Upcoming live stream on Iran; How to be Chinese and progressive in 2026
Details of upcoming interview with Jesse Marks, an interview with Yaqiu Wang, and a news roundup.
Indulgent reader, my emails continue to belie the name China Week, but I have a few things lined up that should ensure a steady stream of newsletters from now on. Let me know if you want a refund for missed weeks. For today I have a recap of the recent China news, and some links to stuff I’e done elsewhere.
I’ll be doing a live interview on Substack at 8pm New York Time / 8am Beijing time on April 1 with Jesse Marks on China and the Middle East and the Iran war. Please join us if you’re online at the time. I’ll also publish the recording. Jesse is the author of the recent piece U.S.–China Aligned on Ends, Divided on Means in the Iran War, and the Coffee in the Desert newsletter.
What I’ve been doing elsewhere
How to be Chinese and progressive in 2026
For the Asia Society’s ChinaFile, I interviewed Yaqiu Wang a widely-cited researcher who has worked at Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, and the Committee to Protect Journalists.
We talked about the state of China human rights work after the DOGE funding cuts in the U.S., her recent article for ChinaFile on why China human rights advocates’ work should move away from U.S. government funding, the strange world of exile activism, the Chinese diaspora community, and more. Watch it on Youtube below or read a brief excerpt from the transcript here.
Personalist rule in Russia, China, and the U.S.
Why has America gone batshit crazy? Russian-born scholar and author Seva Gunitsky gave me some interesting answers to that question in this episode of my Rhyming Chaos podcast: Hegemonic suicide and medieval peasant brain. Most of the discussion is about the U.S. and a little about the U.S.S.R., but our discussion also touches on the rulership styles of Xi, Putin, and Trump.
China News Roundup
March 20–31, 2026
A brief summary of what I’ve been paying attention to:
China and Pakistan release Iran peace plan: Beijing and Islamabad today released a Five-Point Initiative of China and Pakistan For Restoring Peace and Stability in the Gulf and Middle East Region. It’s a noble gesture but without guns or money, but Trump obviously won’t sign on to any such plan.
Trump-Xi summit rescheduled to May 14–15 in Beijing: The long-awaited meeting was confirmed for May 14–15 in Beijing, after the original late-March dates were postponed due to the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. The summit will be Trump’s first visit to China since 2017.
“Almost 70” Panama-flagged ships have been detained at Chinese ports since March 8, according to shipping news wire Lloyd’s List. These “have been carried out under informal directives and appear intended to punish Panama after the transfer of CK Hutchison’s port assets,” according to the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission
Japan changes diplomatic phrase as relations with China continue to sour: “Japan calls China an ‘important neighbor’ in a draft version of a key Japanese foreign policy document presented by the government on Tuesday, a change from the current version calling the relationship ‘one of Japan’s most important bilateral relations,’” per Nikkei.
Chinese motorcycle startup ZXMOTO—founded in April 2024 by self-made entrepreneur Zhāng Xuě 张雪 in Chongqing—won back-to-back races at the Portuguese round of the Superbike World Championship, becoming the first Chinese brand to win at this level and defeating Ducati, Yamaha, and others. The story generated enormous domestic media attention, partly because Zhang stated in a broadcast interview that the Chongqing government gave him “not a single penny” of support.
KMT Chair to visit China, meet Xi: Yesterday, Focus Taiwan reported: “Kuomintang Chairperson Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文 Zhèng Lìwén) said Monday that she has ‘gladly accepted’ an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit China next week, which will show that the two sides ‘are not destined for war.’”