#45: The Last Correspondent - A Geopolitical Allegory For Deteriorating Australia/China Relations | Michael Smith

Article Attached To This Podcast Here 🎙️: https://atlasgeographica.com/michael-smith-last-correspondent/Michael Smith is the China correspondent for the AFR – Australia’s Financial Review.Just a tick over a year ago, he was met at midnight with a thud on the door from China’s secret police. This triggered a diplomatic storm which abruptly ended Michael Smith’s stint as one of Australia’s last foreign correspondents in China. After five days under consular protection, Smith was evacuated from a very different China to the country he first visited 23 years earlier.There is much to this podcast, in it you can expect to learn about…- Why Australia’s relationship with China has deteriorated so badly.- Insight’s into the ‘fog’ of China’s economy.- A wedding straight out of Crazy Rich Asians.- A propaganda tour of the Xinjiang province.- And much, much more…Jump In On My Newsletter 📋 🔑 - https://atlasgeographica.com/subscribeFeel Free To Peruse My 📷 Instagram & Twitter 🐦 Mates!-----00:00 – Introduction05:40 – “China Get’s Harder To Understand The Longer You Live There”11:39 – Untrustworthy Chinese Data & Differences In Accounting18:10 – Home Ownership In China & Potential Economic Collapse22:55 – Chinese Shadow Banking Sector25:56 – Chinese Demographic Problems & Anti Immigration Segment33:26 – Explaining China’s Disappearing Millionaires & The Importance Of Hard Work In China43:26 – The Significance Of Chinese SEZ (Special Economic Zones)46:16 – Xi Jinping Turning ‘Bad’56:50 – Michaels Propaganda Tour Through Xinjiang & The Uyghur Humanitarian Catastrophe1:03:49 – Michael’s Experiences With Geoff Raby1:05:15 – Why Michael Was Expelled From China & Australia/China Worsening Relations1:19:20 – Michael’s Thoughts On Taiwan & Hong Kong1:33:04 – Wild Trip in North Korea & The Crazy Rich Asian Wedding1:43:50 – How Do You Think About China Now?1:45:17 – What Country Are You Most Bullish On?1:46:37 – What Two People Of History Would You Witness A Conversation Between?-----Are you into Nassim Taleb? I run a Nassim Taleb podcast covering all the wonderful ideas found in the 5 part Incerto series.View here - https://theincertonassimtalebpodcast.buzzsprout.com/My new Geopolitics & Power Podcast - Interesting tidbits from around the world documenting major geopolitical moves or projects you might have missed. Share this with one smart friend!🎙️The Geopolitics & Power Podcast: https://geopoloticsandpowerpodcast.buzzsprout.com/AND finally.... join thousands of over people and sign up to my monthly newsletter 'A Curious Worldview' https://atlasgeographica.com/subscribe/NOW pump your juice into the algorithm and leave a review for this podcast! 5 stars and a comment would be magnificent :) Thanks for listening mate :)Contact me 🐦 for feedback and also for recommendations on what future episodes should be! Twitter @faulkos