At the end of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese leader Xi Jinping made an ominous warning of changes happening that haven't been seen in 100 years. In this just us episode of China Unscripted, we discuss what that could have meant, China's attempts to play peacemaker in Ukraine, the CEO of TikTok's testimony to Congress, and how China is "colonizing" space.

The Chinese Communist Party isn't a normal political party. When it makes an agreement with another country, it doesn't actually intend to stick to that agreement. For example, China promised the US it wouldn't militarize islands in the South China Sea. A few years later, the US military reported that China had done just that. In this episode of China Unscripted, we discuss China's ideology of deception, China's attempts to bully the Biden administration, and what China might be doing with all the data it's stealing on foreigners. Joining us in this episode is Bill Gertz, the national security correspondent for The Washington Times and author of several books, his most recent one being Deceiving the Sky: Inside Communist China’s Drive for Global Supremacy.

According to leaks from Canada's intel agency CSIS, China has been meddling in Canada's elections, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was reportedly briefed on this and did nothing to stop it. In this episode of China Unscripted, we talk about Trudeau's history with China, his father's love of Mao Zedong, and how China's corruption in Canada has become normalized. Joining us in this episode is Terry Glavin, a Canadian journalist who writes a column for the Ottawa Citizen and the National Post. He's also is a senior fellow at the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights.

The Chinese Communist Party knows that if it can get a foothold in the Pacific islands, its rivals would have a hard time coming to Taiwan's aid. This is all part of the CCP's invasion plan for Taiwan, and that plan seems to be coming to fruition. In this episode of China Unscripted, we talk about the corruption and money China is sending to the Pacific islands, how China's biggest critic in the Solomon Islands got ousted, and what the West can do to displace China's foothold in the region. Joining us in this episode is Cleo Paskal, a senior fellow at The Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

After China sent a spy balloon over the US, the US government started shooting things out of the sky that it couldn't identify. Also, the China spy balloon saga gets even weirder, with reports coming out on how China uses them domestically. In this just us episode of China Unscripted, we discuss China's spy balloon saga, how China is using the Ohio train wreck and ensuing environmental disaster as a propaganda tool, and the cause of more mass protests in China, among other things.

Chinese balloons have been traveling over the US, and despite China's claims that they're civilian weather balloons, China got very upset when the US shot one down. In this just us episode of China Unscripted, we discuss the spy balloons, John Kerry's efforts to work with China on climate change, and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's planned trip to Taiwan, among other things.

China's territorial claims to Japan's close neighbor Taiwan has spurred Japan to build up its defense forces. As part of that defensive buildup, there is now talk of using nuclear weapons to defend against China, which does have nuclear weapons. Whether Japan would develop its own, ask the US to use its nukes or some other option remains an open question. In this episode of China Unscripted, we look at Japan's desire for nuclear weapons, the significance of the disputed Senkaku islands, how stable the US-Japan relationship really is, and why China could invade Taiwan any day now. Joining us in this episode is Dr. Robert Eldridge, an expert on Japan’s security and diplomacy and a senior researcher for the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies in Tokyo.

China doesn't just use trained spies to carry out its espionage work, it uses almost anyone it thinks can get the secrets it's after. Instead of just carrying out targeted attacks, it uses death by 1000 cuts to gain the information its wants from other countries. In this episode of China Unscripted, we discuss China's massive spy network in America, how Chinese espionage is different from US espionage, and what people can do to keep China from stealing more secrets. Joining us in this episode is Nicholas Eftimiades, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a retired senior intelligence officer specializing in China. He's also the author of "Chinese Espionage Operations and Tactics"

China is running out of clean water fast, and this could have far reaching consequences for its manufacturing, energy and agriculture sectors. In this episode of China Unscripted, we discuss why China's water has become so depleted, what the government might do in a water shortage, and how this would affect the economy. Joining us in this episode is Andrew Eil, the head of Climate Risk for North America for Tata Consultancy Services.

2022 was a big year in China news. While a lot of events were unforeseen, astute China watchers could probably have predicted most of them. That's because what happened in China followed a pattern we've seen in China and around the world before; China seems doomed to repeat history if it continues down its current path. In this episode of China Unscripted, we look back at the biggest China stories of 2022: Russia's invasion of Ukraine and China's role in it, illegal overseas Chinese police stations, Xi Jinping getting a third term, Hu Jintao seemingly being purged, China's real estate crisis, US and other countries' support for Taiwan, and US trade restrictions on semiconductors to China.

China is recreating Hong Kong in its image by attacking the judicial system, limiting freedom of speech, and pushing propaganda through the education system, among other things. In this episode of China Unscripted, we talk about how even pro-Beijing businessmen are moving their money out of Hong Kong, the case of Apple daily owner Jimmy Lai, and what rebuilding Hong Kong might look like. Joining us in this episode is Ed Chin, a Hong Kong activist, hedge fund manager, and founder of 2047 Hong Kong Monitor.

When people talk about China's human rights abuses, it's often disconnected from its belligerence in the South China Sea or subversion of international organizations or theft of intellectual property. Yet when you look at the Chinese Communist Party's actions across all these areas, you start to see that China's human rights abuses aren't just an aspect of the CCP's rule, but its modus operandi. In this episode of China Unscripted, we talk about Hong Kong democracy, China's subversion of the United Nations, and what the free world can do to hold the CCP to account. Joining us in this episode is Benedict Rogers, the co-founder and CEO of Hong Kong Watch and the author of The China Nexus | Thirty years in and around the Chinese Communist Party's tyranny.