Is China unstoppable? – How Beijing is fighting to own the future

This Is Not A Drill with Gavin Esler

Podmasters

News, Society & Culture, Politics

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 28 August 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

China is upping its pace in a race to dominate the world of technology. What will Beijing’s quest mean for its rivalry with the US and how will it shape the future? Gavin Esler is joined by Dan Wang, author of Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future, to discuss China’s ambitions. Buy Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund This is Not a Drill by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. https://uk.bookshop.org/a/13277/9780241729175 • This episode of This Is Not A Drill is supported by ⁠Incogni⁠, the service that keeps your private information safe, protects you from identity theft and keeps your data from being sold. There’s a special offer for This Is Not A Drill listeners – go to⁠ https://incogni.com/notadrill⁠ to get an exclusive 60% off your annual plan. • Support us on Patreon to keep This Is Not A Drill producing thought-provoking podcasts like this: https://www.patreon.com/thisisnotadrill Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact [email protected] to find out more Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Want to listen to our podcast without interruptions from advertising? Well, sign up to back us on
0:06.0	Patreon for a smooth, ad-free listening experience. Follow the link in the show notes to find out how.
0:13.1	There's a perjo SUV for everyone and every need.
0:16.9	Sport for choice. I like it. From the Compact 2008, the stylish 3008 to the Remy New 5,08.
0:24.0	Weekend adventures, here we come.
0:25.9	Now available on 0% APR with a minimum 20% deposit.
0:29.6	Sounds like a 100% match.
0:31.4	Book a test drive on perjot.co.uk.
0:34.6	Offer ends 30th September 2025.
0:36.6	Personal contract purchase subject to status and availability, T's and Zs 18 plus,
0:40.2	excludes plug-in hybrids, Dilanthus financial services.
0:44.2	I first visited China three decades ago and was astounded by the contrast
0:49.1	between the new economic reforms of the then-leader Deng Chauping
0:52.5	and the equally astonishing sights of the old
0:55.5	China. High Nine Island in the south, for example, was a modernising, buzzing, special enterprise
1:01.1	zone. Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan or Heihe on the Russian border, were cities that seemed
1:06.8	relics from the past. Tens of thousands of workers dressed in identical blue Mao
1:11.7	suits cycling to work in old factories, some built by the Soviet Union.
1:16.8	And now, well, Chengdu is an engine of inventiveness and home to 21 million people.
1:22.8	China's status is that of the rising superpower of the 21st century, the workshop of the world,
1:29.1	with aspirations for even greater economic and technological global dominance.
1:33.8	In this episode, we're going to hear from an expert China watcher on where China is going
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Podmasters, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Podmasters and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.