The US-China Podcast

The Party's Interests Come First is the first English-language biography of Xi Zhongxun, the father of China's current leader, Xi Jinping. It is both a story of the Chinese revolution and the first several decades of the People's Republic of China and a personal account of developing one's own sense of identity within a larger political context. Drawing on an array of documents, interviews, diaries, and periodicals, Joseph Torigian introduces Xi Zhongxun. He helped build the Communist base area that saved Mao Zedong in 1935, worked closely with top leaders Zhou Enlai and Hu Yaobang, and oversaw the Special Economic Zones that launched China's reform era.  In an interview conducted on August 21, 2025, Joseph Torigian, in conversation with Victor Shih, explores the organizational, ideological, and coercive power of the Chinese Communist Party through the life of Xi Zhongxun – and the huge cost in human suffering that accompanies it. About this program

On December 8, 2025, President Donald Trump stated that NVIDIA would be allowed to sell its advanced H200 chips to China. This decision departs from previous U.S. policy that prevented the export of H200 chips to China to preserve the United States' lead over China in the AI race. Industry leaders touted economic incentives, such as U.S. companies' desire to strengthen market shares in China, urging President Trump to change the course of the United States' advance compute export policy. Some experts fear that this decision will yield negative national security implications for the United States and pave the way for Chinese AI companies to catch up to American ones, narrowing the gap between the two countries in the AI competition. How should the U.S.-China tech competition be viewed amid these changing dynamics?  Paul Triolo joined us on December 12, 2025 to discuss the economic and national security implications of selling NVIDA's H200 chips to China and how the decision fits into the larger picture of U.S. AI policy.   

As tensions continue to mount in the U.S.-China relationship, the traditional understanding of international security, with many countries choosing between U.S.-led security and China-led economic growth, is increasingly outdated. Instead, a new dynamic has emerged, where many countries now seek security cooperation with both the United States and China at the same time.  In an interview conducted on July 24, 2025, Sheena Greitens and Isaac Kardon joined Phillip C. Saunders to discuss the rising phenomenon of third countries' "security hybridization" and the implications for the U.S.-China relationship.  About this program

The death of Pope Francis came at a delicate moment in the Vatican's relationship with China. Since 2018, the Holy See has pursued a cautious and often controversial diplomatic engagement with Beijing to maintain the Church's relevance in China while navigating the Chinese Communist Party's strict control over religion.   This approach has unfolded against a backdrop of repression of underground clergy and growing pressure from Beijing for the Vatican to sever ties with Taiwan. For observers, this period offers insight into how a global religious institution operates within a system in which space for religion and civil society is tightly constrained. With the new pope's first hundred days behind him, long-standing questions about religious freedom, geopolitical recognition, and the boundaries of engagement remain central, and may take on new dimensions under his leadership.  In a conversation recorded on August 17, Ian Johnson, Francesco Sisci, and Karrie Koessel discuss the key issues currently shaping China–Vatican relations and how they may evolve under the new pope.  About this program

The U.S.-China Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement (STA), the first bilateral agreement signed shortly after the United States and China established diplomatic relations in 1979, has been renewed multiple times. Scientists from the two countries have collaborated on cancer prevention, malaria treatment, vaccines, and more; the results of their efforts have benefited the people of both countries and the world. In August 2024, the STA expired, but on December 13, 2024, the two countries signed a protocol amending the STA and extending it for another five years, suggesting that rumors of the death of collaboration were premature. However, the actual agreement wasn't published for four months, in April 2025.  In an interview conducted on August 5, 2025, Scott Kennedy, Deborah Seligsohn, and Denis Simon speak with Abigail Coplin about the renewal of the STA, the future of U.S.-China scientific cooperation, and implications for overall U.S.-China relations.  About this program