Listen now (55 min) | Episode Notes: Today's guest is David Rennie, the Beijing bureau chief for The Economist and author of the weekly Chaguan column. Our topic today is online discourse, nationalism, and the intensifying contest for global discourse power. I spoke to some very serious NGO people who've been in China a long time, Chinese and foreigners who said that this was the worst time for NGOs since 1989, and the kind of mentions of espionage and national security was a very serious thing. So then I had to make a decision, was I going to try and speak to someone like Sai Lei. Clearly he is an extremely aggressive nationalist, some would call him a troll and there are risks involved in talking to someone like him. But I felt, I'm one of the few English language media still in China, if I'm going to add value, I need to speak to these people.
The most insightful podcast I have heard about how Chinese leaders are thinking. I bought China Unbound after episode 3 and was locked in listening to episode 4. Great stuff. Keep it coming.
The most insightful podcast I have heard about how Chinese leaders are thinking. I bought China Unbound after episode 3 and was locked in listening to episode 4. Great stuff. Keep it coming.
very well done, Bill - great episode! How does David sleep without looking over his shoulder all night?