Advertise on podcast: The Wire China Podcast

00:00 – Introduction 01:10 – Inside the Courtroom: The Case Against Huawei 03:52 – Skycom, Meng Wanzhou, and the "Two Michaels"   06:06 – "Tappy" the Robot   07:05 – Geopolitical Context08:18 – Huawei’s Defense Strategy   09:47 – Possible Verdicts  12:20 – Wire China Preview China’s tech giant Huawei is finally on trial in New York City. Accused of theft, sanctions evasion, and fraud, the telecom giant's case kicked off years of hostage diplomacy involving two Canadian citizens and escalated U.S.-China tensions. Now, almost eight years after the first charges were unsealed, a jury will decide: is Huawei guilty? The Wire China’s reporter Noah Berman went to the courtroom in Brooklyn to find out what both sides of the case are saying. In this episode, Noah and news editor Andrew Peaple discuss what we've learned about the mysterious Chinese tech company. Read the story: https://www.thewirechina.com/2026/11/01/catch-us-if-you-can/ In 2018, China detained two Canadians for three years in retaliation for the arrest of a Huawei executive in Canada. One of them, Michael Kovrig, wrote last week’s cover story on China’s secretive and violent detention practices. Read for free: https://www.thewirechina.com/2026/10/25/torture-tales-from-chinas-black-jails/  Subscribe to our free newsletter: www.thewirechina.com/newsletter/

What will China do with all its solar panels? Many of them, it turns out, are going on farms — turning sheep pens and fish ponds into green energy hubs. In this episode, reporter Peiyue Wu and features editor Tom Mitchell discuss why Chinese entrepreneurs are combining solar farms with actual farms. It checks two important boxes for Beijing: boosting green industry, and increasing agricultural output. But for crayfish farmers, it's a creative scheme to boost sales.  Read Peiyue's article here: https://www.thewirechina.com/2026/10/18/dual-use-farms/  We also have a clip from our Q&A with Seth Center, a former State Department official in the Biden administration who led the first talks with China on AI: https://www.thewirechina.com/2026/10/22/seth-center-on-talking-to-china-about-ai-risk/ Subscribe to our free newsletter: www.thewirechina.com/newsletter/

We’re taking a little time this week to re-share one of our all-time favorite episodes: Why did Canada suddenly decide to open up its market to Chinese cars?  Earlier this month, Chinese carmaker Geely announced it would start selling in Canada in 2027. It's a huge shift for Canada, which once was aligned with the United States on keeping Chinese autos out. Now, the U.S. will be the only country on the continent with no Chinese vehicles. We're revisiting the discussion on the topic between writers Eliot Chen and Savannah Billman.  PLUS: The Wire China Podcast is moving to Tuesday! Make sure to subscribe via Substack to get episodes and transcripts right to your inbox: https://thewirechina.substack.com/

In 2022, memory chip manufacturer YMTC looked like it was on the way out. The Chinese chipmaker had just been hit with U.S. sanctions and lost a major contract with Apple. But four years later, YMTC is now the third largest memory chip maker in the world. How did it survive? In this episode, reporters Rachel Cheung and Savannah Billman revisit her recent analysis of how YMTC survived not only U.S. sanctions, but the cutthroat competition and involution in the Chinese market.  Plus, Rachel and Savannah look at another dominant Chinese company, battery-maker CATL, and why it may yet survive its sudden drop in market value. Read the pieces here:  https://www.thewirechina.com/2026/10/04/the-survivor/ https://www.thewirechina.com/2026/10/11/chinese-carmakers-try-to-break-free-from-the-catl-herd/  We also have a clip from our just-published interview with Gunnar Wiegand, a former EU diplomat, on the narrowly-avoided trade war between China and the EU.  Subscribe to our free newsletter: www.thewirechina.com/newsletter/

In 2021, a Chinese-American engineer founded a specialized semiconductor company in Belgium. A year later, a similar company opened in Fuzhou, China — partially owned by the same engineer. Was economic espionage involved? Reporter Noah Berman is back this episode with news editor Andrew Peaple to discuss the evolving case of chipmakers BelGaN in Belgium and GaNkool in China. Belgian authorities are investigating whether the two companies share more than just a similar name. The investigation comes as European governments are grappling with their own trade and economic policies towards China, and as Beijing continues to seek self-reliance in key technologies like chips. Read Noah's article: https://www.thewirechina.com/2026/10/04/chips-china-and-trade-secrets-how-an-arrest-in-brussels-could-tie-them-together/  We also feature an excerpt from the upcoming Q&A with author Emily Feng on her new book "Our Hearts Burned for Home: Uyghur Militants in Syria's Civil War," which will be available later this month. Subscribe to our free newsletter: www.thewirechina.com/newsletter/  Follow us on social media: x.com/thewirechina bsky.app/profile/thewirechina.bsky.social www.linkedin.com/company/thewirechina www.instagram.com/thewirechina/?hl=en

Early this summer, Anthropic's advanced AI model Mythos stunned the tech world by identifying thousands of previously unknown vulnerabilities across the internet and even in U.S. government systems. Across the Pacific, Chinese AI regulators were also paying close attention. In this episode, reporter Savannah Billman is joined by Kristy Loke, a MATS research fellow focusing on China’s AI governance and innovation strategies and author of a recent opinion piece published on The Wire China. We discuss why China is waking up to the risks of frontier AI, how tech leaders are developing new regulatory capacity, and why Xi Jinping is an AI governance-pilled president.  Subscribe to our free newsletter: www.thewirechina.com/newsletter/  Follow us on social media: x.com/thewirechina bsky.app/profile/thewirechina.bsky.social www.linkedin.com/company/thewirechina www.instagram.com/thewirechina/?hl=en

The main muscle of President Trump's second-term China policy isn't at the State Department. Nor is it at the Department of Commerce. Instead, it's the U.S. television regulator.  Reporter Noah Berman and editor Andrew Peaple are back this episode to discuss Noah's analysis of how the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, headed by Brendan Carr, has come to be the lead agency on so many import regulations on advanced Chinese technology. Read: https://www.thewirechina.com/2026/09/20/the-fcc-vs-the-prc/ And as President Xi Jinping touches down in Washington DC for a much-anticipated summit — and expected discussion of AI — we share a clip from our interview with Concordia AI's Brian Tse on how China thinks of AI safety. Read: https://www.thewirechina.com/2026/09/24/brian-tse-on-how-china-plans-to-keep-ai-safe/ Subscribe to our free newsletter: www.thewirechina.com/newsletter/  Follow us on social media: x.com/thewirechina bsky.app/profile/thewirechina.bsky.social www.linkedin.com/company/thewirechina www.instagram.com/thewirechina/?hl=en

China’s Gen Z factory heirs have a problem. They graduated into an era where high-tech robots and AI can usher in a new industrial revolution. But frustratingly, the factories run by their parents are too old-fashioned to ditch the pen and paper for profit. In this episode, reporters Peiyue Wu and Rachel Cheung discuss the tech-savvy Chinese who are trying to bring AI to the manufacturing sector. Many of them see themselves as Forward-Deployed Engineers (FDE), a job title popularized by Palantir, on the front lines of a battle against the old ways of running business. Also, an excerpt from our forthcoming Q&A with former Trump official Stephen Vaughn on why he believes the Trump administration’s aggressive strategy towards China is working. Subscribe to our free newsletter: www.thewirechina.com/newsletter/  Follow us on social media: x.com/thewirechina bsky.app/profile/thewirechina.bsky.social www.linkedin.com/company/thewirechina www.instagram.com/thewirechina/?hl=en

Birds of a feather tend to stick together, at least in the case of Chinese companies sanctioned by the United States. Our reporter Noah Berman found that many recently sanctioned firms actually share the same address, down to the same floor of a Hong Kong office building.  This week, features editor Tom Mitchell and Noah Berman discuss his recent examination into how Chinese firms use Hong Kong-based shell firms to avoid U.S. sanctions, and what Washington might be trying to signal so close to the anticipated Trump-Xi summit.  Read the article: https://www.thewirechina.com/2026/09/06/the-familiar-hong-kong-addresses-in-americas-iran-sanctions/ Also, an excerpt from our forthcoming Q&A with Susan Shirk on where to go next in the U.S.-China relationship. Subscribe to our free newsletter: www.thewirechina.com/newsletter/  Follow us on social media: x.com/thewirechina bsky.app/profile/thewirechina.bsky.social www.linkedin.com/company/thewirechina www.instagram.com/thewirechina/?hl=en

Montana has been the unlikely source of America’s most influential China-hand senators. Somewhat paradoxically, it’s also one of the most pro-Trump — and tough on China — electorates in the country. In this episode, reporters Savannah Billman and Brent Crane discuss Brent’s recent reporting on why the Treasure State’s relationship with China appears to swing so widely between extremes. As U.S. national and state governments continue to debate how best to approach China, Montana reflects the rewards and limits of U.S.-China engagement. Read Brent’s cover: www.thewirechina.com/2026/08/30/red-china-and-red-state-montana-its-complicated/ Subscribe to our free newsletter: www.thewirechina.com/newsletter/  Follow us on social media: x.com/thewirechina bsky.app/profile/thewirechina.bsky.social www.linkedin.com/company/thewirechina www.instagram.com/thewirechina/?hl=en

China’s running, dancing, kung-fu fighting humanoid robots are better at being influencers than anything else. But soon they will have to get real jobs, and fast. In this episode, editor Tom Mitchell and reporter Savannah Billman discuss the explosive growth of Chinese humanoid robots this year. China expects to produce 100,000 of them, much more than anticipated, but is the technology developed enough for customers to buy them all? Subscribe to our free newsletter: www.thewirechina.com/newsletter/  Follow us on social media: x.com/thewirechina bsky.app/profile/thewirechina.bsky.social www.linkedin.com/company/thewirechina www.instagram.com/thewirechina/?hl=en

As U.S. restrictions complicate DJI’s expansion beyond drones, its camera rival Insta360 has gained an unexpected advantage among American consumers.  In this episode, reporters Peiyue Wu and Savannah Billman discuss the surprising case of two Chinese companies going head-to-head over the U.S. market. As Peiyue wrote earlier this week, both DJI and Insta360 make cameras and drones — but only the latter is able to sell both of its products in the United States. What does the dispute reveal about how Chinese firms navigate both normal business competition and tightening U.S. regulations? Read Peiyue's article: www.thewirechina.com/2026/08/02/dji-gets-into-a-fight-in-the-u-s-with-another-chinese-dronemaker/  We also feature an excerpt from our recent Q&A with UCLA School of Law professor Alex Wang on how China's environmental policies impact its diplomacy.  Read the Q&A: www.thewirechina.com/2026/08/02/alex-wang-on-what-china-gets-right-and-wrong-on-the-environment/ Subscribe to our free newsletter: www.thewirechina.com/newsletter/  Follow us on social media: x.com/thewirechina bsky.app/profile/thewirechina.bsky.social www.linkedin.com/company/thewirechina www.instagram.com/thewirechina/?hl=en

Nvidia has nearly 1,000 partners around the world, including over 100 in China. Some of these firms, according to a Wire China investigation, have close ties to China's military. What does this mean for Nvidia and the future of U.S. chip restrictions? This week, reporter Noah Berman and editor Andrew Peaple go behind the scenes of Noah's investigation into Nvidia's China partners, discussing how one partner connects to a network of sanctioned universities, and what this reveals about the way the world's most valuable company operates. His article is now available to read on our website, thewirechina.com. We also have an excerpt from our recent interview with historian and sinologist Geremie Barmé in which he talks about his misadventures studying Maoism in Shanghai right after the end of the Cultural Revolution. Read Noah's investigation: https://www.thewirechina.com/2026/07/26/nvidias-china-partners-and-the-pla/ Read the interview with Geremie: https://www.thewirechina.com/2026/07/26/geremie-barme-on-the-other-china/ Subscribe to our free newsletter: www.thewirechina.com/newsletter/  Follow us on social media: x.com/thewirechina bsky.app/profile/thewirechina.bsky.social www.linkedin.com/company/thewirechina www.instagram.com/thewirechina/?hl=en

China’s consumer economy is doing very poorly if you look at it one way: low consumption, deflation, and overcapacity. But popular — and successful — global brands like Anta Group and Popmart seem to paint a different picture. What’s really going on? Last week, The Wire editor Andrew Peaple joined Asia Society’s Paris Summer Summit and discussed Chinese market trends with Sandrine Zerbib, an expert on China’s consumer sector. This episode shares the recording of their panel.  Other stories in our upcoming issue include a profile of CXMT, China’s star chipmaker with a blockbuster IPO, our cover story on Nvidia’s Chinese distribution partners by Noah Berman, and an op-ed by Ruby Scanlon on how long China can sustain its commitment to open-source AI development.  Subscribe to our free newsletter: www.thewirechina.com/newsletter/  Follow us on social media: x.com/thewirechina bsky.app/profile/thewirechina.bsky.social www.linkedin.com/company/thewirechina www.instagram.com/thewirechina/?hl=en

Before Nvidia won approval to sell more chips to China, it first told the U.S. government that Huawei sales would soar if it was kept out. This week, Noah Berman joins fellow journalist Rachel Cheung to discuss his scoop on one reason why the U.S. government gave Nvidia permission to sell its H200 chips to China last December: a report outlining the alleged threat to Nvidia's business if it couldn't enter the Chinese market. Is Huawei really about to take a chunk of Nvidia's market share, and has there been any sign that Beijing will allow the H200s in? Read the piece: https://www.thewirechina.com/2026/07/02/nvidia-uses-the-specter-of-huawei-to-make-its-chip-exports-case/ Subscribe to our free newsletter: www.thewirechina.com/newsletter/  Follow us on social media: x.com/thewirechina bsky.app/profile/thewirechina.bsky.social www.linkedin.com/company/thewirechina www.instagram.com/thewirechina/?hl=en