Presidents Trump and Xi meet at the G-20 meetings in Osaka and decide to restart trade negotiations, and then President Trump took a remarkable step across the DMZ into North Korean territory. Misha and John address these developments, and also the massive Hong Kong protests, trade developments, and divisions within the US foreign policy community.

Hoover Institution fellows Misha Auslin and John Yoo welcome one of Britain’s leading experts on China to the podcast: Rana Mitter, Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China, St. Cross College, Oxford University, and the Director of Oxford’s China Centre. Professor Mitter is the author of Forgotten Ally: China’s War with Japan, 1937-45, and A Bitter Revolution: China’s Struggle with the Modern World.

Professor Mitter discusses the student-led demonstrations of the Tiananmen Square Massacre thirty years later and the 100th Anniversary of the May Fourth Movement. We then turn to the changes in China since Tiananmen and the future of Chinese pluralism after the coming to power of Xi Jinping.

Hoover Institution fellows Misha and John have a special treat today: they are joined by another Hoover fellow, H.R. McMaster, retired general, scholar, and President Trump’s former national security advisor. They discuss the rise of China, America’s response, trade, and what keeps the Chinese leadership up at night. Misha and John then turn to a discussion of US-China trade tensions, the new Japanese emperor, and the centennial of the May 4th uprising in China.

As China tests Japan and Taiwan with air and naval challenges, Hoover Institution fellows Michael Auslin and John Yoo discuss why Japan and Taiwan play important roles in the United States’ Pacific strategy, and what measures the Trump administration can take to help their defense/military. They share their thoughts on why Taiwan is worth protecting, and conclude with a few words on the recent Thai elections.

Hoover Institution fellows Michael Auslin and John Yoo start their inaugural podcast on China, Asia, and the Pacific Century by discussing the upcoming summit between President Trump and North Korean President Kim Jong-un, trade tensions between the United States and China, the Justice Department’s indictment of Huawei, and Chinese arrest and trials of westerners.