The content is good, and Bonnie Lin is a credible expert. She does sound like she’s just reading from a prompter, but I still tune in to every episode for her insightful questioning of quality guests. I question her haters in the reviews; they often use idioms that don’t quite sound right. Perhaps she’s gotten under somebody’s skin half a world away? All the more reason to be curious to hear Ms. Lin’s talented voice.

The presentation needs work. Bonnie needs to work on sounding less like she is reading. I find it distracting.

This was an interesting and thoughtful discussion of what the US, China and Taiwan should do in order to avoid a conflict across the Taiwan Straits What we need to hear next is how should the US and Taiwan respond to “uses of force“ by China that fall short of outright military invasion. What should the US do if China blockades Taiwan? What should the US do if China takes measures less than a blockade? Looking forward to that discussion!

The discussant, Caitlin Chin, gave an unabashed promotion of the app without even mentioning the report that ByteDance the parent company has admitted to several of its employees accessing private data on American journalists and downplaying the state control nature of ByteDance. Instead she tries to make the case that the only issues with TikTok are privacy issues, common to all social platforms and downplays the fact that the CCP has significant control over ByteDance/TikTok. Additionally she did not mention a recent Forbes article on the lose security measures at TikTok data service centers. For a good discussion of the issue go listen to the Economist podcast on this issue.

Bonny Lin is not smart enough to keep up with her guests. She has amazing guests on, but asks simple and redundant questions. Have a strong grasp of the material. I suggest she do more research before her interviews.

The podcast is excellent. The host is knowledgeable. The negative review is nonsense. The podcast is also not particularly pro western

The host of this is a wooden statue, obviously speaking from a script with scripted questions and an overall very dry listening experience. All the “experts” now are bought and paid for shills of the CCP. Skip this.

Bonnie Lin is a terrific interviewer who speaks with legitimate experts and guides the conversation in an accessible and productive direction

More PLA/MSS issues re: taiwan, xinjiang, social governance, etc. please. More John Culver, Peter Mattis, Hal Brands, etc. Please try to get Phil Davidson to comment on the “Davidson Window.”

Listened to an interview regarding China and the person being interviewed spewed every western propaganda talking point with zero pushback or comparisons to America’s behavior. Very unserious and biased.

I’ve listened to this pod for a year years, and it seems as if the show is stil written by the same person, but now the intros and questions are read by a lower-paid intern. It now sounds much more like a low-effort production and I’ve chosen to unsubscribe. Thanks for the years of good content prior to this.

Interesting, informative and relevant. I don’t know who wrote the negative reviews but they need to be investigated to determine their true identity.

Kirby is a total sellout!

This show has gone downhill after the previous host left for another think tank. The lady hosting it now seems to have a more superficial level of knowledge about China than the previous one. She has shamed her (Asian) family!

The podcast has poor audio. The speakers are highly qualified experts. The problem is that the podcast isn’t a conversation between a host and the expert. It is instead a series of experts reading from their work sometimes too quickly. There are no follow-up questions. This podcast is put together in some way where the host and the experts never actually meet each other, even on zoom. This leads to a stilted awkward quality of the podcast, which is a shame given the high quality of the people involved.

Pretty good guest lineup, but the terrible audio quality often makes me quit the episode halfway through.

These are a broad ranging set of podcasts that enlighten the listener about China and its interactions with the world. Terrific!

Awesome content, but the host has some microphone issues that reduce clarity.

This is pure manipulation by the CCP. I certainly hope no one believes any of this. China would not allow such garbage to be broadcast in China.

China’s wolf warrior diplomacy is another reaction to the unrelenting barrages from the Trump administration. Thanks for bringing the wolf out of China, Trump.

Too pro China. ‘Experts’ have been too compromised.

So sad that you lacked the moral courage to ask any really tough questions. For example, “why did you allow people to travel, infected, from Wuhan to countries around the world”. If they handled the virus so well why did this happen? Why, if handled so well, did they not allow anyone in the view their great actions in containing the virus?? Why the CDC was not allowed to research with them?? I’m a laymen from the fly over zone and could have ask these questions of him!! These are what true partner nations do. Yet despite your claim of being a journalist you failed. Surely, in your college courses, you where taught to ask the tough questions, yet you failed. Time and time again you let him off the hook, listen to yourself and see if you can truthfully say you lived up to any journalist standards. This was one of the saddest pieces of work I’ve ever listened to. You must hold communist accountable for their actions and the propaganda they spread. I’m sure you want him to be your friend and come back often, and I’m sure he will after this bunny of an interview. I’ve been listening to you for along time and I must say this might well be the last. Even as a young man, I remember reporters challenging the USSR’s propaganda, in interviews, but not now. I’m sure you have set yourself up for the CCTV job you are no doubt wanting the CCP to offer. Lets not even go to human rights and your failure to even bring this up because apparently our don’t care. This is was so bad, and you should go hide your head in the sand for a while. Failure is hard to swallow for us all, and to learn from, but I have they feeling you will not us this as a lesson in failure. Good luck on your future job and becoming a true mouthpiece for the CCP. Concerned citizen from the fly over zone.

Granted part of the awkwardness with interviews is bc they’re now all over Zoom but it really does seem like all of the questions are sent to the interviewee in advance and they just read off a script for the duration of the episode. There are benefits such as being able to draw on direct quotes which would be tough off the top of your head, but it does seem like they could just publish a transcript and get the same sort of engagement with the audience.

I find there is a lack of reflection. There is no conversation. Pre written questions.

Interestingly you see several comments saying this channel is “pro China” but from the point of view of a Chinese, I think this channel is less biased. I think many western audience should really question what they really want from any channel related to China. Do they just want a platform to please their prejudice or do they want to learn how people in the other side of the world think?

From the podcasts that I have listened to there seems to be a subtle Pro China slant to the issues being discussed, painting China in a positive light despite their role in many concerning international, political and economic issues. A more in-depth look at China’s human rights abuses, economic bullying, aggressive stance against the US and other countries trying to bring to light their darker agendas should be a part of these podcasts in my opinion.

The first episode I listened to was regarding China's influence with the WHO. The guest was Dr. Youde from the University of Minnesota. The initial concern I had is that UofM receives approximately $65million a year from overseas Chinese students, and as such, Dr. Youde has an economic interest to bolster China relations. After less than 10 minutes of listening to Dr. Youde it became apparent that he was promoting the long since tried, and in my opinion from the standpoint of the USA failed, "China inclusion policy". Skimming through the episode titles, though, the podcast does appear to have certain merit. But if every episode is skewed towards polishing the image of China without critically acknowledging its darker sides (human rights, Taiwan relations, intellectual property theft, currency manipulation, all levels of misinformation provided by the CCP, trade imbalances, etc, etc), then I'll probably unsubscribe.

Really makes you think

Each installment of this podcast provides valuable information, highly recommended.

This is an excellent podcast. Learn so much! Thanks!

What all of CSIS’s podcasts should aspire to.