S8 Ep203: PREVIEW: David Shedd attributes China's rampant theft of Western technology to a deep-seated cultural narrative of historical humiliation. Chinese intelligence officers justify stealing everything from military to modern tech as a necessary means to achie

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

News, Books, Society & Culture, Arts

4.5 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 17 December 2025

⏱️ 2 minutes

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Summary

PREVIEW: David Shedd attributes China's rampant theft of Western technology to a deep-seated cultural narrative of historical humiliation. Chinese intelligence officers justify stealing everything from military to modern tech as a necessary means to achieve national rejuvenation and ensure China is never again oppressed by the West.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is John Batchler, a conversation with the author David Shed, his new book, The Great Heist with Andrew Badger,
0:06.9	the story of the Chinese Communist Party, the PLA, Navy, and Army, all of the military services
0:14.5	working with Ministry of State Security, have stolen a great deal, perhaps everything, of the modern technology that
0:23.1	China is boasting about.
0:25.2	Everything.
0:26.0	And why?
0:27.0	What is the motivation?
0:28.9	What is the rationale?
0:30.5	Here, David explains some of it.
0:33.5	It has to do with the legend of the past.
0:37.2	David Shed, the Great Heist,
0:39.1	why does the Ministry of State Security think
0:41.4	that it's okay to steal everything
0:43.5	that's not nailed down in that too?
0:46.5	More denied.
0:48.2	Well, this is what's so interesting
0:50.5	is that culturally,
0:53.2	the Chinese view themselves as having been oppressed by the West,
0:59.2	and this is viewed as the era or the period of humiliation. And it runs up through into the late
1:10.1	1980s, into the 1990s. And it goes back from the period of time
1:16.2	of the Long March in 1949, in which they are viewed, they view themselves that they are
1:24.7	viewed as someone to be used and oppressed by the West.
	...

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