About this episode

The episode provides insights into President Trump's trip to China and the internal dynamics of Chinese leadership as discussed by Asia analyst Gordon Chang.

A quick preview of President Trump's historic trip to China to meet face-to-face with President Xi. We revisit our recent conversation with Asia analyst Gordon Chang for a part of the story receiving little coverage:  the internal dynamics in China.  Chang says fear of China's President Xi is widespread as Xi has conducted ruthless purges of civilian and military officials, with senior generals detained or disappearing. Chang also warns against provocative Chinese air and maritime actions—especially against the Philippines in the South China Sea — and explains why it could spiral into wider conflict involving U.S. treaty allies and potentially Russia and North Korea.  00:00 Historic Trump Xi Summit 00:34 Why China Is Opaque 01:37 Fear And Garbage Time 02:27 Xi Reverses Succession Norms 04:23 Disappearing Generals Purge 06:37 Coups Rumors And Loyalty 08:19 Taiwan And War Risks 10:59 South China Sea Provocations 14:09 Red Lines And US Leverage 16:23 Exports Signal Weakness 19:09 Third Term Fuels Discord 20:22 What America Wants From China SUPPORT OUR MISSION: Love nonpartisan news? Want a bigger serving of the serious headlines?  Here’s how you can become a…

People in this episode

Host: Jenna Lee

Guest: Gordon Chang

Topics covered

• Trump Xi Summit
• China internal dynamics
• Chinese military actions
• U.S. foreign policy
• South China Sea tensions
• Xi Jinping's leadership

Keywords

• Trump
• Xi
• China
• Gordon Chang
• South China Sea
• military purges
• U.S. allies
• Taiwan
• conflict risks

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: U.S., Philippines, Russia, North Korea

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