Made in China, Banned in China - The Wire China As China’s cryptocurrency entrepreneurs continue to drive a leverage craze that has wired new systemic risks into the global financial system, the Trump administration is giving the crypto industry…

This week’s cover story: Grady McGregor analyzes how China’s cryptocurrency entrepreneurs continue to drive a leverage craze that has wired new systemic risks into the global financial system:

“If deciding to have the war [to defend Taiwan] would mean economic mutually assured destruction, maybe we’re actually deterring ourselves.”

Paddy Stephens interviews Eyck Freymann on defending Taiwan.

Read more: buff.ly/sYCURiv

How China's EV Companies are Winning the War - The Wire China All of China's top electric vehicle makers saw exports charge ahead in March, although some of their costs are rising too.

With war in Iran sending gas prices soaring, Chinese EV makers had a very good first quarter.

But even as global demand for EVs grows, countries are wary of replacing oil dependency with a China dependency.

Step back and look at the big picture this week with The Wire China:

The AI Science Separation - The Wire China A row over whether Chinese scientists can attend a major international AI conference is the latest sign that the U.S. and China are splitting into two camps.

A top AI conference banned dozens of Chinese entities — then walked it back.

@rachelcheung.bsky.social breaks down the latest breakdown in U.S.-China science collaboration for this week’s issue of The Wire China:

In the high-stakes world of cryptocurrency, traders are writing big checks with borrowed funds — a risky investment trend known as leveraging. It all started in China.

Get the scoop on our latest episode of The Wire China Podcast: pod.link/1873741567/e...

Chinese EVs are Charging Up for Canada After so many years of Canada and the United States presenting a united front against Chinese electric vehicles, some were surprised by Canada’s announcement earlier this year it would drop its high…

Chinese electric vehicles will soon be cruising on Canadian roads from Vancouver to Halifax.

🚗 In our latest podcast episode, reporters @eliotchen.bsky.social and Savannah Billman discuss Canada's monumental shift to open its market to Chinese cars:

"In the UK at this time, the so-called ‘money men’ seem to have outmaneuvered those responsible for issues closer to security and sovereignty."

Read our Q&A with @methorley.bsky.social on the UK-China "golden era:" buff.ly/364ywAI

China’s Connected Vehicles Widen the U.S.-Canada Disconnect - The Wire China A Chinese EV maker that is expanding in Canada has ties to a U.S.-sanctioned surveillance company, illustrating the data and security risks connected vehicles pose.

Canada's divergence with its southern neighbor on its policy towards Chinese EVs continues to widen.

@eliotchen.bsky.social writes this week on how one Chinese EV maker planning a Canada debut has ties to a sanctioned surveillance firm:

China’s Abundance Strategy is At Risk of Failure - The Wire China Xi Jinping has steered the country’s economy straight into the traps he identified himself five years ago.

Op-Ed: "Despite China's techno-industrial triumphs, the economic maladies Xi warned of five years ago have only become more entrenched."

Yanmei Xie writes on how Xi Jinping steered China into economic traps he himself foresaw:

China’s Foothold in Europe - The Wire China As European attitudes towards China grow more skeptical, Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán has never wavered in his support for deeper links.

Orbán is out in Hungary. Will closer ties with China be too?

Revisit our coverage of the deep Hungary-China relationship, which brought with it Chinese investment dollars — and controversy.

Preparing for the Worst - The Wire China If Xi Jinping moves to take Taiwan by force, it will require logistical and political preparations that cannot be hidden from the rest of the world. In an essay adapted from his new book, Defending…

This week's cover story: While every war is different, countries generally cannot mobilize for war in secret.

In an essay adapted from his new book, Defending Taiwan, Eyck Freymann looks at how the U.S. and its allies can try to prevent Xi from pulling the trigger over Taiwan:

Eleven Days, Part II - The Wire China To mark the 25th anniversary of the Hainan spy plane crisis, The Wire China is publishing the second installment of its discussions with people who participated in the dramatic showdown. For Part I…

"It was a life changing experience: the incident, the detention, the repatriation. I was on the cover of every newspaper in the United States and the free world." — Nick Mellos, the flight engineer.

We revisit the 2001 Hainan spy plane crisis through the eyes of eyewitnesses: buff.ly/upEYVjl

🎧 While Canada's restrictions on Chinese EVs may have disappeared, the security risks have not.

In our latest podcast episode, @eliotchen.bsky.social and Savannah Billman discuss the U.S.-Canada divergence and one car company's connection to a sanctioned entity.
pod.link/1873741567

China’s Solar Industry Follows the Sun to Africa - The Wire China Chinese solar firms are exporting far more to Africa as their U.S. and European markets fade. That could make the Sino-African trade relationship even more one-sided.

Africa, with vast unmet demand and few trade barriers, has become a more compelling market for a Chinese industry being squeezed out of the U.S. and Europe.

Noah Berman analyzes China's booming solar exports to the African continent for this week’s issue of The Wire China:

Eleven Days, Part II - The Wire China To mark the 25th anniversary of the Hainan spy plane crisis, The Wire China is publishing the second installment of its discussions with people who participated in the dramatic showdown. For Part I…

"On the evening of April 11, it was announced that the U.S. EP-3 crew would be allowed to leave China the next day...Our Hotel California adventure was about to end." — Tom Mitchell, the reporter.

We revisit the 2001 Hainan spy plane crisis through the eyes of eyewitnesses: buff.ly/upEYVjl

Why China Should Boost its Lending To Developing Countries - The Wire China China's retreat from lending to developing countries has come at precisely the wrong time for the global economy.

Op-Ed: "As the country faces decoupling from Western markets, it is in China’s interest to revive financing to the developing world to help create new market opportunities."

@kevinpgallagher.bsky.social and Rebecca Ray write for this week’s issue of The Wire China:

Eleven Days, Part II - The Wire China To mark the 25th anniversary of the Hainan spy plane crisis, The Wire China is publishing the second installment of its discussions with people who participated in the dramatic showdown. For Part I…

"The Chinese leader will not speak to us during a crisis of this sort. That is just their way...This is a huge concern on the American side." — Dennis Wilder, the CIA China Division Chief.

We revisit the 2001 Hainan spy plane crisis through the eyes of eyewitnesses: buff.ly/upEYVjl

"The Chinese fought for their rights and fought for America to live up to the ideals it supposedly stood for."

Read our Q&A with @michaelluo.bsky.social on his new book on Chinese immigrants to the U.S.: buff.ly/IRnl2Y5

Eleven Days, Part II - The Wire China To mark the 25th anniversary of the Hainan spy plane crisis, The Wire China is publishing the second installment of its discussions with people who participated in the dramatic showdown. For Part I…

"I said, 'Well, on CNN, first day the spy plane has to land in Hainan. Second day, China won’t release the crew. Third day, China is holding the Americans hostage.'" — Leigh-Wai Doo, the Freelance Intermediary.

We revisit the 2001 Hainan spy plane crisis: buff.ly/upEYVjl

Eleven Days, Part I - The Wire China On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Hainan spy plane crisis, The Wire China talks with participants and reviews first-person accounts of the incident.

🗞️Now free to read: The Hainan Spy Plane Crisis, Part I

This time 25 years ago, the U.S. and China were in a tense standoff after a collision left one Chinese pilot missing and 24 American crewmen stuck on a PLA military base in Hainan.
www.thewirechina.com/2026/03/29/e...

Pharma Bets Big on Chinese Drugmakers - The Wire China Despite regulatory obstacles, big pharma is so confident in China’s R&D they’re purchasing the rights to medicines that don’t yet exist.

Over $50 billion worth of licensing deals between Chinese and multinational biopharma firms were signed in the first two months of 2026 alone.

Get the big picture on how China's drug R&D is changing the medical world:

"We had two translators...they were both PLA officers. They somehow got the monikers Lieutenant Tony and Lieutenant Gump." — Jeremy Crandall, Cryptologic Technician.

We revisit the 2001 Hainan spy plane crisis through the eyes of eyewitnesses: buff.ly/upEYVjl

Eleven Days, Part II - The Wire China To mark the 25th anniversary of the Hainan spy plane crisis, The Wire China is publishing the second installment of its discussions with people who participated in the dramatic showdown. For Part I…

25 years ago today, the Hainan spy plane crisis was entering its fifth day.

In Part II of our oral history series on the crisis, read eyewitness testimony from the then-CIA China Division Chief; U.S. diplomats; and EP-3 spy plane crew members:

🎧China's solar imports aren't welcome everywhere, but that's not the case in Africa.

Listen to the latest episode of The Wire China Podcast:
pod.link/1873741567

Eleven Days, Part I - The Wire China On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Hainan spy plane crisis, The Wire China talks with participants and reviews first-person accounts of the incident.

"From the second half of 2000, the flights had grown more and more frequent and closer to China’s territorial waters..."- The Foreign Minister, Tang Jiaxuan.

The Wire China revisits the 2001 Hainan spy plane crisis through the eyes of eyewitnesses:
buff.ly/uj31O8S

How the OpenClaw Frenzy Is Testing China’s AI Commitment - The Wire China A backlash from so-called ‘lobster victims’ following a frenzy to download the AI agent OpenClaw has prompted Chinese regulators into action.

🦞<-Why is this lobster one of the hottest symbols in China right now?

OpenClaw, an AI agent represented by a red lobster, is all the rage in China's tech world and beyond. But the backlash has already begun.

Eleven Days, Part I - The Wire China On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Hainan spy plane crisis, The Wire China talks with participants and reviews first-person accounts of the incident.

"The blood wasn’t going to go thin on my watch. If I did get home, I would have to face everybody the rest of my life, and I’m not going to come home a coward." - The U.S. Pilot, Shane Osborn.

The Wire China revisits the 2001 Hainan spy plane crisis through the eyes of eyewitnesses:
buff.ly/uj31O8S

"I think it’s possible to hold a paradoxical view that China will continue to challenge the U.S. on the technological frontier, while also experiencing a sustained slowdown in productivity growth."

Read this week's Q&A with Neil Shearing: buff.ly/yQbAHqS

"It was April 1, April Fool’s Day … When I first heard the radio announcement [about the incident], I thought it was a joke. Unfortunately, the incident was real." - The Academic, Shen Dingli

The Wire China revisits the 2001 Hainan spy plane crisis through the eyes of eyewitnesses:
buff.ly/uj31O8S

Company in the News: XPeng - The Wire China EV giant XPeng is hoping AI-driven systems for cars and robots will help drive profits.

Meet XPeng, the EV company with a futuristic bent. Aside from flying cars and robotaxis, it is betting an expansion into physical AI will drive profits.

Get the big picture: