
- The Culture of Guanxi in a North China Village, Yunxiang Yan, 1996
- Whither guanxi and social networks in China? A review of theory and practice, Jane Nolan & Chris Rowley, 2020
- What Happens When the ‘Gaokao’ Rewards Who, Not What, You Know, Sixth Tone, https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1005924
- Qinghai Official Died After Sharing Seven Bottles of Baijiu, Sixth Tone, https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1012818
- Bank Worker Slapped, Insulted for Not Drinking With Colleagues, Sixth Tone, https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1006093
- Businesses benefiting from political connections harm China’s economic growth, https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/businesses-benefitting-from-political-connections-could-harm-chinas-economic-growth/
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I was gifted a copy of The Decisive Decade by Jonathan Ward and this is my review!
Read the first half of the review here: https://sinobabble.substack.com/p/book-review-the-decisive-decade-by
Description of the book from Amazon:
In The Decisive Decade, Dr. Jonathan D.T. Ward―China scholar and founder of the Atlas Organization, a consultancy focused on US-China global competition―offers a comprehensive framework for how the United States can, and must, defeat China on the world stage economically, diplomatically, militarily, and ideologically. International security and American supremacy are at stake―and now is the time for the US to take action.
China’s global power and influence grows every day. Working from a deep sense of national identity, the Chinese Communist Party is leading its country toward what it deems “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation,” and executing a long-term Grand Strategy to topple over its chief adversary, the United States. As China becomes increasingly repressive domestically and aggressive overseas, it threatens to upend America’s global dominance at every turn.
Ward provides novel and practical strategies that our government, as well as our businesses and our citizens, can utilize to undermine our adversary. Exhaustive campaigns in the economic, diplomatic, military, and ideological arenas, he argues, must be taken to achieve victory.
With expert analysis of the history of US-China relations, as well as insight into how the Russia-Ukrainian war can inform our strategic thinking, The Decisive Decade presents a unique toolkit for our triumph over China. We can succeed, but it won’t be easy; it will take all of our nation’s ingenuity, confidence, and willpower to win.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Decisive-Decade-Americas-Strategy-Triumph/dp/1635768454
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China's urbanisation is often described as a unique process, but how different is it from the urban development of other countries? How close is China to becoming a 'modern urban nation'? What factors play a major role in the way China's cities have formed? How has the hukou and Special Economic Zones contributed to China's urban-rural divide? And what problems are we starting to see in the formation of Chinese cities?
00:00 Intro
01:47 Background to Urbanisation in China
03:45 Urbanisation under Mao
16:35 Post-Mao Urbanisation
19:30 The development of Special Economic Zones
25:00 Chinese city tiers
33:56 The Hukou
42:44 Ghost cities
China urbanizes, Consequences, strategies and policies, Yusuf and Saich eds.
China's 'Ghost Cities', Yu Hong
Denationalization of urban physical development, Jieming Zhu
Evaluating cities' vitality and identifying ghost cities in China Jin et al 2017
Is Chinese Urbanisation unique? Hamnett, 2020
What attracts young talents? Understanding the migration intention of
university students to first-tier cities in China, Jin et al
Urban planning in socialist China, Yichun Xie and Frank J. Costa
Urbanisation in China, Zhang Xing Quan 1991
China’s City-Tier Classification: How Does it Work?, China Briefing https://www.china-briefing.com/news/chinas-city-tier-classification-defined/
China’s tiered city system explained, SCMP https://multimedia.scmp.com/2016/cities/
Reforms to China’s hukou system will not help migrants much, The Economist https://www.economist.com/china/2022/09/22/reforms-to-chinas-hukou-system-will-not-help-migrants-much
China's 'ghost towns' come to life thanks to urbanization and policies, Global Times https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1211265.shtml
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APOLOGIES FOR THE BAD AUDIO, IT'S BEEN UPDATED NOW
Peter Zeihan is a famous American geopolitical who recently appeared on episode 1921 of The Joe Rogan Experience (full episode here https://open.spotify.com/episode/406fOiiKMU0ot5AS1AIwve). He talks about a lot of topics, but I want to discuss what he says about China and specifically what he gets wrong. Zeihan is keen to predict China's collapse, and his supporters are clearly even keener for his predictions to come true. But I'm not so sure Zeihan can see the future, as his grasp on the present (and past) seems shaky at best.
Let's talk demographic collapse, technological development, and labour efficiency in China!
Chapters00:00 Intro
03:30 The Accidental Superpower
09:55 Impending Demographic Doom
20:50 China's lack of technological advancement
28:10 Chinese labour is inefficient
30:39: Bits and bobs
34:23 Summary and Conclusion: I disagree
SourcesThe Accidental Superpower: The Next Generation of American Preeminence and the Coming Global Disorder Kindle Edition - Peter Zeihan
Challenging Myths About China’s One-Child Policy, by Whyte, Feng and Cai, 2015
Ogawa, N., & Retherford, R. D. (1993). The Resumption of Fertility Decline in Japan: 1973-92.
The Global Competitiveness Report, World Economic Forum, 2019
The Chinese Talent Behind Your Favorite Generative AI Product, Macro Polo, April 2023
China shows its dominance in surveillance technology, The Financial Times, December 2019
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There's been a lot of talk recently about the possibility of the US and China going to war if China invades Taiwan, but as usual, I'm here to dampen the hype and reduce expectations. Let's not rush into WWIII, and instead have a rational conversation about how likely war between the world's foremost superpowers actually is.
Sorry for the delay in episodes, was away with the family over Easter.
Chapters
2:30 What is Taiwan? The One China Policy
05:24 Taiwanese cultural politics and identity
15:20 We would all die
21:20 Pyrrhic victory
27:44: China's other strategy
31:45: Taiwan's situation
41:55: Taiwan is not a priority for the US
48:00 Conclusions
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Sources
Melissa J. Brown, Is Taiwan Chinese?The Impact of Culture, Power, and Migration on Changing Identities
Chris Miller, Chip War:The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology
Kerry Brown and Kalley Wu Tzu-Hui, The Trouble With Taiwan: History, Identity and a Rising China_ History, the United States and a Rising China
CSIS, The First Battle of the Next War: Wargaming a Chinese Invasion of Taiwan (https://www.csis.org/analysis/first-battle-next-war-wargaming-chinese-invasion-taiwan)
The New York Times, Who Benefits From Confrontation With China
Syaru Lin, Taiwan’s China Dilemma, Contested Identities and Multiple Interests in Taiwan’s Cross-Strait Economic Policy-Stanford University Press
The National Interest, The Worrisome Erosion of the One China Policy
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China is on a mission to build world peace, but why now? What qualifications do they have to be a mediator? Will the peace they bring about be a stable, lasting one? Are they better than the UN? Is neutrality a core feature of a good third-party mediator? What do they stand to gain from the Saudi Arabia-Iran deal? Is their plan for peace between Ukraine and Russia viable? Is democracy a prerequisite for peace in the modern world? Will globalisation perish or flourish as a result in the rise of transactional peace?
So many questions. About 2, maybe 3, answers.
00:00 Intro
00:57 Context questions: what is going on?
02:06 What makes a good mediator?
12:24 The quest for global governance
15:49 The Saudi-Iran deal
21:21 The end of the Russia Ukraine War?
24:49: Does it matter that China isn't neutral?
30:16 The democracy problem
35:19 A new world order?
Sources
The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Global Security Studies https://link.springer.com/referencework/10.1007/978-3-319-74319-6
China Daily, Nation hailed for brokering Saudi-Iranian agreement https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202303/15/WS6411031ea31057c47ebb4741_1.html
China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/zxxx_662805/202302/t20230224_11030713.html
The Economist, The world according to Xi, https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/03/23/the-world-according-to-xi
Contemporary Peacemaking: Peace Processes, Peacebuilding, and Conflict, Roger Mac Guinty and Anthony Wallis-St. John eds.
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The biggest meeting of China's government just took place. This historic Two Sessions saw Xi Jinping elected to an unprecedented third term as president, the new government staffed with his followers, and changes to legislation that will see the Chinese Communist Party gain an even tighter grip on power. What do the proclamations about the economy, foreign relations, Taiwan, the United States, and domestic policies tell us about China's policy direction for the next five years?
00:00 Intro
01:43 What are the NPC and CPPCC?
05:37 Personnel (non)changes
13:33 Government reform
22:30 Economic highlights
27:26 Li Qiang
34:35 Xi Jinping
38:50 Outro
Bert Hoffman’s newsletter: https://substack.com/inbox/post/108149817
NPC Observer: https://npcobserver.com/2023/03/04/npc-2023-agenda-and-daily-schedule/
Two Sessions in statistics: https://sinobabble.substack.com/p/the-two-sessions-but-make-it-statistics
On the Social Credit System: https://sinobabble.substack.com/p/moral-honest-helpful-chinas-social
Li Qiang's full Q&A text: https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/zxxx_662805/202303/t20230314_11040394.html
Xi Jinping speech full text: https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-03-14/Full-text-of-Xi-Jinping-s-speech-at-first-session-of-14th-NPC-1iaLpfkemB2/index.html
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In 2019 China introduced an Extradition Law that sparked protests across Hong Kong. In this episode we revisit Hong Kong and get up to speed on how the national security law has changed life for the people who have stayed. What plans does the CCP have to revamp the economy and plug the brain drain? And where are all the people leaving going?
Chapters
Background: 00:10
Hong Kong 47: 07:40
National Security Law updates: 17:55
Post-covid lull: 22:47
Migration: 24:37
Outro: 30:49
Sources
What does the National Security Law actually say again? (March 2021) https://sinobabble.substack.com/p/what-does-the-national-security-law
Apple Daily and the end of Hong Kong (July 2021) https://sinobabble.substack.com/p/apple-daily-and-the-end-of-hong-kong
The sinking ship (Jul 2022) https://sinobabble.substack.com/p/the-sinking-ship
47 democrats charged with ‘conspiracy to commit subversion’ over legislative primaries https://hongkongfp.com/2021/02/28/47-democrats-charged-with-conspiracy-to-commit-subversion-over-legislative-primaries/
Hong 47 Trial https://hongkongfp.com/hong-kongs-47-democrats-national-security-trial/
National security law trial of 47 opposition figures starts in Hong Kong (Global Times) https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202302/1284940.shtml
‘The frontline in our homes’: Covid-19’s lasting impact on Hong Kong’s migrant domestic workers https://hongkongfp.com/2023/01/29/the-frontline-in-our-homes-covid-19s-lasting-impact-on-hong-kongs-migrant-domestic-workers/
HK$2bn ‘Hello Hong Kong’ campaign gives away 500,000 plane tickets to help reboot tourism https://hongkongfp.com/2023/02/02/hk2bn-hello-hong-kong-campaign-gives-away-500000-plane-tickets-to-help-reboot-tourism/
Hong Kong’s population drops for 3rd straight year, while city posts net outflow of 60,000 residents in 2022 https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3210429/hong-kong-emigration-wave-net-outflow-60000-residents-2022-marking-09-cent-population-drop-3rd
Understanding Migration into Greater Bay Area Cities in Mainland China as an Investment for Hong Kong Young Adults
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-16-9531-5_5
The intention to migrate from more developed to less developed areas: evidence from Hong Kong https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17441730.2022.2087933?journalCode=raps20
SURVEY: 72% HONGKONGERS ATTRACTED TO MAINLAND GBA OPPORTUNITIES https://www.oliverwyman.com/media-center/2022/jul/survey-72-hongkongers-attracted-to-mainland-gba-opportunities.html
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There's been a lot of speculation in the news recently over whether or not China will come to Russia's aid in the fight in Ukraine. Although many Western outlets are panicking about the likelihood, is it as straightforward as China jumping into the fray? The answer may lie in the recent history of the relationship of the two powers.
Sources
"China and Russia: Economic Unequals", Jonathan E. Hillman, 2020
"China’s Relations with Russia", Alexei D. Voskressenski (in China and the World, David Shambaugh eds.), 2020
"FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS?: Russian-Chinese Relations After the Ukraine Crisis", Alexander Gabuev, 2016
"The "Rise" of China in the Eyes of Russia: A Source of Threats or New Opportunities?", Anastasia Solomentseva, 2014
"Russia: New Eastern Perspectives", Vladimir Putin, 2000
"Will China rescue Russia", Sinobabble Substack
Axis of authoritarians: Implications of China-Russia Cooperation, Richard J. Ellings and Robert Sutter, 2018
"China and Russia: united in opposition", Roderick Kefferpütz (text) and Vincent Brussee (data), 2022
"Moscow’s Failed Pivot to China", Thomas S. Eder and Mikko Huotari, 2016
Chapters00:00: Intro
02:07: Deng Xiaoping Era
03:49: Jiang Zemin Era
09:50: Hu Jintao Era
17:43: Xi Jinping Era
23:35: The Future of China-Russia Relations
27:30: Outro
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China's Belt and Road Initiative turns 10 years old this year. Launched by Xi Jinping in 2013 as a way to "promote infrastructure construction and connectivity, align national policies and development strategies, deepen practical cooperation, promote coordinated and interconnected development, and achieve common prosperity,” many analysts think that the BRI is on the brink of collapse.
Plagued with allegations of creating debt traps, aiding corrupt governments, and causing ecological damage, there are many who are suspicious and disapproving of the new Silk Road. But China insists that its plans are for the good of the global economy, and is a crucial tool in fighting poverty.
Will the BRI be able to survive the post-pandemic global economic slowdown? Or is China's flagship globalist policy a vital lifeline for developing and emerging countries that have otherwise been overlooked by Western nations?
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Intro: 00:00
What is the Belt and Road?: 03:00
China's view on BRI: 06:22
World Bank analysis: 11:03
Western/anti-BRI views: 14:27
BRI in Tajikistan: 20:30
BRI in Nigeria: 22:25
Labour and security: 26:10
BRI in Vietnam: 26:45
BRI in Ghana: 28:16
BRI as a debt trap?: 30:15
BRI post-lockdown: 32:56
Outro: 36:46
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A recently released statement by the UN expresses concern about residential schools in the province that take children away from their ancestral homes, suppressing language and religious teaching, and causing cultural genocide.
The CCP argues that its policy in Tibet is to create a prosperous region that is integrated with the whole, and protects China's borders from incursion.
Is Tibetan culture being erased? Or is Tibet merely suffering from the same global capitalist forces that have transformed China over the past century?
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Chapters
Intro: 00:00
UN Statement on Tibet: 2:20
Western views on Tibet: 8:22
Chinese views on Tibet: 15:16
Tibet as a victim of globalism: 22:39
Summary: 28:07
Outro: 31:21
References and sources
- 40 years of China's war on poverty, Zhu and Peng
- "Social Construction of National Reality: Tibet and Taiwan" Yu and Kwan
- Cultural Genocide and Asian State Peripheries, “Tibet and the (Mis-) Representation of Cultural Genocide”, Barry Sautman
- China shuts down historic monastery, evicts monks and nuns: https://savetibet.org/china-shut-downs-historic-monastery-evicts-monks-and-nuns/
- UN statement: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/02/china-un-experts-alarmed-separation-1-million-tibetan-children-families-and
- China's victory over poverty a great modern achievement: https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202012/02/WS5fc6e710a31024ad0ba99340.html
- Tibet prospers from a decade of economic and social development: https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202208/26/WS630803dea310fd2b29e744dc.html
- Aid-Tibet program marks significant success: https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202207/26/WS62df9acda310fd2b29e6e79a.html
- Tibet podcast episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1jnKLWEBbVKiydDW2g6LLF
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The death of Mao Zedong and the trial of the Gang of Four are traditionally used as the signifiers of the end of the Cultural Revolution. The violent and turbulent 10 year period came to a sudden stop as political in-fighting continued until Deng Xiaoping was able to quash his foes and come out on top.
In this episode, we cover how the Cultural Revolution finally came to an end, how the period is interpreted both in the West and in China, and what effect the Cultural Revolution has had on Chinese society as a whole.
Intro: 00:00
Opening: 01:09
The end of the Cultural Revolution: 6:20
Interpreting the CR: 20:25
Aftermath of the CR and memory in contemporary China: 31:23
Outro: 41:25
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In this episode, we discuss the changes made to China's cultural realm during the Cultural Revolution. As the main target of the Cultural Revolution Group, cultural production including art, literature, theatre, and film were all subject to the new rules of the decade. But were those rules made to last? And were the CRG able to impose their will completely when they relied on the existing bourgeois cultural producers to cultivate their new vision?
In this episode we look at how the economy and educational system fared during the Cultural Revolution decade. We discuss how a period of chaos led into a period of stagnation, where things neither got much better nor much worse. We also talk about differences between the countryside and the cities, and how every day life was irrevocably impacted by the social turmoil that occurred.
In this episode we explore the mysterious and complex character of Lin Biao, and his even more mysterious demise. We ask how he rose to prominence so quickly after being a largely background figure in the party for so many years, and what effect his vice-chairmanship and sudden death had on the Cultural Revolution.
I accidentally say Liu instead of Lin at around the 22:30 minute mark
00:00 Introdution
05:02 Early career in the CCP
13:05 Lin Biao in the Cultural Revolution
19:58 Lin's position challenged?
27:51 The 'conspiracy'
36:31 Evaluating the coup theory
39:10 The impact of Lin's death
Hi all,
I've been sick recently and continue to be ill enough that I can't record. To keep you guys going, I thought it would be a good idea to upload a guest appearance I made on another show, The Way Podcast, hosted by Bill. The show is fascinating, discussing a range of topics from regional politics and societal issues, to UFOs and cryptocurrencies.
The Way Podcast was made to allow everyday people the chance to hear from the experts. I believe learning new things is interesting. So, on the show you can hear from hand chosen individuals who are the best in their fields. Each week will involve a new topic to keep the show diverse.
This is the episode description: "Edi Obiakpani joined me for this episode. She has a Ph.D. in Chinese and History, has lived in China for 7 years, and has her own podcast dedicated to China called Sinobabble. As one would expect, Edi came on the show to talk about everything "China". We discussed the Hong Kong protests, the country's culture, politics, history, U.S. China relations, and what China's overall motives are. Tune in for this one to hear everything that is China."
You can find out more about Bill's show on https://www.podcasttheway.com/ and follow him on his Twitter.
In episode 4 of the Cultural Revolution series, we look at how the party began to rebuild itself in the period 1968-1972 through a series of internal meetings, some last-minute purges, and a few devastating mass campaigns that would end up having a much higher impact than anything the Red Guards had carried out in previous years.
Though much had happened in China during the last few years, to many people it seemed like nothing had fundamentally changed. Though the people running the government were different, the structure of the party-state itself had remained the same. If anything, the only real difference was the preeminence that Mao Zedong Thought gained during this period, largely thanks to the support of the PLA.
Songs: Long Live Chairman Mao and March of the Revolutionary Youth
In this episode, we look at how Mao reversed the course of the Cultural Revolution, bringing in the army to end the violence and destruction caused by the factionalism between the Red Guards and other mass organisations. We discuss the much vaunted revolutionary committees, temporary governments made up of a triple alliance between the mass organisations, the Cultural Revolution Group, and the People's Liberation Army.
The original aim of the revolution to promote the masses to positions of power in place of corrupt cadres was replaced by the singular quest to restore the country to order. To do this, Mao relied heavily on the PLA, as well as the cadres who not too long ago were seen as public enemy #1.
Music clips are from "Sailing the Seas Depends on the Helmsman" and "The People of the World Will Surely be Victorious"
00:00 Song "Sailing the Seas Depends on the Helmsman"
00:25 Introduction
06:23 January Revolution
11:50 Song "The People of the World Will Surely be Victorious"
12:05 The Triple Alliance
14:10 The February adverse current
23:20 The Wuhan incident
26:24 The 516 purge
29:30 Resitance to demobilisation
38:10 The failure of the revolution
In this episode we talk about the violence that gripped the Chinese nation at the height of the Cultural Revolution. We discuss the difference between the brutality that took place in the cities, which was mainly perpetrated by Red Guards and affected culture as much as people, and the countryside, which pitted neighbour against neighbour.
Music clips are from "The East is Red" and "We Walk on the Great Road".
Apparently I keep hitting my microphone throughout this episode, which are what that hollow sounding noise is. I need a better set up...
00:00 Clip from the song "The East Is Red"
00:18 Introduction
4:47 Red guards in the cities
9:10 The revolution in Shanghai
21:14 The revolution in the countryside
35:15 The impact of the violence on China and the Cultural Revolution
40:08 Outro
The first of many episodes covering the build up, events, and aftermath of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, which took place in China from 1966 to 1976. In this episode we discuss what the Cultural Revolution was supposed to be, recap its principal causes, discuss the events that led to the declaration of the CR, and cover the formation and expansion of the Red Guards, Mao's children of the Revolution.
00:00: Introduction
4:23 - What was the Cultural Revolution?
15:45 - Events leading up to the Cultural Revolution
29:43 - The first stages of the Cultural Revolution
37:06 - The formation of the Red Guards
43:48 - Those of black class background join the Red Guards
46:56 - Outro
Some mispronunciations - I found that I mispronounced LUO Ruiqing as LIU Ruiqing, and HAI Rui as HA Rui a few times. My bad, Luo and Hai are the correct terms!
In this episode we go over the CCP's attitudes towards religion during the first 15 years of the PRC to 1965. These developments are important for understand why anti-religious sentiment reached such a fever-pitch during the Cultural Revolution, as well as why there has been a resurgence in interest in religion since the country's opening up in the 1980s.
We discuss the five officially recognised religions - Daoism, Buddhism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism - as well as Confucianism, and the local folk religions that were all thrown under the umbrella of 'superstition'. We start by examining the origins of the the anti-religious mood of 20th century China, which actually began as early as the late Qing dynasty. We then discuss the secularisation of China, and the institutionalisation of religions that made them easier to oversee and control.
There is a sudden change in audio around 15 minutes in because I had to change recording locations. Hopefully it's not too distracting, I tried to get the volumes to be the same!
Timestamps
Intro 0:00
Religion in Republican China 3:30
Marxism and Religion 9:08
CCP Religious Policy - Confucianism 10:45
Daoism 15:07
Christianity 18:12
Buddhism 29:10
Islam 37:20
Folk Religion 42:15
Religious Resurgence post-Mao 45:56
In this episode we'll be discussing the Third Front, a covert industrialisation campaign that took place between 1964 and 1972 in China's remote, mountainous interior. This little-discussed campaign actually formed a crucial part of China's Cold War policy strategy, and despite its clandestine nature cost billions of yuan in resource and personnel allocation, as well as for construction and transportation. The Third Front was part of China's preparations for war with either the US, the Soviet Union, or their allies in the region, especially after the US joined the Vietnam War in mid-1964. Major industrial and military complexes were built in southwest, central-west, and northwestern provinces, which were also interconnected by new railway lines and powered by grand hydro-electric dams.
In the end, the Third Front fizzled out, especially after the relationship between China and the US improved, Minister of Defence Lin Biao passed away, and particularly after the death of Mao Zedong. Many of the projects remained uncompleted, with others suffering from the pains of rushed construction, rendering them useless in the long-run. Despite its short run however, the Third Front did have have a major impact on China's economics and politics during the 60s and 70s, and deserves our attention as an important factor in China's Cold War policy formation. It also gives us another lens through which to view Chinese history, one which relies less on social history and a Maoist lens, and takes into consideration external factors that caused major shifts in the sentiments of the CCP leadership even during major domestic events such as the Cultural Revolution.
Don't forget to check out "Mao's Third Front: The Militarization of Cold War China" by Covell Meyskens, which you can purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Maos-Third-Front-Militarization-China/dp/1108489559
NB: About 4 minutes in I accidentally say Gansu twice - I meant to say Guizhou the first time and Gansu the second!
In this episode we discuss the Socialist Education Movement (SEM), a campaign conducted in the Chinese countryside from 1962-1966 in order to restore socialist values and purge pernicious 'capitalist tendencies' that had reemerged after the Great Leap Forward. The period 1962 to 1965 generally saw Mao attempt to regain control over the cultural and ideological spheres in both the countryside and the cities, but ultimately these attempts failed to make a lasting impact. They were likely instrumental in encouraging Mao to stop relying on the Party cadres and intellectuals to continue as the vanguard of the revolution, and instead launch the Cultural Revolution to reinvigorate socialism in China and boost the prestige of his own cult of personality.
Now that we understand the Great Leap Forward, we turn to the period just after the leap to see how China began to recover from economic and political disaster.
Two factions emerged in the party's leadership - a moderate group who wanted to allow some market forces to help boost the economy and reduce inflation, and the leftists who still believed in Mao's vision. Instead of ousting Mao when they could, the leadership decided to let the chairman keep his position, while taking all economic powers away from him. Their failure to denounce his role in the Great Leap Forward, however, left him ample space to stage a comeback, which eventually led to the launch of the Cultural Revolution in 1966.
This is the second of two parts covering the events that led to the breakdown in relations between China and the Soviet Union between 1958 and 1964.
In this episode we discuss the heating up of tensions, the publication of polemics, and the personal disagreements that served to worsen the situation. We talk about how external events such as the Cuban missile crisis were used by Mao to further his own political agenda, both at home and abroad, while also destabalising Krushchev's position. Finally, we outline the major causes of the downfall of Sino-Soviet relations, which could not be saved even with the introduction of a new government in the Soviet Union.
This is the first of two parts covering the events that led to the breakdown in relations between China and the Soviet Union between 1958 and 1964.
This episode covers the years 1958 and 1959, and discusses the major ideological differences between the two nations which led to them disagreeing on how to handle international relations with Taiwan, the US, and India. We also see how China's domestic policies served as a point of contention with the post-Stalin Soviet leadership, who saw Mao's cult of personality and the setting up of communes as a return to the horrors of the 1930s.
A review of the 50 years of Chinese history we've covered on this podcast.
Find the questions and answers on the Sinobabble website
**Hi guys,
I'm so sorry the audio is so terrible for this episode! I think my mic wasn't plugged in properly and the programme defaulted to my computer mic which is obviously terrible. I wasn't able to rerecord as I had gone away for the weekend and wanted to get the episode out on time. If it's completely unlistenable let me know and I will rerecord for your pleasure.**
Taking a break from our survey of Chinese history, this episode is a review of The Firemaker by Scottish screenwriter and author Peter May. This is the first book in a series of 6 novels and 1 novella set in China, following the story of detective Li Yan and American pathologist Margaret Campbell as they solve a series of interrelated murders.
https://maypeter.com/2016/05/21/the-china-thrillers-new-editions/
In this review I look at the story, writing, and historical and cultural accuracy to help you decide whether or not you would like to read it yourself.
If you have any other book recommendations for me, let me know!
This is part 4 in a 4 part series on the Great Leap Forward. This series will cover the whys and hows of China's disastrous Second Five-Year Plan, showing how the Leap went from an idea, to a reality, to a famine, all within the period of 3 years.
In this episode we explore the main academic debates surrounding the Great Leap Forward: what were the major causes of the famine, how many people died as a result of the famine, and how responsible was Mao for the famine? Questions are thoroughly explored but left open ended for the listener to discover and decide for themselves where the truth may lie.
Check out my recent appearance on The History Voyager: Podbean | Google
This is part 3 in a 4 part series on the Great Leap Forward. This series will cover the whys and hows of China's disastrous Second Five-Year Plan, showing how the Leap went from an idea, to a reality, to a famine, all within the period of 3 years.
In this episode we discuss the Great Famine, which lasted between 1958 and 1962. The famine mainly affected rural areas, and many of the stories and anecdotes we have are from some of the worst affected regions. We also discuss how the famine affected food supplies in the cities, and how the central government went about undoing the worst effects of the Great Leap Forward from 1960 onward.
There is an audio glitch from around 15:30-15:40 that I couldn't fix in the edit! It's only brief and minor, but sorry nonetheless!
This is part 2 in a 4 part series on the Great Leap Forward. This series will cover the whys and hows of China's disastrous Second Five-Year Plan, showing how the Leap went from an idea, to a reality, to a famine, all within the period of 3 years.
This episode looks at how the Great Leap policies were implemented in villages and cities, and what effects they had on the lives of different sectors of society. We look at how life changd for men and women, rich and poor, urban and rural, and young and old.
This is part 1 in a 4 part series on the Great Leap Forward. This series will cover the whys and hows of China's disastrous Second Five-Year Plan, showing how the Leap went from an idea, to a reality, to a famine, all within the period of 3 years.
This first episode looks at how the decision was made to launch the Great Leap. Was it Mao alone who concocted the idea? Who supported him? Was there no one who stood up against him when they saw that things were not going according to plan? This week reveal the heroes and the cowards of China's senior politicians during the late 1950s, drawing a line between those looking to survive and those who truly wanted to do the right thing for the nation they had fought hard to win over.
The final installment in the three-part series on writers and intellectuals in 1950's China. In today's episode we discuss the Anti-Rightist Campaign, launched by the CCP in 1957 after they had lost all patience with the cultural and scientific community prioritising the quality of their work over politics and generally dissing the CCP.
The Anti-Rightist Campaign sought to undo all the progress in terms of open discussion and the use of different methodologies that had been started just a year earlier, and instead replace intellectuals with party cadres in the cultural and scientific spheres.
This period also signals the beginning of the descent into the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, as Mao faces the first real challenge to his supremacy, and starts a trend of lashing out against those who would dare defy him.
In this episode we're discussing the campaigns carried out by the CCP against intellectuals and, more specifically, writers, from 1951-1957. We talk about the expansion of campaigns and implementation of thought reform, followed by periods of retraction and why the Party felt the need to pull back during certain periods. We also talk about the Hundred Flowers Movement, the prelude to the destructive Anti-Rightist Movement which was promptly followed up by the Great Leap Forward just one year later.
This episode focuses on China's post-1949 literary world up until around 1960. We discuss how writers were organised by the party-state, what kind of works they produced, and what was considered acceptable and unacceptable. How good were Chinese writers at producing socialist realist works? Turns out the answer changed on a daily basis.
In this episode we discuss China's first Five Year Plan, a centralised form of economic development that encompasses elements of social engineering and which is still used in China till this day. What were the major aims of the FYP, what were the outcomes, and why did the CCP end up abandoning this system of slow but steady development in favour of a Great Leap? We discuss these questions, as well as looking at how the foundations of Mao's ideological and political dominance were laid in this period following the death of Stalin.
This episode discusses the historical background of the relationship between China and the Xinjiang region, putting into context the current situation of the Uyghur people. It traces Chinese imperial attempts to first turn the area into a vassal, and then incorporate the region entirely into the empire, creating a new nationalist ideology based on a multicultural identity. The discussion starts from the 8th century AD and the fall of the Uyghur Khaghanate, and ends with the story of the reintegration of Xinjiang into the PRC after 1949, and the CCP's views on the status of the region since then.
The second episode of three on the CCP’s incorporation of the periphery into the PRC after 1949. We discuss the historical relationship between the Mongolian people and the Mainland Han Chinese people, to give context to why modern China feels that Inner Mongolia is part of the great Chinese nation.
At the end of the episode, we discuss the numerous articles on attitudes towards sex in China that I've come across in my casual reading. We highlight a woman working towards bringing foreplay into Chinese couples' bedrooms, and a survey revealing the lack of sexual knowledge among Chinese university students.
This episode is the first in a series of three discussing the incorporation of Tibet, Xinjiang, and Mongolia into the PRC after 1949.
In this episode we discuss the historical relationship between Tibet and China, as well as the changing nature of the CCP's approach to the inclusion of Tibet in the new nation. What makes the Tiebtans feel like they deserve their own independent nation? The answer lies in their own beliefs surrounding the unique nature of Tibetan culture and ethnicity, and their rejection of Chinese hegemony.
This episode is another addition to the modern China series. Today we’re going to be talking about a deep rooted problem in China, that of frequent and recurrent academic scandals. There are many reasons why I’m not sure a career in academia is for me, and one of those reasons does revolve around the problem of ethics and free speech when it comes to doing any sort of research in or about China.
We discuss some of the most prominent examples in three different
categories: fake research, deleted research, and conflict of interest.
In this episode we discuss what financial aid the Soviet Union provided to China, as well as how cultural connections were formed between the two states, using the example of art.
I also discuss an Economist article on poverty alleviation measures in poorer parts of China. How do Chinese officials carry out policies in a way that solves the key problem of poverty, while also promoting the party and president Xi as the saviour of the people? And is there anything that Western democracies can learn from China's integration of economic, political, and social issues?
Over the next couple of episodes we’re going to be examining the relationship between China and the Soviet Union, and how this relationship determined the development of China’s economy and international relations in the 1950s and the early 1960s. Today we’re going to start by discussing the The Korean War of 1950 to 1953, as this conflict was crucial in shaping Sino-Sovet relations in the early 1950s.
In this episode we’re continuing the theme of mass campaigns, and taking a detailed look at some of the most important campaigns in PRC history in order to see the party’s revolutionary tactics in action. Last week we spoke about the structure of mass campaign in Maoist China, and this week we’re going to be looking at three campaigns in total, one rural and two urban. The rural campaign was known as the Agrarian Land Reform Policy (land reform), which was the radical redistribution of all of China’s agricultural land equitably among its peasant population. The two urban campaigns are the three antis and five antis campaigns that sought to tackle corruption and waste in China’s state bureaucracy and private sectors.
*At some point in the recording I say "anti-patriotic" instead of "unpatriotic". Apologies. I'm dumb.
**Mass campaigns were the cornerstone of the CCP’s rule during the Maoist era. They were used to spread information about policies, inculcate the masses with the correct understanding of communist ideology, and importantly mobilise the people and get the public involved in different schemes to support the so-called building of the nation.
In this episode, we’re going to be talking about the ways propaganda and mass mobilisation techniques were used in Maoist China, and serves as a sort of reference point for future episodes where we’ll be talking about more specific policies and mass campaigns in detail.**
In this episode we discuss the introduction of two new laws at the start of the PRC: the marriage law and the education reform. Both of these laws were intended to change the shape of society, making it more civilised and modern, as well as more rational and easier for the state to control. Both laws evolved in ways that the state did not intend, leading to their subsequent de-emphasis in the following years. However, both of the changes have repercussions till today.
Emily Matson is a PhD student in the Corcoran History Department, University of Virginia. Her focus is on modern East Asian history, and her areas of interest include Sino-Japanese relations, China's national identity, and Chinese patriotic education.
This is the second episode in another short series I’ll be doing about the Hong Kong protests.Certain outlets have chosen to remain silent on the most recent events in Hong Kong, as well as the June 4th vigil that was officially cancelled by the state but took place in Victoria Park regardless. This episode discusses the rise of self-censorship, instances of innocuous creeping censorship of the Chinese state against international institutions, and what this means for freedom of expression not just in China, but for everyone.
This is the first episode in another short series I’ll be doing about the Hong Kong protests.
Tensions in Hong Kong have flared up once again as the CCP pushes to introduce the National Security Law in the wake of last year's protests. This law seeks to punish those who threaten the integrity of the state through sedition, secession, terrorism, or collusion with external forces. The public and some members of parliament have also been angered by the push of the national anthem law, which would criminalise parody or insult of the March of the People.
This episode provides an overview of the most recent protests from April till date, discusses some of the international responses, and describes the escalation of police brutality and authoritarianism in Hong Kong. It is clear that Beijing has lost patience with Hong Kong and the freedoms the territory currently enjoys will be taken away much sooner than 2047.
Carrie Lam’s Letter to Hong Kong https://hongkongfp.com/2020/05/29/letter-to-hong-kong-from-carrie-lam/
New York Times “‘Facing the Darkest Hour’: Hong Kong’s Protest Movement in Crisis” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/29/world/asia/hong-kong-protest-future-china.html
This episode is the first in the series on the People's Republic of China, the starting point for the modern China that we know today, still ruled over by the same Communist Party.
This episode serves as an update, as well as an introduction to the structure of the Chinese state and the main characters we'll need to keep in mind moving forward (it's more interesting than it sounds I promise!). This episode also gives an overview of the topics that we'll be covering in the upcoming months, including how the CCP ran their propaganda and mass campaigns, how they dealt with ethnic minorities in regions such as Tibet and Xinjiang, and how they brought the cities onside while simultaneously dismantling all capitalist forms of business.
The victory of the CCP over the KMT was a bit of a shock to many, it was by no means obvious that they were going to win and actually by all accounts they should have lost. Chiang Kai-shek had the bigger army, more money, control of the cities, and at least the tacit support of the USA, who were hell bent on stopping the spread of communism now that they didn’t have to pretend to be friends with the USSR anymore. Despite the KMT’s numerous advantages, there were factors both internal and external to the party that led to their downfall, including the state of China’s society and economy after the war, the way the military behaved on both sides, as well as international relations. Did the CCP politically and militarily outmaneuver the KMT, or were they better able to reach the people and therefore win as a result of overwhelming popular support? By the end of this episode, we’ll have a better understanding of whether the founding of the PRC was more a failure of the KMT or the victory of the CCP.
In this episode, Emily Matson and I will be delving deep into the subtle yet monumental change that was made to the Chinese official curriculum a few years ago. In 2017, the government announced that the official start date for the War of Resistance Against Japan should be change from 1937 to 1931 in all textbooks. This not only goes against previous Chinese historical beliefs, but also the internationally recognised start date for the conflict. Emily and I discuss how and why this change may have come about (we have no definitive answers, only theories unfortunately) as well as the implications of this change for Chinese political, social, and cultural future. We also go off on a tangent about the purpose of history education and give some advice as to how to avoid ideological heritage and get properly informed on topics that interest you!Emily Matson is a PhD student in the Corcoran History Department, University of Virginia. Her focus is on modern East Asian history, and her areas of interest include Sino-Japanese relations, China's national identity, and Chinese patriotic education.
In the last two episodes we covered the Communist regime in Yan’an during the period 1941-1945, and how they went about solidifying their control over CCP controlled areas, spreading their ideology through movements and campaigns. Of course, we also covered the Communists’ involvement in WWII, but generally speaking, the CCP was not at the forefront of the fighting during the war with Japan. Most of frontline fighting was done by Nationalist soldiers under the leadership of Chiang, and with the help of the allied forces, though the extent to which any fighting was actually done has often been called into question. China’s role in WWII and its importance in holding down the Japanese has been a sore point for China, which has claimed it never received the recognition it deserved from the major powers, especially considering the losses suffered and the tragedies wrought among the Chinese people. Hopefully in this episode I can provide you with enough detail for you to decide for yourself whether the Chinese war effort was of global import, or should be relegated to the annals of national memory. So, today we’ll be discussing what happened to trigger full blown war with Japan in 1937, how this evolved into WWII, how China’s Nationalist government survived and under what guise, and China’s bitter struggle against Japan until the end of the war in 1945.
This episode will continue the theme of the Communists at Yan'an, switching focus to the lives of Party members and ordinary people under CCP rule.
Split over two parts, we will talk about the development and spread of Communist ideology and Mao Zedong thought, the institution of political campaigns aimed at increasing social cohesion and improving the lives of peasants, and the reaction of the Party to dissent. This week we discuss the fallout from the Rectification movement, and the effect it had on the social lives of political party members as well as ordinary people living in the Communist base area. We will also discuss the evolving role of art and propaganda, alongside the growing sentiment among party members that the collective should be paramount over the individual.
This episode will continue the theme of the Communists at Yan'an, switching focus to the lives of Party members and ordinary people under CCP rule.
Split over two parts, we will talk about the development and spread of Communist ideology and Mao Zedong thought, the institution of political campaigns aimed at increasing social cohesion and improving the lives of peasants, and the reaction of the Party to dissent. The Yan'an Rectification movement of 1942-44 was one of the most important campaigns of the Yan'an period, solidifying Mao Zedong thought as the supreme ideology, and ensuring the unity of the Party. The build up to the movement, the campaign itself, and the targets of the campaign including intellectuals and mid-level cadres will be covered in this episode. The fall out of the campaign and its impact on social and cultural life in Yan'an and the communist controlled areas will be covered in the second half of this episode next week.
Mao Zedong Thought was one of the most influential ideologies of the 20th Century, and is arguably still having a huge effect on China and the rest of the world today. In this episode, Edi and Emily discuss the Long March and how it has been mythologised and used as a powerful message in propaganda since the 1940s. We also look at the first few years of the CCP at their Yan'an base, which explains Mao's rise to power in more detail.
We answer some important questions such as whether Mao is a true Marxist, and to what extent could he be considered a feminist? We also debate whether the 'Great Man Theory' can be applied to Mao, and if it's even a valuable theoretical framework in the first place.
Emily Matson is a PhD student in the Corcoran History Department, University of Virginia. Her focus is on modern East Asian history, and her areas of interest include Sino-Japanese relations, China's national identity, and Chinese patriotic education.
Mao Zedong Thought was one of the most influential ideologies of the 20th Century, and is arguably still having a huge effect on China and the rest of the world today. In this episode, Edi and Emily discuss the origins of Mao Zedong Thought by tracing Mao's life from his origins as a country boy fascinated with Chinese traditional culture and monarchist heroes, to his rise as leader of the CCP, and everything in between.
We answer some important questions such as whether Mao is a true Marxist, and to what extent could he be considered a feminist? We also debate whether the 'Great Man Theory' can be applied to Mao, and if it's even a valuable theoretical framework in the first place.
Part two of this topic will cover the Long March and the first few years of the CCP at their Yan'an base, which explains Mao's rise to power in more detail.
Emily Matson is a PhD student in the Corcoran History Department, University of Virginia. Her focus is on modern East Asian history, and her areas of interest include Sino-Japanese relations, China's national identity, and Chinese patriotic education.
This is the last episode on the Nanjing decade, so far we’ve covered culture, economics, feminism, and academia, and I wanted to leave this episode till last because I feel it ties all the other threads together really nicely. We’ve gotten a few glimpses of the Nationalist Party’s governance and policy formulation in a few areas, and how they tried to exert control over different areas of Chinese life, but we haven’t addressed the topic of KMT politics in and of itself. Although in recent years many aspects of the Nanjing decade have been reevaluated in a more positive light, one negative connotation that seems to have stuck is the accusation that the KMT were fascists. Although, actually the KMT themselves may not have actually viewed this as a negative label at the time. In fact, there is evidence to show that they actively strove to model themselves on other successful fascistic regimes at the time, taking inspiration from Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany in particular. So in this episode we’re going to be reviewing the evidence, taking a look at the ideology of the Nationalists, as well as examining some of their major social policies and campaigns, to see to what extent the term fascist can be applied to the Nanjing government.
Continuing with the Nanjing Decade, in this episode we look at the successes and failures of the Nationalist government with regards to the Chinese economy.
While the Nationalists became increasingly interventionist and looked to ramp up their stake in the financial system, their policies hindered private businesses and failed to save the rural peasant economy. But was this period a complete failure? And can all the blame be lain at the feet of the KMT?
The discourse on feminism in the Nanjing decade isn’t just a simple narrative, it actually takes the form of a debate between two camps. There are those who believe that women were champions of the feminist movement, through their various publications, groups, and activist movements, and those who believe that the women’s movement was essentially co-opted simultaneously by the commercial industry for profit, the government for greater control over society, and the disenfranchised male intelligentsia for their own political gain.
The debate is quite an intriguing one, and is also wrapped up in other social and political developments taking place at the time, such as the development (or lack thereof) of a democratic movement, the launch of Chiang Kai-Shek’s New Life Movement, and the growth in competition in the newspaper and magazine industry.
In this episode we try and get to the bottom of who was in control of the women's movement, and who really decided what the 'new woman' was supposed to look like and how she was supposed to act.
In March 2018, at a meeting of the 2,980 delegates of the National People’s Congress, a vote was passed to abolish the two-term limit on the Presidency and Vice-Presidency of the People’s Republic of China. The ten year limit, which has been in place for almost 30 years, was initially put in place by Deng Xiaoping ostensibly to prevent the building up of a cult of personality that heavily contributed to the tragedies perpetrated under Mao Zedong’s leadership. While the title of President of China has been considered largely ceremonial in the past, and some politicians such as Deng Xiaoping have managed to hold power without such a title, this change to the constitution has been understood to be monumental across the board.
While this change could well be considered a ‘step backwards’ for China’s politics and governance, I don’t think it should be considered so unexpected or even so drastic a move. It could even be considered a return to tradition. In this video I want to look at the following questions: What exactly gave rise to this motion, and why, with only the smallest of resistance, was it passed? How big of a role does Xi’s cult of personality play? And Is Xi really the new emperor of China? To answer these questions, we first need to understand how China has been ruled in the past, and how this pattern of governance has influenced present day China. Let’s put the decision to end Presidential term limits in China in its historical context.
Check out the website at: sinobabble.com
In this week’s episode we’re returning to the Nanjing decade, the period of Chiang Kai-Shek’s Nationalist rule from 1927-1937, to discuss the development of the creative sphere at the time. In this episode we’ll talk about how art, literature, and film evolved and try to understand what the major themes and trends of the period were, as well as trying to determine the extent of political influence on artistic endeavours. It’s going to be a pretty long one, but I think it’s a little less name-and-fact heavy than previous episodes, and focuses more on analysis and style, so hopefully it’s a bit more of an easy listen.
In this episode, we try and understand the formula used by the CCP to manage and quell the roughly 180,000 local protests that spring up across the territory every year. What does the resolution of the demonstrations in Wukan village in 2011 tell us about the Chinese Communist Party's methods of control and appeasement? Can this model be applied to the situation currently unfolding in Hong Kong?
This is the final episode in the Hong Kong Extradition Protests mini-series. Don't forget to listen to the previous episode if you haven't already in order to understand the full context of the protests!
In this week's episode I speak to a local Hong Kong protester and a friend from mainland China to gain a wider perspective on the meaning behind the protests and the future of Hong Kong.
This conversation was recorded two weeks ago, so it focuses mainly on the July 1st stroming of the legislative council and the impact that it has had on the movement as a whole. Hopefully in the next episode I can focus a bit more on the more recent developments with a bit more nuance as to how the Chinese Communist Party deals with unrest in general, by comparing the situation in Hong Kong with that of another protest with which I'm quite familiar, that of Wukan.
I will get back to covering the history of China as soon as I can, however I feel that as I live in Hong Kong I am quite well placed to give some explanation as to what's happening here. Don't forget to listen to the previous episode if you haven't already in order to understand the full context of the protests!
The protests in Hong Kong escalated on the 1st of July when a small group of protesters broke away from the larger, main protest, and chose to storm the legislative council building on Hong Kong Island. For me, this change in the nature of opposition to the extradition bill brought to mind the following question: do the people who are denouncing the protests have a point?
In the previous episode on the Hong Kong Extradition protests, I gave the historical background to both the protests and the general anti-mainland sentiment that exists in Hong Kong society, and that has arguably been growing as Beijing’s influence continues to grow. If you haven’t listened to that episode yet I highly suggest you do so, as it provides a lot of the context for this episode. I tried to maintain an objective stance and stick to the facts, but even I noticed that there was probably more of a pro-protest lean throughout the podcast, largely due to the sources that I used to help me put it together.
In this episode, we're turning to the other side of the isle to answer a different set of questions. What does Beijing have to say about the recent Hong Kong Protests? Do mainlanders support the Hong Kong people, or do they think they're ungrateful? What does local support for the amendment bill look like?
In this week's episode we talk about opposition to the protests in Hong Kong. We look at three perspectives: Beijing government, mainland Chinese people, and local Hong Kongers. There is a lot more disagreement than meets the eye, especially if you only read Western or English language news sources. Don't forget to listen to the previous episode if you haven't already in order to understand the full context of the protests!
Al Jazeera video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY_SpMS8Mwg
On Sunday 9th June 2019 at 2:30pm starting at Victoria Park between the neighbourhoods of Tin Hau and Wan Chai, around 1 million Hong Kong residents took to the streets in possibly the biggest protest the territory had ever seen. They were protesting the implementation of an amendment to the preexisting Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance, known as the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill, but it’s mostly commonly known as the extradition bill for short. They objected to what they saw as an overreach by the mainland Chinese government, a threat to human rights and freedom of speech in Hong Kong, and they demanded that the bill be retracted and the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam, step down.
After a silent march of thousands of lawyers opposing the bill took place on the 6th of June, public outrage finally reached boiling point on sunday 9th June, and after much planning and speculations of a turnout in the 100s of thousands, an all day march down the main roads of the Island saw families, students, old and young turn out to protest the bill.
Why is it that this particular bill has caused such feelings to rise up in the people of Hong Kong, and caused events to escalate to where they are now? Why are people in the international community seeking to protect Hong Kong’s special status, and clamouring to show their solidarity with Hong Kong protesters both online and in person? In truth, the protests over the extradition bill cannot be viewed in isolation, but must be understood within the context of Hong Kong’s relationship with China, and the development of an independent and unique Hong Kong identity that can be traced back to the 1840s. In this episode, I’d like to try and trace the roots of that identity, and try and explain why protests over the extradition bill reflect not only the fears of so many Hong Kong people, but also their determination to fight for what remains of their freedom and independence. To do that we’re first going to go back in time one hundred years or so, to see how Hong Kong became so unique in its identity and character, and how relations with the mainland have been shaped by what happened leading up to 1997.
A new series in which I introduce some of the themes of modern China scholarship, research, and journalism, and explain these broader themes using a couple of example articles each episode.
In this episode, we look at Chinese government regulation and control of entertainment and leisure using the examples of celebrity culture and prostitution. The two articles I’ve chosen to look at are from completely different sources, but are both really well researched. The first is a research report that was published in the most recent issue of the China Quarterly, which is pretty much the most outstanding China journal out there. It’s titled Truth, Good and Beauty: The Politics of Celebrity in China by Jonathan Sullivan and Séagh Kehoe. The second article was published in the latest issues of the Made in China Journal, which is an open access online quarterly journal, and is titled The Plight of Sex Workers in China: From Criminalisation and Abuse to Activism by Tiantian Zheng.(https://madeinchinajournal.com/2019/04/18/the-plight-of-sex-workers-in-china%EF%BB%BF-from-criminalisation-and-abuse-to-activism/)
Both the celebrity entertainment industry and prostitution - organised or otherwise - are viewed by the government as having a huge influence on the social fabric of society. In both these cases, The Chinese government is working to mitigate the negative effects of the leisure industry on the population through official administrative channels that use a range of means that can sometimes border on coercion. These topics are linked as they both reflect the Chinese government’s moral panic and their way of thinking about and dealing with social influences that originate outside of the government or Communist Party. They both also touch on issues of activism in slightly different ways.
The Nanjing Decade is the period from 1928 to 1937 that saw Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist rule over a semi-unified China, allowing for the blossoming of new trends in science, literature, art, and culture that were brought to an abrupt halt with the invasion of Japan in 1937.
This episode is the first in a series of episodes on the Nanjing decade, and discusses developments in academia, including natural sciences, humanities, social sciences, medicine and journalism. It gives an overview of the intellectual sphere, looks at government involvement in science and journalism, and highlights key figures in the development of new academic fields in China including Hu Shi, Gu Jiegang, and Fei Xiaotong. We will also talk about the influence of foreign nations on China, particularly Japan, the US, and European nations such as Britain, Germany, and France.
This episode picks up exactly where we left off in the previous episode, with Chiang Kai-shek battling with the Nationalist left and the communists for control over the revolution to overthrow the warlords and establish a unified Chinese government. This episode covers the period 1927 to 1934, we sees the KMT reunite after splitting with the Communists once and for all, and Chiang Kai-shek develop and obsession with defeating the Communists and erasing them from existence. We also see how the Communist leadership eventually comes round to the idea that the peasants may well be the future of the revolution, but unfortunately this realisation comes too late for the fledgling movement, which is forced to flee its base after being surrounded by Chiang, launching the Long March to their new base in the Northwest of China.
In this episode we will be looking at the alliance made between Sun Yat-sen's Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in an effort to defeat the warlords and reunite China under the Republican banner. Despite the tension between the left within the KMT, which allied with the CCP minority, and the conservative faction, the party was able to hold together to win major victories until a fork in the road threatens to undo the fragile alliance.
This episode covers the re-building of Sun's weakened party, the preparations made by the Nationalists in their southern base in Canton, and the Northern Expedition which finally put an end to the reign of the warlords.
On May 4th 1919 around 3,000 students from Beijing University and some 12 other universities in the capital gathered in Tiananmen square to voice their opposition to the events taking place at the Paris Peace Conference. What started as a peaceful march erupted into a violent protest, and then into a nationwide cultural and intellectual movement that was to last for three years. This movement is now known as the May 4th Movement, and is commonly cited as a decisive moment in China’s intellectual history, a short burst of vigor that is still examined, praised, and held up as a guiding example in China till this day.
On the surface, it seems as if this movement emerged primarily as a response to current events, particularly the injustice China suffered at the hands of the Japanese and West in the aftermath of the First World War. However, most historians see the May 4th movement less as a new, standalone campaign, and more as a continuation of the New Culture Movement that we began discussing in the previous episode. In fact, the May fourth movement has been described by many as simply a continuation of the reformist movement of 1898, which we talked about in episode 2. It’s sometimes called China’s ‘enlightenment’, though there are many that disagree with this statement. Whether the movement was able to usher in a new era or not will be explored in the rest of this episode, but what you should know is that May 4th is significant enough to warrant an episode entirely of its own. If it wasn’t the breaking point with China’s past, then it was certainly the ‘awakening’ point, the critical juncture at which a new intellectual class emerged to wake the Chinese people up and demand that they move with the times or risk remaining a backward global pariah.
In today's episode we're going to pick up where we left off, at the very beginning of the new Republic of China. We'll look at the rise of Yuan Shikai and the descent of China into a period of warlordism. We will explore the changing nature of China's politics and culture, right up until the next big event to hit the Chinese stage, the May 4th movement.
The second episode of the '20th Century China' series. On October 9th 1911 an accidental explosion in a revolutionary base in Hubei province in central China triggered a revolution that would mark the end of China’s imperial past and usher in its modern future. While the series of events that followed seem to indicate a straightforward revolution on the surface, recent scholarship on the topic shows that the exact nature, objective, outcome, and legacy of the Republican movement is anything but uncontentious. In this episode we’ll be discussing the build up to the revolution and the events as they took place to understand who the main actors were and what objectives they had, if any. Finally, we’ll look at the different debates surrounding the truth about the Xinhai Revolution, including the notion that it wasn’t really a revolution at all.
The second episode of the '20th Century China' series. In the last episode we explored the events that led to the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1912. In this episode, we look at the individuals who played an important role in these events, and who tried to shape China's future by preventing or facilitating dynastic failure. We will be covering the same events, but this time from the perspective of the intellectual sphere, introducing some notable actors who played key roles in the early 20th Century.
The First Episode of the '20th Century China' series, exploring the evolution of China from empire, to warlord Republic, to Communist state, to modern nation.
In this first episode, we look at the events that took place from 1830 to the first decade of the 20th century to understand why and how China's last imperial house, the Qing dynasty, had been weakened enough to eventually fall in 1911.
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Sources
-"The Search for Modern China," Jonathan D. Spence -"The Penguin History of Modern China," Jonathan Fenby -"God's Chinese Son," Jonathan D. Spence -"A History of Modern China," Li Dingyi -"Boxers, Christians, and the Culture of Violence in North China," R. G. Tiedemann -"Insurgency and Social Disorder in Guizhou : The Miao Rebellion, 1854-1873," Robert D. Jenks -"Connections between Rebellions: Sect Family Networks in Qing China," Susan Naquin -"Blinkered Visions: Islamic Identity, Hui Ethnicity, and the Panthay Rebellion in Southwest China, 1856-1873," David G. Atwill -"Worshipers and Warriors: White Lotus Influence on the Nian Rebellion," Elizabeth J. Perry