For many years, the West had great hopes on China. That market economy would eventually lead to democracy or at least a liberalization. But even as these hopes did not materialize, a West in nearly constant crisis was grateful for a Chinese government that other than the Russian one did not exploit its weaknesses, but rather stabilized the system. In the recent past however disillusionment set it. The US and Europe started to realize that not only was Beijing not willing to play by the rules once set by the West – but that it pursues ambitions that threaten the very existence of the system. In ..read more

In this episode we take a deep dive into the contradictions of the Chinese economy - and what made it so successful in the first place. Is the Chinese miracle - or rather as our distinguished guest Xu Chenggang likes to call it - the Chinese riddle going to continue or has its meteoric rise already peaked? We examine Xi Jingping´s economic policy, try to distinguish real from fake growth figures and seek to find out why the island of Hainan seeks to attract investors by pledging to "arrest less entrepreneurs". Not only does Xu Chenggang share his vast knowledge with us - his creative analysis ..read more

Taiwan Trilogy 2023 The Chinese government has been launching a highly sophisticated and intensive disinformation campaign through a plethora of channels - trying to influence Taiwanese voters and raise doubts about American assistance. In the last episode of Sea of Change Podcast’s Taiwan Trilogy, we talked with Professor Puma Shen on his study on these issues. He shared with us his fascinating discoveries and explained to us why the mafia in Taiwan is less of a threat to the island’s security than the social media influencers paid by Beijing. Puma Shen is an associate professor at National T ..read more

Recently there has been talk about "a New Cold War". Is this exaggerated - or are we already in it? In this episode we discuss with Chinese expert Da Wei about some contentious issues. Is the worsening of relations between China and the West inevitable? Is the US a declining power? What has Beijing learned from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, especially with regard to its relation with Taiwan? Da Wei is the Director of the Center for International Security and Strategy (CISS) at Tsinghua University, and Professor at the Department of International Relations, School of Social Science of Tsingh ..read more

Taiwan Trilogy 2023 It has been more than one year that Russia invaded Ukraine - and in Taiwan citizens, analysts and politicians ponder upon which lessons Taiwan can learn from it. Is there any way that a Chinese invasion could be avoided? What could be the most likely war strategy taken by China? How can Taiwan deal with it? Is China's grey zone warfare dividing Taiwanese society? Can Taiwan rely on the US and other allies? In the second part of our Taiwan Trilogy, Sea of Change Podcast invited Professor Lai I-Chung to share his views and analysis on these crucial topics. Professor Lai is th ..read more

This is an episode we have been looking for for quite some while. The Overseas Chinese are one of the largest migrant groups in the world – and they are very much thought after by the Chinese Communist Party. Again and again it stresses the notion of an umbilical chord that connects them to their „motherland“ - as it wants to awaken their patriotism. But many Overseas Chinese of the second or third generation are well integrated into their hosting countries and feel not so connected to China anymore. And with the stringent lockdown policies of the Zero Covid Policy many young Chinese just want ..read more

In Oct. 2022, The Biden administration published a CHIPS and Science Act with a sweeping set of export controls to cut China off from certain semiconductor chips made anywhere in the world with US tools. This marked a significant escalation of the Chip War launched by the US against a rising China. Washington knows that advanced semiconductor technology is crucial to maintaining its military superiority. Despite the fact that our modern lives depend on semiconductors every day, few of us understand this industry. Even those who work in the industry don't necessarily have an overall picture in ..read more

On 9 December 2022, another military conflict happened at the disputed border region between India and China, injuring at least two dozen soldiers on both sides. This incident has added to a series of Sino-Indian border conflicts since May 2020. New resentment is brewing between the world's two most populous countries and nuclear powers, fueling further nationalistic sentiments and might lead to more confrontations in turn. Although there should be little concern for an imminent war between the two nations, the conflicts have certainly created uncertainties for business leaders and policy make ..read more