China Unscripted

After China sent a spy balloon over the US, the US government started shooting things out of the sky that it couldn't identify. Also, the China spy balloon saga gets even weirder, with reports coming out of how China uses them domestically. In this just us episode of China Unscripted, we discuss China's spy balloon saga, how China is using the Ohio train wreck and ensuing environmental disaster as a propaganda tool, and the cause of more mass protests in China, among other things.

The Trump administration created a historic shift in US China policy that has gained support in foreign policy circles far and wide. Even the Biden administration, which vowed to change or remove many of the Trump administration's policies once in office, has largely kept Trump's China policy in place. In this episode of China Unscripted, we discuss what Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo did to US china policy that was so radical at the time, how US and China views on their relationship differ, and why China so tightly controls the movement of its people. Joining us in this episode is Dr. Miles Yu, former principal policy and planning advisor to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the director of the China Center at Hudson Institute, visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, and senior fellow at the Project 49 Institute.

The 12th Bureau of China's spy agency, the Ministry of State Security (MSS), is not your typical clandestine spy operation. Officers of MSS's 12 bureau operate in the public eye. Rather than stealing state secrets, they seek to influence public opinion on China, which is why it's made up of a coterie of of academics, artists and business people. In this episode of China Unscripted, we talk about how China has been using the 12th bureau to shape the international conversation on China, examples of public figures it has co-opted, and some of the tactics it uses to co-opt them. Joining us in this episode is Alex Joske, the author of "Spies and Lies: How China's Greatest Covert Operations Fooled the World".

China's territorial claims to Japan's close neighbor Taiwan has spurred Japan to build up its defense forces. As part of that defensive buildup, there is now talk of using nuclear weapons to defend against China, which does have nuclear weapons. Whether Japan would develop its own, ask the US to use its nukes or some other option remains an open question. In this episode of China Unscripted, we look at Japan's desire for nuclear weapons, the significance of the disputed Senkaku islands, how stable the US-Japan relationship really is, and why China could invade Taiwan any day now. Joining us in this episode is Dr. Robert Eldridge, an expert on Japan’s security and diplomacy and a senior researcher for the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies in Tokyo.

At the end of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese leader Xi Jinping made an ominous warning of changes happening that haven't been seen in 100 years. In this just us episode of China Unscripted, we discuss what that could have meant, China's attempts to play peacemaker in Ukraine, the CEO of TikTok's testimony to Congress, and how China is "colonizing" space.