Episode Details

Dan Wang at long last makes his solo ChinaTalk debut! We’re here to discuss and celebrate his first book, Breakneck.

We get into…

• Engineering states vs lawyerly societies,
• The competing legacies of the 1980s in China, the decade which saw brutal repression via the One Child Policy and Tiananmen alongside intellectual debate, cultural vibrancy, and rock and roll,
• Methods of knowing China, from the People’s Daily and Seeking Truth to on-the-ground research,
• How to compare the values of China’s convenient yet repressive society with the chaotic pluralism of the USA,
• What Li Qiang’s career post-Shanghai lockdowns can tell us about the value of loyalty vs competence in Xi’s China.

Outro music: Mozart - The Marriage of Figaro (YouTube link)

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