Podcasts about Xinjiang

On this week's Defense & Aerospace Report Washington Roundtable, Dr. Patrick Cronin of the Hudson Institute think tank, Michael Herson of American Defense International, former DoD Europe chief Jim Townsend of the Center for a New American Security, and former Pentagon Comptroller Dr. Dov Zakheim of the Center for Strategic and International Studies join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss renewed US-Iran hostilities; a bewildering bewildering week in Congress as the NDAA and appropriations stalled in the Senate, the Iran supplemental and reconciliation; how Sen. Mitch McConnell's illness and Sen. Lindsey Graham's sudden death impact legislation; Pentagon policy chief Bridge Colby's dismissal of “middle power” strategies; Volodymyr Zelenskyy's latest cabinet reshuffle that ousted Yulia Svyrydenko and his popular defense minister Mykylo Federov; after dismissing the Knesset and calling October elections, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to visit Washington for Graham's funeral; Israel and Lebanon advance peace talks and Hamas asks Iran for help; more than 100 Democratic lawmakersand one Republican vote against military support for Israel; Iraq's new Prime Minister Ali al Zaidi met with Trump at the White House; Xi Jinping continues to purge the part of top leaders accused of corruption, expelling Politburo member Ma Xingrui, the former governor of Xinjiang province who once headed the country's space program; North Korea accuses Pak Hui-chol, deputy director of the Organization Department of the Korean People's Army General Political Bureau, of abuse of power and corruption; and the US Coast Guard will base a squadron of its cutters to the Western Pacific.

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin: Vladimir Putin has spent decades shielding Moscow from the consequences of his wars. Now, fuel shortages, business closures, and mounting economic warning signs suggest the Russian capital is beginning to feel the strain of the conflict in Ukraine. New satellite imagery reveals China has constructed a full-scale replica of a U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer in the Xinjiang desert. We examine why Beijing is using an American warship for missile testing—and what it could reveal about China's preparations for a future conflict. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President's Daily Brief by visiting https://PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Lifepro Fitness: Discover how to beat puffiness with the Lifepro Waver Vibration Plate—and use code PDB at https://lifeprofitness.com for $20 off plus free shipping! Mars Men: For a limited time, our listeners get 50% off FOR LIFE, Free Shipping, AND 3 Free Gifts at Mars Men at https://Mengotomars.com Ridge: One thing to pack, five ways to power! Get 10% off @Ridge with code PDB at https://www.Ridge.com/PDB#Ridgepod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Good afternoon, I'm _ with today's episode of EZ News. Tai-Ex opening The Tai-Ex opened up 113-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 44,851 on turnover of $9.9-billion N-T. Shares in Taiwan came under pressure Tuesday, falling below 44,000 points at one point, before rebounding in the last 90 minutes of the session to cap the losses. But while most non-tech stocks were also in the doldrums, the petrochemical sector outperformed the market on a spike in international crude oil prices amid renewed unease in the Middle East, which could boost product prices. Heat and Afternoon Thunderstorms Over Next Few Days Forecasters are warning of intense heat and severe afternoon thunderstorms across Taiwan over the next several days. The Central Weather Administration today issued high-temperature alerts for eight counties and cities. Officials say Changhua, Yunlin, Tainan, and Hualien are under an orange alert… meaning temperatures could repeatedly exceed (超過) 36 degrees Celsius. Taipei, New Taipei, Chiayi, and Taitung are under a yellow alert. Taitung also faces a high risk of hot, dry foehn winds. Meteorologist Wu Der-rong says tropical disturbances in the South China Sea and near the Philippines are bringing large amounts of moisture toward Taiwan, creating highly unstable conditions. Wu warns that severe convective thunderstorms will develop in mountainous areas every afternoon through July 21st, and te storms will likely trigger lightning, strong winds, and flash flooding in low-lying areas. (NS) China Senior CCP Member Expelled Chinese state media says a senior official has been expelled from the ruling Communist Party. Ma Xingrui is one of three members of the current Politburo purged in leader Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign, alongside two military generals. Analysts see the campaign as a tool to enforce loyalty to Xi and root out (根除) corruption. Party authorities concluded that Ma committed violations including accepting gifts and using his position to help others. The 66-year-old Ma was previously the Communist Party chief of Xinjiang and governor of Guangdong province. Gold trader gets time served in Iran sanctions case that strained US-Turkey relations A Turkish businessman charged in a conspiracy to help Iran evade (逃避) sanctions gets no additional prison time after helping U.S. investigators. The AP's Jennifer King reports. Spain Gibraltar Border Fence** Dismantled** The fence separating Gibraltar from Spain has been dismantled, easing travel for thousands who cross daily. This change, which goes into effect today, follows years of post-Brexit negotiations between the European Union and the United Kingdom over Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory that is also claimed by Spain. On Tuesday, the U.K. and the E.U. signed an agreement securing Gibraltar's economic future. The deal de facto brings Gibraltar into the EU's Schengen free travel area. Gibraltar officials say live facial recognition (臉部辨識) cameras are now set up at entry points. When Britain left the EU in 2020, the relationship between Gibraltar and the bloc had been left unresolved. In 2025, the EU and U.K. announced an agreement on those issues, with the two sides and Gibraltar's government signing a treaty Tuesday that eases border crossings. That was the I.C.R.T. EZ News, I'm _. －－－－以下為 SoundOn 動態廣告－－－－ 今秋跟著楓紅展開最動人的旅程~ 日本紅葉祭限定！漫遊河口湖紅葉迴廊，或登上東北藏王紅葉纜車飽覽山林秋色 韓國賞紅葉x銀杏，韓服漫遊景福宮感受秋日浪漫 美加東必追楓葉大道，走訪尼加拉瀑布沉醉最美楓景 限量團位，快搜尋「可樂旅遊」與你分享世界的美好~ https://sofm.pse.is/9bu2gx -- 【暑假首選】雄獅文具想像力製造所天天不休息！白色牆面隨你畫、泡泡雨空中飄，巨型 60 色色彩牆隨手拍都是網美大片！ 八月更有全新「彩耀日」戶外顏料射擊，暑假就是要玩好玩滿。 快來發揮想像力打包快樂！

A version of this essay was published by firstpost.com at https://www.firstpost.com/opinion/the-old-quad-is-dying-time-for-a-new-quad-14030966.htmlThe Quad, a 2007 partnership broadly intended to contain China's hegemonistic ambitions in the Indo-Pacific, was a brainchild of then-Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo. It makes sense: China is rampaging in its neighborhood, and gives every sign of wanting to either grab territory that belongs to others, or bully them into acquiescence and tributary status.The belligerence that created the current Chinese empire, that is the forced absorption of Tibet, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Manchuria into the core Han coastal heartland, is part of a harking back to ancient Chinese empires. Xi Jinping, perhaps even more than Mao, embodies a hankering to be the almighty King-Emperor of the erstwhile Middle KingdomThe US unwittingly allowed China to rapidly de-industrialize it post joining the WTO, and to come up with a business plan that calls for massive over-production and the resultant price collapse, which is a template they use to rape and pillage industry after industry. A recent casualty is Germany's prized automobile industry: bellwether Volkswagen has been forced to lay off 100,000 workers, brutalized by a tsunami of Chinese electric vehicles.However, as Utpal Kumar points out in an insightful essay, all is not well in Xi's kingdom: e.g., the debt mountain, paranoia as seen in regular purges of military brass, and propaganda that conceals all bad news (did you hear of a small plane hitting a tower in central Beijing? Yes, a mini-9/11. But the information was blanked out). Continuing rural poverty is also censored, although Indians on x.com posted images of extreme filth and poverty, far from the glossy high-rise, bullet-train image that Chinese propaganda projects. Paradoxically, that is precisely what makes China yet more dangerous: it will probably lash out in external adventurism to preserve legitimacy internally.Thus the need for sober containment of China's destructive power. The US, which has been the natural candidate for reining in this rogue power, has now demonstrated that it is retrenching. It has, for instance, demonstrated that it is no longer willing to indefinitely support its NATO allies. The “nuclear umbrella” that it has offered Japan may also be getting a little threadbare.It is likely that President Trump invaded Iran with the good idea of denying China oil both Iranian and Venezuelan oil, as retaliation for China's squeeze on rare earths. Alas, that has turned into a fiasco, creating collateral damage for innocent bystanders such as India. In game-theoretic terms, if an isolationist “Fortress America” mood has descended on the US, then a “G2 condominium” with China may be the simplest option, as I said several years ago.If the US has indeed acquiesced to China being the hegemon in its sphere of influence, namely the Indo-Pacific, then there is good reason for the jilted Quad members (Japan, Australia and India) to enter into bilateral agreements amongst each other to look after their own national interests, including but not limited to Sinophobia. And in fact they have done so.It is true that the Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting in May 2026 in Delhi produced some agreements on critical minerals (clearly a US priority) and surveillance collaboration, but I get the feeling that this is mostly a matter of keeping up appearances. Therefore it is worth pivoting to Japanese PM Takaichi's recent visit to India, and PM Modi's trips to Indonesia and Australia.Japan and India are obvious partners, because their economies are complementary: one is resource- and technology-rich, and labor-poor, and the other is the opposite. There is also an old civilizational link between the two, going back to Bodhidharma from Kanchipuram who embarked from Muziris circa 500CE and established the Zen school of Buddhism in Japan.There are also clear civilizational links between India and Indonesia. Hindu Bali is obvious; but Java, until the Hindu-Buddhist Majapahit Empire was defeated circa 1500CE by Muslim kingdoms (encouraged by the Chinese empire of the time), was also heavily Indianized. As someone who has traveled in both Japan and Indonesia, I was delighted to see Devanagari inscriptions on the Great Bell at Hiroshima, and the Ramayana Ballet at Prambanan temple. विपुलप्रभ अतुल्यनन्त नाथ दिशि विदिशि स्फुरि सर्वबुद्धक्षेत्रा। राग प्रशमि सर्वदोषमोहां नरकगतिस्मि प्रशामि धूमकेतुम्॥१५॥ "The lord of vast light, incomparable and infinite, has illuminated all Buddha countries in all the quarters; he has quieted passions, all sins and errors; he has quieted the fire in the walk of hell." This is the inscription on the Great Bell in Hiroshima. Japan and India signed a series of agreements, including an investment target of Yen 10 trillion (about $66 billion) in areas such as critical minerals, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. They agreed upon a new focus on Artificial Intelligence and quantum technologies and in energy self-reliance, including hydrogen and biogas.They also reaffirmed support for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (let us note that on June 16th the US renamed its Indo-Pacific Command to just “Pacific Command”, a telling admission of retreat. The US may well be abandoning the Indian Ocean just when it is becoming the focus of trade.)The Indonesia-India agreements were significant: they included, for instance, Brahmos and Astra missile systems (which, in conjunction with other ASEAN purchases of Brahmos missiles, creates a potentially integrated sea-denial mechanism against persistent Chinese maritime aggression).Pointedly, there will be joint development on Indonesia's deep-water Sabang Port in Aceh, which is on the Malacca Straits just 90 nautical miles away from India's upcoming Great Nicobar dual-use port.The two ports can form a defensive shield that could deny transit in Malacca to hostile ships and submarines (read Chinese). Since two-thirds of China's trade and energy imports pass through Malacca, this is a potent threat, especially as we have just seen what the siege of Hormuz did to global trade. Let us also remember that, exactly 1,001 years ago, Emperor Rajendra Chola sent a large fleet to open up Malacca when the SriVijaya Empire closed it.There were also agreements on critical minerals (e.g. nickel for EV batteries, as Indonesia has the world's largest reserves, cobalt, etc.), steel, maritime security, and technology cooperation.Let us also remember the trilateral Japan-Indonesia-India naval exercises in the Andaman Sea in February 2026.PM Modi's visit to Australia is the most problematic. Earlier, under Kevin Rudd, a Sinophilic PM, Australia exited the Quad in 2008, effectively making it moribund. Besides, Australia for decades refused sniffily to sell India uranium, despite India being a committed non-proliferator. This may also have had something to do with the UK's (Whitehall's) deleterious influence on Australia.But days ago, Australia committed to supplying uranium to India, in support of the latter's quest for energy security. Oz has apparently learned that cozying up to China is not good for its own economic health.Thus, the quadrilateral of US, Japan, Australia and India may well morph into a quadrilateral of Japan, Indonesia, Australia and India, all united in their concerns about China. The US has a choice: either continue to be the anchor of the Quad (Pentagon?), or be left behind if it insists on retreating into its shell. The former option would be better for all concerned.1150 words, 11 July 2026 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rajeevsrinivasan.substack.com/subscribe

At the NATO summit in Ankara, President Trump declares “love and unity” with allies, and Europe signals it is taking more responsibility for its own defense. Christiane speaks with former US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith about what the summit revealed and growing uncertainty around the fragile Iran truce. Then, Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III responds to White House broadsides accusing the institution of having a “radical, activist ideology.” Will Ripley reports from Taiwan on China's striking mock-up of a U.S. warship in the Xinjiang desert. Former British Prime Minister Theresa May joins Christiane to discuss CNN's new documentary The Salisbury Poisonings: A Spy Next Door about the Novichok attack in England in 2018, and they discuss the threat Russia still poses to the West. From the archives, Christiane looks back at Beirut in 1993, a city emerging from civil war and still symbolic of Lebanon's repeated cycle of destruction and rebirth. And finally, Spain's Running of the Bulls festivities explode across Pamplona, 100 years since Ernest Hemingway immortalized them in The Sun Also Rises. Air date: July 11, 2026 Guests: Julianne Smith Lonnie G. Bunch III Theresa May Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Humans have collected data for thousands of years—but now we're doing it on a whole new level.This week, Ellen and Alona and joined by Roopika Risam, professor of Digital Humanities and Social Engagement at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, whose new book Data Empire explores the ancient roots of data-gathering and the rise of the “data state”.Drawing on examples from the East India Company to Palantir, she explains why advances in technology—and our means to collect, sort and deploy data—have almost always been captured by colonial powers or companies for profit, rather than for public good.She reveals how data is used to monitor and control, and how AI is rapidly accelerating the capacity of states and private companies to surveil populations, including against the Uyghur people of Xinjiang. Roopika also explains the disturbing reason she had to rewrite one section of the book three timesHas the “Data Empire” effectively moved beyond the reach of the democratic social contract? And will the future be dystopian—or is there another way?Roopika Risam's book “Data Empire: How information shaped human history” is published by Torva. To read to more on this topic, click here: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/technology Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Check out BeerBiceps SkillHouse Courses Here - https://linktr.ee/bbskillhouseFor all BeerBiceps vlog content Watch Life Of BeerBiceps - https://www.youtube.com/@LifeOfBeerBicepsDownload my meditation and wellness app, Swa:aha.https://app.level.game/?c=zSbmYnShare your guest suggestions hereMail - connect@beerbiceps.comLink - https://forms.gle/aoMHY9EE3Cg3Tqdx9Follow BeerBiceps SkillHouse's Social Media Handles:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeerBicepsSkillHouseInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/beerbiceps_skillhouseWebsite : https://beerbicepsskillhouse.inFor any other queries EMAIL: support@beerbicepsskillhouse.comIn case of any payment-related issues, kindly write to support@tagmango.comFollow Maj Gen Rajiv Narayanan's Social Media Handles:-X: https://x.com/KlRajivLinkedIn: https://in.linkedin.com/in/maj-gen-rajiv-narayanan-avsm-vsm-v-a08781117In this 519th episode of The Ranveer Show Hindi, we are joined by Major General Rajiv Narayanan, an Indian Army veteran and China expert who has spent over 25 years researching Chinese history, society, geopolitics, and military strategy.In this conversation with Major General Rajiv Narayanan, we explore the fascinating history of China, from ancient dynasties and Confucianism to the rise of the Mongol Empire, Kublai Khan, and the evolution of modern China. We discuss the historical relationship between India and China, the origins of the Silk Route, Tibet, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and the cultural foundations that continue to shape Chinese civilization today.This episode also covers the Opium Wars, the Century of Humiliation, British imperialism, the rise of Japan, the Chinese Communist Party, Hong Kong, the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Chinese philosophy, Buddhism's journey from India to China, world history, geopolitics, and the strategic ambitions that influence China's global outlook today.This podcast is a valuable resource for anyone interested in Chinese History, Indian History, World History, Geopolitics, Military Strategy, International Relations, Buddhism, Ancient Civilizations, Asian Politics, and Global Affairs.00:00 – China Exposed03:18 – India & China's Ancient Connection05:32 – Confucius, Taoism & Sun Tzu Explained08:04 – How Modern China Was Built10:17 – Genghis Khan & the Mongol Empire13:50 – How Central Asia Shaped Turkey16:20 – Tibet, Xinjiang & China's Expansion19:15 – The Untold History of Tibet21:00 – Beijing, Shanghai & Ancient China29:15 – Why Japan & Korea Stayed Independent33:50 – Resistance in Tibet & Xinjiang40:05 – The East India Company & China's Fall46:50 – The Opium Wars Explained53:15 – Why Hong Kong & Macau Matter55:15 – Japan's Rise to Power01:00:10 – Fall of Imperial China01:04:10 – Mao, The Long March & the PLA01:06:45 – The Nanjing Massacre01:10:55 – Taiwan & the 'Five Fingers' Strategy01:18:10 – The Pacific Power Game01:21:05 – China's Resource Crisis01:24:20 – The Great Leap Forward Disaster01:25:50 – The 1962 India-China War01:28:40 – China's Cultural Revolution01:42:00 – The One-Child Policy Crisis01:49:50 – India vs. China: Who Wins?01:56:05 – Xi Jinping's New China01:59:50 – Final Lessons from China's History

Katharina Hesse hat 25 Jahre in China fotografiert — für Newsweek, Getty und laif, für den Spiegel, die Zeit, Le Monde und die New York Times. Sie war dabei, als Punks in Pekings Studentenviertel gegen das konforme Leben spielten. Sie hat nordkoreanische Flüchtlinge an der Grenze fotografiert, die weinenden Chinesen bei der Olympia-Eröffnung 2008 und Xinjiang vor und nach den Unruhen 2009. 2019 kam sie für kurze Zeit nach Deutschland — und blieb. In dieser Episode spricht sie über ihren Weg von Hannover über Paris nach Peking, über das, was ein Auslandspressebüro wirklich ist und wie das Chinabild in deutschen Redaktionen entsteht — und über das Gefühl, in Deutschland gestrandet zu sein. Und über ein neues China-Projekt, das sie bald wieder nach China bringt.

Preview for Later Today: Peter Berkowitz. Peter Berkowitz discusses human rights at the State Department under Mike Pompeo. He highlights the necessity of universal principles against the CCP's crimes in Xinjiang and the abuse of its own population.

On today's show Andrew and Bill begin with takeaways from Xi's visit to North Korea this week, including the conspicuous silence on North Korea's nuclearization, Kim Jong Un's assistance to Russia's war in Ukraine, Beijing as Kim's top priority, U.S.-Japan dialogue on regional nuclear threats, and an email about the PRC as a communist country. From there: CPPCC Chairman Wang Huning leads an inspection tour of Xinjiang ahead of the July 1st implementation of the national ethnic unity law, plus thoughts on Xinjiang's strategic importance generally and why Beijing sees its recent efforts as successful. At the end: China preps for an AI infrastructure buildout, the Pentagon alleges that Alibaba, Baidu and BYD are linked to the PLA, the Busan truce is being tested by both sides, and two Knicks stars wish students good luck on the GaoKao.

Air Date: 6/10/2026 Today we explore how Taiwan's own people are stuck between the US and China. Fewer and fewer of them want to rejoin China but their faith in America is sinking just as fast as Trump treats them as a bargaining chip. Their own leaders are split on how to respond. And the place that makes most of the world's advanced chips has almost no seat at the table where its future is being decided. Full Show Notes Transcript Be part of the show! Leave a voice message, message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop Bookshop.org and Libro.fm for a non-evil book and audiobook purchasing experience! Join our Discord community! TOP TAKES KP 1: Xi, Putin & Trump - Who Really Runs the World? | To the Point - DW News - Air Date 5-21-26 KP 2: Can There Ever Really Be "one China?" - Vox - Air Date 5-28-26 KP 3: How the US Is Trying to Challenge China's Critical Mineral Dominance Part 1 - The China in Africa Podcast - Air Date 5-28-26 KP 4: Why Did Trump Take Elon Musk to China? - Paul Krugman - Air Date 5-14-26 KP 5: Why This Island Could Trigger World War 3 - Johnny Harris - Air Date 12-18-25 KP 6: China Will Never Beat Taiwan, Here's Why - Maxinomics - Air Date 3-37-26 (00:53:26) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR The Stories Nations Tell Will Destroy Us_ China, Taiwan, and Trump My commentaries on YouTube - Share them! DEEPER DIVES (01:04:39) SECTION A: THE MAKING OF TAIWAN A1: The Taiwan Conflict, Explained - Ryan Chapman - Air Date 10-13-22 A2: Inside China's Plan to Take Over Taiwan "peacefully" | If You're Listening - ABC NEWS In-depth - Air Date 11-28-25 (01:24:47) SECTION B: THE MULTIPOLAR WORLDVIEW B1: China Rising Part 1: How the Unipolar World Is Ending - Beyond the Ballot Box - Air Date 2-10-26 B2: US Unipolarity Vs China's Multipolarity: Whose Vision Will Shape the New Global Order? B3: China Rising Part 2: Taiwan, Xinjiang, Sovereignty and Human Rights - Beyond the Ballot Box (01:52:00) SECTION C: TAIWAN IN THE CROSSHAIRS C1: What's Behind the Record-breaking $11 Billion US-Taiwan Arms Deal? - DW News - Air Date 12-19-25 C2: Is Taiwan Moving Away From the US? - TLDR News Global - Air Date 4-20-26 (02:09:55) SECTION D: THE SUMMIT AND ITS FALLOUT D1: Xi Warns Trump of Potential "Conflict" Over Taiwan in Beijing Summit on Iran, Trade, Tech & More - Democracy Now! - Air Date 5-14-26 D2: Trump's FAILED Meeting With China's Xi Jinping Was Humiliating - Pod Save the World - Air Date 5-21-26 D3: Strait to the Abyss - The Muckrake Political Podcast - Air Date 6-2-26 D4: Xi Hosts Putin in Beijing, Cementing China-Russia Alliance After Trump's Visit - PBS NewsHour - Air Date 5-20-26 (02:39:44) SECTION E: THE RESOURCE WAR AND AFRICA E1: How the US Is Trying to Challenge China's Critical Mineral Dominance Part 2 - The China in Africa Podcast - Air Date 5-28-26 E2: Why 3 African States Said No to Taiwan - The China in Africa Podcast - Air Date 4-23-26   Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Listen Anywhere! Follow BotL: Bluesky | Mastodon | Threads | X Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com

The administrative subpoenas issued for Hasan Piker and Medea Benjamin over their participation in the Cuba caravan are to be opposed—in part because the subpoenas will only give their sinister politics greater cachet among neophyte activists! Piker's shameless shilling for the dictatorships of Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin invisibilizes the victims of their ethno-supremacist detention states—such as the Uyghurs of Xinjiang and the Crimean Tatars. This more ciritcal point is obscured in the endless outrage over his supposed anti-Semitism. And with Xi and Putin joining with Trump to build a fascist world order, Piker's brand of campist pseudo-opposition (however overheated) is compromised from the start, mirroring what it ostensibly opposes—subpoenas notwithstanding. In Episode 330 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg breaks it down in his typically unsparing manner. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/countervortex Production by Chris Rywalt We ask listeners to donate just $1 per weekly podcast via Patreon -- or $2 for our new special offer! We now have 60 subscribers. If you appreciate our work, please become Number 61!

What is the origin of the term "East Turkestan"? The complicated history of Xinjiang in the 1930s and '40s.Support the show

As a trial of former organisers of Hong Kong's Tiananmen vigils has concluded, FRANCE 24's Yuka Royer speaks with Wu'er Kaixi, one of the student leaders who led mass protests leading up to the brutal 1989 crackdown. Nearly 37 years since the tragedy, the exiled campaigner laments China's continued oppression of dissident voices and ethnic minorities. 

Eileen Wang just pleaded guilty to acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government — and the details of what she was doing inside America are exactly as bad as you'd expect. She was feeding information to Beijing, running influence operations, and doing it all while living here, working here, and smiling at the camera.This is not a movie. This is what Chinese intelligence operations look like in real life — patient, embedded, and aimed directly at undermining the country from within. Wang's guilty plea is a rare moment of accountability in a campaign Beijing has been running for decades.Sean breaks down who Eileen Wang is, what she was actually doing, why it matters for the Pacific Northwest and beyond, and what the broader pattern of Chinese espionage inside American institutions should tell us about how naive our institutions have been.CHAPTERS0:00 China's Agent Eileen Wang Just Plead…1:54 Arcadia Mayor Resigns Over China Spy…2:35 Wang Charged as Unregistered Chinese…4:11 Arcadia California Located Near Los…4:53 Wang's Resignation Letter Dodges Spy…5:58 Wang Executed Chinese Government…7:18 Wang Flees Reporters Outside Her Home8:14 Wang Took Oath While Allegedly Spying9:28 Arcadia Officials React to Spy…10:05 Wang's Neighbors Describe Suspicious…11:21 Kash Patel Targets Foreign Influence12:51 Wang's Fake News Site Spread Beijing…13:51 Wang Published Beijing's Xinjiang…14:35 Beijing Officials Praised Wang's…15:46 Wang Contacted Elite CCP Intelligence…16:23 Prosecutor: China Corrupted American…17:01 California Democrat Charged as Chinese…19:22 Thanks for Watching TodaySubscribe to @reasonablenews for daily news coverage that treats you like an adult.#Portland #RealEstate #EconomicCollapse

¿Qué está pasando realmente con la comunidad uyghur en China?En este episodio especial de Tan Gente, Lucy Rodríguez conversa con tres mujeres de la comunidad uyghur que viven en el exilio y que denuncian persecución, vigilancia, trabajos forzados, esterilizaciones, desapariciones y campos de concentración en Xinjiang, región controlada por el gobierno chino.A través de sus testimonios, hablan sobre cómo su idioma, religión y cultura han sido reprimidos; cómo miles de personas han desaparecido dentro de centros de “reeducación”; y cómo la influencia política y económica de China también impacta a otros países, incluyendo América Latina.Una conversación sobre derechos humanos, autoritarismo, identidad cultural y democracia.

Radiokorrespondenterna Kina svarar på lyssnarnas frågor i ett specialavsnitt. Lyssna på alla avsnitt i Sveriges Radios app. Finns det några teknologiska hållhakar i kinesiska elbilar? Hur hållbar är utvinningen av sällsynta jordartsmetaller i Inre Mongoliet och Xinjiang? Vad tycker Peking egentligen om Ryssland och vad ska utländska ledare undvika för att inte göra bort sig på statsbesök i Kina?Det har blivit dags för en ny frågepodd, där Kinakorrespondent Moa Kärnstrand och Kinareporter Hanna Sahlberg gör sitt bästa för att svara på lyssnarnas frågor om högt och lågt.Programledare: Björn Djurberg.Producent: Åsa Welander.

Salih Hudayar is the Foreign Minister and former Prime Minister of the East Turkistan Government in Exile. He was born in East Turkistan, fled to the United States as a political refugee at age 7, and has spent his life working to bring international attention to what the US government and over a dozen Western parliaments have formally recognized as a genocide. We covered: how China invaded and occupied East Turkistan in 1949 with Stalin's help; the 1996 secret document that became the blueprint for genocidal policy; how China created a fake jihadist organization to justify its crackdown; how China and Turkey funneled 20,000 Uyghurs into Syria to manufacture a "terrorism" narrative; Xi Jinping's "show no mercy" speech and the bombing that followed two hours after his plane left; the 2.2 million Chinese officials sent to live inside Uyghur homes; the forced removal of over a million children into military boarding schools; 16,000 mosques destroyed; Muslim names, Ramadan fasting, and the Arabic greeting "Assalamu Alaikum" all banned; and the ongoing organ harvesting program in which an estimated 25,000 to 50,000 young Uyghurs are killed annually for their organs. The genocide is now in its 13th year. Millions remain in concentration camps. This is happening now. Learn more and get involved:  Follow on social media → https://x.com/ETExileGov  Recommended reading: "The Xinjiang Procedure" by Ethan Gutmann (organ harvesting research) TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 — Intro — who is Salih Hudayar? 0:25 — What is East Turkistan — and why China calls it "Xinjiang" 1:59 — Mao, Stalin, and the 1949 invasion 2:25 — Born in East Turkistan, fled to the US at age 7 4:37 — His father's mission: never forget where you came from 6:18 — Chinese raids on his family home 7:22 — ROTC, Oklahoma Army National Guard, and a kidney disease that ended his military career 8:13 — The Turkic world: Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Uzbeks 9:46 — China's 1996 Document No. 7 — the secret blueprint for genocide 11:51 — The Shanghai Cooperation Organization and crushing the independence movement 14:03 — How China created a fake jihadist group to justify the crackdown 17:31 — Were there actual terrorist attacks in East Turkistan? 18:31 — The Tiananmen Square car attack — false flag? 22:04 — How China and Turkey funneled 20,000 Uyghurs into Syria 24:23 — Grooming, brainwashing, and Chinese intelligence operations 32:23 — Xi Jinping's "show no mercy" speech 35:07 — The anti-extremism law: beards, Ramadan, and thought control 37:10 — Phase two: arresting everyone 38:12 — 2.2 million Chinese officials sent into Uyghur homes 41:02 — Children forcibly removed to state "orphanages" 43:19 — Why Muslim countries stay silent — Belt and Road leverage 44:45 — 16,000 mosques destroyed. Muslim names banned. 48:38 — Returning to East Turkistan in 2012 and 2014 53:11 — The Kant massacre: 3,000–4,000 killed 55:26 — His grandfather refused to leave 55:55 — The asylum process 59:05 — Organ harvesting: 25,000–50,000 killed annually 59:28 — How to support East Turkistan Watch full episodes on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Vb53s4I0A&list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Listen on Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lou-perez-podcast/id1535032081 Listen on Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU  Lou's book — That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r  TheLouPerez.com |  info@thelouperez.com  Newsletter: https://substack.com/@louperez #UyghurGenocide #EastTurkistan #China #Xinjiang #SalihHudayar #CCP #HumanRights #LouPerezPodcast #Uyghur #GenocideAwareness Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Salih Hudayar is the Foreign Minister and former Prime Minister of the East Turkistan Government in Exile. He was born in East Turkistan, fled to the United States as a political refugee at age 7, and has spent his life working to bring international attention to what the US government and over a dozen Western parliaments have formally recognized as a genocide. We covered: how China invaded and occupied East Turkistan in 1949 with Stalin's help; the 1996 secret document that became the blueprint for genocidal policy; how China created a fake jihadist organization to justify its crackdown; how China and Turkey funneled 20,000 Uyghurs into Syria to manufacture a "terrorism" narrative; Xi Jinping's "show no mercy" speech and the bombing that followed two hours after his plane left; the 2.2 million Chinese officials sent to live inside Uyghur homes; the forced removal of over a million children into military boarding schools; 16,000 mosques destroyed; Muslim names, Ramadan fasting, and the Arabic greeting "Assalamu Alaikum" all banned; and the ongoing organ harvesting program in which an estimated 25,000 to 50,000 young Uyghurs are killed annually for their organs. The genocide is now in its 13th year. Millions remain in concentration camps. This is happening now. Learn more and get involved:  Follow on social media → https://x.com/ETExileGov  Recommended reading: "The Xinjiang Procedure" by Ethan Gutmann (organ harvesting research) TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 — Intro — who is Salih Hudayar? 0:25 — What is East Turkistan — and why China calls it "Xinjiang" 1:59 — Mao, Stalin, and the 1949 invasion 2:25 — Born in East Turkistan, fled to the US at age 7 4:37 — His father's mission: never forget where you came from 6:18 — Chinese raids on his family home 7:22 — ROTC, Oklahoma Army National Guard, and a kidney disease that ended his military career 8:13 — The Turkic world: Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Uzbeks 9:46 — China's 1996 Document No. 7 — the secret blueprint for genocide 11:51 — The Shanghai Cooperation Organization and crushing the independence movement 14:03 — How China created a fake jihadist group to justify the crackdown 17:31 — Were there actual terrorist attacks in East Turkistan? 18:31 — The Tiananmen Square car attack — false flag? 22:04 — How China and Turkey funneled 20,000 Uyghurs into Syria 24:23 — Grooming, brainwashing, and Chinese intelligence operations 32:23 — Xi Jinping's "show no mercy" speech 35:07 — The anti-extremism law: beards, Ramadan, and thought control 37:10 — Phase two: arresting everyone 38:12 — 2.2 million Chinese officials sent into Uyghur homes 41:02 — Children forcibly removed to state "orphanages" 43:19 — Why Muslim countries stay silent — Belt and Road leverage 44:45 — 16,000 mosques destroyed. Muslim names banned. 48:38 — Returning to East Turkistan in 2012 and 2014 53:11 — The Kant massacre: 3,000–4,000 killed 55:26 — His grandfather refused to leave 55:55 — The asylum process 59:05 — Organ harvesting: 25,000–50,000 killed annually 59:28 — How to support East Turkistan Watch full episodes on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Vb53s4I0A&list=PLb5trMQQvT077-L1roE0iZyAgT4dD4EtJ Listen on Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lou-perez-podcast/id1535032081 Listen on Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/2KAtC7eFS3NHWMZp2UgMVU  Lou's book — That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: https://amzn.to/3VhFa1r  TheLouPerez.com |  info@thelouperez.com  Newsletter: https://substack.com/@louperez #UyghurGenocide #EastTurkistan #China #Xinjiang #SalihHudayar #CCP #HumanRights #LouPerezPodcast #Uyghur #GenocideAwareness Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every climate VC post-Trump has said it: we don't invest in companies that rely on subsidies. But the entire climate transition has been living off the biggest subsidy in human history — 200 years of cheap, abundant fossil fuels that funded low interest rates, scalable manufacturing, global trade, and the financial architecture of the transition itself. In this Season 2 essay, Susan Su makes the case that energy is upstream of capital, capital is upstream of everything else, and the window is closing faster than the models assume. We walk through the petrodollar system, why Bitcoin, aluminum and green hydrogen (among other products) are all just energy repackaged, and what it means that 40% of the world's solar polysilicon is manufactured with captive coal in Xinjiang. The 15:1 debt-to-equity ratio at the heart of climate finance assumes stable energy pricing across a 20-year horizon. That assumption is about to get tested. The Gulf States used their fossil surplus to build sovereign wealth funds. The US used it to subsidize consumption. Which path the climate finance community takes from here — scenario planning over point estimates, auditing exposure on the energy-repackaged hierarchy, treating energy politics as alpha — will decide who navigates the volatility with options and who navigates it with debt.

Last time we spoke about the beginning of the first battle of Changsha. From Chongqing, Chiang debated defensive strategies for Hunan, ultimately adopting Plan B after Xue Yue's pleas, focusing on successive resistance north of Changsha to thwart Japanese advances. Japanese forces, under Okamura Yasuji, launched assaults in Jiangxi and Hunan. In Jiangxi, the 106th and 101st Divisions attacked Huibu and Gao'an, where Chinese troops under Luo Zhuoying and Song Kentang fiercely resisted. Gao'an fell briefly but was recaptured by the 32nd Army and the elite 74th Army, with heavy casualties on both sides, as recounted by soldier Liu Qihuai. In Hunan, Japanese units crossed the Xin Qiang River and landed at Yingtian, facing brutal opposition. At Bijia Mountain, Qin Yizhi's 195th Division held for four days; Battalion Commander Shi Enhua's reinforced unit perished entirely, their fragmented remains mourned by locals. Along the Miluo River, Chen Pei's 37th Army fortified positions, repelling waves of Japanese attacks, including suicide squads disguised as civilians. Recruit Yang Peyao's unit endured bombardments, inflicting significant enemy losses before withdrawing at dusk.   #197 The First Battle of Changsha Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Major Luo Wenlang, battalion commander of the 3rd Battalion, 55th Regiment, 19th Division of the 28th Army, harbored a peculiar quirk: he couldn't sleep soundly without unwrapping his leg bindings, a small ritual that anchored him in the chaos of war. Since the war's eruption, such luxuries were rare, and unwrapping his bindings every night became an impossibility, leaving him to endure restless slumbers. Tonight, however, sleep eluded him entirely; he tossed and turned on his makeshift bed, his mind a whirlwind of unrest. Two days after the northern Hunan battle ignited like a powder keg, the 55th Regiment received urgent orders from Division Commander Tang Boyin to race to Wukou in Pingjiang County. Their path wound through Luo Wenlang's hometown of Fulinpu, a twist of fate that stirred conflicting emotions. Entering the village under the cover of night, the entire battalion encamped in the commander's modest family village, with battalion headquarters naturally established in his ancestral home.   Luo yearned to step across that familiar threshold but dreaded it, for his parents remained oblivious to a devastating truth. They slaughtered chickens and prepared meat, hosting the battalion staff with drinks and hospitality, after all, this was their son's unit gracing their home. Luo orchestrated door planks and straw for bedding, posted sentries, and deftly evaded his parents until they retired. Before dawn broke, he mustered the troops, ensured they were fed, and led them onward, slipping away like a shadow. By noon on the 22nd, they reached Wukou, only to receive fresh directives: rush to Yingtian to bolster the 95th Division against the enemy's audacious landings. The 3rd Battalion spearheaded the division's reinforcements, marching relentlessly through day and night, arriving at Dongtang, over 30 kilometers southeast of Yingtian—on the 23rd, hearts sinking upon learning Yingtian had already fallen into enemy clutches.   Luo Wenlang sought out the retreating 95th Division Commander Luo Qi to beg for a mission, his resolve unyielding. Luo Qi, anticipating his arrival, relayed Commander Guan Linzheng's ironclad instructions: The 19th Division's reinforcements would assume Dongtang's defenses. With the main force still en route, Luo Qi tasked Luo's battalion with relieving a segment held by a replacement regiment. He handed over a map, sketching a line with a pencil, a simple stroke that thrust Luo Wenlang and his men onto the front lines of fate. An operations staff was dispatched to guide them to the position and oversee the handover.   As the troops advanced, they encountered scattered soldiers fleeing like startled rabbits; seizing a platoon leader revealed they were indeed from the replacement regiment. Mere minutes from division HQ, the enemy was already closing in, a predator's breath hot on their necks. Luo Wenlang and Deputy Battalion Commander Wu Yacui split the battalion, launching a counterattack on Dongtang from dual routes. Fortune favored them; the Japanese held only an exhausted company, crumbling under a single, ferocious charge. They swiftly deployed two companies to the positions, reserving one as a bulwark. By dusk, the full 55th Regiment arrived, accompanied by the rest of the 19th Division's reinforcements, allowing the battered 95th Division, ravaged at Yingtian, to withdraw for desperate reorganization. The regimental commander positioned Luo's 3rd Battalion on the regiment's vulnerable left wing. In the blink of an eye, it was the 27th, aligning with the 15th of the eighth lunar month. Amid the relentless great battle, few noted the calendar, and the skies hung heavy with clouds. Luo Wenlang twisted on his straw bed, his thoughts a snarled knot of anxiety and memory.   At 11 p.m., gunfire shattered the night; a barrage of machine gun bullets riddled the battalion HQ house, raining thatch and dust upon Luo like fallout from a storm. Catastrophe had struck! Luo surged toward the positions with the bugler—his battalion signal chief—and the reserve force, ascending the hilltop in a frenzy. Halfway up, he spotted 8th Company's Lieutenant Platoon Leader Rong Fayu leading over 20 soldiers in retreat. Bellowing "Why unauthorized retreat?" while brandishing his pistol, he compelled Rong to rally and turn back. The Japanese had launched a nocturnal assault; 8th Company Commander Yi Zuitao lay slain by a fatal shot, over a dozen comrades felled in brutal close combat, the survivors scattered like leaves in the wind; the high ground now belonged to the enemy.   Upon learning of Dongtang's loss, the regimental commander personally led the regimental reserve, his face etched with urgency. Under flickering lantern light, poring over the map with Luo, Division Commander Tang Boyin telephoned, his voice a whipcrack of command: Recapture it before dawn, or both would face the merciless hand of military justice. After seizing the high ground, the enemy hesitated to press further; Luo surmised the darkness concealed paths, and their numbers were not overwhelming. Forgoing the regimental reserve, he led 7th Company's 4 squads and remnants of the routed 8th Company in a stealthy ascent. Near the position, a ravine concealed over 20 8th Company soldiers, rallied by Sergeant Squad Leader Tan Tianrong, who had lurked in wait for reinforcements, dreading exposure at dawn under the enemy's gaze.   Spotting the battalion commander personally spearheading the counterattack, Tan Tianrong's face lit with fierce joy; his men, armed with grenades, surged as the vanguard. Intimate with the terrain even in blindness, they hurled explosives into bunkers, trenches, and works. The commander orchestrated the charge; the Japanese force of 40-50 men crumbled, over half slain or maimed, the remnants fleeing northward to their village stronghold. It was past 4 a.m.; the moon pierced the clouds, bathing the earth in a silvery glow. With positions reclaimed, the night revealed its secret: tonight was Mid-Autumn. Moonlight unraveled the tangled threads of his past; Luo draped his clothes over his shoulders, sat beneath the luminous orb, and wept in solitary anguish.   Before the war, devastating news had arrived: his brother Luo Yinong had been killed in Jiangxi. Luo had three brothers; the eldest shouldered half the family's burdens, their bond unbreakable. The brother had enlisted first in the 50th Army, climbing to battalion commander through sheer valor. He and his younger brother had followed suit, inspired by that call to arms.   Wartime conscription demanded only one per family, but battling the devils was a duty for the nation and its people. His brother had risen to deputy regimental commander before his end. The 50th Army notified him first. Engulfed in battle, there had been no time to console his grieving parents or tend to the funeral; it weighed on his heart like an unyielding stone. His sister-in-law, diligent and unassuming, cared for a young boy and carried another child; the long, arduous days ahead loomed like an endless shadow. The night dew brought a biting chill, the moon an icy sentinel; Luo shivered uncontrollably, his tears mingling with the frost.   The sky hung heavy with overcast gloom, yet the moon lurked beyond the clouds, casting a faint, ethereal light that warded off utter darkness. Along the road, a unit's elongated black shadow snaked southward in hurried silence, a serpent of weary resolve pressing through the night. Qin Yizhi reined in his horse, pausing to gaze back: the queue stretched onward, silent and impeccably orderly, belying the exhaustion of a force scarred by days of ferocious combat, their spirits unbroken amid the shadows. After the Japanese seized the 195th Division's defiant outpost at Bijia Mountain, they surged across the Xin Qiang River in a merciless onslaught. The river, shallow enough to wade knee-deep, offered no true impediment; the real barrier was forged from the defenders' scorching blood, a crimson testament to their unyielding stand. The 195th Division clashed in a maelstrom of cruelty; positions were heaped with corpses time and again, the Xin Qiang's waters churning blood-red in relentless cycles of carnage. From the night of the 23rd to the dawn of the 25th, respite was a forgotten dream; Okamura Yasuji, in a gesture of grim respect, inscribed Qin's name in elegant calligraphy and hung it within his command tent, a haunting trophy of the foe's tenacity.   Following their triumphant landing at Yingtian, the Japanese entangled the Ninth War Zone's left-wing defenders in a protracted snare, their advances grinding slowly like a predator toying with prey, menacing the flanks of the frontal troops with insidious intent. On the evening of the 27th, Xue Yue issued the fateful order for the 15th Army Group to withdraw to the precarious ground between the Miluo River and Shangshan City, ushering this blood-soaked force into an all-night march toward the next defensive crucible. Late into the night, a brief halt was called. Soldiers slumped to the ground, adjusting leg wraps and gear with mechanical precision; logistics teams darted through the ranks, distributing rations like lifelines; cooks, having forged ahead, arrived with steaming pots of rice soup, infusing the air with a rare warmth. Though no clamor broke the hush, a quiet camaraderie enveloped the queue, a fleeting balm against the war's chill.   The division staff claimed a flat expanse beside a farmhouse yard for their respite. Qin settled onto a stone roller used for grinding grain, nibbling at his meager ration and sipping the hot soup that steamed in the cool air. Suddenly, moonlight pierced the clouds, cascading down in silvery streams; the familiar contours of the farmhouse stirred a flood of warmth in his heart, evoking memories of home.   Chongqing, Huangshan Villa. Every window was shrouded in double layers of thick curtains, sealing out any sliver of betraying light, as if the very walls conspired to guard secrets from the encroaching night. Tonight's ethereal protagonist rose languidly from the eastern valley, its orange-red moonlight casting an aura of drowsy reluctance, as though it had not fully shaken off the slumber of the day. The feeble glow dappled the building's roof, balcony, and the surrounding hillsides, intersections, and thickets, where armed shadows lurked, capturing every rustle in the oppressive silence. Only upon close inspection could one discern the faint specks of moonlight glinting off steel helmets. Yet, beyond those fortified walls, another realm pulsed with life, a vibrant contrast to the shadowed vigilance outside. The front hall, living room, and dining room blazed with brilliant light. Vibrant flowers, dominated by chrysanthemums in full, defiant bloom, infused the air with color and fragrance; a phonograph murmured a cheerful Guangdong melody, weaving an atmosphere thick with festive joy, a deliberate illusion amid the storm of war.   Chiang Kai-shek, clad in a flowing black silk gown, strode ahead with poised grace, escorting his guests into the dining room alongside the elegantly attired Soong May-ling, their conversation laced with laughter and warmth. At the table, Soong May-ling's smile was a beacon of diplomacy, as she artfully arranged the seating to suit hierarchies and alliances, while servers in crisp white uniforms moved with nimble precision. This was Chiang Kai-shek's intimate Mid-Autumn family banquet; beyond a handful of pivotal military and political figures, the gathering brimmed with relatives. Guests and kin alike noted Chiang's buoyant spirits tonight; his smiles were wide and genuine, his discourse light and expansive, delving into casual topics with uncharacteristic ease.   In September 1939, China's War of Resistance Against Japan had entered its grueling third year. After the initial cataclysm of turmoil and disarray, the government and military had clawed their way to stability, adapting to this unprecedented historical crucible, with operations finally aligning into a semblance of order. According to figures proclaimed by Minister of Military Affairs He Yingqin to Chinese and foreign reporters on the 13th of this month, Japanese invaders had seized 521 counties across 12 provinces, a vast swath of conquest. Yet, the Japanese imperialists had exacted this toll at a staggering cost. Just prior, on August 30, the Hirannuma Cabinet, installed a mere eight months earlier, had collapsed in mass resignation. Hirannuma Kiichiro's predecessor, Konoe Fumimaro, had similarly bowed out amid governmental failures, chiefly the unmet ambitions in the Sino-Japanese War that he had boldly promised to parliament, exacerbating domestic political and economic woes. Days ago, when Wang Pengsheng briefed Chiang on Japan's turbulent politics, he quipped: "Konoe said three months to destroy China; three months didn't work, nor three years, who knows about 30 or 300. Hirannuma had no solutions, down in eight months. Does Abe have good ideas? How long can he be prime minister?" Indeed, Abe Nobuyuki, Hirannuma's successor, would endure a mere four and a half months before resigning in ignominy. Tonight's feast showcased Chiang's favored cuisines: delicate Jiangsu-Zhejiang dishes mingled with robust Sichuan flavors. Chiang abstained from alcohol, raising his cup in mere symbolic toasts to his guests. During the meal, as if by unspoken accord, no one broached the raging domestic battles or the volatile international landscape; conversations meandered through trivialities, skirting anything heavy or discordant, a fragile bubble of normalcy.   On September 3, Britain and France had declared war on Germany, shattering the global order in a seismic shift. Foreign newspapers already bandied the term "Second World War," a phrase that evoked freshness, exhilaration, and sheer terror in equal measure. China's diplomacy surged with newfound vigor. In April, Ambassador to the US Wang Zhengting had negotiated a $20 million loan with American banks on China's behalf. In May, Stalin responded to Chiang's overtures, agreeing to exchange arms for Chinese tea, wool, raw hides, and more. A month later, the first consignment of light and heavy weapons—including artillery and heavy machine guns—arrived via clandestine routes through Xinjiang and Mongolia, bolstering the central army's frontlines. In August, Hu Shih, Wellington Koo, and Chien Tai represented the Nationalist Government at the 19th League of Nations Assembly, laying bare the Japanese imperialists' atrocities in China before the world and rallying global forces for peace to support China's defiant stand. Soon after, British and American civic groups ignited "China Week" campaigns, pressing their governments to aid the beleaguered nation. Waves of foreign volunteers streamed in from distant shores: doctors, journalists, ordnance engineers, even retired soldiers clamoring to join the fray on the frontlines.   "If we could pull America into this war..." Through Soong May-ling's subtle, persuasive influence, Chiang allowed himself to daydream of that prosperous, dynamic young powerhouse across the vast ocean. Thus, on this Mid-Autumn night, his talk turned to America, to his correspondence with President Roosevelt regarding the "tung oil loan." That saga had unfolded the previous October; T.V. Soong had jetted to America, securing a loan with China's tung oil, a commodity scarce in the US, as collateral. China had boldly requested $400 million; America countered with $25 million, a classic tale of "ask high, settle low." Yet, the funds were secured. One success paved the way for many. Soong May-ling had once confided to Chiang: "In mobilizing US aid for China's resistance, I'll make a difference." When Chiang responded with a smile, "Thank you, Madam," he could scarcely foresee how his beautiful wife's extraordinary prowess in fulfilling this solemn vow would astonish him, etching eternal glory for Chinese women worldwide and elevating Soong May-ling to the zenith of her life's achievements.   The most direct echo of the First Battle of Changsha's thunderous saga resides in the Ninth War Zone's meticulous report on the northern Hunan and southern Hubei operations, submitted to the Chongqing Military Committee and Chiang Kai-shek himself, a faded relic now entombed amid the vast ocean of Nationalist Government military and political archives in Nanjing's Second Historical Archives of China. This document, a painstaking compilation of combat dispatches from divisions, armies, and army groups, stands as a testament to valor and sacrifice. Tragically, time's relentless march and human folly have ravaged this priceless artifact, leaving only shards and whispers to conjure the heart-wrenching inferno of that bloody clash.   "October 24, Year 28. Urgent. To Chongqing. Chairman Chiang. Secret. Submitted by Commander Xue on orders." The rice paper has yellowed to a deep, somber hue, brittle and parched; a careless touch could reduce it to dust. Some pages lie fractured, their remnants affixed to white paper, forever unable to reclaim their original wholeness. Leafing through page by page unleashes a pungent miasma, a scorched, acrid, decayed blend that assaults the senses. Traces of fire and water mar the original rice paper sheets, with countless fragments glued haphazardly to white backings, their sequences lost to eternity.   "...The Xin Qiang River spanning from Lujiao to Leishi Mountain, defending a front of over 110 li..." "Enemy 13th and 33rd Divisions, parts of the Hata Detachment, naval units, and artillery, cavalry, engineers totaling..." "...Began attacking us first with artillery... fortifications completely destroyed, then infantry charged; relying on our officers and men all resolved to coexist with the homeland..." "...And launched balloons to direct artillery... our army braved the cannons... repelled them, corpses filling the river, turning the water red..." "Division casualties also reached over a thousand... failed to inflict greater strikes and annihilate... deep inner guilt, besides vigorously training troops awaiting orders to kill the enemy..." "...Attack casualties heavy, then concentrated large forces... artillery fire so dense like continuous firecrackers for hours... released poison gas, Wang Street garrison all heroically sacrificed, then breached... Zhao Gongwu kowtows, October 15"   Zhao Gongwu commanded the 2nd Division under Zhang Yaoming's 52nd Army. This unit first held the line along the Xin Qiang River, then fell back to northeast of Fengjiang Bridge to staunch the enemy tide once more; after October 6, it hammered southward-marching Japanese from the west in the Yanglin Street and Dajing Street regions. Through these crucibles, the division bled over half its strength. A fragment of an envelope clings to a sheet of white paper, its words faintly visible: "Changsha 126-3 Zhang Yaoming," "Hunan Jinjing Air Mail," "Combat Process by..." and the like. The stamp remains remarkably intact—a philatelic gem now. Measuring 1.5 cm square, it features Sun Yat-sen's portrait at its center, inscribed "Republic of China Post" below, with "5" in the upper right, "fen" to the left, and "5" in each lower corner. I sat at the long table in the spacious, brightly lit reading room, staring vacantly, my thoughts grinding to a halt. These remnants are all that endure for posterity, of that monumental battle, of the scorching blood and vanished lives of countless unnamed Chinese soldiers. With hands that once gripped a rifle, I gently caressed those pages from a bygone era; they were cold, devoid of any lingering breath.   As the full moon of the 15th of the eighth month dissolved into the golden-red blaze of sunrise, Qin Yizhi's 195th Division had already plunged into the rugged mountains and dense forests encircling Fulinpu. Per directives from 15th Army Group Commander Guan Linzheng, the 195th was to forge a new defensive bastion centered on Fulinpu, 40 to 70 kilometers from Changsha. Their mandate: stall the Japanese southward juggernaut, granting precious time for allied forces to muster and fortify around the city. Despite the grueling all-night march, morale soared undimmed. The advance chief of staff doled out positions to each regiment, and the troops dove into fortification labors with fervent zeal. The 195th Division's unyielding stand along the Xin Qiang River had already etched preliminary glory upon this unit in its baptism of fire. "Fame in one battle" echoed as a battle cry throughout the division, where collective honor intertwined with personal valor. Honor and triumph formed the bedrock for soldiers and armies alike. Yet, another fire fueled their resolve.   On September 23, amid the Japanese forcing the Xin Qiang River, Guan Linzheng's voice crackled over the phone to Qin Yizhi: "Facing you is the 6th Division." The 6th Division, a name that ignited fury in Chinese troops and civilians, forever linked to the demonic specter of Tani Hisao. Moments later, the whisper spread like wildfire through every trench: "The Japanese army that perpetrated the Nanjing Massacre is right in front." Agitation rippled through the ranks; some donned fresh uniforms and shoes from their packs, casting aside the worn; others flouted discipline to bid farewells to hometown comrades: "Today we fight to the death here; see you in the next life." "Tell my mother I died fighting the Nanjing Massacre enemies."   Some company commanders commanded their mess sergeants to expend all funds on hearty feasts. All Japanese were foes, but the 6th Division embodied a blood debt, an unforgivable vendetta; the Chinese nation does not lightly forget its tormentors. In the Xin Qiang River maelstrom, the 195th Division battled with heroic ferocity. Some soldiers, in their final breaths, murmured: "Die then; it's worth it." Others lamented slaying too few devils, gritting teeth, eyes refusing to close in eternal regret. Now under Inaba Shiro's command, the 6th Division splintered southward after breaching the Xin Qiang; roughly a thousand hounded the 195th to Fulinpu. On the morning of September 29, the Japanese blundered into the 195th's meticulously laid ambush. Qin Yizhi, pulse racing with excitement and tension, fumbled the binoculars from his guard's hand. His command sliced the air: "Begin." War history chronicles: "The 6th Division advanced south from the Miluo River along the Xinshi-Liqiao road and Xinshi-Fulinpu routes. The over a thousand reaching Fulinpu were ambushed by the Nationalist 195th Division, suffering heavy losses." As Japanese artillery and aircraft unleashed hell upon the 195th's positions, Qin orchestrated a swift southward withdrawal to the environs of Shangshan City. Again, without pause, they erected fortifications and set deadly traps.   On the morning of September 30, the pursuers from Fulinpu closed in on Shangshan, their numbers swollen to over 1,500. Qin Yizhi clenched his jaw, his demeanor icy calm, allowing the Japanese to creep into the kill zone before barking: "Hit them hard!" Combat raged from dawn to dusk, obliterating over 700 foes. Qin ascended a hill, surveying through binoculars, then erupted: "Bad! The enemy is retreating." Upon receiving Qin's telegram, Guan Linzheng scrutinized the map, momentarily stunned, then replied: "Enemy shows no retreat signs yet; proceed per original plan. Your unit to block at Shangshan City line until October 2." Xianning, Okamura Yasuji's 11th Army HQ.   Combat maps bristled with markings, staff officers darting amid ringing phones and clattering telegrams. The colossal red arrow in northern Hunan had fractured into tributaries, surging over 100 km southward from the outset; one tendril pierced to Yong'an City, a mere 30 km from Changsha. Vast swaths of northern Hunan lay conquered, yet Okamura sensed the tide turning, it was time to retreat. The Chinese employed their time-honored gradual resistance, battling while retreating with cunning grace. Some units fell back directly, others amassed on flanks—what portent did that hold? In Okamura's shrewd mind loomed an equally shrewd Xue Yue; he envisioned his adversary methodically weaving a snare.   Post-Yingtian landing, the 15th Army Group's timely evasion had unraveled his "Xiang-Gan Operation Plan" like fragile thread. If encircling and annihilating the Chinese main force proved unattainable, what purpose in pressing onward? Telegrams from 3rd Division's Fujita Susumu, 6th's Inaba Shiro, and 13th's Tanaka Seiichi piled on his desk, pleading to assault Changsha—for headlines and Imperial accolades, perhaps, but blind to their exposed supply lines vulnerable to enemy thrusts? Ground logistics teetered on collapse; the air force resorted to airdrops for isolated regiments. Venturing further south would stretch lines to breaking; a severed artery spelled doom for the vanguard. When would these commanders mature into true stewards of the Imperial Army? Okamura fretted and pitied them in equal measure.   At 4 p.m. on September 30, Okamura decreed a halt to advances at Shangshan and Yong'an. He commenced orchestrating the retreat. Changsha, Yuelu Mountain, Ninth War Zone Command Forward HQ. October 1. Xue Yue stood before the map, Guan's latest telegram clutched in hand. Qin's second missive insisted on Japanese withdrawal, corroborated by 15th Army Group scouts from Yingtian: This morning (October 1), Japanese transports unloaded artillery stowed the previous night, hauling it back to Yueyang; intercepted wires revealed a regiment aborting its southward push, standing idle. Guan assessed the mosaic and commanded counteroffensives: intercept if feasible, pursue relentlessly, deny the Japanese escape; he relayed retreat indicators to Xue. Xue paced the chamber, head bowed in contemplation. Chief of Staff Wu Yizhi, Staff Director Zhao Zili, and their cadre tracked his every step with expectant eyes, awaiting the verdict. Xue's thoughts whirled through military stratagems and beyond.   Pre-war, Xue had segmented the war zone's forces into tripartite blocs: Northern Hunan under Guan Linzheng's 15th, Yang Sen's 27th, and Shang Zhen's 20th Army Groups as "A Cluster"; Northern Jiangxi Nanchang with Yunnan Army Lu Han's 1st Army Group and the 74th Army as "B Cluster"; the Wuning, Xiushui, Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi border guarded by Sichuan Army Wang Lingji's 30th Army Corps, Fan Songpu's Border Advance Army, and 8th Army; augmented by 3 armies' 7 divisions in general reserve. Before the storm broke, Xue pored over maps, tracing every mountain, river, road, and bridge, envisioning burial grounds for the invaders.   Now, beneath Changsha, 200,000 troops formed a tightening net. The "decisive battle in Changsha suburbs" blueprint had been wired to Chongqing. Chiang and the nation yearned for a resounding triumph as the resistance pivoted into a new epoch?! A masterful drama, honed over half a month's toil, neared its crescendo; yet that cunning fox appeared to sniff the trap's metallic tang, freezing in place. "Commander, phone from Minister Chen." "Brother Boling, good news." Chen Cheng's voice brimmed with levity, "Your formal appointment published. What? Ninth War Zone Commander! First to congratulate; document tomorrow." Shedding the "acting" prefix was inevitable; Chiang had intimated as much long ago. But for a man and general, true worth lay not in titles, but in forging indelible feats. Splendor was judged not by underlings, colleagues, or superiors, but by peers in the craft of war.   Unmoved by the promotion, Xue exhaled a profound sigh. Though the 15th's intelligence couldn't confirm a wholesale retreat, preparations for dual contingencies were imperative. Victories came hard; a splendid battle, harder still. He summoned Wu Yizhi and Zhao Zili to devise countermeasures for the enemy's potential flight. October 2, Sichuan Army Yang Sen's 27th Army Group, Yang Gancai's 134th Division special service company, under Company Commander Wan Mingyu, slogged through the profound mountains and forests on the northern Mufu Mountains' flanks. The 134th's covert mandate: infiltrate enemy rear via treacherous terrain, sabotage supply arteries in the Chongyang-Xianning sector, and deliver a dagger to the Japanese spine when opportunity struck, bolstering frontal defenses.   Past 3 p.m., a crystalline mountain stream materialized. Wan decreed a respite. Over 100 soldiers, drained from a half-day's ascent, collapsed like puppets with severed strings. Most propped their torsos with rifles in one hand, fanning hats to ward off the relentless forest mosquitoes with the other. Regaining breath, they devoured rations washed down with stream water. Some unfurled towels and ventured downstream, letting the cool flow rinse away layers of sweat. Then, a muted engine drone encroached from the heavens. Wan peered through the foliage: a low-flying plane vectored southward, its wings emblazoned with the Rising Sun.   A transport; Wan recognized the temporary Japanese airfield near Xianning. With lines overextended, airdrops sustained isolated units. Wan was prying open a can with his bayonet, the tip etching a cross on the lid before levering along the edge; paired with a rice ball, it promised a savory repast. His orderly proffered a cup of fresh stream water; 2nd Platoon Leader Hu Yaozong perched nearby on a rock, smirking, poised to pilfer from the opened tin. Wan warded off this Sichuan Pixian compatriot. The plane droned overhead then.   Both glanced skyward; the platoon quipped: "Open quick, damn, I'll repay two cans later." Commander: "Want cans? Sky has; shoot plane down, enough for two lifetimes, bloat your mother-in-law first." The can hailed from a prior supply raid. Platoon: "You want me to shoot the plane?" Commander: "Bastard! You shooting or not?" The platoon snatched the light machine gun from a tree fork, jamming the butt against his belly, one hand on the grip, aiming crudely: "Come down, you turtle son!" The other hand squeezed the trigger. Wan assumed jest, resuming his task. "Da-da-da..." Wan jolted; the half-opened can tumbled to his feet, spilling Japanese fish onto Chinese soil. Recoil floored the platoon; he hurled the gun like a branding iron, face ashen. Inspecting the trigger, he snarled: "Whose damn fault, why no safety?!" The gunner dashed over; tall and even-tempered: "Safety was on; how'd it fire without pulling?" Wan's initial panic: "Damn! Position exposed."   The company spearheaded the division's reinforced regiment to raze a recent Japanese depot, guarded by a mere company—but exposure doomed the regiment deep in hostile territory. The assault had been plotted for days; pre-departure, Yang Gancai had toasted them. Wan had sworn a blood oath: No return to Sichuan without success. Hu had jested then: "No Sichuan return means wanting Hunan girl as concubine." Banter was fine in peace, but in war's grip, this was no trifling errand. Wan unleashed a torrent of curses, rising to survey the environs. The main force lagged 15 km behind; advance or abort post-blunder? Enemy rear was a labyrinth; this isolated band teetered on a razor's edge. As if to compel a choice, the radio operator approached; Wan itched to lash out. In his fury and indecision, a miracle unfolded.   The transport's engines hacked like a consumptive invalid, then a witness spied the plane banking left, plummeting, its nose inexorably toward a colossal rock 3-4 km distant. It rebounded twice on the stone, nose and left wing crumpling; the fuselage, fragile as parchment, tumbled gently, skewing onto the slope amid splintered trees. Wan gaped, then bellowed: "Assemble!" The men snapped from reverie, charging downhill in a frenzied cascade. One hour later, 134th Deputy Commander and Reinforced Regiment Commander Liu decoded Wan's vanguard transmission via radio. Another hour passed before Liu received Yang Gancai's directive: Abort Mountain Leopard operation; return with documents expeditiously. One day hence, October 3, Okamura Yasuji's original retreat order from October 2 dawn, addressed to northern Hunan's 6th, 33rd Divisions, Nara and Uemura Detachments, plus its Chinese translation, landed on Xue Yue's desk.   Fifteen days later, at the Changsha Victory Celebration, unit accolades were proclaimed; for "shooting down enemy plane, obtaining vital enemy documents," meritorious honors went to 134th Commander Yang Gancai and Deputy Liu. Each received 1000 yuan and one 3rd Class Baoding Medal. Okamura's October 2 order original: Chinese forces retreated to Miluo and Xiushui Rivers banks assembling; to avoid disadvantage, this army should quickly withdraw to original positions, restore combat strength.   Withdrawal plan as follows: … Xue's October 3 order original:   "Northern Hunan frontal units with current posture immediately pursue facing enemy fiercely, must capture in Chongyang-Yueyang south area. ... Pursuit units may detach part to monitor and sweep enemy collection troops; main force execute overtaking pursuit... Already deep behind enemy advance units vigorously destroy enemy transport lines, cut escape routes."   From October 3, Chinese forces unleashed ferocious counteroffensives against the Japanese on three fronts: northern Hunan, southern Hubei, and the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi border; the invaders receded like a vanishing tide, never to reclaim their ground. The 25th and 195th Divisions hounded the 6th Division and Nara Detachment from Fulinpu back to the Miluo River, then to the Xin Qiang River. On October 8, the Japanese fled across the Xin Qiang; the 195th's 566th Brigade surged in pursuit, launching a nocturnal raid on Xitang-Jianshan. Gains were modest, but the enemy, entrenched in their den, resisted with feral tenacity. Qin commanded the brigade's withdrawal southward; northern Hunan operations concluded.   In southern Hubei, the 79th Army chased remnants of the 33rd Division from Sanyan Bridge to Pingjiang, across Nanjiang Bridge, hounding them back to their Tongcheng lair. On the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi border, 30th Army Group Commander Wang Lingji orchestrated a pincer against Japanese at Xiushui. The foes retreated to Sandu, mounting a stubborn defense. Chinese assaults faltered for three days; on the fourth night's blitz, victory crowned their efforts, expelling the invaders to their original Wuning stronghold. With both armies reclaiming pre-war lines, the First Battle of Changsha drew to its resounding close.   Over days, Xue Yue received a deluge of congratulatory telegrams and letters from the Nationalist Government, Military Committee, National Assembly, myriad civic groups, party officials, and social luminaries. As hoped, among them was Chiang Kai-shek's effusive missive, brimming with joy. For Xue Yue, this one sufficed. Chiang Kai-shek's telegram to Xue Yue:   "In this northern Hunan campaign, over half the enemy was annihilated. The triumphant news has invigorated the nation, all due to effective command and soldiers' valor; I commend without reservation. Thoroughly investigate and report meritorious personnel from this battle; also report the dead and wounded for awards and relief. With this initial victory foundation laid, our officers and men's responsibilities grow heavier; urge your subordinates to extra vigilance, redoubled effort, avoiding arrogance or complacency, to amass great achievements, my deepest hopes."   As if countering Chongqing's high-powered broadcasts, Japanese radios in Wuhan, Nanjing, Beiping, and Manchukuo blared at full volume: "In this Xiang-Gan operation, valiant Imperial forces penetrated over 100 km into northern Hunan, sweeping anti-peace elements, routing Chinese central main forces, inflicting over 40,000 enemy casualties, a pivotal triumph advancing the holy war. Having achieved objectives, Imperial troops have victoriously withdrawn..."   In the aftermath of the First Battle of Changsha, the Japanese high command spun a tale of calculated restraint, insisting their assault was merely a spoiling raid, a calculated jab never intended to seize and hold the city indefinitely. With brazen confidence, they downplayed their toll, claiming a mere 850 souls lost to death and 2,700 wounded in the fray, while boastfully asserting they had slain 44,000 Chinese defenders and taken 4,000 captive, painting a picture of overwhelming triumph amid the smoke and ruin. Yet, foreign military observers, peering through the fog of propaganda with detached scrutiny, painted a starkly different canvas. They gauged Chinese losses at a far more tempered 20,000 killed and wounded, a heavy but bearable scar on the nation's resolve, while estimating Japanese casualties soared to around 30,000, a grievous hemorrhage that belied the invaders' claims of minimal sacrifice. Military historian Michael Clodfelter, sifting through the annals of conflict, ventured an even grimmer tally: a staggering 50,000 Japanese casualties endured in the relentless clash, a testament to the ferocity of Chinese resistance and the high price of imperial ambition. In the battle's locale, neither side claimed clear victory, but globally for the resistance, it favored China. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The First Battle of Changsha unfolded in September 1939 during China's War of Resistance Against Japan. Japanese forces under Okamura Yasuji advanced into Hunan and Jiangxi, crossing rivers and capturing key positions like Yingtian amid fierce Chinese defenses led by Xue Yue. 

For two decades, investigative journalist Ethan Gutmann has been researching how the Chinese Communist Party secretly harvests the organs of prisoners of conscience and kills them in the process.He authored the groundbreaking 2014 work “The Slaughter” and, more recently, “The Xinjiang Procedure.”In his latest book, he gathers evidence of how the regime—which has long targeted Falun Gong practitioners for their organs—is now exploiting captive Uyghurs for this same macabre industry.Gutmann traveled to Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkey to interview dozens of Uyghurs and Kazaks who had managed to escape after being imprisoned in camps in Xinjiang, China, also known as East Turkestan. Many spoke to him at great personal risk to themselves and their loved ones.What they revealed to him was nothing short of horrific.A central witness named “Samal” described working in one of four medical labs located several stories below the concentration camp. One of the clinics—the one she worked in—was used for intestinal removal.“The other three clinics were there to remove organs. You couldn't see them, but occasionally the door would open. You‘d see somebody handling a kidney, a liver, and so forth. Every day that she worked there … there'd be eight or nine bodies. Sometimes it was as many as 20,” Gutmann said.During his research, Gutmann realized a disturbing pattern. Many of those who disappeared in the middle of the night from the camps were typically 28 or 29 years old.He believes the CCP has made this age demographic its primary target for forced organ harvesting.“You are at the peak of your health. At that point, your organs have stopped growing,” Gutmann says.In this episode, he breaks down the devastating evidence he's uncovered—and the failure of Western institutions to address these crimes.The spread of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) technology—which keeps organs oxygenated and viable for many hours—has made the CCP's organ trade even more lucrative than before.“Suddenly,” he told me, “you can pull a lot more organs off a single person and get them to distribute them around. And so the profit margin goes way up on a single human being from $100,000 up to almost a million dollars, if they were selling to foreigners.”Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Over the Easter break, the next two episodes of the podcast will be archival episodes covering the medieval and modern history of Mongolia and Xinjiang. This is in preparation for an episode I'll be doing when I get back on the New Ethnic Unity Policy released by the Chinese government. Our book club book for this month is The Last Quarter of the Moon, also on the theme of ethnic minorities in China, so it's a very topical month!This episode discusses the historical background of the relationship between China and the Xinjiang region, putting into context the current situation of the Uyghur people. It traces Chinese imperial attempts to first turn the area into a vassal, and then incorporate the region entirely into the empire, creating a new nationalist ideology  based on a multicultural identity. The discussion starts from the 8th century AD and the fall of the Uyghur Khaghanate, and ends with the story of the reintegration of Xinjiang into the PRC after 1949, and the CCP's views on the status of the region since then.Buy bookclub books here            Buy me a coffeeLatest Substack postLinks to everythingSupport the showSign up for Buzzsprout to launch your podcasting journey: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=162442Subscribe to the Sinobabble Newsletter: https://sinobabble.substack.com/Support Sinobabble on Buy me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Sinobabblepod 

In this week's episode of China Insider, Miles Yu reviews new policies enacted by China's Education Ministry aimed at reducing excess stress and pressure among primary and secondary school students. Next, Miles looks into China's campaign of transnational repression and coercion against human rights advocates and legal experts with familial ties to members of ethnic minority groups living in China. Finally, Miles discusses the recent political purge of Politburo member and former Xinjiang chief, Ma Xingrui, as the third such purge in recent months related to China's aerospace program. China Insider is a weekly podcast project from Hudson Institute's China Center, hosted by China Center Director and Senior Fellow, Dr. Miles Yu, who provides weekly news that mainstream American outlets often miss, as well as in-depth commentary and analysis on the China challenge and the free world's future. 

SHOW SCHEDULE JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW, 4-1-2026.1602 DUTCH REPUBLIC1. HEADLINE: China's Strategic Role in Global and Middle Eastern Conflicts GUEST: Victoria Coates, Gordon Chang SUMMARY: Experts discuss China's strategic presence in global conflicts, including its reliance on Gulf oil and support for Russia. They analyze China's limited effectiveness as a mediator between the U.S. and Iran. (1)2. HEADLINE: Naval Lessons from the Strait of Hormuz for Taiwan's Defense GUEST: Jim Holmes, Gordon Chang SUMMARY: Professor Jim Holmes applies naval lessons from the Iran war to a potential Taiwan conflict. He emphasizes using geography for defense, prolonging wars to assemble forces, and utilizing low-cost drone technology. (2)3. HEADLINE: Investigating Subversive Chinese Influence and Funding in America GUEST: Charles Burton, Gordon Chang SUMMARY: Charles Burton discusses billionaire Neville Roy Singum's alleged role in funding radical organizations to subvert Western democracy. The discussion highlights China's use of social media algorithms and direct donations to influence youth. (3)4. HEADLINE: Concerns Over U.S.-China Trade Talks and Forced Labor Enforcement GUEST: Charles Burton, Gordon Chang SUMMARY: Analysts express skepticism regarding upcoming trade negotiations between President Trump and Xi Jinping. They also criticize Canada's failure to effectively block Chinese products manufactured using forced labor in Xinjiang. (4)5. HEADLINE: National Security Implications of the Chinese Humanoid Robotics Industry GUEST: Jack Bernham SUMMARY: Jack Bernham explores China's burgeoning humanoid robotics industry and its potential military applications. U.S. senators are moving to block Chinese robots from federal supply chains to prevent security vulnerabilities. (5)6. HEADLINE: Smuggling Operations Evading U.S. AI Chip Export Controls GUEST: Jack Bernham SUMMARY: An indictment reveals a massive operation smuggling $2.5 billion in Nvidia chips to China via Southeast Asia. Experts suggest closing loopholes that allow Chinese firms to purchase chips domestically. (6)7. HEADLINE: Turkey's Diplomatic Strategy as a Mediator in the Iran War GUEST: Sinan Ciddi SUMMARY: President Erdogan seeks to mediate a ceasefire in the Gulf to protect Turkey's weak economy from rising oil prices. However, he also benefits from a weakened Iranian regime countering Israel. (7)8. HEADLINE: Turkey's Patronage of Hamas and Regional Security Concerns GUEST: Sinan Ciddi SUMMARY: Turkey maintains close ties with Hamas leadership, viewing them as a legitimate political movement rather than terrorists. Rumors also suggest Turkey may be aiding the flow of supplies to Hezbollah. (8)9. HEADLINE: European Energy Dependency and the Shift Toward Russia GUEST: Michael Bernstam SUMMARY: Rising energy costs are driving political shifts in Germany and other EU nations toward re-engaging with Russian energy. Despite EU sanctions, Russia is profiting from increased oil prices during the Iran war. (9)10. HEADLINE: Russia's Struggling Economy Amid Prolonged War and Sanctions GUEST: Michael Bernstam SUMMARY: Russia faces a looming recession, high inflation, and a structural contraction due to reduced investment. The government has nationalized private pension funds to finance the war effort and infrastructure projects. (10)11. HEADLINE: The Impact of War and Oil Shocks on Global Interest Rates GUEST: John Cochrane SUMMARY: Professor John Cochrane explains how oil shocks and inflation fears drive up long-term bond rates. He warns that bad policy responses, like price caps, can turn price shocks into sustained inflation. (11)12. HEADLINE: Federal Reserve Policy and the Risks of Stagflation GUEST: John Cochrane SUMMARY: The Federal Reserve is adopting a "wait and see" approach to the current oil shock. Cochrane warns against repeating 1970s mistakes, such as credit controls or failing to act decisively against inflation. (12)13. HEADLINE: NASA's Artemis 2 Mission and the New Lunar Frontier GUEST: Douglas Messier, David Livingston SUMMARY: Douglas Messier details the upcoming Artemis 2 mission, the first crewed flight to the moon since 1972. The 10-day mission will test the Orion spacecraft's life support and technical systems. (13)14. HEADLINE: International Competition for a Permanent Base on the Moon GUEST: Douglas Messier, David Livingston SUMMARY: NASA plans to establish a permanent lunar base by 2036, facing competition from a joint Chinese-Russian program. Success relies on commercial landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin to reach the South Pole. (14)15. HEADLINE: Re-examining Russian Interference in the 2016 U.S. Election GUEST: Craig Unger SUMMARY: Journalist Craig Unger reviews the events of October 7, 2016, involving DHS warnings of Russian hacking and the release of the Access Hollywood tape. He argues the timing benefited the Trump campaign. (15)16. HEADLINE: Alleged Long-Term Financial Ties Between Trump and Russian Intelligence GUEST: Craig Unger SUMMARY: Craig Unger discusses alleged ties between Donald Trump and Russian intelligence dating back to the 1980s. He claims the Russian mafia used Trump real estate for money laundering to bail out his businesses. (16)

4. HEADLINE: Concerns Over U.S.-ChinaTrade Talks and Forced Labor Enforcement GUEST: Charles Burton, Gordon Chang SUMMARY: Analysts express skepticism regarding upcoming trade negotiations between President Trump and Xi Jinping. They also criticize Canada's failure to effectively block Chinese products manufactured using forced labor in Xinjiang. (4)1935 JUBAIL, ARABIA. CALIFORNIA-ARABIA STANDARD OIL EXPEDITION

Over the Easter break, the next two episodes of the podcast will be archival episodes covering the medieval and modern history of Mongolia and Xinjiang. This is in preparation for an episode I'll be doing when I get back on the New Ethnic Unity Policy released by the Chinese government. Our book club book for this month is The Last Quarter of the Moon, also on the theme of ethnic minorities in China, so it's a very topical month!The second episode of three  on the CCP's incorporation of the periphery into the PRC after 1949. We discuss the historical relationship between the Mongolian people and the Mainland Han Chinese people, to give context to why modern China feels that Inner Mongolia is part of the great Chinese nation.At the end of the episode, we discuss the numerous articles on attitudes towards sex in China that I've come across in my casual reading. We highlight a woman working towards bringing foreplay into Chinese couples' bedrooms, and a survey revealing the lack of sexual knowledge among Chinese university students.Buy bookclub books here            Buy me a coffeeLatest Substack postLinks to everythingSupport the showSign up for Buzzsprout to launch your podcasting journey: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=162442Subscribe to the Sinobabble Newsletter: https://sinobabble.substack.com/Support Sinobabble on Buy me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Sinobabblepod 

Lee Moore's new book challenges both Chinese state propaganda and Western pundits on Taiwan, Xinjiang, the Chinese economy, and Hong Kong with 1400 endnotes, and a drinking game for beheadings. A historian who writes about Ming emperors getting stabbed in the balls, a drinking game for beheadings in Xinjiang, and why almost everything politicians say about Taiwan's history is wrong. In this episode, we talk with Lee Moore about China's Backstory: The History Beijing Doesn't Want You to Read. It is often said that China is the most talked-about country that Americans know the least about. Lee's book seeks to enlighten readers with a fresh perspective and a deep dive into four China-related topics that frequently appear in American media: Taiwan, Xinjiang, the Chinese economy, and Hong Kong. Despite his academic credentials, Lee has chosen to write the book in an accessible style that Jeremiah characterizes as “making the complex simple and the simple complex — complicating narratives without complicating the language, and simplifying complicated histories without dumbing them down.” With this lively and occasionally risqué prose style (one chapter is entitled “The Most Important Motherfucker in Taiwanese History”), Lee challenges the simplistic historical narratives that often dominate both Chinese state propaganda and Western commentary on China. Our conversation explores several of the historical questions raised in his book. Was Taiwan always a part of China? It did not even appear on Chinese maps until the 17th century, and the Qing Dynasty did not take control of the island until a year after William Penn founded Philadelphia. Were the Uyghurs the first inhabitants of Xinjiang? The answer is complicated, but the region's earliest known inhabitants may actually have been Indo-European. And is the Chinese Communist Party's tight state control over the economy really the “secret sauce” behind China's rise? Lee takes direct aim at Western pundits who have argued exactly that. Lee also explains how he makes extensive use of Chinese poetry — from Tang Dynasty border verse to Qing-era colonial writing — translated into colloquial English, to convey the emotions and states of mind of the historical figures who populate his book. Lee Moore has a PhD in Chinese literature. He is the founder of the Chinese Literature Podcast and has written for The Economist, the China Books Review, and The China Project. China's Backstory: The History Beijing Doesn't Want You to Read is available from Unsung Voices Books wherever books are sold. Find the Chinese Literature Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Warning/Advertisement: This episode contains explicit language.

Stephen talks to Salih Hudayar, Uyghur politician and the Foreign Minister of the East Turkistan Government-in-Exile.www.send7.org

John talks to Lee Moore about his 2025 book China's Backstory: The History Beijing Doesn't Want You to Read, which focuses on four important China-related stories that often make headlines: Taiwan, Xinjiang, the Chinese economy, and Hong Kong. In this conversation, Lee and John focus on Taiwan before 1800. Who were the earliest Chinese arrivals in Taiwan? Which ruler's fondness for older women would impact the island's future? And were there Indigenous cowboys (as in horses and lassos)? Lee takes an unusual "pop-scholarship" approach to history in this book. For example, he uses colloquial translations of Chinese texts and names (meet Mr. Success Zheng), and employs...um..."colorful language." His controversial style will likely generate a mix of head-shaking and nodding approval, but almost everyone will learn something new from this episode and enjoy a few laughs.  

The Chinese government under Xi Jinping placed an estimated one million Uyghurs in concentration camps, subjecting them to forced labor and other horrific abuses. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has also destroyed or modified mosques all as part of a “sinicization” policy to assimilate by force or to eliminate perceived non-CCP influences and ethnic minority communities. U.S. government responses have included sanctions; legislation, such as the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act; and the determination that the CCP is committing “genocide against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang.”On this episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, Chair Vicky Hartzler speaks with Jewher Ilham, a Uyghur advocate, author, and filmmaker, and Adrian Zenz, Senior Fellow and Director in China Studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.

① During a visit to an information technology innovation park in Beijing, President Xi Jinping stressed self-reliance in science and technology. How can China achieve this strategic goal? (00:53) ② What is China's vision for this year's APEC Leader' Meeting that will be held in Shenzhen? (15:15) ③ We explore how Epstein files are raising questions about US elite ties. (24:53) ④ Indian farm unions and opposition parties have called for nationwide protests against a new trade framework between India and the United States. Will the agreement put India's farmers at a disadvantage? (32:03) ⑤ In China, winter sports were traditionally concentrated in Xinjiang and the northeast. Why are they gaining traction in the country's south nowadays? (42:12)

China is as wide as the United States - so why does the entire country share just one time zone? From dark 9 a.m. mornings in Xinjiang to midnight sunsets and the quiet politics of "Beijing time," this episode explores how something as simple as a clock can become a tool of unity, control, and resistance. Then we chat with Comedian Dan Wilbur.  Did you know The Internet Says It's True is now a book? Get it here: https://amzn.to/4miqLNy Review this podcast at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-internet-says-it-s-true/id1530853589 Bonus episodes and content available at http://Patreon.com/MichaelKent For special discounts and links to our sponsors, visit http://theinternetsaysitstrue.com/deals  

John Ross talks to Lee Moore about his book, China's Backstory: The History Beijing Doesn't Want You to Read (2025, Unsung Voices Books). The book looks at the four important China-related stories that often make headlines: Taiwan, Xinjiang, the Chinese economy, and Hong Kong. In this conversation, Lee and John focus mainly on the history of Xinjiang and the Uyghurs, but also cover a wide range of other topics. Hoping to reach a broad audience, Lee took an unusual approach to writing China's Backstory; although a scholar, he uses colloquial translations of Chinese texts, peppers his paragraphs with colorful language, and generally has a lot of fun. The approach is sure to generate controversy. The book is factually sound, however (it comes with endnotes), and has numerous literary references, as we would expect from the host of the long-running Chinese Literature Podcast.Lee Moore's book: China's Backstory: The History Beijing Doesn't Want You to Read (2025, Unsung Voices Books).Lee's podcast: Chinese Literature Podcast Lee Moore's book recommendationsHe went with three books on China which he describes as “old school scholarship” and ones that most BOA listeners will likely not have read.  1. Michael Pollak's Mandarins, Jews and Missionaries: Jewish Experience in the Chinese Empire (1980, Jewish Publication Society of America)2. Sarah Paine's Imperial Rivals: China, Russia and Their Disputed Frontier (1996, M. E. Sharpe)3. Hodong Kim's Holy War in China: The Muslim Rebellion and State in Chinese Central Asia, 1864-1877 (2004, Stanford University Press)     The Books on Asia Podcast is co-produced with Plum Rain Press. Podcast host Amy Chavez is author of The Widow, the Priest, and the Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island. and Amy's Guide to Best Behavior in Japan.The Books on Asia website posts book reviews, podcast episodes and episode Show Notes. Subscribe to the BOA podcast from your favorite podcast service. Subscribe to the Books on Asia newsletter to receive news of the latest new book releases, reviews and podcast episodes.

In this powerful episode, Ray Powell and Jim Carouso sit down with Yaqiu Wang, a leading human rights advocate and fellow at the University of Chicago's Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression. Born and raised in China, Wang offers a rare, insider perspective on what it really means to live under Xi Jinping's surveillance state - and why the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) domestic repression is no longer just a “China problem,” but a direct threat to global freedom and Indo-Pacific security.Most Westerners assume Chinese citizens have struck a “grand bargain” - trading freedom for economic prosperity. Wang dismantles this myth, revealing a population that never agreed to this trade-off but is coerced into silence by a sophisticated apparatus of fear. She explains how the CCP exports its model of digital authoritarianism to countries across Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America, embedding surveillance tools into “smart city” projects that threaten democratic norms worldwide.Key Topics Discussed:The Surveillance State: Wang describes the psychological toll of living in a society where every digital interaction is monitored, leading to deep-seated self-censorship that follows Chinese citizens even after they emigrate to the West.The WeChat Trap: Discover how the “super app” WeChat functions as a Trojan horse for CCP influence, effectively holding the Chinese diaspora hostage by controlling their primary news source and connection to family back home.Xinjiang & Human Rights: An in-depth look at the mass internment of Uyghurs, the predictive policing algorithms that flag innocent behaviors (like buying gym weights) as terrorist threats, and the heartbreak of watching the U.S. retreat from its role as a global champion of human rights.Transnational Repression: How Beijing's reach extends far beyond its borders, harassing dissidents on foreign soil and pressuring foreign governments to silence critics.Tune in to understand why the fight for human rights in China is inextricably linked to the national security of the United States and its allies.About the Guest:Yaqiu is a prominent researcher and activist who previously led China research at Human Rights Watch and Freedom House. She has testified before the U.S. Congress on issues ranging from internet censorship to women's rights and continues to be a vocal advocate for the Chinese people despite personal risks.

Last time we spoke about the climax of the battle of Lake Khasan. In August, the Lake Khasan region became a tense theater of combat as Soviet and Japanese forces clashed around Changkufeng and Hill 52. The Soviets pushed a multi-front offensive, bolstered by artillery, tanks, and air power, yet the Japanese defenders held firm, aided by engineers, machine guns, and heavy guns. By the ninth and tenth, a stubborn Japanese resilience kept Hill 52 and Changkufeng in Japanese hands, though the price was steep and the field was littered with the costs of battle. Diplomatically, both sides aimed to confine the fighting and avoid a larger war. Negotiations trudged on, culminating in a tentative cease-fire draft for August eleventh: a halt to hostilities, positions to be held as of midnight on the tenth, and the creation of a border-demarcation commission. Moscow pressed for a neutral umpire; Tokyo resisted, accepting a Japanese participant but rejecting a neutral referee. The cease-fire was imperfect, with miscommunications and differing interpretations persisting.    #185 Operation Hainan Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. After what seemed like a lifetime over in the northern border between the USSR and Japan, today we are returning to the Second Sino-Japanese War. Now I thought it might be a bit jarring to dive into it, so let me do a brief summary of where we are at, in the year of 1939. As the calendar turned to 1939, the Second Sino-Japanese War, which had erupted in July 1937 with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident and escalated into full-scale conflict, had evolved into a protracted quagmire for the Empire of Japan. What began as a swift campaign to subjugate the Republic of China under Chiang Kai-shek had, by the close of 1938, transformed into a war of attrition. Japanese forces, under the command of generals like Shunroku Hata and Yasuji Okamura, had achieved stunning territorial gains: the fall of Shanghai in November 1937 after a brutal three-month battle that cost over 200,000 Chinese lives; the infamous capture of Nanjing in December 1937, marked by the Nanjing Massacre where an estimated 300,000 civilians and disarmed soldiers were killed in a six-week orgy of violence; and the sequential occupations of Xuzhou in May 1938, Wuhan in October 1938, and Guangzhou that same month.  These victories secured Japan's control over China's eastern seaboard, major riverine arteries like the Yangtze, and key industrial centers, effectively stripping the Nationalists of much of their economic base. Yet, despite these advances, China refused to capitulate. Chiang's government had retreated inland to the mountainous stronghold of Chongqing in Sichuan province, where it regrouped amid the fog-laden gorges, drawing on the vast human reserves of China's interior and the resilient spirit of its people. By late 1938, Japanese casualties had mounted to approximately 50,000 killed and 200,000 wounded annually, straining the Imperial Japanese Army's resources and exposing the vulnerabilities of overextended supply lines deep into hostile territory. In Tokyo, the corridors of the Imperial General Headquarters and the Army Ministry buzzed with urgent deliberations during the winter of 1938-1939. The initial doctrine of "quick victory" through decisive battles, epitomized by the massive offensives of 1937 and 1938, had proven illusory. Japan's military planners, influenced by the Kwantung Army's experiences in Manchuria and the ongoing stalemate, recognized that China's sheer size, with its 4 million square miles and over 400 million inhabitants, rendered total conquest unfeasible without unacceptable costs. Intelligence reports highlighted the persistence of Chinese guerrilla warfare, particularly in the north where Communist forces under Mao Zedong's Eighth Route Army conducted hit-and-run operations from bases in Shanxi and Shaanxi, sabotaging railways and ambushing convoys. The Japanese response included brutal pacification campaigns, such as the early iterations of what would later formalize as the "Three Alls Policy" (kill all, burn all, loot all), aimed at devastating rural economies and isolating resistance pockets. But these measures only fueled further defiance. By early 1939, a strategic pivot was formalized: away from direct annihilation of Chinese armies toward a policy of economic strangulation. This "blockade and interdiction" approach sought to sever China's lifelines to external aid, choking off the flow of weapons, fuel, and materiel that sustained the Nationalist war effort. As one Japanese staff officer noted in internal memos, the goal was to "starve the dragon in its lair," acknowledging the limits of Japanese manpower, total forces in China numbered around 1 million by 1939, against China's inexhaustible reserves. Central to this new strategy were the three primary overland supply corridors that had emerged as China's backdoors to the world, compensating for the Japanese naval blockade that had sealed off most coastal ports since late 1937. The first and most iconic was the Burma Road, a 717-mile engineering marvel hastily constructed between 1937 and 1938 by over 200,000 Chinese and Burmese laborers under the direction of engineers like Chih-Ping Chen. Stretching from the railhead at Lashio in British Burma (modern Myanmar) through treacherous mountain passes and dense jungles to Kunming in Yunnan province, the road navigated elevations up to 7,000 feet with hundreds of hairpin turns and precarious bridges. By early 1939, it was operational, albeit plagued by monsoonal mudslides, banditry, and mechanical breakdowns of the imported trucks, many Ford and Chevrolet models supplied via British Rangoon. Despite these challenges, it funneled an increasing volume of aid: in 1939 alone, estimates suggest up to 10,000 tons per month of munitions, gasoline, and aircraft parts from Allied sources, including early Lend-Lease precursors from the United States. The road's completion in 1938 had been a direct response to the loss of southern ports, and its vulnerability to aerial interdiction made it a prime target in Japanese planning documents. The second lifeline was the Indochina route, centered on the French-built Yunnan-Vietnam Railway (also known as the Hanoi-Kunming Railway), a 465-mile narrow-gauge line completed in 1910 that linked the port of Haiphong in French Indochina to Kunming via Hanoi and Lao Cai. This colonial artery, supplemented by parallel roads and river transport along the Red River, became China's most efficient supply conduit in 1938-1939, exploiting France's uneasy neutrality. French authorities, under Governor-General Pierre Pasquier and later Georges Catroux, turned a blind eye to transshipments, allowing an average of 15,000 to 20,000 tons monthly in early 1939, far surpassing the Burma Road's initial capacity. Cargoes included Soviet arms rerouted via Vladivostok and American oil, with French complicity driven by anti-Japanese sentiment and profitable tolls. However, Japanese reconnaissance flights from bases in Guangdong noted the vulnerability of bridges and rail yards, leading to initial bombing raids by mid-1939. Diplomatic pressure mounted, with Tokyo issuing protests to Paris, foreshadowing the 1940 closure under Vichy France after the fall of France in Europe. The route's proximity to the South China Sea made it a focal point for Japanese naval strategists, who viewed it as a "leak in the blockade." The third corridor, often overlooked but critical, was the Northwest Highway through Soviet Central Asia and Xinjiang province. This overland network, upgraded between 1937 and 1941 with Soviet assistance, connected the Turkestan-Siberian Railway at Almaty (then Alma-Ata) to Lanzhou in Gansu via Urumqi, utilizing a mix of trucks, camel caravans, and rudimentary roads across the Gobi Desert and Tian Shan mountains. Under the Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact of August 1937 and subsequent aid agreements, Moscow supplied China with over 900 aircraft, 82 tanks, 1,300 artillery pieces, and vast quantities of ammunition and fuel between 1937 and 1941—much of it traversing this route. In 1938-1939, volumes peaked, with Soviet pilots and advisors even establishing air bases in Lanzhou. The highway's construction involved tens of thousands of Chinese laborers, facing harsh winters and logistical hurdles, but it delivered up to 2,000 tons monthly, including entire fighter squadrons like the Polikarpov I-16. Japanese intelligence, aware of this "Red lifeline," planned disruptions but were constrained by the ongoing Nomonhan Incident on the Manchurian-Soviet border in 1939, which diverted resources and highlighted the risks of provoking Moscow. These routes collectively sustained China's resistance, prompting Japan's high command to prioritize their severance. In March 1939, the South China Area Army was established under General Rikichi Andō (later succeeded by Field Marshal Hisaichi Terauchi), headquartered in Guangzhou, with explicit orders to disrupt southern communications. Aerial campaigns intensified, with Mitsubishi G3M "Nell" bombers from Wuhan and Guangzhou targeting Kunming's airfields and the Red River bridges, while diplomatic maneuvers pressured colonial powers: Britain faced demands during the June 1939 Tientsin Crisis to close the Burma Road, and France received ultimatums that culminated in the 1940 occupation of northern Indochina. Yet, direct assaults on Yunnan or Guangxi were deemed too arduous due to rugged terrain and disease risks. Instead, planners eyed peripheral objectives to encircle these arteries. This strategic calculus set the stage for the invasion of Hainan Island, a 13,000-square-mile landmass off Guangdong's southern coast, rich in iron and copper but strategically priceless for its position astride the Indochina route and proximity to Hong Kong. By February 1939, Japanese admirals like Nobutake Kondō of the 5th Fleet advocated seizure to establish air and naval bases, plugging blockade gaps and enabling raids on Haiphong and Kunming, a prelude to broader southern expansion that would echo into the Pacific War. Now after the fall campaign around Canton in autumn 1938, the Japanese 21st Army found itself embedded in a relentless effort to sever the enemy's lifelines. Its primary objective shifted from mere battlefield engagements to tightening the choke points of enemy supply, especially along the Canton–Hankou railway. Recognizing that war materiel continued to flow into the enemy's hands, the Imperial General Headquarters ordered the 21st Army to strike at every other supply route, one by one, until the arteries of logistics were stifled. The 21st Army undertook a series of decisive occupations to disrupt transport and provisioning from multiple directions. To sustain these difficult campaigns, Imperial General Headquarters reinforced the south China command, enabling greater operational depth and endurance. The 21st Army benefited from a series of reinforcements during 1939, which allowed a reorganization of assignments and missions: In late January, the Iida Detachment was reorganized into the Formosa Mixed Brigade and took part in the invasion of Hainan Island.  Hainan, just 15 miles across the Qiongzhou Strait from the mainland, represented a critical "loophole": it lay astride the Gulf of Tonkin, enabling smuggling of arms and materiel from Haiphong to Kunming, and offered potential airfields for bombing raids deep into Yunnan. Japanese interest in Hainan dated to the 1920s, driven by the Taiwan Governor-General's Office, which eyed the island's tropical resources (rubber, iron, copper) and naval potential at ports like Sanya (Samah). Prewar surveys by Japanese firms, such as those documented in Ide Kiwata's Minami Shina no Sangyō to Keizai (1939), highlighted mineral wealth and strategic harbors. The fall of Guangzhou in October 1938 provided the perfect launchpad, but direct invasion was delayed until early 1939 amid debates between the IJA (favoring mainland advances) and IJN (prioritizing naval encirclement). The operation would also heavily align with broader "southward advance" (Nanshin-ron) doctrine foreshadowing invasions of French Indochina (1940) and the Pacific War. On the Chinese side, Hainan was lightly defended as part of Guangdong's "peace preservation" under General Yu Hanmou. Two security regiments, six guard battalions, and a self-defense corps, totaling around 7,000–10,000 poorly equipped troops guarded the island, supplemented by roughly 300 Communist guerrillas under Feng Baiju, who operated independently in the interior. The indigenous Li (Hlai) people in the mountainous south, alienated by Nationalist taxes, provided uneven support but later allied with Communists. The Imperial General Headquarters ordered the 21st Army, in cooperation with the Navy, to occupy and hold strategic points on the island near Haikou-Shih. The 21st Army commander assigned the Formosa Mixed Brigade to carry out this mission. Planning began in late 1938 under the IJN's Fifth Fleet, with IJA support from the 21st Army. The objective: secure northern and southern landing sites to bisect the island, establish air/naval bases, and exploit resources. Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondō, commanding the fleet, emphasized surprise and air superiority. The invasion began under the cover of darkness on February 9, 1939, when Kondō's convoy entered Tsinghai Bay on the northern shore of Hainan and anchored at midnight. Japanese troops swiftly disembarked, encountering minimal initial resistance from the surprised Chinese defenders, and secured a beachhead in the northern zone. At 0300 hours on 10 February, the Formosa Mixed Brigade, operating in close cooperation with naval units, executed a surprise landing at the northeastern point of Tengmai Bay in north Hainan. By 04:30, the right flank reached the main road leading to Fengyingshih, while the left flank reached a position two kilometers south of Tienwei. By 07:00, the right flank unit had overcome light enemy resistance near Yehli and occupied Chiungshan. At that moment there were approximately 1,000 elements of the enemy's 5th Infantry Brigade (militia) at Chiungshan; about half of these troops were destroyed, and the remainder fled into the hills south of Tengmai in a state of disarray. Around 08:30 that same day, the left flank unit advanced to the vicinity of Shuchang and seized Hsiuying Heights. By 12:00, it occupied Haikou, the island's northern port city and administrative center, beginning around noon. Army and navy forces coordinated to mop up remaining pockets of resistance in the northern areas, overwhelming the scattered Chinese security units through superior firepower and organization. No large-scale battles are recorded in primary accounts; instead, the engagements were characterized by rapid advances and localized skirmishes, as the Chinese forces, lacking heavy artillery or air support, could not mount a sustained defense. By the end of the day, Japanese control over the north was consolidating, with Haikou falling under their occupation.Also on 10 February, the Brigade pushed forward to seize Cingang. Wenchang would be taken on the 22nd, followed by Chinglan Port on the 23rd. On February 11, the operation expanded southward when land combat units amphibiously assaulted Samah (now Sanya) at the island's southern tip. This landing allowed them to quickly seize key positions, including the port of Yulin (Yulinkang) and the town of Yai-Hsien (Yaxian, now part of Sanya). With these southern footholds secured, Japanese forces fanned out to subjugate the rest of the island, capturing inland areas and infrastructure with little organized opposition. Meanwhile, the landing party of the South China Navy Expeditionary Force, which had joined with the Army to secure Haikou, began landing on the island's southern shore at dawn on 14 February. They operated under the protection of naval and air units. By the same morning, the landing force had advanced to Sa-Riya and, by 12:00 hours, had captured Yulin Port. Chinese casualties were significant in the brief fighting; from January to May 1939, reports indicate the 11th security regiment alone suffered 8 officers and 162 soldiers killed, 3 officers and 16 wounded, and 5 officers and 68 missing, though figures for other units are unclear. Japanese losses were not publicly detailed but appear to have been light.  When crisis pressed upon them, Nationalist forces withdrew from coastal Haikou, shepherding the last civilians toward the sheltering embrace of the Wuzhi mountain range that bands the central spine of Hainan. From that high ground they sought to endure the storm, praying that the rugged hills might shield their families from the reach of war. Yet the Li country's mountains did not deliver a sanctuary free of conflict. Later in August of 1943, an uprising erupted among the Li,Wang Guoxing, a figure of local authority and stubborn resolve. His rebellion was swiftly crushed; in reprisal, the Nationalists executed a seizure of vengeance that extended far beyond the moment of defeat, claiming seven thousand members of Wang Guoxing's kin in his village. The episode was grim testimony to the brutal calculus of war, where retaliation and fear indelibly etched the landscape of family histories. Against this backdrop, the Communists under Feng Baiju and the native Li communities forged a vigorous guerrilla war against the occupiers. The struggle was not confined to partisan skirmishes alone; it unfolded as a broader contest of survival and resistance. The Japanese response was relentless and punitive, and it fell upon Li communities in western Hainan with particular ferocity, Sanya and Danzhou bore the brunt of violence, as did the many foreign laborers conscripted into service by the occupying power. The toll of these reprisals was stark: among hundreds of thousands of slave laborers pressed into service, tens of thousands perished. Of the 100,000 laborers drawn from Hong Kong, only about 20,000 survived the war's trials, a haunting reminder of the human cost embedded in the occupation. Strategically, the island of Hainan took on a new if coercive purpose. Portions of the island were designated as a naval administrative district, with the Hainan Guard District Headquarters established at Samah, signaling its role as a forward air base and as an operational flank for broader anti-Chiang Kai-shek efforts. In parallel, the island's rich iron and copper resources were exploited to sustain the war economy of the occupiers. The control of certain areas on Hainan provided a base of operations for incursions into Guangdong and French Indochina, while the airbases that dotted the island enabled long-range air raids that threaded routes from French Indochina and Burma into the heart of China. The island thus assumed a grim dual character: a frontier fortress for the occupiers and a ground for the prolonged suffering of its inhabitants. Hainan then served as a launchpad for later incursions into Guangdong and Indochina. Meanwhile after Wuhan's collapse, the Nationalist government's frontline strength remained formidable, even as attrition gnawed at its edges. By the winter of 1938–1939, the front line had swelled to 261 divisions of infantry and cavalry, complemented by 50 independent brigades. Yet the political and military fissures within the Kuomintang suggested fragility beneath the apparent depth of manpower. The most conspicuous rupture came with Wang Jingwei's defection, the vice president and chairman of the National Political Council, who fled to Hanoi on December 18, 1938, leading a procession of more than ten other KMT officials, including Chen Gongbo, Zhou Fohai, Chu Minqi, and Zeng Zhongming. In the harsh arithmetic of war, defections could not erase the country's common resolve to resist Japanese aggression, and the anti-Japanese national united front still served as a powerful instrument, rallying the Chinese populace to "face the national crisis together." Amid this political drama, Japan's strategy moved into a phase that sought to convert battlefield endurance into political consolidation. As early as January 11, 1938, Tokyo had convened an Imperial Conference and issued a framework for handling the China Incident that would shape the theater for years. The "Outline of Army Operations Guidance" and "Continental Order No. 241" designated the occupied territories as strategic assets to be held with minimal expansion beyond essential needs. The instruction mapped an operational zone that compressed action to a corridor between Anqing, Xinyang, Yuezhou, and Nanchang, while the broader line of occupation east of a line tracing West Sunit, Baotou, and the major river basins would be treated as pacified space. This was a doctrine of attrition, patience, and selective pressure—enough to hold ground, deny resources to the Chinese, and await a more opportune political rupture. Yet even as Japan sought political attrition, the war's tactical center of gravity drifted toward consolidation around Wuhan and the pathways that fed the Yangtze. In October 1938, after reducing Wuhan to a fortressed crescent of contested ground, the Japanese General Headquarters acknowledged the imperative to adapt to a protracted war. The new calculus prioritized political strategy alongside military operations: "We should attach importance to the offensive of political strategy, cultivate and strengthen the new regime, and make the National Government decline, which will be effective." If the National Government trembled under coercive pressure, it risked collapse, and if not immediately, then gradually through a staged series of operations. In practice, this meant reinforcing a centralized center while allowing peripheral fronts to be leveraged against Chongqing's grip on the war's moral economy. In the immediate post-Wuhan period, Japan divided its responsibilities and aimed at a standoff that would enable future offensives. The 11th Army Group, stationed in the Wuhan theater, became the spearhead of field attacks on China's interior, occupying a strategic triangle that included Hunan, Jiangxi, and Guangxi, and protecting the rear of southwest China's line of defense. The central objective was not merely to seize territory, but to deny Chinese forces the capacity to maneuver along the critical rail and river corridors that fed the Nanjing–Jiujiang line and the Zhejiang–Jiangxi Railway. Central to this plan was Wuhan's security and the ability to constrain Jiujiang's access to the Yangtze, preserving a corridor for air power and logistics. The pre-war arrangement in early 1939 was a tableau of layered defenses and multiple war zones, designed to anticipate and blunt Japanese maneuver. By February 1939, the Ninth War Zone under Xue Yue stood in a tense standoff with the Japanese 11th Army along the Jiangxi and Hubei front south of the Yangtze. The Ninth War Zone's order of battle, Luo Zhuoying's 19th Army Group defending the northern Nanchang front, Wang Lingji's 30th Army Group near Wuning, Fan Songfu's 8th and 73rd Armies along Henglu, Tang Enbo's 31st Army Group guarding southern Hubei and northern Hunan, and Lu Han's 1st Army Group in reserve near Changsha and Liuyang, was a carefully calibrated attempt to absorb, delay, and disrupt any Xiushui major Japanese thrust toward Nanchang, a city whose strategic significance stretched beyond its own bounds. In the spring of 1939, Nanchang was the one city in southern China that Tokyo could not leave in Chinese hands. It was not simply another provincial capital; it was the beating heart of whatever remained of China's war effort south of the Yangtze, and the Japanese knew it. High above the Gan River, on the flat plains west of Poyang Lake, lay three of the finest airfields China had ever built: Qingyunpu, Daxiaochang, and Xiangtang. Constructed only a few years earlier with Soviet engineers and American loans, they were long, hard-surfaced, and ringed with hangars and fuel dumps. Here the Chinese Air Force had pulled back after the fall of Wuhan, and here the red-starred fighters and bombers of the Soviet volunteer groups still flew. From Nanchang's runways a determined pilot could reach Japanese-held Wuhan in twenty minutes, Guangzhou in less than an hour, and even strike the docks at Hong Kong if he pushed his range. Every week Japanese reconnaissance planes returned with photographs of fresh craters patched, new aircraft parked wing-to-wing, and Soviet pilots sunning themselves beside their I-16s. As long as those fields remained Chinese, Japan could never claim the sky. The city was more than airfields. It sat exactly where the Zhejiang–Jiangxi Railway met the line running north to Jiujiang and the Yangtze, a knot that tied together three provinces. Barges crowded Poyang Lake's western shore, unloading crates of Soviet ammunition and aviation fuel that had come up the river from the Indochina railway. Warehouses along the tracks bulged with shells and rice. To the Japanese staff officers plotting in Wuhan and Guangzhou, Nanchang looked less like a city and more like a loaded spring: if Chiang Kai-shek ever found the strength for a counteroffensive to retake the middle Yangtze, this would be the place from which it would leap. And so, in the cold March of 1939, the Imperial General Headquarters marked Nanchang in red on every map and gave General Okamura the order he had been waiting for: take it, whatever the cost. Capturing the city would do three things at once. It would blind the Chinese Air Force in the south by seizing or destroying the only bases from which it could still seriously operate. It would tear a hole in the last east–west rail line still feeding Free China. And it would shove the Nationalist armies another two hundred kilometers farther into the interior, buying Japan precious time to digest its earlier conquests and tighten the blockade. Above all, Nanchang was the final piece in a great aerial ring Japan was closing around southern China. Hainan had fallen in February, giving the navy its southern airfields. Wuhan and Guangzhou already belonged to the army. Once Nanchang was taken, Japanese aircraft would sit on a continuous arc of bases from the tropical beaches of the South China Sea to the banks of the Yangtze, and nothing (neither the Burma Road convoys nor the French railway from Hanoi) would move without their permission. Chiang Kai-shek's decision to strike first in the Nanchang region in March 1939 reflected both urgency and a desire to seize initiative before Japanese modernization of the battlefield could fully consolidate. On March 8, Chiang directed Xue Yue to prepare a preemptive attack intended to seize the offensive by March 15, focusing the Ninth War Zone's efforts on preventing a river-crossing assault and pinning Japanese forces in place. The plan called for a sequence of coordinated actions: the 19th Army Group to hold the northern front of Nanchang; the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi Border Advance Army (the 8th and 73rd Armies) to strike the enemy's left flank from Wuning toward De'an and Ruichang; the 30th and 27th Army Groups to consolidate near Wuning; and the 1st Army Group to push toward Xiushui and Sandu, opening routes for subsequent operations. Yet even as Xue Yue pressed for action, the weather of logistics and training reminded observers that no victory could be taken for granted. By March 9–10, Xue Yue warned Chiang that troops were not adequately trained, supplies were scarce, and preparations were insufficient, requesting a postponement to March 24. Chiang's reply was resolute: the attack must commence no later than the 24th, for the aim was preemption and the desire to tether the enemy's forces before they could consolidate. When the moment of decision arrived, the Chinese army began to tense, and the Japanese, no strangers to rapid shifts in tempo—moved to exploit any hesitation or fog of mobilization. The Ninth War Zone's response crystallized into a defensive posture as the Japanese pressed forward, marking a transition from preemption to standoff as both sides tested the limits of resilience. The Japanese plan for what would become known as Operation Ren, aimed at severing the Zhejiang–Jiangxi Railway, breaking the enemy's line of communication, and isolating Nanchang, reflected a calculated synthesis of air power, armored mobility, and canalized ground offensives. On February 6, 1939, the Central China Expeditionary Army issued a set of precise directives: capture Nanchang to cut the Zhejiang–Jiangxi Railway and disrupt the southern reach of Anhui and Zhejiang provinces; seize Nanchang along the Nanchang–Xunyi axis to split enemy lines and "crush" Chinese resistance south of that zone; secure rear lines immediately after the city's fall; coordinate with naval air support to threaten Chinese logistics and airfields beyond the rear lines. The plan anticipated contingencies by pre-positioning heavy artillery and tanks in formations that could strike with speed and depth, a tactical evolution from previous frontal assaults. Okamura Yasuji, commander of the 11th Army, undertook a comprehensive program of reconnaissance, refining the assault plan with a renewed emphasis on speed and surprise. Aerial reconnaissance underlined the terrain, fortifications, and the disposition of Chinese forces, informing the selection of the Xiushui River crossing and the route of the main axis of attack. Okamura's decision to reorganize artillery and armor into concentrated tank groups, flanked by air support and advanced by long-range maneuver, marked a departure from the earlier method of distributing heavy weapons along the infantry front. Sumita Laishiro commanded the 6th Field Heavy Artillery Brigade, with more than 300 artillery pieces, while Hirokichi Ishii directed a force of 135 tanks and armored vehicles. This blended arms approach promised a breakthrough that would outpace the Chinese defenders and open routes for the main force. By mid-February 1939, Japanese preparations had taken on a high tempo. The 101st and 106th Divisions, along with attached artillery, assembled south of De'an, while tank contingents gathered north of De'an. The 6th Division began moving toward Ruoxi and Wuning, the Inoue Detachment took aim at the waterways of Poyang Lake, and the 16th and 9th Divisions conducted feints on the Han River's left bank. The orchestration of these movements—feints, riverine actions, and armored flanking, was designed to reduce the Chinese capacity to concentrate forces around Nanchang and to force the defenders into a less secure posture along the Nanchang–Jiujiang axis. Japan's southward strategy reframed the war: no longer a sprint to reduce Chinese forces in open fields, but a patient siege of lifelines, railways, and airbases. Hainan's seizure, the control of Nanchang's airfields, and the disruption of the Zhejiang–Jiangxi Railway exemplified a shift from large-scale battles to coercive pressure that sought to cripple Nationalist mobilization and erode Chongqing's capacity to sustain resistance. For China, the spring of 1939 underscored resilience amid mounting attrition. Chiang Kai-shek's insistence on offensive means to seize the initiative demonstrated strategic audacity, even as shortages and uneven training slowed tempo. The Ninth War Zone's defense, bolstered by makeshift airpower from Soviet and Allied lendings, kept open critical corridors and delayed Japan's consolidation. The war's human cost—massive casualties, forced labor, and the Li uprising on Hainan—illuminates the brutality that fueled both sides' resolve. In retrospect, the period around Canton, Wuhan, and Nanchang crystallizes a grim truth: the Sino-Japanese war was less a single crescendo of battles than a protracted contest of endurance, logistics, and political stamina. The early 1940s would widen these fault lines, but the groundwork laid in 1939, competition over supply routes, air control, and strategic rail nodes, would shape the war's pace and, ultimately, its outcome. The conflict's memory lies not only in the clashes' flash but in the stubborn persistence of a nation fighting to outlast a formidable adversary. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The Japanese invasion of Hainan and proceeding operations to stop logistical leaks into Nationalist China, showcased the complexity and scale of the growing Second Sino-Japanese War. It would not merely be a war of territorial conquest, Japan would have to strangle the colossus using every means necessary.  

Today is the beginning of a three part series I am going to do on the three big Tang poets, Li Bai, Wang Wei and Du Fu. In this episode, we take a look at Li Bai, often considered China's Greatest poet, and his relationship with the regions to China's West, modern day Xinjiang and the Stans. Li Bai has a strange relationship with the West; in fact, he was probably born in modern-day Kyrgyzstan, and was probably Persian, Turkic or maybe even Jewish. That's right, China's greatest poet may not have even been Chinese. Take a listen to the podcast to find out more. 

We interview an American professor in China who teaches at a minority-based University in Beijing. He discusses his 18 years in China, befriending China's minority groups, Xinjiang, and more. Listen in. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hubo un día, en medio de la Guerra Fría, en el que las superpotencias empezaron a mirar hacia abajo, buscando perforar lo más profundo posible en la corteza terrestre, e incluso llegar al manto del planeta. Los científicos estaban convencidos de que, además de los ricos recursos que encontrarían, la información que podrían proporcionar las rocas extraídas de esos pozos súper profundos eran tan importantes como cualquier muestra traída de la Luna. Desde 2023, las noticias de perforaciones nos llegan desde China. Y es que el gigante asiático comenzó entonces a perforar un agujero colosal de 11.000 metros de profundidad. Once kilómetros de herida en la corteza terrestre, en la región de Xinjiang, para intentar alcanzar rocas del sistema cretácico, de hace unos 145 millones de años. Sin embargo, esos once mil metros de los chinos, o incluso los 12.262 metros del famoso Pozo Superprofundo de Kola, en Rusia, son apenas un rasguño. Y es que el radio de nuestro planeta es de unos 6.370 kilómetros. Estamos hablando de que nos queda más del 99% del camino por recorrer para llegar al núcleo interno. Una bola sólida de hierro, tan caliente como la superficie del Sol, pero que se mantiene sólida por la presión inimaginable que soporta.

What happens when China's wine market shrinks by 15% annually since 2019, yet some companies post their best year ever? In this landmark 200th episode of Bottled in China, we assembles an expert roundtable to decode 2025's contradictions and what they mean for 2026.Guests:Nick Marro, Principal Economist for Asia, Economist Intelligence UnitIan Ford, Founding Partner at Nimbility, previously the Co-founder of SummergateMartin Shen, Managing Director, Tiansai Vineyards (Xinjiang)Richard King, Sommelier in Shanghai's fine dining sceneFrom Beijing's anti-corruption crackdown that decimated government banqueting to the surprising surge in aromatic white wines, our panel reveals how "involution"—China's race-to-the-bottom pricing wars—is reshaping everything. Discover why post-2000 consumers spend fortunes on wine pairings but only Instagram the famous labels, how instant retail delivers chilled bottles in 30 minutes, and why Xinjiang is becoming China's hottest wine destination.The verdict? China remains Asia's largest bottled wine market with massive upside in a $300 billion² beverage alcohol sector—but only for those willing to adapt to the new normal.Insights: IWSR Wine Landscapes 2025 - China, ¹Wine market CAGR -14.9% 2019-2024. ²$266 billion TBA value Since 2016, Bottled in China brings you into the food and drink scene through conversations with the some of the most happening personalities. Hosted by Emilie Steckenborn, the show is your one spot for all things food, beer, wine and spirits from across the world. Connect with us on LinkedIn or Instagram @bottled.in.chinaPodcast available on iTunes, Spotify , online or wherever you listen to your episodes! Subscribe to Bottled in China to follow the journey!Check out our new website & find out more at https://www.thebottledshow.com

Check out the episode in its original version here : https://www.gdiy.fr/podcast/ivan-zhao-vo/« On essaie de ne pas être innovants. »C'est comme ça qu'Ivan Zhao a construit l'un des produits les plus innovants de la décennie.Notion n'est pas un outil de gestion de projet.Ce n'est pas un tableau excel, ni un CRM.Ivan l'appelle « le LEGO du software ».Né dans la campagne de Xinjiang, en Chine, où l'électricité est arrivée quand il avait 8 ans, Ivan dirige aujourd'hui une entreprise valorisée 10 milliards de dollars et utilisée par plus de 100 millions de personnes.À 17 ans, Ivan quitte la Chine pour Vancouver.À l'université, trois mondes se rencontrent : l'art, la philosophie et l'informatique.Cette rencontre le plonge dans une spirale qui le pousse à étudier l'histoire du web et de l'informatique. C'est là qu'il découvre une idée qui deviendra Notion.Mais l'histoire de Notion n'est pas celle d'une révolution. C'est celle d'un retour à cette idée : l'informatique devrait être aussi universelle que la lecture et l'écriture.Alors que la plupart des startups courent après les fonctionnalités, Ivan a passé 5 ans à la poursuivre. Ce chemin a failli tuer l'entreprise. Ivan a reconstruit Notion de zéro trois fois.Mais la vraie révolution se passe en interne.Notion consacre désormais l'essentiel de son temps à construire une infrastructure qui fonctionne avec tous les modèles d'IA pour libérer leur pleine puissance.Dans cet épisode, Ivan révèle :L'erreur qui a inspiré toute la philosophie de NotionLa stratégie du « brocoli sucré » : comment cacher la puissance de l'informatique dans des outils familiersPourquoi l'interface de Notion a mis 5 ans à devenir « simple »Pourquoi Notion ne construit aucun modèle d'IA mais les utilise tousComment 300 développeurs chez Notion font le travail de 3 000Le parcours d'Ivan prouve que les meilleurs produits viennent de la compréhension de l'histoire, pas de la course aux tendances.Une masterclass pour apprendre à construire des produits avec une approche philosophique.Vous pouvez contacter Ivan sur X.TIMELINE:00:00:00 : Le logiciel qui remplace tous les autres00:09:53 : Le choc culturel, entre “travailler pour vivretravailler” et “vivre pour travailler”00:27:39 : Comment l'art a façonné le design de Notion00:40:12 : L'informatique devrait être aussi universelle que la lecture et l'écriture00:52:49 : Les fondateurs oubliés de l'informatique01:01:08 : Le secret des grands produits : tout reconstruire de zéro01:09:36 : Le cerveau central de votre entreprise01:21:16 : Peut-on faire tourner une entreprise entière sur Notion ?01:30:36 : Le dilemme de l'IA : quel modèle choisir ?01:39:53 : Comment les agents IA révolutionnent le développement informatique ?01:48:18 : Créer ses propres outils avec NotionLes anciens épisodes de GDIY mentionnés : #487 - VF - Anton Osika - Lovable - Internet, Business et IA : rien ne sera jamais plus comme avant#487 - VO - Anton Osika - Lovable - Internet, Business, and AI: Nothing Will Ever Be the Same AgainNous avons parlé de :Les photos d'IvanLa théorie du système complexeLes recommandations de lecture :What Is a Complex System?, James LadymanVous souhaitez sponsoriser Génération Do It Yourself ou nous proposer un partenariat ?Contactez mon label Orso Media via ce formulaire.Hébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

Retrouvez l'épisode en version française ici : https://www.gdiy.fr/podcast/ivan-zhao-vf/"We try to be not innovative."That's how Ivan Zhao built one of the most innovative products of this decade.Notion isn't a spreadsheet.It's not project management.It's not a CRM.Ivan calls it "the LEGO for software".Born in rural Xinjiang, China, where electricity arrived when he was 8 Ivan now runs a $10 billion company used by more than 100 million people.At 17, Ivan left China for Vancouver.At university, three worlds collided: art, philosophy, and computing. That last one led him down a rabbit hole, he dove into the history of the web, then the history of computing itself. There, he discovered a forgotten vision that would become Notion.But Notion's origin story isn't about disruption. It's about bringing back that vision: computing should be as universal as reading and writing.While most startups chase feature lists, Ivan spent 5 years chasing that bigger idea. This path nearly killed the company. Ivan rebuilt Notion from scratch three times.Today, Notion consolidates several tools for companies like Qonto, L'Oréal, and Toyota, saving them time and money.But the real revolution is happening under the hood.Notion now spends most of its time building infrastructure that works with every AI model to unlock their full power for all customers.In this episode, Ivan reveals:The mistake that inspired Notion's entire philosophyThe "sugar-coated broccoli" strategy: how to hide computing power inside familiar toolsWhy Notion's UI took 5 years to become "simple"Why Notion doesn't build AI models but uses them allHow 300 Notion programmers do the work of 3,000Ivan's path proves that the best products come from understanding history, not just chasing trends.A masterclass in building products with philosophical depth.You can contact Ivan on X.TIMELINE:00:00:00 : The LEGO software that replaces them all00:09:53 : The culture shock: from "work to work" to "live to work"00:27:39 : How art shaped Notion's design00:40:12 : Computing should be as universal as reading and writing00:52:49 : The forgotten pioneers of computing01:01:08 : Great products' secret is rebuilding from scratch01:09:36 : The central brain for your entire company01:21:16 : Is it possible to run an entire company with Notion?01:30:36 : The AI dilemma, which model to choose?01:39:53 : AI agents are revolutionizing software development01:48:18 : Everyone can build their own tools with NotionWe referred to previous GDIY episodes : #487 - VF - Anton Osika - Lovable - Internet, Business et IA : rien ne sera jamais plus comme avant#487 - VO - Anton Osika - Lovable - Internet, Business, and AI: Nothing Will Ever Be the Same AgainA few recent episodes in English : #513 - VO - Jesper Brodin - IKEA - 40 billion in revenue empire with no bank loan#500 - Reid Hoffman - LinkedIn, Paypal - How to master humanity's most powerful invention#487 - VO - Anton Osika - Lovable - Internet, Business, and AI: Nothing Will Ever Be the Same Again#475 - VO - Shane Parrish - Farnam Street - Clear Thinking: The Decision-Making Expert#473 - VO - Brian Chesky - Airbnb - « We're just getting started »#452 - VO - Reid Hoffman - LinkedIn, Paypal - L'humanité 2.0 : Homo technicus plus qu'Homo sapiens#437 - James Dyson - Dyson - “Failure is more exciting than success”#431 - Sean Rad - Tinder - How the swipe fever took over the worldWe spoke about :Ivan's photosComplex System TheoryReading Recommendations :What Is a Complex System?, James LadymanInterested in sponsoring Generation Do It Yourself or proposing a partnership ? Contact my label Orso Media through this form.Hébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

1855 kicks off with a bombshell AP investigation revealing how Silicon Valley giants IBM, Intel, NVIDIA, Oracle, and more spent decades building China’s surveillance state. Also covered, malicious Chrome extensions stealing credentials from 170+ sites, Microsoft’s ambitious Rust migration plans, China’s combat-ready humanoid robot, and Japan restarting the world’s largest nuclear plant. -Want to be a Guest on a Podcast or YouTube Channel? Sign up for GuestMatch.Pro -Thinking of buying a Starlink? Use my link to support the show. Subscribe to the Newsletter. Email Ray if you want to get in touch! Like and Follow Geek News Central’s Facebook Page. Support my Show Sponsor: Best Godaddy Promo Codes $11.99 – For a New Domain Name cjcfs3geek $6.99 a month Economy Hosting (Free domain, professional email, and SSL certificate for the 1st year.) Promo Code: cjcgeek1h $12.99 a month Managed WordPress Hosting (Free domain, professional email, and SSL certificate for the 1st year.) Promo Code: cjcgeek1w Support the show by becoming a Geek News Central Insider Get 1Password Full Summary Cochrane opens episode 1855 with a bombshell. The Associated Press released a major investigation into Silicon Valley’s role building China’s surveillance state. Companies like IBM, Intel, NVIDIA, and Oracle sold technologies for facial recognition and predictive policing. These tools enabled mass detention in Xinjiang. Cochrane expressed horror at the findings and emphasized American companies’ complicity in human rights abuses. Next, the podcast covered serious browser security concerns. Two malicious Chrome extensions had been stealing credentials from over 170 websites for years. Cochrane stressed the need for caution when installing plugins. He also highlighted how attackers exploit trusted extensions through manipulative tactics. Additionally, Cochrane discussed Microsoft’s ambitious plan to replace all C/C++ code with Rust by 2030. The company faces ongoing security challenges from memory safety issues in legacy languages. However, he noted this remains a research project rather than an official goal. Still, the move reflects broader industry trends toward Rust adoption. The episode then featured GitHub Universe 2025’s most influential open-source projects. Cochrane remarked on how the development landscape continues to evolve. TypeScript has emerged as a dominant language alongside new tools that streamline workflows. Meanwhile, advancements in humanoid robotics took center stage. Engine AI unveiled its T800 combat-ready humanoid robot with impressive features. The company even released a viral video of the robot kicking its CEO to prove authenticity. Following this, Cochrane covered the Blackbird flying car prototype. This eVTOL innovation showcases paradigm-shifting propulsion technology. It could transform urban transportation in the coming decades. The podcast also reviewed Android Central’s best smartphones of 2025. OnePlus 15 claimed the top spot thanks to its impressive specs and consumer-focused features. Furthermore, Cochrane addressed a controversial topic: Anna’s Archive scraping Spotify’s entire library. He expressed mixed feelings about the situation. On one hand, artists and the music industry face real harm. On the other, questions about digital preservation and access deserve consideration. Finally, the episode explored groundbreaking brain simulation research. Japan’s Fugaku supercomputer enabled unprecedented neural modeling. This marks a significant step toward understanding neurological diseases. Cochrane wrapped up by discussing Japan’s plans to restart the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant. Local residents remain concerned about safety despite government approval. The decision reflects Japan’s shifting energy strategy post-Fukushima. As the episode closed, Cochrane wished listeners a Happy New Year. He encouraged self-reflection and thanked everyone for tuning in throughout the year. Show Links Silicon Valley’s Role in Building China’s Surveillance State Two Chrome Extensions Caught Secretly Stealing Credentials from Over 170 Sites Microsoft to Replace All C/C++ Code With Rust By 2030 This Year’s Most Influential Open Source Projects EngineAI Unveils T800: Combat-Ready Humanoid Targets Mass Production Aviation Startup Shares Incredible Video of Prototype EV’s Maiden Takeoff Flight Android Central’s Best of 2025: Phones Pirate Archivist Group Scrapes Spotify’s 300TB Library This Breakthrough Brain Simulation Captures a True Brain at Work Japan Prepares to Restart World’s Biggest Nuclear Plant The post Money over Ethics: Silicon Valley and China’s Police State #1855 appeared first on Geek News Central.

This week in bitcoin mining news, hiccups surface in AI site development and funding, and China crackdown on bitcoin mining in Xinjiang. Subscribe to the Blockspace newsletter! Welcome back to The Mining Pod! Today, Colin and Matt dive into reports of a bitcoin mining crackdown in Xinjiang, China, Hut 8's massive $7B hosting deal with Fluidstack, just-reported summer weather delays at Core Scientific's Denton facility for CoreWeave, and Blue Owl declining to fund a 1 GW AI site for Oracle. And to close the show, veteran crypto reporter Brady Dale, author of the Front Stage Exit newsletter, joins us to talk about a failed vote in Granbury, Texas, to incorporate a new town to expel MARA from its facility in the area. Subscribe to the newsletter! https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com **Notes:** Notes: * ~1.3GW/100 EH of mining under pressure in Xinjiang * Hashprice under $40 per PH/s/day * Difficulty adjustment projected at -1% * Hut 8 inks $7B, 15-year hosting deal with Fluidstack * Core Weave faced 60-day construction delays over the summer at CORZ Denton site Timestamps 00:00 Start 05:44 China bans Bitcoin, again! 15:46 Hut 8 hyperscaler deal 21:49 Delays at CoreWeave Denton site 25:26 Oracle funding issues 30:21 Brady Dale goes to Texas

Welcome back to The Mining Pod! Today, Colin and Matt dive into reports of a bitcoin mining crackdown in Xinjiang, China, Hut 8's massive $7B hosting deal with Fluidstack, just-reported summer weather delays at Core Scientific's Denton facility for CoreWeave, and Blue Owl declining to fund a 1 GW AI site for Oracle. And to close the show, veteran crypto reporter Brady Dale, author of the Front Stage Exit newsletter, joins us to talk about a failed vote in Granbury, Texas, to incorporate a new town to expel MARA from its facility in the area. Subscribe to the newsletter! https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com **Notes:** * ~1.3GW/100 EH of mining under pressure in Xinjiang * Hashprice under $40 per PH/s/day * Difficulty adjustment projected at -1% * Hut 8 inks $7B, 15-year hosting deal with Fluidstack * Core Weave faced 60-day construction delays over the summer at CORZ Denton site Timestamps 00:00 Start 05:44 China bans Bitcoin, again! 15:46 Hut 8 hyperscaler deal 21:49 Delays at CoreWeave Denton site 25:26 Oracle funding issues 30:21 Brady Dale goes to Texas

DeepSeek's Security Backdoors — Jack Burnham — Burnham reports that the Chinese AI model DeepSeekgenerates code containing severe security vulnerabilities when queried regarding Chinese Communist Party-sensitive topics including Tibet, Xinjiang, and Taiwan, demonstrating that the model contains embedded political surveillance and control mechanisms. Burnham characterizes DeepSeek as possessing a "split personality": technical competence in general programming tasks combined with sophisticated political filtering and censorship capabilities. Burnhamrecommends urgent prohibition of such Chinese AI models from American critical infrastructure, government systems, and defense networks due to inherent security risks and embedded espionage capabilities. 1956

Hey everyone, I wanted to let you all know that I'll be giving online classes starting this January, and that I'm still accepting new people for the very first class. I recommend doing so asap as I've already had to open up a second class due to that amazing response I've received so far. All details below.The class is entitled “Beware of Small States: An overview of Lebanon from 1975 to 2025.” We will go beyond sensationalist headlines and shallow coverage, and beyond simplistic, top-down explanations for the country. Instead of a linear timeline of events, which you can get from Wikipedia anyway, you will get a messy one. After all, politics is not linear. Political actors evoke events from the recent or not-so-recent past as part of their politics in the present. In addition to the structured syllabus, I will use personal stories as someone who grew up in Lebanon in a very conservative, at times even Far Right, Christian environment, to explain how my own personal journey away from right-wing and towards left-wing, quasi-anarchist, politics has helped me understand Lebanon better, and hopefully help you too.RegisterJust send me an email at ⁠ayoub@thefirethesetimes.com⁠ or a Signal message @ ayoub.02. I will send you the syllabus as well as all the required details including how to pay for the class if you're interested in taking it.When? Weekly from Saturday Jan 17th, 4pm UK time. 5 sessions. Week 1 (Jan 17): The stories we tell ourselves about this painfully ordinary country.Week 2 (Jan 24): Five academic-y concepts that are easier to understand than they seem.Week 3 (Jan 31): We Are the Children of the Children of War.Week 4 (Feb 7): From Life in the Midst of History to The CollapseWeek 5 (Feb 14): Lebanon yesterday, today, tomorrowFees: $300Discounts: For Hauntologies (my newsletter) subscribers (past or present)50% off for paid subscribers100% off for Founding MembersAnyone joining the class will get:Access to all 5 sessionsLifetime access to the Google DriveLifetime access to the Hauntologies newsletter without paying extra (subscribers pay $50 a year on average)Discounts on future classesAn invitation to join a Signal groupMore classes to comeIn addition to repeating this class, here are the titles and brief descriptions of the other classes currently being prepared. You can already register your interest by email or Signal to those as well - and I'll just send you an email or text when they're ready.The Ghosts of Israel's Future, looking at what the horrors unleashed by Israel during the ongoing genocide reveal about that country's politics, and the people, Jews, Israelis and Palestinians alike, who predicted it. Estimated fee is $300 for 5 sessions. Against Multipolar Imperialism, looking at why we cannot accept multipolarity as a valid alternative to a US-dominated world, especially as that involves accepting authoritarian states and effectively sacrificing whole populations as collateral. We will look at China, Taiwan, Ukraine, Russia, so-called Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia, Hong Kong, Syria, Israel-Palestine, Iran, El Salvador, Argentina, Tigray and Ethiopia, Bosnia and of course Lebanon. Estimated fee is $300 for 5 sessions. Cancelling the Apocalypse: From James Baldwin to Solarpunk and beyond. Estimated fee is $300 for 5 sessions. Postwar Hauntings: Modern Lebanon Through Its Cinema. This will be a much more in-depth exploration of Lebanon post-1990 through its cinema, which was the topic of my PhD dissertation. We will watch movies, discuss them, and explore Lebanon through them. Estimated fee is $600 for 6 sessions.