
Xinhua's Liu Yang and Jiang Jiang of "Got China" Get Western Journalism
10/24/24 • 55 min
2 Listeners
This week on Sinica, in a show recorded in Beijing, I speak with Liu Yang and Jiang Jiang, the authors of two excellent newsletters — The Beijing Channel and Ginger River Review, respectively — and two of the guys behind the YouTube show "Got China." They're making a great effort to bridge Chinese journalism with Anglophone reporting on China with perspectives and insights from within the Chinese state media system.
4:24 – How Jiang Jiang and Liu Yang became journalists
11:42 – How Liu Yang and Jiang Jiang decided to launch their newsletters, and the advantages of being tǐzhì nèi 体制内
20:29 – Jiang Jiang and Liu Yang’s Got China show
25:46 – Liu Yang’s and Jiang Jiang’s empathy for American perspectives
29:53 – The negative American discourse on the Chinese economy and “China collapse theory”
37:21 The recent press conferences on monetary and policies, and the response in the realty market in Beijing
46:17 What’s next for Got China
Recommendations:
Liu Yang: Modern Chinese Government and Politics 《当代中国政府与政治?》, a Chinese-language textbook
Jiang Jiang: The Chinese podcast Bié de diànbō 别的电波; and Shan Weijian’s Out of the Gobi: My Story of China and America
Kaiser: The album The Last Will and Testament by Swedish metal band Opeth; and the Provincial Cuisine Club in Beijing, for trying food from different parts of China
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week on Sinica, in a show recorded in Beijing, I speak with Liu Yang and Jiang Jiang, the authors of two excellent newsletters — The Beijing Channel and Ginger River Review, respectively — and two of the guys behind the YouTube show "Got China." They're making a great effort to bridge Chinese journalism with Anglophone reporting on China with perspectives and insights from within the Chinese state media system.
4:24 – How Jiang Jiang and Liu Yang became journalists
11:42 – How Liu Yang and Jiang Jiang decided to launch their newsletters, and the advantages of being tǐzhì nèi 体制内
20:29 – Jiang Jiang and Liu Yang’s Got China show
25:46 – Liu Yang’s and Jiang Jiang’s empathy for American perspectives
29:53 – The negative American discourse on the Chinese economy and “China collapse theory”
37:21 The recent press conferences on monetary and policies, and the response in the realty market in Beijing
46:17 What’s next for Got China
Recommendations:
Liu Yang: Modern Chinese Government and Politics 《当代中国政府与政治?》, a Chinese-language textbook
Jiang Jiang: The Chinese podcast Bié de diànbō 别的电波; and Shan Weijian’s Out of the Gobi: My Story of China and America
Kaiser: The album The Last Will and Testament by Swedish metal band Opeth; and the Provincial Cuisine Club in Beijing, for trying food from different parts of China
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Previous Episode

Veteran China Ad Man Bryce Whitwam on China's Livestreaming e-Commerce Market
This week on Sinica, in a show recorded at Syracuse University on September 30, I chat with my old pal Bryce Whitwam about the remarkable rise of live-streaming e-commerce — and how it's already making its way to the U.S.
4:28 – Why Bryce chose to leave Shanghai and pursue a doctorate in the States
8:08 – How big livestream e-commerce has gotten and its predicted trajectory
9:37 – E-commerce livestreaming and the pursuit of celebrity
14:08 – The different types of livestream commerce
17:30 – Xiaohongshu
20:45 – Why Taobao has lost its dominance
22:07 – The value-add of an influencer’s pitch
27:00 – The demographics of Chinese livestream e-commerce consumers
29:09 – Insights from Bryce’s 25 interviews
36:36 – Buying food on livestream e-commerce and how agribusinesses are getting involved in the trend
41:21 – Livestream commerce in the United States
44:34 – How livestream e-commerce has changed the retail experience in China
46:43 – Potential future disruptions in the industry
Recommendations:
Bryce: Jeffree Star on TikTok as an American livestream commerce example and Omar Nok’s “Egypt to Japan Without Flying” TikTok stream
Kaiser: The album True by Jon Anderson and The Band Geeks
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Next Episode

Tsinghua's Da Wei: New Survey Research on Chinese Perceptions of Security
This week, in a show taped in Beijing at the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, I speak with Professor Da Wei about a new public opinion poll on China's perception of international security and review its important findings. We also discuss Chinese views on the Russo-Ukrainian War and the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
2:11 – Da Wei’s new podcast
4:05 – CISS’s “Public Opinion Poll: Chinese Outlook on International Security 2024”
7:46 – The poll’s findings on pessimism about global security and the global influence of the U.S. and China
11:56 – China’s growing national confidence and growing pessimism about the U.S.-China relationship
18:26 – Paradoxical poll findings: proactive foreign policy stance vs. prioritizing domestic affairs, and involvement in global scientific cooperation vs. withdrawing in other areas of international agreement
24:30 – Why older respondents tended to be more pessimistic about China’s international security situation
25:58 – Understanding negative attitude toward the United States and the effectiveness of diplomacy
30:17 – The belief that the U.S. goal is containment of China’s development and the shift in view of America from a values-based country to a power-based country
36:12 – Chinese viewpoints on the Russo-Ukrainian war
39:22 – Da Wei’s travels in the U.S. and the changes he has perceived
45:04 – The U.S. agenda to dissuade China from deepening its involvement with Russia
49:02 – How Chinese views on the upcoming U.S. election have changed since Kamala Harris’ nomination
Recommendations:
Da Wei: Chen Jian’s Zhou Enlai: A Life; for Chinese to travel to the U.S. more
Kaiser: Chen Jian and Odd Arne Westad’s The Great Transformation: China’s Road from Revolution to Reform; for Americans to travel to China (and Beijing)
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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