Why Should We Care: Indo-Pacific Pod

New: Why Should We Care About America’s Mid-Term Election Tsunami?

America’s mid-term elections delivered a Democratic sweep. Does Donald Trump change course or double down? In a special in-person episode, @GordianKnotRay and Jim Carouso examine what went wrong for Republicans and what the result could mean for tariffs, Taiwan and America’s allies in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

Their starting point: voters expected lower prices, controlled borders and no new foreign wars. But tariff chaos, the cost of the Iran war and the administration’s immigration crackdown excesses helped turn those expectations into a backlash. Still, rejecting Republicans isn’t the same as embracing Democrats, and this week’s winners now have two years to prove they can provide a credible governing alternative.

For the Indo-Pacific, Trump’s response could matter more immediately than the change in Congress. With the ASEAN and APEC summits approaching later this month, Jim expects a president blocked at home to seek a foreign-policy win abroad. What might Trump offer to secure a deal with Xi Jinping, and what could that mean for Taiwan? Could there be an opening for partners in negotiations as U.S. voters demand relief from high prices, or will Trump’s longstanding commitment to tariffs override their concerns?

Ray and Jim also consider whether ending U.S. military financing for Israel could leave more money for Indo-Pacific partners. Congress would have to decide; the money wouldn’t simply become Trump’s to spend elsewhere. Meanwhile, Iran presents a harder problem: how does he end the fighting, help bring down energy costs and still claim to have prevented an Iranian nuclear weapon? Wanting to end the war and actually ending it on acceptable terms are very different things.

At home, Democratic control brings investigations, possible impeachment and budget confrontations. The 2028 campaign is already taking shape, too. Ray and Jim discuss Vice President Vance’s efforts to separate himself from the Iran war, Marco Rubio’s possible presidential ambitions and the competing candidates and factions seeking to lead the Democrats.

They close with Jim’s memory of hosting an election-night party in Australia in 2016, and explaining the wonders of American democracy as bewildered guests headed for the exits.

Ep. 174 is available wherever you get your podcasts, including:

- YouTube: youtu.be/1l5SJS69Qnc
- Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why…
- Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/5WEgYg…
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What They Don't Tell You About Visa-Free China

@ChengLeifreedom, a former CNBC China correspondent who then spent nine years as an anchor at China's English-language state broadcaster CGTN and now presents for Australia's News24 (formerly Sky News Australia), joins @GordianKnotRay and Jim from Melbourne to describe how China's security state and hostage diplomacy work from the inside. She traces her surveillance to April 2020, days after Australia called for an independent inquiry into COVID's origins, and recounts being lured into the office with the promise of a meeting about a new show, only to be told she was under investigation for leaking state secrets.

Visa-free travel to China has led many Western tourists to share glowing reviews of Shanghai and Beijing, fueling narratives that China is outperforming the West. But as Cheng warns, casual tourism only shows a polished facade. By unwittingly boosting China's soft power, these travelers obscure a darker reality, including the harsh treatment of its own prisoners that is far worse than reported.

China's Residential Torture

@ChengLeifreedom, a former CNBC China correspondent who then spent nine years as an anchor at China's English-language state broadcaster CGTN and now presents for Australia's News24 (formerly Sky News Australia), joins @GordianKnotRay and Jim Carouso from Melbourne to describe how China's security state and hostage diplomacy work from the inside. She traces her surveillance to April 2020, days after Australia called for an independent inquiry into COVID's origins, and recounts being lured into the office with the promise of a meeting about a new show, only to be told she was under investigation for leaking state secrets.

Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location (RSDL) is often sugarcoated by its title. To put it bluntly, as Cheng described - it is torture. She breaks down the psychological toll of solitary confinement under Chinese authorities, where guards watched every second of her life.

The Quiet Spread of China's Influence in Australia

@ChengLeifreedom, a former CNBC China correspondent who then spent nine years as an anchor at China's English-language state broadcaster CGTN and now presents for Australia's News24 (formerly Sky News Australia), joins @GordianKnotRay
and Jim Carouso from Melbourne to describe how China's security state and hostage diplomacy work from the inside. She traces her surveillance to April 2020, days after Australia called for an independent inquiry into COVID's origins, and recounts being lured into the office with the promise of a meeting about a new show, only to be told she was under investigation for leaking state secrets.

In this clip, Cheng breaks down how Chinese diplomatic influence is evolving in Australia. China changed its aggressive strategy from "Wolf Warrior to a more, "Wolf in sheep's clothing" aproach is targeting communities and local government, with unexpected political leverage.

Links to the episode below.

New: Why Should We Care What It's Like to Be Imprisoned in China?

Eight words. That was the evidence: "No growth target. GDP. 9 million jobs target," texted to a friend at Bloomberg minutes before China's premier read out the government's annual work report. For that (but not really for that), Chinese-Australian journalist @ChengLeifreedom spent 1,154 days in Chinese custody.

Lei, a former CNBC China correspondent who then spent nine years as an anchor at China's English-language state broadcaster CGTN and now presents for Australia's News24 (formerly Sky News Australia), joins @GordianKnotRay and Jim Carouso from Melbourne to describe how China's security state and hostage diplomacy work from the inside. She traces her surveillance to April 2020, days after Australia called for an independent inquiry into COVID's origins, and recounts being lured into the office with the promise of a meeting about a new show, only to be told she was under investigation for leaking state secrets.

What followed was six months of what she calls "solitary with Chinese characteristics": two guards, rotating every four hours, who stood and sat so close they watched her "s**t, shower and sleep." She didn't see a lawyer for nine months. More than a year after her arrest, she says, investigators produced a document retroactively classifying the report. Her 90-minute closed trial drew laughter at a lawyers' conference ("what can you do in 90 minutes?"), while the 18-month wait for a verdict was considered fast; in Ministry of State Security circles it's called "going on a rocket."

For her eventual release she credits Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who raised her case 14 times, until her Chinese counterpart asked why she kept bringing up "this individual."

Also in this episode: the Chinese diplomats who blocked her from the cameras during Premier Li Qiang's 2024 visit to Canberra and declared the city's Hyatt hotel "our territory"; the pressure on Melbourne's mayor not to attend her play "1154 Days"; why her oldest Chinese friends are now afraid to be seen with her; and her warning that Beijing's new "wolf in sheep's clothing" diplomacy is "a friendship that bites."

Her book, "A Memoir of Freedom," is now out in Chinese as If the Walls Could Talk, published in Taiwan: "a story that happens in China but cannot be read in China."

Ep. 173 is available wherever you get your podcasts, including:

- YouTube: youtu.be/8xBINnBqI-g
- Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why…
- Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/16QVZ5…
- Amazon: music.amazon.com/podcasts/9e5b7…
- RSS: rss.com/podcasts/indo-…
+ More!