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Odd Lots Podcast Episode Summary: Zichen Wang's Exit Interview From America
Episode Overview Podcast Title: Odd Lots Hosts: Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway Guest: Zichen Wang Air Date: June 5, 2023 Description: Zichen Wang discusses his experiences as a Chinese student in the U.S. during a time of heightened U.S.-China tensions, reflecting on immigration issues, his education at Princeton, and his return to China.
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Key Topics Discussed
Zichen Wang's Background and Education
- Zichen Wang is the creator of the Pekingnology newsletter, which translates and contextualizes Chinese speeches and articles for Western readers.
- He pursued a Master’s degree in Public Policy at Princeton University, funded by the university, and has an extensive professional background in journalism and think tanks.
- His reasons for studying in the U.S. include the prestigious education system and the importance of U.S.-China relations.
U.S.-China Relations
- Wang highlights the deterioration of U.S.-China relations, especially concerning visa issues for Chinese students and the growing scrutiny from the U.S. government.
- He notes that while he felt welcomed at Princeton, there is a broader sense of anxiety among Chinese students regarding potential repercussions related to their status in the U.S.
Impacts of Visa Policies
- Wang discusses the implications of U.S. visa policies on Chinese students, including fears of visa revocation and the impact on future students.
- He points out that about 270,000 Chinese students are currently enrolled in the U.S., making China the second-largest source of international students after India.
Cultural Exchange and Soft Power
- The episode emphasizes the value of cultural exchange and education as forms of soft power for the U.S.
- Wang argues that maintaining open channels for students can help reduce misunderstandings and foster better relations between the two countries.
Differences Between U.S. and Chinese Education Systems
- Wang contrasts the education systems, noting that U.S. policy schools allow for full-time study away from professional obligations, while Chinese programs often require students to remain employed.
- He observes a focus in China on STEM fields, while American universities provide a broader liberal arts education.
Misconceptions About China
- Wang discusses the misunderstandings prevalent in American perceptions of China, suggesting that the U.S. often views China as a monolithic entity rather than recognizing the complexity and competitiveness of its private sector.
Future of U.S.-China Relations
- Wang expresses concern over the current trajectory of U.S.-China relations, urging for more dialogue and people-to-people exchanges.
- He reflects on the importance of understanding and cooperation, as both nations face significant global challenges that could benefit from collaborative efforts.
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Key Takeaways
- Cultural Understanding: There is a pressing need for greater understanding between the U.S. and China, especially as tensions escalate.
- Value of Education: American educational institutions serve as vital conduits for building relationships and reducing animosity.
- Political Nuances: The political dynamics within China are complex, and the narrative of a unified government directive does not capture the competitive and innovative nature of its private sector.
- Future Prospects: Wang remains optimistic but acknowledges the challenges ahead for Chinese students wishing to study in the U.S. and the implications for future bilateral relations.
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Concluding Thoughts Zichen Wang’s insights provide a nuanced perspective on the current U.S.-China relations, emphasizing the importance of education and cultural exchange. As he prepares to return to China, he will carry with him not only memories of his time in the U.S. but also critical reflections on the future of interactions between these two powerful nations.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Transcript
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1:50Hello and welcome to another episode of the Odd Lots podcast. I'm Joe Weisenthal. And I'm Tracy Allaway. Tracy, we're recording this June 5th. President Xi Jinping and President Trump just held a phone call. Wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall for that conversation? I would. I don't know what that means. Markets moved on it. I'm always surprised how hard it is to set a phone. Just pick up the phone. But I'm always a little surprised that these are bigger news. It should be noted that this was reported first by the Xinhua News Agency out of China. And there was a headline that the news agency specified that the phone call was at Trump's request.
2:26They made a point of saying that. I still have this image of Trump sitting in the Oval Office by the phone, just twiddling his thumbs, waiting for Xi Jinping to call, hoping, is he going to call me? Should I wait two days? Should I wait three days before responding? That kind of thing. There was a Aussie Journal article I saw from a few weeks ago, which made the observation, which I had not realized outside of the September 11th terrorist attacks, there's never been a contact between the US and China that was initiated by China, which I hadn't realized before. I assume it's true. So Xi Jinping is sitting in his office twiddling his thumbs, waiting for Trump.
3:01Yeah. Okay. And then he decides, but he decides to either take the call. Anyway, Anyway, all of this sort of speaks to the fact, you know, we sort of are confused by all this. And there's still just so much that I think Americans in particular, but I'm sure it goes in both directions, like genuinely don't understand about the other country. And given a time of increased tension, obviously the trade war, heightened geopolitical concerns, it's not great. I think it would be better even if we sort of accept the premise of there is this very intense competition that the two countries and the populations and the governments and the people go into government, just know more about how they work.
3:36Absolutely. Have you ever read an English translation of the way China academics write and talk about American society and American politics? I should read those. It's really, really interesting. You should send me some links. Yeah. Okay. I will. But I know a person who has done this and translated it and done the work, and he will definitely send you some links. So I am very excited to say that we have, but I think it should be a special episode. We've talked to him on the podcast before. We're going to be speaking with Zishan Wang. He is the author, the creator of the Pekingology Substack, which essentially looks at public comments from officials, academics, leaders in China, and then writes about them and translates them for an American audience and actually sort of helps an American audience understand what this sort of public discourse is.
4:25And anyway, over the last year. He's been getting his master's degree in public policy at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. So he's been in Princeton over the last year. But he's going back to China and he's going to return for where he was working at the think tank, the Center for China and Globalization. Right. So this is his exit interview from America, basically. When I heard that he was leaving town, I was like, let's do an exit interview. And of course, the other added context, which I think is very relevant here, is that this comes a time of extreme scrutiny on the mere existence of Chinese students at American universities, particularly out of the Trump administration.
5:02It's an American export, U.S. universities, and there's this major crackdown. We've seen people with all these concerns about visas, et cetera. So there's a perfect time to do this exit interview. So Zishun, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Well, thank you for having me here back again. You run a great newsletter, and we had a great episode with you. And as a student in the U.S., You're sort of situated at a very interesting time. But let's back up. What prompted you to come to the U.S. to study in the first place? I mean, you did this program at Princeton. How come? Before coming to the mid-career Master in Public Policy program at the Princeton School of Public International Affairs, formerly known as the Uru Wilson School, I'd already been working for 13 years.
5:46So I was like at the middle of my professional trajectory. and I was thinking about getting another advanced education. And, of course, the United States is the top destination. One other thing is that, to the credit of Princeton, the policy school offers fully funded education. So that means they examine all the tuition and the health care coverage. So no export revenue for us. Yes, exactly. In this case, yes. And also a living stipend. And so I turned down some other offers from the UK, from Singapore, and came here. And also, as you correctly mentioned at the very beginning, you know, China-U.S.
6:24relations is perhaps the most consequential bilateral relations for someone whose past career was in journalism and non-governmental think tank. I couldn't think of a better place to be here in the U.S. But, you know, here we are. And I feel like being overwhelmed by all these news. So on that note, was the plan always to go back to China after you completed your degree or is this something new? That was like 80 or 90 percent of my plan, mainly for personal reasons. But also, I think the political atmosphere is a bit overwhelming. I did have some kind offers from potential employers here, but I decided against them.
7:04The State Department announced actually, you know, they are going to aggressively revoke Chinese students' visas, as well as impose, you know, further scrutiny on future Chinese students' visa applications. Let's say I stay on for one more year, I would be on OPT or CPT, which is a post-training upon graduation from a U.S. college. But that status would be linked to your student visa, your F1 visa. So the potential consequences for Chinese students is not just currently enrolled students, but also other people who are on OPT, CPT status here. Out of curiosity, is Princeton providing guidance on visas?
7:45Because I can only imagine being a college student and having to deal with immigration issues on top of everything else. In light of what happened at Harvard, let me think of a way of not putting Princeton in jeopardy again. I did get, I think, not just me, but everyone else did get some emails from, you know, sort of guidance from the university, which says it took notice of recent news and it is offering resources. is basically, I guess, you know, counseling as well as potential legal resources for people to not to be against the administration, but to comply with all the laws and regulations in this country.
8:24This was a one-year program, obviously, say, versus 10 years ago. The sort of level of suspicion and anxiety about the presence of a lot of Chinese students at American universities has grown quite a bit. What about even in the last year? How do things feel shifted? And when you talk to other Chinese students, you know, is it just like noise coming out of DC or does it change the campus environment? Well, I think it definitely has already had a shilling effect. And I mean, for me personally, I feel very welcomed and I feel all the hospitality and warmth from my American professors, you know, school administrators and the prison community of neighbors and my local friends.
9:09But for most of the Chinese students who are currently in this situation are perhaps too scared to speak up. And especially after the news last week, I think they are under a bit of stress because the announcement out of the State Department is very broad. It doesn't use very exact language to ascertain who will exactly be in trouble. There are currently, I think 270 ,000 Chinese students here in the United States. China is the second largest origin of international students here in the U.S. Wait, what's the first? India. So for many years, China was the largest source of international students here in America, but that number has come down since bilateral relations worsened.
9:55The United States has a proud history of welcoming Chinese students who come to the United States. In the beginning of the 20th century, when China was still governed by the Qing dynasty, there was this boxer indemnities, basically the compensations paid by the Qing dynasty to various Western powers. And at that time, the U.S. was kind enough and smart enough to turn those compensations into a scholarship program. This was part of their money diplomacy of the early 1900s, right? Well, before Joseph Nye created the concept of soft power, and the U.S. has been practicing that. So they seeded a top university in Beijing and sponsored 1 ,300 Chinese students to come to the United States.
10:41And after the bilateral ties were established, you know, since the two countries normalized their diplomatic relations, Republican and Democratic presidents both welcomed Chinese students. There was this very famous episode where Chinese top leader Deng Xiaoping at the time asked if he could send something like 5 ,000 Chinese students to the U.S. And President Carter, according to his own recollections, he responded that, well, tell him, tell Deng Xiaoping to send 100 ,000 students to America. I also read President Ronald Reagan actually received the Chinese students and made remarks in some sort of reception welcoming them.
11:19And let's remember, that was a time when China was much less open and dynamic than it is today. So what is happening is really unfortunate. I think because of this long history, many Chinese took for granted the opportunities to come here and study in America if they are good enough to be offered admission letters. But the larger background is, of course, I guess globalization. organization because for many, many years, people just believe, you know, everyone is going to be more connected and we will benefit from more people to people exchanges, from commerce, from, you know, research collaborations.
11:56But unfortunately, that era seems to be ending right now. Well, it may have begun to be ending quite a few years ago. Joe, just as an aside, there's a really good book called Fortunate Sons about some Chinese students who were sent to a Connecticut school in, I think, the late 1800s. Oh, I'd love to read that. It's really good. I read it when I bought that house in Connecticut to try to bridge the gap, I guess, between Hong Kong and where I was living. Thank you.
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14:23Go to public.com and earn an uncapped 1 % bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com. Paid for by Public Investing. All investing involves the risk of loss, including loss of principal. Brokerage services for U.S.-listed registered securities, options and bonds, and a self-directed account are offered by Public Investing, Inc., member FINRA and SIPC. Crypto trading provided by Backed Crypto Solutions, LLC. Complete disclosures available at public.com. slash disclosure. I wanted to ask, what's the difference or differences from your perspective in terms of what you would learn in a public policy degree in China versus a public policy degree at some place like Princeton?
15:00Well, that's a very good question. I think there is this key difference. For example, policy schools are mostly for early career and mid-career professionals in public service sector. And here, I think, for example, at Harvard Kennedy School, at the Jackson School of Global Affairs, at Yale, at Princeton's Beer, they are offered full-time. And that's because not just the U.S., but also many governments across the world, they have the flexibility to allow their people to basically take a year or two years off their professional career and come here. But back in China, I think many of those programs are taught as a part-time process, although they are labeled a full-time process because I think sometimes the rigidity of personnel management system means that it's very difficult for people to basically leave work for a year or two and get a full-time education at maybe Tsinghua and Peking University.
15:56And also here in the U.S., I think the policy schools benefit greatly from, first of all, former policymakers like retired former assistant secretary of state. And so here we have like many very good practitioners who are becoming, you know, teachers. We have, for example, Princeton's Beer, some former Biden administration officials who just exited the administration. Well, I think in Chinese universities, to be fair, I haven't gone to those policy schools, but that would be rare. And secondly, this place benefits from a much broader, well, I guess this is a toxic word now, diversity here now.
16:36For example, my class is highly international. Like over half of the classmates are international students and also the faculty members. Some of them even come from foreign governments. I really benefited from the global perspectives I get from Princeton here. What did you do for undergrad? Well, I went to a Chinese college and majored in finance, actually. I don't know much about Chinese universities. The only thing I ever hear these days about Chinese universities is usually in the context of tech competition and the number of STEM graduates. And you hear a lot about the number of hundreds of thousands of STEM graduates and the advantages that sheer scale confers.
17:15You know, when I think of American universities, there's STEM, but I also think a lot about the heavy importance on liberal arts degrees and literature and history, and people can go on to, you know, careers in tech and finance, even from a history degree. Can you compare and contrast that sort of like intellectual environment at the Chinese colleges in terms of the non-technical fields? Well, this is something I think that has been observed and talked about in the past few years when people compare Chinese and American universities, but also between Chinese and, I guess, Indian universities. Because based on what I read, which may not be very accurate, it's like India also trains a lot of lawyers and social sciences majors.
17:57But the general perception is that the Chinese colleges and universities are training many more STEM grads. And in semiconductor related, in mechanical engineering. But not everyone's a STEM grad, right? Yeah, of course. I mean, this is just what everyone's talking about these days because of this anxiety about tech competition. Oh, yeah, that's correct. And almost all universities in China are state-run. All the Ivy Leagues are privately-run universities here in the U.S. maybe because I think China is still to some extent a transition economy. So China initiated its reform and opening up in 1978.
18:31But before that, it was a totally planned economy where the government basically tells everyone what to do in their schools and in their professional journeys. And based on those paradigms, a lot of Chinese universities are set up to train people in specific fields. For example, there is this Beijing Aeronautics University, which basically trains people in space-related technology and maybe rocket science. And then there is also comprehensive universities. But for many years, there was this maybe legacy China learned from the Soviet Union to have specialized colleges and universities in training STEM grads.
19:15And also, China has 1.4 billion people. It is now the second most populous country on earth. So naturally, you will see, you know, there are just many, many more Chinese students there. And the Chinese, they put heavy emphasis on science and technology. Can I share one detail with you? Because I graduated from finance and I went on to join a news agency in China. You're at Xinhua. Yes, the same news agency. And my mother used to tell me, why don't you learn something real? Like finance and journalism. they are not like real professionals. Yeah, why didn't you? Well, I guess I didn't test very well in China's college entrance examination.
19:55For many years, there was this quote in China, and I think it still rings true. And it may be, it rings even truer today. Well, in Chinese, it's called 学好数理化. Like if you learn mathematics and the physics and chemistry, you can go everywhere and do well. And that is still on many Chinese minds. And so, for example, in AI, I think Jensen Huang of NVIDIA, he said like a few weeks ago, I think he was citing Marco Polo, a think tank here, formerly affiliated with the Paulson Institute, is that 50 % of the global AI talent is Chinese or maybe having some sort of Chinese heritage. So that does speak to the enormous training capacity of the Chinese education system, which also makes many people wonder here.
20:42You know, AI is going to shape everything in the future, and the two countries seem to be locked in a competition. Does the U.S. really want to shut out such a large talent pool in AI? And these students, Chinese students, you know, after completing their undergrad degrees, they come to the United States. They contribute to meaningfully to groundbreaking research. And I think this is one thing that many people have a maybe an inaccurate understanding of how graduate level education, especially in STEM fields, work. This is not an extractive process. It's not that, you know, Chinese, Indian, you know, students from global south come to the U.S.
21:23universities. They learned, they sat in classrooms, they learned from their American professors and peers, and then they leave and brought the knowledge back with them. That's not the case. Yes, they benefit enormously from the education system here, which is just spectacular. But they make meaningful contributions in conducting research, in collaborating with American peers and professors. They stay in labs for days and months, which would result in papers in top American journals. They actually contribute to the creation of knowledge and the sharing of knowledge here. They contribute in the process.
21:57It's a symbiotic process, not an extractive process. So by having them here and some of them would remain here legally, I should say, to work in the U.S., become entrepreneurs and researchers and American taxpayers to pursue their American dreams. and some of them would leave the U.S. and go back to China, India, and, you know, everywhere on Earth. And they would become, you know, informal ambassadors of American openness, of American inclusiveness, of American hospitality. And they would serve as one of the defense lines in terms of China-U.S. relations as decreasing mutual strategic misunderstanding and the miscalculations.
22:37So this is truly something very important in my mind. And I'm really saddened to see, you know, the crackdown on Chinese students to come to the United States. When you go back to China, what nice things are you going to say about America? Well, the first thing I'll tell them is I have the enormous privilege of coming to Adlaz on Princeton. On Bloomberg, I'm sorry. And that's really... That's the first thing. Okay, what's number two? Well, number two is I think I benefit a lot from all the critical discussions on colleges. It's not just pro-Trump or against Trump. We have very different views on all sorts of subjects.
23:16Some professors are rightfully worried about, for example, rule of law here, but we have also some classmates who have faculties who are very sympathetic to what the broader Republican agenda is doing here in the United States. So I think this clash of different ideas, the market of free ideas is something really stimulating for me personally. And the other reason is that, for example, I'm fully funded by Princeton Spear here. And so I benefit truly from the hospitality and the generosity of the American people here. Princeton is the private universities, the money coming in from private donations.
23:57I'm truly grateful for that. And I don't think like any other country on the earth has simply has the financial capacity to do something like that. So this is something really should be cherished here. I will certainly carry, you know, all these lessons and appreciations back to China. We started this conversation talking about deteriorating U.S.-China relations, and I don't think anyone would disagree with that premise. But the question I wanted to ask you is, as someone who's worked in both Chinese and Western institutions, or at least studied at a Western institution, what do you think is the biggest misunderstanding between the U.S.
24:41and China? What's the biggest sticking point? You mentioned the sub-sec I did, technology and all those. For example, I also had the privilege of being invited to some of the major think tanks here to share my views with, you know, fellow think tank analysts and former government officials. I think if I really want to summarize, like what I've been doing is to normalize China. Because China has a vastly different political system from the United States, from all the major Western industrial economies, I think people fundamentally see China as a different beast. But China also has politics. The Chinese government has many government departments, ministries.
25:22They compete with one another. There is politics between different departments, politics between different people inside one government department. The Chinese make five-year plans, and they seem to be implementing that quite well. For example, Made in China 2025 come into mind. But sometimes they are also very short-sighted. The Chinese have good accomplishments. They also make stupid mistakes. That's just human nature. What are some examples of short-sighted? Because Americans love to go to China, and then they come back and they say, they think it's centuries unlike us who just think, you know, it's these very cliches, these very cliched commentary that you just hear over and over again.
26:03It's like, we just think about the next quarterly estimate or hitting the next GDP. When you say, obviously, any society is going to be richer than the sort of cliche tropes that When you look back at decisions, because as you mentioned, it seems like the mid-2025 stuff worked out really well. But where do you see it breaking down at times? For example, let's talk about EVs, right? You know, the electric vehicles. So everyone now knows that China is leading on EVs. And people talk about BYD, about Xiaomi, the former smartphone maker turned automobile maker. And it seems like Ford and other U.S.
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26:41auto giants are falling behind. So many people attribute to some sort of Chinese state subsidies and industrial strategy. But bear also in mind that before this EV boom, there were like a dozen Chinese automobile makers. Almost all of them were state-run automobile companies. Because China implemented this, when foreign car makers come to China, you have to form joint ventures with Chinese partners. And in many cases, the Chinese partners have to be in control of 51 % of the joint venture. But all these Chinese state-run automobile giants are actually falling behind now. What you are seeing in the EV boom in China, the names coming to mind are all very new private-run Chinese automobile makers.
27:28They didn't exist. They didn't benefit from the sort of state monopoly or preferential loans and maybe land and all these in-kind subsidies for those. They basically partnered with BMW, with all these American and European car makers. But look, they are falling behind now. Sorry, but on the other hand, I could listen to that story and say, because of this requirement for JVs, the only possibility of actual private automobile development in China was for domestic companies. And international companies never had that chance to actually sort of be truly autonomous within the Chinese domestic market.
28:12It seems like that worked out very well in the grand scheme of things for ensuring that the only companies with complete agility, etc., in the Chinese market ended up being Chinese. Well, first of all, that could be some sort of a good policy advice for the Trump administration, I guess, and also maybe European governments. And secondly, I'm very down with please bring BYD in a JV or something like that. I wanted BYD Gigafactor in Georgia or something like that. I've said that before. Anyway, keep going. What I was trying to say is there is this discrepancy with all the power of industrial strategies.
28:46But at the same time, it's the private ingenuity of the innovation, of the hard work of the private Chinese companies, which have somehow come out atop. All the state-run companies, they are falling behind, at least in the automobile sector. And that shows that I think people tend to see China as a country with the Communist Party of China sitting atop the state tells everyone what to do and marshalling all the resources. But it is also at the same time just a spectacularly competitive and innovative place where private ingenuity and hard work really plays a very big role. There is this saying in China, you know, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 basically says, you know, over half of the GDP of the taxation of the new employment are all created by private companies.
29:40And so that's something when Americans perceive China, they think of just one very coherent, I don't know, behemoth where, you know, there is this larger central brain telling everyone to do everything else. And yes, the Chinese government, the Communist Party of China enjoys enormous power in shaping the Chinese society compared with Western powers. But do not discount. And actually, I think much more emphasis should be put on the non-state part of the Chinese society. You mentioned your mom thinking that doing finance and journalism was not very valuable. And one thing you sometimes hear is that China places greater importance or value on people studying STEM, going into tech.
30:28And I guess I'm curious how much has that changed over the years? Like if I was a high school student in China in, I don't know, the 1990s, would I be encouraged to be a doctor or a lawyer or a teacher? Or would I be encouraged to go into tech? Basically, how has that culture of which subject is most valued changed over time? You are very sharp-eyed. I think if it was in the 1990s, people wanted to go to, I don't want to name names, like certain finance schools in China. And after graduation, they would want to work in Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. that's like the top jobs maybe when I graduated from college in 2011 that's still the case what the people wanted to do because it makes huge money it makes very big money but especially in the past decade I think I'm sure you have reported this there is large cuts to the income to the wages of Chinese financial engineering and even when it comes to the internet sector Facebook now known as Meta and all those booms, they contribute to consumer internet.
31:45That was a thing in China as well, like Alibaba and Tencent. What they do is they popularize some technologies which makes lives much easier for everyday consumers and also businesses. But in a sense, I think now more value is put into the sort of technologies that would really boost the productivity in industrial process. For example, even doctors and hospitals can identify certain diseases. It's not just, you know, I can go out and get a delivery much easier from a restaurant. So the term technology, I think, has taken on a new meaning. And if I can make a recommendation, there is this Dan Wang who I think is in the year long.
32:35Oh, Dan Wang? You don't need to recommend Dan Wang to the audience. We've had him on several times. I'm sure we'll do a big thing when his book comes out. Both Tracy and I have copies of it on our desk. You should go preorder it on Amazon right now. So basically, I think China is wishing to make basically these hard technologies more sexy than just joining a tech firm. It's interesting. It sort of feels this is becoming an international phenomenon that everyone is getting very anxious about their country's capacity to do, quote, hard tech. You are returning to China and you're going to go back to the think tank, the Center for China and Globalization.
33:16It's interesting. I'm looking at the controversy section in the Wikipedia page for it. And Marco Rubio, who's now the secretary of state in 2018, he actually blasted your school. He blasted the Woodrow Wilson School for inviting a scholar from the CCG. And he said there were ties to the Chinese Communist Party. And CCG, according to Wikipedia, is a member of an alliance of think tanks coordinated by the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party that support the Belt and Road Initiative, which we've talked about on the show. Now, granted, your situation strikes me as a little bit unique because most students coming to the U.S.
33:54from China are not going to a public policy school on a one-year funded thing. Why shouldn't American lawmakers, however, be concerned about training many of the next generation of leaders in a country that is perceived to be a major rival and doing work with them and training them in AI and all of these things that there is so much sort of, almost everyone accepts that there is going to be some degree of, you know, either geopolitical and business competition. First of all, about the Wikipedia page you just mentioned. Yeah, I know. It's very, very thorough research I do here. I click out a link and I scroll to the controversy section.
34:32But I wanted to, you know, I saw both your think tank and the Wilson School have come under controversy for connections. The joke I typically make in this sort of conversation is that, well, I came from the state-ground news agency. I was a proper Chinese government personnel. And now people would characterize me as some sort of, you know, the term United Front, that's like semi-government. You're downgrading me. Like I was proper Chinese government for 11 years. And I left, you know, in October 2022. And if we have time, I'd be happy to dive into the details of the difference between a government-run think tank and a non-governmental think tank in China.
35:17But to your larger point is that there is this term which says keep your friends close and keep your enemy closer. I'm not sure exactly if China and U.S. are enemies at the moment. But just from that insight, I think it will be very beneficial for the U.S., especially policy schools, but also other, you know, social sciences and universities to try to have Chinese contributions, to have Chinese students presence here. So that, you know, when push comes to shove, they have someone to call. They know what the Chinese are really thinking about. And that is, I think, one of the tragedies from the crackdown on, for example, Harvard and Harvard Kennedy School.
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38:08Learn more about the technology, insights, and support available at amazonbusiness.com. You mentioned that there's a difference between properly state-run think tanks and non-state-run think tanks. I think in the U.S. there is a perception, and this actually goes back to the talk about companies, including car companies, etc. There is a perception that there's actually no private companies, that implicitly even the private companies, the BYDs, etc., are at some level at the beck and call of the state and some more literally than others. David Doe's incredible book about Huawei talks a lot about there's a communist party leadership within the company.
38:47It engages in making sure its members who are employees of the company engage in more moral behavior and aren't doing things like gambling, etc. Why shouldn't we think that every country within China, regardless of how it's incorporated, answers up to political leadership in Beijing? I think on a macro level, I do not see a drastic difference between, for example, a US president wants to have like Nvidia or Apple to become the dominant forces in the world. and from the CHIPS Act, from the Inflation Reduction Act to offering, you know, general subsidies to American companies. In China, there is this support for Chinese companies, but in many cases, not from the very start.
39:37It's like, you know, Huawei started very little and it was competing with European telecom vendors at the very beginning. And for many years, you know, China Mobile, China Unicom, all the state telecommunication firms. They just wanted the equipment from the European suppliers. That's a critical story. Yeah, and Huawei had to go to the European markets to increase its customers' numbers and revenue. And after a few years, and especially when the industry became more strategic, and then the Chinese government would, you know, take a look at the potential players and believe, oh, this is perhaps an industry that's going to be of strategic value in the future and would provide some sort of assistance to them.
40:24But I wouldn't think that there is a CCP committee overseeing Huawei on a daily basis telling them, you know, this is something you should do in Southeast Asia and this is something you should work on in Africa. And if that were the case, Huawei wouldn't be where it is today, Which is also why I sincerely believe the U.S. persecution of Huawei and other probably private Chinese companies is a strategic mistake because these companies were on their way to making China more dynamic, having more private elements in the Chinese society, to have more international exposure, to allow people to have a career path, a meaningful one, a financially rewarding one outside the city apparatus.
41:18These companies are helping China to become more open, more aligned with international standards. So these are positive forces from a market perspective that would help align China with the globalization process with the so-called rule-based international order. And this is also the reasons, for example, the U.S. has imposed many export controls and has, for example, sanctioned Russia and other states and companies that are deemed hostile to U.S. national interests. And many of the Chinese private companies are, well, silently just abide by all these sanctions because they want to globalize. They want to have markets and partners and suppliers across the world.
42:06But I guess this is the year 2025. There is no way to turn around this phenomenon, I guess. Well, on this note, this actually leads into a question I wanted to ask, and I think this will be the last question from me. But one of my pet theories right now is that the U.S. is starting to look a lot more like China and China is starting to look a lot more like the U.S. So just recently, for instance, you've seen Chinese policymakers try to boost consumer spending, which is a page out of the U.S. playbook after financial crises. They've been enhancing their social safety net, which, again, kind of looks American, although you can debate how strong the American social net is.
42:47America, meanwhile, has been making more strategic investments in certain industries. Industrial policy has become a thing again. China is liberalizing part of its market. The US says it's going to keep Chinese investors out of its market. It feels like they're taking on each other's characteristics to some degree. I guess my question is, would you agree with that? And I have to say, Michael Pettis did not agree with me, but a couple others, Victor Schwetz over at Macquarie agreed with me. And then right after I wrote my piece about this, there was a big foreign policy article basically saying the same thing.
43:23So I would love to get your opinion. Well, I think I've heard the term called beating China by becoming China. And I do think that the United States has its legitimate interests in strengthening its supply chains, in safeguarding the resilience of its industries. Like, I totally understand that the US doesn't want to rely 100 % on PPEs during COVID. It wants to ensure a certain level of self-reliance when it comes to manufacturing capacity, maybe onshore or maybe friendly shoring, like in allies, you know, transatlantic allies. I get that. And I think when it comes to China, what you were mentioning, and I guess maybe Michael Pettis doesn't fully agree, is that many people believe the process in China of showing up the consumer spending, strengthening the social safety net, that should be accelerated.
44:23That should go much faster than it is happening today because, you know, the Chinese government, they have officially, according to their policy papers, recognizes that in the Chinese minds, it's not about basically learning from American way of establishing a social safety net, maybe from the Europeans, I guess. But because it is fundamentally helpful and beneficial for the Chinese society, for the Chinese people to have a relatively robust healthcare coverage insurance so that they could spend money on more iPhones and other consumer electronics, this is fundamentally good, something good. It's not about learning from the rest of the world.
45:03But on the phenomenon you just mentioned that there is some sort of convergence. I do hope they converge on being more open on being more humane on being more humanitarian being more, you know, hospitable to people to persons and if I may have some sort of last word on this I'm really saddened and sometimes I'm angry that it's the students they are at their early 20s or maybe like 19 years ago they are being made pawns in this game come on, they are innocent This strategic rivalry, yes, take all your measures against the military industrial complex and even maybe Huawei's, but leave the people alone from this.
45:46And let's, you know, people to people exchanges and student exchanges happen. And this will try to safeguard the long term stability of the two countries because, I mean, as competitive, as hawkish as the U.S. Trump administration hopes to be in China. Although I haven't read the latest readout of the phone call, but nobody wants the two countries to go to war. And to just prevent something catastrophic against that, we need people-to-people, you know, dialogues. And the Chinese leaders have been receiving U.S. gas. For example, the vice president of China just, I think yesterday or today, received the U.S.
46:26non-governmental players in China. The Chinese leaders met, for example, John L. Thornton, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs. They met Graham Allison, the founding dean of the Harvard Kennedy School. So you have many news in China from Chinese leaders receiving non-governmental guests from the U.S. Officially reported in China legitimizing the non-governmental visits from the U.S. to China. But the other way around, I don't see any news, even under Biden administration, that the U.S. government openly receives, you know, non-governmental visitors, scholars, entrepreneurs. and the Chinese, you know, for example, Xi Jinping met with, you know, dozens of U.S.
47:05companies and Western and European company CEOs. So in that thing, the Chinese legitimizing the Western interactions coming into China. But unfortunately, I'm not seeing any of that here. Here, what we have is like delegitimizing any Chinese government and the non-governmental people coming here. And I think I've heard that, you know, the U.S. government is also meeting with non-governmental Chinese actors, scholars, Well, working in state-run universities and think tanks, but they are not saying anything about that. And that's not something very good, I think. Zixun Wang, thank you so much for coming on OddLots.
47:43Thank you for doing your exit interview with us. This is really fascinating. Really glad we got to chat before you left town. And I hope we continue reading your work. I hope you're going to keep doing pecanology? Yes, definitely. That's fantastic, because I think for a lot of us here, it's a very useful resource, those of us who don't speak Chinese or those of us who don't know who the names that we should actually be paying attention to. So really appreciate it. And safe travels home. Thank you. I'm truly grateful for the opportunity. Thank you to Tracy and John. And I hope maybe not just for me, but for Chinese students, it's adios, not goodbye.
48:21Real quickly, has there been a change in perception, the desirability of coming here? If the Chinese students don't face the restrictions, they certainly still want to come here. Thank you so much. Thank you. My pleasure.
48:45First of all, really enjoyed that conversation. It is hard for me, you know, this sort of really aggressive attempt to no longer have American universities be a sort of destination for many of the world's most talented individuals. It's hard for me to imagine that not being sort of like a pretty big hit to both the U.S. economy and it's just sort of like standing in the world. Yeah. So Zishan's point about, well, you know, Chinese students who come to America for their education, they largely go back to China with fond memories of America. I think the idea that America wouldn't value that is really indicative of how much less we seem to be valuing soft power nowadays.
49:31it seems like that kind of diplomacy just isn't as popular as it once was. And so you're seeing people like the Trump administration say, like, well, why should we be doing this? We don't get anything out of it. But then people like Zichen will say, well, you actually do get something out of it. You get better relations and you get that sort of cultural understanding and that soft diplomacy. I do wonder, though, the degree to which the American public has been sold on the benefits of so-called soft power, right? So like a lot of people would say, oh, American influence abroad, American ideals, what America stands for, for freedom in almost in so many other countries, or maybe did up until recently, I know global perceptions have changed, etc.
50:16But then I think, you know, maybe there is another argument. It's like, oh, that's great that all these countries see us as a beacon of freedom or whatever. What do I get out of that? How does that benefit me? And I think when you look at some of the political turns, perhaps the case hasn't been made. to the U.S. public in a very compelling way from the people who believe in sort of liberal internationalism that the average citizen in the U.S. actually should care at all about how the rest of the world views us. Look, everyone needs to travel more if they can. That's what I say. You need to go to a place that loves America and then you need to go, I don't know, to the Middle East or something and talk to someone that hates America and see what the difference is.
50:55There's a big difference. This is a really good perspective and take. Okay. Shall we leave it there? Let's leave it there. This has been another episode of the All Thoughts Podcast. I'm Tracy Alloway. You can follow me at Tracy Alloway. And I'm Jill Weisenthal. You can follow me at The Stalwart. Follow our guest, Zishan Wong. He's at Zishan Wong here and check out his Pekingology sub stack. I do hope he sustains it upon return to China. Follow our producers, Carmen Rodriguez, Ed Carmen Armand, Dashiell Bennett at Dashbot, and Kale Brooks at Kale Brooks. For more OddLots content, go to Bloomberg.com slash OddLots.
51:29We have a daily newsletter and all of our episodes, and you can chat about all of these topics 24-7 in our Discord, discord.gg slash OddLots. And if you enjoy OddLots, if you like it when we conduct exit interviews with Chinese students studying at Princeton, then please leave us a positive review at your favorite podcast platform. And remember, if you are a Bloomberg subscriber, you can listen to all of our episodes absolutely ad-free. All you need to do is find the Bloomberg channel on Apple Podcasts and follow the instructions there. Thanks for listening.
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From the publisher
Zichen Wang is the writer of the Pekingnology newsletter, which translates important speeches and articles from China into English, and contextualizes them for Western readers. Over the past year, he's been a master's degree student at Princeton University, although he's recently returned home to resume his career at a think tank in China. His stint in the US obviously came at a very interesting time, both due to the rising US-China tensions, and also the growing restrictions on Chinese students in the US. So before making his trip back home he joined us for another episode of Odd Lots. We discussed his experience here in America, his assessment of the state of US-China relations, and what his message will be upon his return to China.
Only Bloomberg.com subscribers can get the Odd Lots newsletter in their inbox — now delivered every weekday — plus unlimited access to the site and app. Subscribe at bloomberg.com/subscriptions/oddlots
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