Sharp China: China’s Venezuela Calculations; Japan’s Rare Earth Access; A Reported Pause on Nvidia Purchases; The Meta-Manus Deal Under Review

This episode of Sharp China is outside the paywall. Show Notes: On today’s show Andrew and Bill return from the holidays and begin with the PRC’s reaction to the arrest of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. Topics include: PRC outrage and embarrassment, the propaganda value of the U.S. disregard for international law, oil questions, why most of the Taiwan takes were misplaced, looming tension at the Panama Canal, and Iran as a wildcard. From there: A Ministry of Commerce directive on rare earths for Japan, and questions about how this standoff might end. At the end: A report that PRC companies have been asked pause purchases of the H200 chips, thoughts on the Manus-Meta deal and a review in Beijing, and a recorded recruiting call offers a window into how CCP propaganda works in the modern era.You can listen to the podcast in the app:Or click here for instructions to add the podcast to your preferred player. To subscribe to Sinocism, click here.To subscribe to Stratechery, click here.And if you enjoy this podcast please share it far and wide:Related Readings:China’s Venezuela Calculations; Real Estate Market Expectations; December Politburo and Democratic Life Meetings; Museum Scandal; 2026 Propaganda Tasks -- SinocismTightening export controls on dual-use items to Japan and threatening rare earths export licenses; Stock market on a roll; Influencers to help improve “international communication” -- SinocismWhat Trump’s Ousting of Venezuela’s Maduro Means for China -- BloombergUS capture of Maduro tests limits of China’s diplomatic push -- ReutersTrump demands Venezuela kick out China and Russia, partner only with US on oil: Exclusive -- ABC‘China is not Cuba’s sugar daddy’: ties between communist nations weaken -- FTThe U.S. Venezuela Operation Will Harden China’s Security Calculation -- Carnegie EndowmentTrump’s Enormous C-Length Win over China -- Collapse Intelligence AgencyChinese refiners expected to replace Venezuelan oil with Iranian crude, traders say -- ReutersChina’s Threat to Block Rare Earths Has Put Japan on High Alert -- NYTInside China’s Six-Decade Campaign to Dominate Rare Earths -- NYTExclusive: Nvidia sounds out TSMC on new H200 chip order as China demand jumps, sources say -- ReutersChina Tells Tech Companies to Halt Nvidia H200 Chip Orders -- The InformationChina reviews Meta’s $2bn purchase of AI start-up Manus -- FTThe Smear Campaign Against Guan Heng: A Transnational Repression Operation From the CCP’s External Propaganda Machine -- Humans Rights in ChinaBreaking news: Another “#China shock” -- Chinese Embassy to the USTo add the Sharp China feed to your preferred podcast player:Click on the “listen on” button and you will see a dropdown with several options. Make sure you are logged into your account when you do it so you get the correct private RSS feed for subscribers. If you have not logged in for a while you can enter your email and then we will send you a login link.The “email link” in the pulldown shown above will send you an email that also makes it easy to set it up in your preferred podcast app on your phone.If you use the Substack app it has a built- in podcast player.Thanks for listening. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sinocism.com/subscribe