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China Watch

The Epoch Times

“China Watch” is a weekly deep dive that pulls back the curtains on one of the world's most enigmatic powers. Join Epoch Times contributor Terri Wu as she deciphers where China is headed next and how its politics, technology, and business affect Americans.

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23 episodes
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Avg 28 min
English

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S2 · E32
September 21 · 15 min
Drained Gift Cards: Inside the Fraud DHS Says Funds Fentanyl and Human Trafficking
Gift cards are a great thing to receive, until you realize the card has no money on it! Did your friend make a mistake, or is something more sinister going on? Unfortunately, it’s often the latter. That’s this week’s topic, and Terri dives into how organized crime in China is stealing money from gift cards before they can be used. We’re not talking just hundreds of dollars—we’re talking more than $1 billion in reported losses, and counting. Join Terri this week as she opens up how gift cards are vulnerable to theft, and how the Chinese regime is selectively solving the problem, not in favor of the West. Views expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. — Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to terri.wu@epochtimes.com. Show your support for The Epoch Times and independent journalism by leaving a 5-star review of this show on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/chinawatch
S2 · E31
September 14 · 23 min
Back to Mao: China's Playbook for Taking What's Yours
China has updated its laws, in what looks like a move to gear up for war. The threshold for a “national threat” is lower than ever. And one of the major targets is private ownership. This time, American businesses are on the front line. The same thing happened in the 1950s, when U.S. claims of assets lost in China totaled $197 million—smaller than today’s business footprint. Listen to this week’s episode to find out what’s now considered a national threat to the Chinese regime. Host Terri Wu analyzes the latest change in China’s National Defense Mobilization Law and previous law updates, and why Mao’s playbook for seizing private property is shaping up in China in plain sight. Views expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. — Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to terri.wu@epochtimes.com. Show your support for Epoch Times and independent journalism by leaving a 5-star review of this show on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/chinawatch
S2 · E30
September 5 · 42 min
The Honeytrap That Reached Capitol Hill: Fang Fang, Swalwell, and China's Election Playbook
Newly declassified FBI files reveal how alleged Chinese intelligence asset Christine Fang—also known as "Fang Fang"—used a years-long sexual relationship, illegal straw donations, and planted congressional interns to work her way into the office of a sitting member of Congress. The files also expose "Rusty Thumbs," an FBI operation that tried to quietly turn Fang into a double agent before realizing she was actively running her own influence campaign against the U.S. political system. Epoch Times White House reporter Travis Gillmore joins host Terri Wu to walk through what's genuinely new in the documents, why the case went unprosecuted for a decade, and what it reveals about the scale of the CCP's efforts to compromise American election integrity, from Capitol Hill to the ballot box. Read Travis’s article here. Views expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. — Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to terri.wu@epochtimes.com. Show your support for Epoch Times and independent journalism by leaving a 5-star review of this show on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/chinawatch
S2 · E29
August 31 · 30 min
The Hidden China Factor in the US-Canada Trade War
Neither the Canadian prime minister nor the U.S. trade chief, in their own public accounts, has named China as a reason the U.S.–Canada trade talks collapsed. However, the China factor is very much present. What’s in it for China? If the North American manufacturing alliance breaks down, China will be better placed to maintain its economic leverage over the global supply chain. Exports are its lifeline to keep the economy going. Meanwhile, Washington sees Canada as a potential backdoor for made-in-China products to flood the U.S. market. Canada has sent mixed signals to the United States on trade. It signed an EV deal with China and then talked about a “Fortress North America” to bolster the region against overseas competitors such as China. In this episode, Terri unpacks the core issues facing the U.S.–Canada trade talks and how Ottawa’s approach to Washington may not be its own. Read more: China Factor Looms Over Collapse of US–Canada Trade Talks Views expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. — Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to terri.wu@epochtimes.com. Show your support for Epoch Times and independent journalism by leaving a 5-star review of this show on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/chinawatch
S2 · E28
August 25 · 36 min
The Million-Dollar Question: Will Taiwan Fight If Mainland China Invades?
What is the best strategy when one is up against overwhelming odds? That’s the Empty City Strategy that Terri Wu shares in this week’s episode of “China Watch,” in the context of Taiwan’s potential defense against the Chinese Communist Party. Two Taiwanese military experts join Terri in this episode: Max Tsung Chi Yu, a retired Major General in Taiwan and a former Dean of the Political Warfare College within Taiwan's National Defense University, and Kitsch Liao, associate director of the Atlantic Council Global China Hub in Washington. Hear their insights on what Taiwan is doing to prepare itself and coordinate with other local allies. And hear whether the spirit to fight is really a military one, or a human one. All that and more on this week’s episode. Views expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. — Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to terri.wu@epochtimes.com. Show your support for The Epoch Times and independent journalism by leaving a 5-star review of this show on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/chinawatch
S2 · E27
August 17 · 27 min
Degrading China’s Supply Chain—Battling for the Spirit of a Nation
For years, "decoupling" and "de-risking" have been the go-to words for describing U.S.–China economic relations. Host Terri Wu argues that neither term captures what's actually happening anymore and proposes a new one: degrading. Terri argues the United States and China are now playing to win on the same integrated chessboard. Both want the same things, and both have concluded that simply continuing to do what they're already good at, without pushing back on the other side, won't work anymore. The board they're playing on, she explains, is of the global supply chain. It’s now the main battleground of the U.S.–China rivalry. Behind that are the people who make the numbers a reality. As a manufacturing business owner puts it, this is about the purpose and meaning of American workers. Views expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. — Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to terri.wu@epochtimes.com. Show your support for Epoch Times and independent journalism by leaving a 5-star review of this show on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/chinawatch
S2 · E26
August 10 · 18 min
Could China Cut Off Taiwan? War Games Test the Scenario
In 1958, China tried and failed to cut Taiwan off from American help. Taiwan's 2026 war games rehearse the same scenario on a much larger scale—a blockade of the entire island, not just Kinmen. Host Terri Wu unpacks what has changed since 1958, drawing on analysis from Taiwan-based experts Qi Leyi and Shen Ming-shih on the drills, Japan's rising alarm, U.S. President Donald Trump's ambiguity about defending Taiwan, and whether the risk of invasion is rising or falling. Interviews for this episode were conducted by Gu Xiaohua, China Watch's correspondent in Japan. Views expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. — Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to terri.wu@epochtimes.com. Show your support for Epoch Times and independent journalism by leaving a 5-star review of this show on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/chinawatch
S2 · E25
August 3 · 21 min
Beijing’s Hidden AI Playbook—Why the Latest ‘Win’ Is Not What It Looks Like
Chinese artificial intelligence is making another push for world leadership. But the actual value of the services may be exaggerated and tailored to look good, misleading users on the ability to deliver practical results at the tempting, low prices being offered, analysts say. Listen as Terri talks to two experts about why AI is a deeply competitive, economically relevant topic for the future. It’s not about how well the models work, but how the world will use the service. And will the world choose the United States or China? Hear more on this week’s episode. Views expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. — Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to terri.wu@epochtimes.com. Show your support for Epoch Times and independent journalism by leaving a 5-star review of this show on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/chinawatch
S2 · E24
July 27 · 19 min
Fired for Talking: The Leak That Exposed China's Dam Secrets
A sacked Chinese hydroelectric executive. A shocking death toll. A leaked analysis of what a full collapse of the Three Gorges Dam would look like. Record rainfall has caused a dam collapse in southern China. At the same time, the situation for northern China is more dire, as downpours 20-50 percent higher than normal are forecast until mid-August. What did the dam collapse reveal about China’s flood management problems? And what does the leaked analysis reveal about the consequences of a failed Three Gorges Dam? There’s also one key estimate missing from that analysis. What is it, and why is it important? Whistleblower’s texts and video: https://x.com/LUOXIANG_PMTQ/status/2079315130886549941 https://x.com/LUOXIANG_PMTQ/status/2079798667544854926 Views expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. — Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to terri.wu@epochtimes.com. Show your support for Epoch Times and independent journalism by leaving a 5-star review of this show on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/chinawatch
S2 · E23
July 21 · 25 min
Xi Is All In on AI. Can China’s Economy Fund That?
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is all in with his gamble on artificial intelligence. AI will have to perform magic by pulling China’s economy out of its current downward spiral and helping Beijing overtake Washington’s global primacy. Xi is directing domestic capital to AI. At the same time, Beijing is trying to “tell the China story well” by attracting foreign investments. That requires a convincing story explaining why China’s economic problems are cyclical rather than structural. In other words, temporary, not permanent. Terri Wu discusses the official economic data of the first half of this year and prepares listeners for Chinese propaganda points that will make their way to the West. Views expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. — Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to terri.wu@epochtimes.com. Show your support for Epoch Times and independent journalism by leaving a 5-star review of this show on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/chinawatch
S2 · E22
July 14 · 11 min
10 Years After Tribunal’s Ruling: Keeping the South China Sea From Becoming the Next Hormuz
A major anniversary of an international tribunal ruling passed over the weekend—one that the Chinese regime hates and has continuously violated for 10 years. While many people are focusing on the Strait of Hormuz, another waterway that likely has more influence on the global economy is receiving much less attention. But if something happens that gives it attention, such as kinetic warfare, the impacts could be much larger. Listen as Terri Wu reviews the significance of the international tribunal’s ruling against China’s claims in the South China Sea, and why a joint statement of 14 countries, including the United States, to reaffirm the ruling is a timely deterrence message. Views expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. — Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to terri.wu@epochtimes.com. Show your support for The Epoch Times and independent journalism by leaving a 5-star review of this show on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/chinawatch
S2 · E21
July 6 · 7 min
My Own Kingdom: A Chinese Immigrant's Tribute to America's 250th
Terri Wu marks America's 250th birthday with a personal reflection on what freedom really meant to her as a Chinese immigrant. She recalls the culture shock of her U.S. visa interview in Beijing, including an accidental slur that could have cost her everything under a system she knew punished such mistakes severely, and her relief at discovering a country that didn't retaliate. She traces her journey from running a "race" set by her parents and the Chinese Communist Party, to finally choosing her own path in America. Views expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. — Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to terri.wu@epochtimes.com. Show your support for Epoch Times and independent journalism by leaving a 5-star review of this show on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/chinawatch
S2 · E20
June 29 · 43 min
When Biotech Purifies Rare Earths—Outdeveloping China in Its Key Industry
When China cut off rare earth exports to the United States, most rare earth companies scrambled to copy China's technology. Curtis Wu, founder and CEO of Maglut Heavy Industries, had a different idea: steal a page from biotech instead. Drawing on his years in the biotech industry, Curtis saw that chromatography—the same precision purification technique used to manufacture cancer drugs—could replace the dirty, repetitive solvent-extraction method that China has had a monopoly on for decades. In this episode, Curtis walks Terri through the science, the supply chain vulnerability that Ford's production shutdown made undeniable, and why he believes the United States doesn't need to out-China China—it needs to out-innovate it. Views expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. — Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to terri.wu@epochtimes.com. Show your support for Epoch Times and independent journalism by leaving a 5-star review of this show on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/chinawatch
S2 · E19
June 22 · 56 min
Rare Knowledge About Rare Earths—the Hope, Solutions, and Imminent Threat
China controls the rare-earth chokepoint that nearly every modern industry depends on: from smartphones and EVs to missiles and fighter jets. Rare earths are a tiny market—just $20-30 billion globally—yet they sit beneath trillions of dollars in downstream value, making them one of the most powerful leverage points in U.S.–China relations. In this episode, Terri Wu sits down with Carl Coward, co-founder and managing partner of Neoterra, to discuss his vision for the West to break free of its rare-earth dependence on China. Carl breaks down the distinct, highly technical steps in this supply chain, why separating rare earths is so hard outside China, and why he believes only a vertically integrated, profitable Western supply chain offers a durable solution. They also dig into China's "withhold and flood" playbook that has crushed foreign competitors cycle after cycle, and what's at stake as Xi Jinping weighs a Sept. 24 visit to Washington. Finally, Coward gets personal. He reveals why a self-described contrarian with two decades in mining has staked the rest of his career—and a deadline measured in his young daughter's school years—on solving this problem. Views expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. — Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to terri.wu@epochtimes.com. Show your support for Epoch Times and independent journalism by leaving a 5-star review of this show on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/chinawatch
S2 · E18
June 15 · 35 min
A Strange Email, a Five Eyes Warning, and the New Front Line of Chinese Espionage
It started with a strange email: an unsolicited invitation for host Terri Wu to become a "senior geopolitical analyst" for a shadowy "defense advisory trust"—confidential, decoupled from her reporting, and sent from a personal Gmail. Then came the Five Eyes "Safeguarding Our Secrets" bulletin, warning that foreign intelligence services court exactly the people who get pitches like that: journalists, academics, clearance holders, and military personnel. In this episode, Terri brings the puzzle to two veterans of the China file — former State, Defense, and CIA officer Nicholas Eftimiades and former State Department diplomat Jim Lewis — to map the CCP's "whole-of-society" playbook: the recent agent prosecutions (Thomas Pauken, Eileen Wang, Linda Sun), the overseas police stations, the quiet pivot to state and local politics, and why Beijing is betting it can simply wait Washington out. The message is blunt: whether or not that email traces back to anyone in particular, you're already on the front line—and there's plenty you can do about it. Our last year's episode with Nick is here: “How China Spies in America: The Whole-of-Society Model Operation.” Views expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. — Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to terri.wu@epochtimes.com. Show your support for Epoch Times and independent journalism by leaving a 5-star review of this show on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/chinawatch
S2 · E17
June 9 · 1 hr 5 min
How America Keeps Getting China Wrong—And How China Can Get It Right
Terri sits down with Piero Tozzi, a China expert whose deep roots in both Western and Confucian thought give him a truly rare lens on the U.S.–China competition. In this conversation, they unpack why the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has never been—and can never be—a normal trading partner or good-faith rival, and how America has been deceived into thinking otherwise, repeatedly, since the 1940s. And they close on something unexpected: the seeds of a peaceful transition to carry China beyond the CCP have been inside Chinese civilization all along. Views expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. — Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to terri.wu@epochtimes.com. Show your support for Epoch Times and independent journalism by leaving a 5-star review of this show on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/chinawatch
S2 · E16
June 1 · 23 min
‘Sea Blind’ to China’s Threat, and Waking Up To It
The Department of Justice unsealed an indictment on May 19, charging Chinese shipping container manufacturers with price-fixing their products during the COVID years. As a result, container prices nearly doubled between 2019 and 2024. And a leading defendant saw its profit increase by nearly 100-fold. This case is not an isolated case. Join Terri and maritime historian Salvatore Mercogliano in unpacking China’s evolution in maritime dominance and the U.S. response. Views expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. — Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to terri.wu@epochtimes.com. Show your support for Epoch Times and independent journalism by leaving a 5-star review of this show on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/chinawatch
S2 · E15
May 25 · 20 min
Why China Is Finally Closing a Side Door It Tolerated for Years
For years, Chinese investors used Tiger, Futu, and Longbridge to buy Tesla and Nvidia — through a side door Beijing called illegal but tolerated anyway. On May 22, Beijing finally shut it. Why now? Most headlines frame this as another step in U.S.–China decoupling, or as Chinese leader Xi Jinping putting another aspect of Chinese society under total control. But there's a third possibility. Join Terri in connecting the dots to the ongoing trade war behind this seemingly sudden policy change. Views expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. — Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to terri.wu@epochtimes.com. Show your support for Epoch Times and independent journalism by leaving a 5-star review of this show on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/chinawatch
S2 · E14
May 19 · 20 min
What Does US–China ‘Constructive Strategic Stability’ Look Like?
The Trump–Xi summit may not have accomplished much, but both countries walked away with new labels for the U.S.–China relationship. For Beijing, it's "constructive strategic stability." For Washington, it's "a constructive relationship of strategic stability on the basis of fairness and reciprocity." Join Terri as she decodes what the Chinese term really means—and how the regime's intent gets "lost in translation," or perhaps "strategically concealed in translation." This isn't just essential listening for China watchers. It's information Washington needs to hear. Views expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. — Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to terri.wu@epochtimes.com. Show your support for The Epoch Times and independent journalism by leaving a 5-star review of this show on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/chinawatch
S2 · E13
May 11 · 22 min
Entangled Combat: The Chinese Style of Competition Washington Should Understand
Most Westerners in business operate on the baseline assumption that hard work leads to success and beating the competition. With business in communist China, that doesn’t hold. Hard work is a must, but not the most important ingredient for success. In this episode, join Terri as she discusses the machinations that determine whether top companies live or die, and how the competitive mentality is set from a very young age. Hear about one of many fallen giants, and how another may be in the same ominous position but still holding on—for the time being. Views expressed in this episode are opinions of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. — Terri Wu is a Washington-based freelance reporter for The Epoch Times covering education and China-related issues. Send tips to terri.wu@epochtimes.com. Show your support for Epoch Times and independent journalism by leaving a 5-star review of this show on your podcast platform or visit www.RateThisPodcast.com/chinawatch

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