Can China use military force to achieve its political goals, without triggering nuclear war? To find out, ChinaTalk interviewed Fiona Cunningham, a professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania and author of the new book, Under the Nuclear Shadow: China’s Information-Age Weapons in International Security.

Co-hosting today is Michael Horowitz, another Penn professor who served in Biden’s Department of Defense.

We discuss…

• How to use open source PLA documents to conduct deep research,

• The evolution of Chinese defense strategy, including the impact of the third Taiwan Strait crisis,

• Nuclear modernization and China’s “no first use” policy,

• How the PLA makes decisions, including why they chose to develop cyber capabilities, anti-satellite weapons, and hypersonic missiles over proposed alternatives.

  Outtro Music: Beauty by Gui Bian https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTlfSOCwYJ8

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