China, Crisis & The Global Power Play: Is The Risk of War Rising?
SmartHERNews
Jenna Lee
4.9 • 660 Ratings
🗓️ 11 March 2026
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Is China at the center of all current global conflict? Is the risk of war rising?
Whether we take a closer look at Venezuela or Iran, we find roads that lead to China. Why? And what should we know about the state of the largest communist nation in the world?
Jenna interviews author and analyst Gordon Chang about China’s growing instability and global posture amid shifting events involving Venezuela, Iran, and potential Trump–Xi talks.
Chang argues China appears strong but is structurally weak and increasingly dangerous.
He describes China’s deep ties to Venezuela and says recent American actions cost China a key Latin American outpost.
He calls Iran similarly dependent on China, noting China buys about 87–90% of Iran’s crude and 45–50% of China’s crude imports pass through the Strait of Hormuz, with price spikes after attacks.
Chang says Xi’s purges, including “disappearing generals,” have damaged China’s military command structure, raising risks of accidental escalation.
From U.S.-based Chinese biolabs to the fentanyl/drug war, Chang warns the U.S. must treat China as an enemy in “unrestricted warfare.”
00:00 Meet Gordon Chang
00:40 From Law to China Watcher
01:50 Why China Looks Weak
02:36 Stories Converge on China
04:18 China and Venezuela Ties
07:01 Iran Oil and China
08:58 China Economic Shock
09:56 Inside the Two Sessions
12:09 Why Xi Rules by Fear
14:09 Disappearing Generals Purge
18:05 What It Means for Taiwan
20:45 South China Sea Flashpoints
23:56 Red Lines and US Strategy
26:09 Exports Signal Weakness
29:16 Xi Power Grab Fallout
30:08 Trump Xi Summit Stakes
31:44 Why Trump Shouldnt Go
36:32 China Election Interference
39:01 Secret Biolab Raids
45:17 Fentanyl As Weapon
47:53 TikTok Data And Algorithm
49:02 China Russia And Priorities
52:34 Unrestricted Warfare Warning
54:45 Living With The Threat
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Well, today we're able to have a little time with one of my favorite people to talk to over the many years that I've covered a variety of different news stories. |
| 0:11.2 | His name is Gordon Chang. He's a writer, analyst, author, commentator with a specific expertise in China and North Korea, although we've talked about a host of different news |
| 0:22.1 | stories over the year. Gordon, it's great to see you, as always. Thank you for joining us. |
| 0:26.5 | Thank you, Jenna. For those that may be new to you, because our audience has grown quite a bit, |
| 0:32.2 | thankfully, over the last year or so. I know we've had a period of different conversations throughout the lifetime of Smarter News |
| 0:38.9 | and you're always so generous. |
| 0:40.2 | Can you give people a little bit about your background, Gordon, |
| 0:42.4 | about how you got into this line of work |
| 0:44.2 | and how you started to really research, learn more |
| 0:48.5 | about what's happening in Asia |
| 0:50.2 | and connecting the dots to what's also happening |
| 0:53.2 | in the Western world, specifically America. |
| 0:56.2 | That's a hard question. |
| 0:58.4 | I like to start with the hard stuff, 40 as you know. |
| 1:01.7 | I was practicing law in New York, made way away to Hong Kong in the beginning of the 1980s, stayed there for a decade, met my wife, |
| 1:13.5 | brought her to San Diego for five years, and then in 1996 we moved to China. And this was a very |
| 1:20.5 | optimistic time. And I can remember Lydia getting on the phone and saying, mom, China's not communist anymore. And I certainly |
| 1:29.9 | agreed with her because this was a time where China was opening up. They wanted to become part of the |
| 1:35.8 | world. And it was just exciting. And I remember my clients buzzing into Shanghai, staying at the |
| 1:42.9 | Grand Hyatt, which is one of the most spectacular hotels in the world, and saying, China's not communist anymore. |
| 1:49.7 | But as Lydia and I lived there, traveled around the country, worked, talked to people, we saw that the country had changed a lot less than everybody had assumed. |
| 1:59.9 | And so I wrote a book called The Coming Collapse in China |
... |
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