Eliot Chen

Epstein and China - The Wire China Jeffrey Epstein aspired to do deals in China, corresponding with Peter Mandelson and David Stern, a German associate who was close to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. The Wire China reviews email trails fr...

The Wire China reporters Noah Berman, @eliotchen.bsky.social and @rachelcheung.bsky.social with the definitive story on Epstein’s ties to China’s princelings - the relatives of top Communist Party leaders. @thewirechina.bsky.social

www.thewirechina.com/2026/02/13/e...

Jerome Cohen, the First American to Practice Law in China, Dies at 95 An expert on China—and a sometime critic—Cohen defended companies and dissidents.

Jerry Cohen was kind and helpful when he didn't need to be. It's a miracle he finished his memoirs, because he was too busy continuing to live. If you've learned something in the US about law in China, you or your teachers have Jerry to thank. We'll miss him.
www.wsj.com/world/china/...

Walling Off China - The Wire China Under President Donald Trump, a strategy built over two administrations to keep China behind in the AI race is adrift. Through interviews with more than two dozen former and current U.S. officials, Th...

Lots of new material from Noah Berman and @eliotchen.bsky.social on the Biden and Trump administration process around chip controls in @thewirechina.bsky.social. www.thewirechina.com/2025/09/07/w...

Thanks Graham. Standing on your shoulders!

Walling Off China - The Wire China Under President Donald Trump, a strategy built over two administrations to keep China behind in the AI race is adrift. Through interviews with more than two dozen former and current U.S. officials,…

Under Trump, a strategy built over two administrations to keep China behind in the AI race is adrift. Through interviews with former and current U.S. officials, Noah Berman and @eliotchen.bsky.social explore the genesis — and unwinding — of the export controls on computer chips.

The Billionaire Criminal Who Secretly Profited Off Jack Ma’s Deals Confidential documents show that Xiao Jianhua, a corrupt investor tied to China’s political elite, backed the country’s most successful and revered entrepreneur.

This story, published by the NYT and The Wire China last year (me, Katrina Northrop, @eliotchen.bsky.social ) details the close relationship Ma had with Huang and his wife, Zhao Wei. Huang was a bridge between Ma and the now-jailed billionaire Xiao Jianhua.
www.nytimes.com/2024/07/21/w...

Chinese authorities exploited Interpol and strong-armed one of the world’s richest men to pursue a target - ICIJ The case involving Alibaba’s Jack Ma shows how China weaponizes the international police agency for political ends.

Fascinating story from @icij.org 's @scillaa.bsky.social about China weaponizing Interpol to get Jack Ma's close business associate Huang Youlong (referred to as H here) to return to China. For much more on Ma's relationship with Huang, see thread.
www.icij.org/investigatio...

Grading Day - The Wire China 2025 has arrived. Has China’s grand vision for tech supremacy lived up to the hype? Eliot Chen reports.

"Although you would be hard pressed to find a Chinese official uttering the Made in China 2025 name today, the initiative is still very much alive and well." At @thewirechina.bsky.social, @eliotchen.bsky.social takes stock of Made in China 2025.

“My father gave the company its Chinese name, hoping that Walden would contribute to China’s rise and serve as a beacon of progress,” Tan said in 2019.

Read our deep dive @thewirechina.bsky.social about the complex career of Intel's surprising savior:

(2/2) Tan's VC firm, Walden International:
- hired a politically connected princeling;
- set up China's first dedicated semiconductor fund;
- was an early investor in SMIC and AMEC — cos at the forefront of China's chip indigenization drive.

In 2022, 9 Chinese government entities were Walden LPs.

(1/2) Lip-Bu Tan, Intel's new CEO, has been widely hailed as one of the few people that can turn around America's ailing chipmaking champion.

But another side of his career could raise eyebrows: his deep ties and many investments in China's semiconductor industry, which Washington wants to hobble:

A Seat at Xi's Table - The Wire China A look at the private businessmen and companies invited to meet the Chinese leader.

As Asia Soc's Lizzi Lee tells us: "the guest list was never meant to be a definitive ranking of China’s top businesses… The exclusions weren’t necessarily a snub — but inclusion was a clear signal of relevance and alignment with Beijing’s vision for the future.”
www.thewirechina.com/2025/02/21/a...

A Seat at Xi's Table - The Wire China A look at the private businessmen and companies invited to meet the Chinese leader.

“If you’re a semiconductor, AI or robotics company, or an electric vehicle battery maker--one of those areas that is seen as high-tech that Xi Jinping and the party have blessed--then benefits will come your way,” says @atlanticcouncil.bsky.social Dexter Roberts. www.thewirechina.com/2025/02/21/a...

New: @rachelcheung.bsky.social and I went frame by frame to provide the most comprehensive look at which Chinese business leaders were invited to meet with Xi on Monday.

They include many surprises and companies you may never have heard of:
www.thewirechina.com/2025/02/21/a...

Tom Cotton On Why China's Threat is Greater Than Most Believe - The Wire China The Republican senator on why he believes Beijing is aiming to eclipse the U.S., the need for an immediate ban on TikTok and his view on Elon Musk's ties to China.

New: Senator Tom Cotton is one of the GOP's most hawkish voices on China.

I spoke to him about China policy in the Trump administration: the TikTok ban delay, Elon Musk's China ties, DOGE's NED funding freeze, Kash Patel's Shein shareholdings and more.
www.thewirechina.com/2025/02/18/t...

Defunding the National Endowment for Democracy seen as a gift to the CCP, by @eliotchen.bsky.social
www.thewirechina.com/2025/02/12/d...

DOGE's Latest Target is Seen as a Gift to the CCP - The Wire China The National Endowment for Democracy has long been a thorn in the CCP's side. On Tuesday, its funding was frozen.

A document NED shared with fund recipients today says it has “no clarity on how long this might last.”

“While not technically suspended…the NED has exhausted funds for grantmaking on hand, and we do not know when we will have access to additional funds.”
www.thewirechina.com/2025/02/12/d...

DOGE's Latest Target is Seen as a Gift to the CCP - The Wire China The National Endowment for Democracy has long been a thorn in the CCP's side. On Tuesday, its funding was frozen.

NEW: A week after Elon Musk's DOGE gained access to Treasury's payments system, funds to the National Endowment for Democracy have been inexplicably frozen.

The move is a huge win for Beijing, imperilling Chinese civil society groups around the world.
www.thewirechina.com/2025/02/12/d...

Do you know which blog they’re referring to?

The Canada Con - The Wire China After a spate of foreign influence scandals, Canada's long-simmering China problem is coming to the fore.

3/ As a new Canadian, this is one I've wanted to write for a long time, with valuable perspectives from Erin O'Toole, Michael Kovrig, @mehmettohti.bsky.social, @stephaniecarvin.bsky.social, Preston Lim, Emile Dirks and many more. I hope you give it a read:
www.thewirechina.com/2025/01/29/t...

The Canada Con - The Wire China After a spate of foreign influence scandals, Canada's long-simmering China problem is coming to the fore.

2/ I wrote about Canada's long, belated shift in its treatment of intelligence and national security, and, on the cusp of a leadership change and a bruising trade war with its closest ally, where Canada's relationship with China and America goes from here.
www.thewirechina.com/2025/01/29/t...

The Canada Con - The Wire China After a spate of foreign influence scandals, Canada's long-simmering China problem is coming to the fore.

1/ For the last 2 years, Canada has been roiled by allegations of Chinese meddling in its democracy.

The claims are sensational: from the busing of international students to an election, to a warrant on an influential politician that went mysteriously ignored.
www.thewirechina.com/2025/01/29/t...

Thread: I found data fraud in multiple clinical trials for generic drugs in China.
I've seen limited coverage outside China of the recent controversy over 集采 — centralized procurement of drugs, especially generics. It is a hugely important issue close to my heart.

China’s chip-buying binge in 2024 saw ICs outpace oil imports Many Chinese firms stockpiled chips ahead of the planned roll-out of more expansive and stringent trade sanctions by Washington.

A remarkable stat: China imported more chips than oil in 2024

www.scmp.com/tech/tech-tr...

Finding China's Voice — Abroad - The Wire China The new Chinese diaspora is wealthy, educated and professional. And it has things to say.

At @thewirechina.bsky.social, Yi Liu reports on the new JF Books in Washington, DC and the Chinese diaspora it serves. While they may not identify as dissidents or activists, @yangyangcheng.bsky.social says in the article, patronizing such businesses is inherently political.

Incredible byline, incredible dateline, incredible story. Great to see Evan’s work again in the WSJ

www.wsj.com/world/russia...

Chinese AI Companies Are Catching Up Despite U.S. Restrictions - The Wire China The U.S. is piling on controls designed to limit China’s AI advances, but experts say its leading models are on a par with their U.S. rivals.

New: Despite Washington's best efforts to limit the sale of AI chips and chipmaking equipment to China, China's latest AI models are as good as their American peers. By next year, some experts think they may be even better.

Here's how this happened:
www.thewirechina.com/2024/12/08/c...

THREAD: How China is influencing local elections in New York City, mobilizing organizations via a local power broker known as "The King of Brooklyn" (布鲁克林之王）to ensure that candidates who voice sympathy for Taiwan, or for Hong Kong democracy, are either defeated or never get elected. (1/x)

But it is a totally different story at the local level, here in NYC, home to the biggest population of ethnic Chinese people outside of East Asia. Here, organizations closely tied to Chan and his allies hold great sway over primary elections (usually low turnout affairs) and general elections (12/x)

REPORTER:
Who is China's defense minister now?

CHINA DEFENSE MINISTER SPOKESPERSON WU QIAN:
“Actually your Chinese is very good. Why do you ask this nonsensical question? I just said this many times: Minister Dong Jun.”