This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with Deborah Seligsohn, who served as the State Department’s Environment, Science, Technology and Health Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing from 2003 to 2007. She is now an assistant professor of political science at Villanova University in Philadelphia, where she currently teaches a course on pandemics and politics. She recalls her firsthand experience with China’s SARS response in 2003, shares her views on how much China improved in the intervening years, and talks about how, when, and why China mishandled its initial response to the novel coronavirus in the winter of 2019–2020. Deborah also offers her critical perspective on the persistent “lab-leak” theory.
This show was recorded on March 12, with an addendum recorded on March 29, in which Deborah addresses some of the news relating to the search for COVID’s origins that came out in the intervening weeks.
6:50: Understanding the origins of COVID-19
34:16: Chinese scientists’ unwillingness to share data
43:54: The World Health Organization’s handling of the virus
54:36: The lab-leak theory
Recommendations:
Deborah: Coronation, by Ai Weiwei, and the podcast In The Bubble: From The Frontlines.
Kaiser: The rise of made-in-China diplomacy, Peter Hessler’s latest piece in The New Yorker.
Observing Taiwan’s presidential election
Military modernization in Xi Jinping’s China
The Hong Kong protests: The view from campus
Gary Rieschel of Qiming Venture Partners on VC, tech, and the U.S.-China relationship
A conversation with Gary Locke
Yangyang Cheng Live at NEXT China
Big Brother and big data at work in Xinjiang
Dynasty warriors: Ming vs. Qing smackdown
China and the techno-authoritarian narrative
Fuchsia Dunlop on ‘The Food of Sichuan’
Philanthropy in China, with Scott Kennedy of CSIS
Jerome Cohen on the Hong Kong protests and the law
Neil Thomas on regime support in the P.R.C.
Live from Columbia: China tech triage with Samm Sacks
Jude Blanchette on the Hong Kong protests
Podcast Golden Week: TechBuzz China Ep. 53: NetEase
Podcast Golden Week: Peter Hessler on ChinaEconTalk
Podcast Golden Week: Ta for Ta Episode 22
Podcast Golden Week: Middle Earth #16
Is China the Enemy? Featuring Ezra Vogel and Orville Schell
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