Why Does the CCP Need a Core?

Release Date: 06/14/2024

Description: Joining Darren this episode is Jude Blanchette. Jude holds the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). There’s no-one whose analysis and commentary Darren values more highly in helping him understand China.   The context for this discussion is the fact that this weekend China’s Premier Li Qiang will visit Australia, the first visit by Chinese #2 since 2017. Following on from PM Albanese’s trip to Beijing late last year, and FM Wang Yi’s trip to Australia in March, Premier Li’s visit will continue the process of unfreezing the political relationship, what the current Australian government famously labels ‘stabilisation’. However, the Albanese government has not escaped criticism for its approach to China. Some would argue Canberra has gone softer on Beijing than it could have, whether on responding to dangerous actions by the Chinese military, or on perennial issues like human rights. And there’s also been a criticism of stabilisation as strategy – what is the goal of stabilisation? What is the end state? What is striking about these criticisms is how similar they are to criticisms of the Biden’s administration’s approach to China, which is often given the label ‘competition’. What is the goal of competition? Does the US just ‘compete’ indefinitely, a kind of steady-state, or should it be focused on an ‘end-state’? A recent piece by former Trump administration China lead Matt Pottinger and retiring GOP Congressperson Mike Gallagher argues that the goal should be not to compete, but to win. With all this as context, recently Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade hosted a group of US-based China experts here in Canberra, presenting Darren with an opportunity to interview Jude in-studio. Jude also hosts the excellent Pekingology podcast, where he interviews scholars and researchers who study the actions of China’s government and the CCP in particular. In our conversation we cover Australia-China relations, US-China relations and the links between the two, and many other things besides. We start, of course, with the concept of stabilisation in the Australian context, but very quickly that broadens out into a discussion of the Biden approach given its parallels with stabilisation, and the Pottinger/Gallagher critique. We then turn to the question of how to influence China, and the balance between wielding direct influence versus working indirectly with partners. I ask Jude how he explains the apparent adjustment in PRC foreign policy in recent years, and how a potential Trump return to the Presidency might shake things up. Above all however the big question overshadowing our discussion is this: what’s the best way of forging a long-term China strategy, how early are we into the competition phase with China, and how long will it last? And what is the narrative needed to sustain such a strategy? Australia in the World is written, hosted, and produced by Darren Lim, with research and editing this episode by Corbin Duncan and theme music composed by Rory Stenning. Relevant links Jude Blanchette (bio): https://www.csis.org/people/jude-blanchette Pekingology (podcast): https://www.csis.org/podcasts/pekingology  Matt Pottinger and Mike Gallagher, “No Substitute for Victory: America’s Competition With China Must Be Won, Not Managed”, Foreign Affairs, May/June 2024: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/no-substitute-victory-pottinger-gallagher David Engerman, Know your enemy: The Rise and Fall of America's Soviet Experts (book): https://global.oup.com/academic/product/know-your-enemy-9780195324860 The Gloaming (band): https://www.youtube.com/c/thegloaming Zach Bryan, “I remember everything” (feat. Kacey Musgraves): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVVvJjwzl6c

Explicit: No

Release Date: 12/23/2020

Description: Allan and Darren begin their final episode of 2020 with the recent cabinet reshuffle, specifically Dan Tehan becoming Minister for Trade and Andrew Hastie becoming Assistant Minister for Defence. Tehan replaces Simon Birmingham, the new Finance Minister, and Allan explains what he most admires about ‘Birmo’, giving Tehan—himself a former diplomat—big shoes to fill. On the Defence side, we now have a Defence Minister, and an Assistant Defence Minister, who have both served in the Australian Defence Force—something unusual and notable. The discussion moves to the appointment of Will Hodgman, a former Premier of Tasmania, to be Australia’s next High Commissioner to Singapore. Allan wonders what specialised skills (if any) the government believes head of mission posts require, while Darren offers a very personal reflection on the wide range of abilities required to be an Ambassador, especially in a crisis situation. Next the conversation turns to the Richardson Review, chaired by friend of the podcast Dennis Richardson and which, at over 1300 pages in length, is a deep and comprehensive inquiry into the legislation governing Australia’s intelligence community. Allan explains why the report is so significant and lists some highlights. Liberal democracies across the world are grappling with the perennial question of “freedom versus security”, and the powers (and oversight) of intelligence agencies are central to these debates. Getting the balance right is important not just in and of itself, but for demonstrating that the liberal democratic model can manage uniquely 21st century challenges. Finally, Allan and Darren preview their “summer homework”. What is each looking to learn more about over the summer, and why? For Allan, the answer revolves around the degree of agency Australia has in the emerging international order, and for Darren the answer is—as always it seems—to understand more about China itself, and Beijing’s intentions. We thank AIIA intern Mitchell McIntosh for his help with research and audio editing and Rory Stenning for composing our theme music. Relevant Links Scott Morrison, Media Statement [Cabinet reshuffle], 18 December 2020: https://www.pm.gov.au/media/ministry-0   Marise Payne, Media release “High Commissioner to Singapore”, 29 November 2020: https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/marise-payne/media-release/high-commissioner-singapore Daniel Flitton, “More pollies in more posts”, Lowy Interpreter, 3 December 2020: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/more-pollies-more-posts Report of the Comprehensive Review of the Legal Framework of the National Intelligence Community, 4 December 2020: https://www.ag.gov.au/national-security/publications/report-comprehensive-review-legal-framework-national-intelligence-community Sun Yun, “‘Politics come first’ as ban on Australian coal worsens China’s power cuts”, Financial Times, 21 December 2020: https://www.ft.com/content/e83fffeb-3ef2-4b67-8989-6d17f153d8d4 Pekingology podcast: https://www.csis.org/podcasts/pekingology The Aubrey-Martin series (Wikipedia entry): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey%E2%80%93Maturin_series The Mandalorian, Disney Plus: https://disneyplusoriginals.disney.com/show/the-mandalorian Brune Macaes, “Dune and the infinite game”, 17 December 2020: https://brunomacaes.substack.com/p/dune-and-the-infinite-game The Realignment podcast: https://the-realignment.simplecast.com/

Explicit: No

Release Date: 06/10/2024

Description: Featured linksChinAI #256What is the “mother tongue” of LLMs?The first anonymous Chinese large model arena ranking is releasedCounting down the life and death of a star autonomous driving companyLatest developments in the “Stanford AI team plagiarizes China’s open source model” caseChinAI #199China plans to introduce data property rights systemAfter the (LLM) price war, Zhipu AI has come to the next stop — commercializationBeijing Cultural Review’s “AI: More than just a Technological Revolution” IssueThis AI product has over 100 million users, ranking first in monthly active users…and some people secretly use it to make moneyHow can voice actors whose voices have been stolen by AI keep their jobs?ETO Scout toolNational Data Resource Survey ReportPekingology podcast episodeAdam Nayman’s review Thank you for reading and engaging These are Jeff Ding's (sometimes) weekly translations of Chinese-language musings on AI and related topics. Jeff is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University. Check out the archive of all past issues here & please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay for a subscription will support access for all). Any suggestions or feedback? Let me know at chinainewsletter@gmail.com or on Twitter at @jjding99 --- First published: June 10th, 2024 Source: https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-269-around-the-horn-15th-edition --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Explicit: No

Release Date: 05/18/2022

Description: With Australia’s federal election to be held this Saturday, Allan and Darren conduct a quick discussion of the role foreign policy has played over the past month during the campaign, and what we can learn regardless of who will form government. Then, to finish, eyebrows are raised in response to reporting detailing secret conversations between very senior Australian and US national security officials regarding AUKUS and the US' need for bipartisan support for the deal within Australia.   We thank Annabel Howard for research and audio editing and Rory Stenning for composing our theme music. Relevant links Kishor Napier-Raman, “An oddly civil election debate, before Dutton finds a warship-shaped dead cat”, Crikey, 13 May 2022: https://www.crikey.com.au/2022/05/13/an-oddly-civil-election-debate/ Little Red Podcast, “Kevin Rudd: Is War With China Inevitable?”, 28 April 2022: https://omny.fm/shows/the-little-red-podcast/kevin-rudd-is-war-with-china-inevitable Nick Bisley, Robyn Eckersley, Shahar Hameiri, Jessica Kirk, George Lawson & Benjamin Zala (2022) For a progressive realism: Australian foreign policy in the 21st century, Australian Journal of International Affairs, 76:2, 138-160: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10357718.2022.2051428 Asia-Pacific Development Diplomacy & Defence Dialogue: https://www.asiapacific4d.com/ Peter Hartcher, “Radioactive: Inside the top-secret AUKUS subs deal”, Sydney Morning Herald, 14 May 2022: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/radioactive-inside-the-top-secret-aukus-subs-deal-20220510-p5ak7g.html   Peter Hartcher, “Biden demanded bipartisan support before signing AUKUS. Labor was not told for months”, Sydney Morning Herald, 14 May 2022: https://www.smh.com.au/national/biden-demanded-bipartisan-support-before-signing-aukus-labor-was-not-told-for-months-20220513-p5al9d.html   Peter Hartcher,  “AUKUS fallout: double-dealing and deception came at a diplomatic cost”, Sydney Morning Herald, 15 May 2022: https://www.smh.com.au/national/aukus-fallout-double-dealing-and-deception-came-at-a-diplomatic-cost-20220513-p5al95.html Linda Jaivin, The shortest history of China, Black Inc: https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/books/shortest-history-china Yun Jiang, Rethinking China (video), 8 May 2022: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=462TgDdgEcE Ezra Klein Show, "What does the ‘post-liberal right’ actually want?", Interview with Patrick Deneen, 13 May 2022: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/13/podcasts/transcript-ezra-klein-interviews-patrick-deneen.html Pekingology podcast, “Foreign and Security Policymaking in Xi Jinping’s China”, Interview with Suisheng Zhao, 6 May 2022: https://www.csis.org/node/65210

Explicit: No