The One Thing That Will Bring China Down - Simon Elegant

About this episode

Simon Elegant discusses the implications of China's actions in Hong Kong and the West's misunderstandings of the CCP.

I've spent time in Hong Kong, I've watched this city transform firsthand, and I can tell you what Beijing has done there is the blueprint for everything that comes next. Today I'm sitting down with Simon Elegant, former China bureau chief for the Washington Post, to talk about what the West is still getting dangerously wrong about the CCP, and why the clock may finally be running out. Simon Elegant is the China bureau chief for The Washington Post, based in Taiwan. Previously, he held a variety of reporting and editing jobs in Asia, including Beijing bureau chief and Southeast Asia correspondent for Time magazine. Elegant was the founding partner and investor in Temple Restaurant Beijing, which won the 2019 readers’ choice award from TripAdvisor as the world’s best restaurant. Pick up a copy of his new book City on Fire: A Novel of Hong Kong here: https://amzn.to/4dsQZKH Anthony Scaramucci is the founder and managing partner of SkyBridge, a global alternative investment firm, and founder and chairman of SALT, a global thought leadership forum and venture studio. Pre-order my next book, All the Wrong Moves: How Three Catastrophic Decisions Led to the Rise of Trump, out on the 17th…

People in this episode

Host: Anthony Scaramucci

Guest: Simon Elegant

Topics covered

• China
• CCP
• Hong Kong
• Western perceptions
• political analysis

Keywords

• China
• CCP
• Hong Kong
• politics
• Simon Elegant
• Washington Post
• interview

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Washington Post, Time, Temple Restaurant Beijing

Books & works: City on Fire: A Novel of Hong Kong, All the Wrong Moves: How Three Catastrophic Decisions Led to the Rise of Trump

More episodes of Open Book with Anthony Scaramucci

• The Rise and Fall of a Tech Titan - Katie Prescott · June 11, 2026 · 30 min
• You Can't Understand America Without Understanding New York - Russell Shorto · June 9, 2026 · 31 min
• The AI Expert Who Will Change Your Mind About AI - Josh Tyrangiel · June 4, 2026 · 32 min
• The Dark Side of FDR Nobody Talks About - David T. Beito · June 2, 2026 · 35 min
• The Ancient Secret to Finally Breaking Free From Your Past - Steven Pressfield · May 29, 2026 · 30 min
• Bestselling Historian: The Revolution That Shouldn't Have Happened - Douglas Brunt · May 28, 2026 · 31 min