Hu Bo on South China Sea and U.S. military activities in 2024

Many China-focused English-language podcasts are online, mostly run by Western institutions and individuals. Some have tried hard to include Chinese mainland guests in their conversations. I applaud their efforts. For various reasons, their success is uneven.

I guess—or I’d like to believe—I may be in a better position to bring some Chinese voices to a global audience, so let me have a try—starting with today’s guest, Hu Bo, Research Professor and Director of the Centre for Maritime Strategy Studies of Peking University.

Professor Hu is perhaps better known as the Director of the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative (SCSPI), which has established itself as the most internationally well-known Chinese hub for data-based research on the crucial topic of the South China Sea.

In my opinion, the SCSPI stands out for publishing data-informed reports, unlike many in China churning out, basically, opinion pieces. Among its recent work is An Incomplete Report on US Military Activities in the South China Sea in 2024, which we talk about in this podcast.

I’m glad Hu Bo is willing to shed more light on the SCSPI, for example, where it sources its data and how its research reports are authored.

In the last 1/3 of the podcast, Hu Bo also laid out China's policy and thinking toward the Philippines and other South China Sea claimants, correcting some of my misconceptions about how and why Beijing does or does not do certain things.

I have no experience producing podcasts, and as usual, this is an attempt with no funding or support from anyone. So please forgive me if I don’t sound like Kaiser Kuo on Sinica or if the production quality is terrible - there are some instances where the sound is just awful.

And one of my rookie mistakes is that throughout the podcast, I mispronounced South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative (SCSPI) for South China Sea Probing Institute, which is inexcusable.

Let me thank Yuxuan JIA for the post-recording production and Adobe Podcast for its fabulous Enhance Speech. They are lifesavers.

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[2:45] Hu Bo introduces South China Sea Probing Initiative (SCSPI)

[5:50] Hu Bo on the sources of SCSPI data

[8:50] Hu Bo on the annual Incomplete Report on US Military Activities in the South China Sea

[15:45] Hu Bo clarifies my mischaracterization of the Chinese official attitude against the U.S. reconnaissance activities in the South China Sea

[20:20] Hu Bo talks about the U.S. military’s Island-intrusive FONOPs and Taiwan Strait Transits

[24:00] Hu Bo on the Continuously Boosted Joint Operations with Allies

[29:00] Hu Bo on the China-Philippines standoff in the South China Sea

[31:15] Hu Bo emphasizes that the Nine-Dash Line is not China’s legal base to claim territorial waters

[35:50] Hu Bo on the dispute between China and the Philippines

[40:05] Hu Bo on the Second Thomas Shoal