Sharp China: TikTok in the Clear; Taiwan Questions and Soybean Angst; The K Visa Goes Live; Jensen Huang on China Hawks

This episode of Sharp China is outside the paywall. Show Notes: On today’s Andrew and Bill begin with President Trump’s executive order authorizing a proposal for a TikTok divestiture from ByteDance. Topics include: Why the proposed deal would be a win for ByteDance, China and the Trump administration, security concerns that haven’t necessarily been addressed, and signals that opposition to the deal across D.C. is likely to be muted. Then: A report that the PRC will seek a shift on U.S. Taiwan policy in the course of trade talks, Secretary Bessent floats potential counter-measures for the U.S., and soybean farmers continue to twist in the wind. At the end: Thoughts on the PRC’s new K Visa program to attract foreign tech talent, dates for the fourth plenum, a very interesting rumor about Xi and a revival of the Central Advisory Commission, reactions to a Jensen Huang podcast appearance last week, and BIS closes a big export control loophole.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:Liu Haixing replaces Liu Jianchao; New leaders for Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jiangsu; Maritime law revisions target US actions; October Holiday -- SinocismSeptember Politburo meeting; Fourth Plenum dates; US expands Entity listings; US TikTok deal -- SinocismTrump’s TikTok deal still worries GOP China hawks — but here’s why they’ll go along -- NY PostChairman Moolenaar Releases Statement on TikTok Deal -- The Select Committee on the CCPXi Is Chasing Huge Concession From Trump: Opposing Taiwan Independence -- WSJBessent says aircraft engines, chemicals could be leverage in US-China talks -- ReutersRussia is helping prepare China to attack Taiwan, documents suggest -- WaPoChina’s new K visa beckons foreign tech talent as US hikes H-1B fee -- ReutersChina Goes on Offense -- Foreign AffairsNVIDIA: OpenAI, Future of Compute, and the American Dream | BG2 w/ Bill Gurley and Brad Gerstner -- YouTube‘More Hawkish Than When I Arrived’: A View From Inside China -- WSJUS tightens export controls on Chinese companies -- FTCentral Advisory Commission - WikipediaTo 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