Tariff, preconditions to talk, Jensen Huang's China visit, Xi in Southeast Asia

Hello! Welcome to the 9th episode of the podcast “Peking Playbook,” featuring me (Zichen Wang), Robert Wu of Baiguan and China Translated substacks, and Johnny Zou of East8.

[00:41] Robert’s experience of publishing a guest essay on the New York Times discussing China’s resolve in the trade war.

[06:32] Significance of China halting Boeing deliveries

[8:08] Jensen Huang’s China visit: Is it a slap on Trump’s face, or could the Nvidia be some sort of “go-between”?

[17:13] Bloomberg’s scoop about China’s willingness to talk, with certain preconditions. How to take it?

[19:14] Reshuffling of top China’s trade negotiator at MOFCOM: what does it mean?

[21:00] The end of Chinese law enforcement’s domestic “high-sea fishing”?

[29:05] Xi’s Southeast Asia visit

The episode was recorded around 9:30 am ET, Saturday, April 19, 2025. At the time of recording, I’m in Princeton, New Jersey.

Robert Wu

’s guest essay in The New York Times: Trump Has Botched His Tariff War With China