Going Underground Hosted by Afshin Rattansi

Trump-Xi Summit: ‘China is WINNING the Competition Against the USA’—Prof. Zhang Weiwei

May 15, 2026·28 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Prof. Zhang Weiwei, Director of Fudan University’s China Institute and former Translator for Chinese Paramount Leader Deng Xiaoping. He discusses China’s current attitude to the Trump Administration amid the war on Iran, how China acted over decades to lessen the impact of the US’ attempts to control China’s access to energy via the war on Iran and regime change in Venezuela, why China is winning in the tech and trade race against the US, China’s position on the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, China’s limitation of rare earth exports to the US for military purposes, China’s decoupling from the US in trade and treasury bill holdings, the low quality of the leadership in Europe and the United States, Russia as a ‘revolutionary’ against the US unipolar order whereas China is a ‘reformer’ of the world order, why tech billionaires such as Elon Musk and Apple CEO Tim Cook joined Trump in visiting Beijing, and much more. Chapters (00:00:00) - Going Undercover(00:01:17) - Trump's visit to China(00:11:22) - China's stance on the Strait of Hormuz(00:13:08) - China's Role in the US-Iran War(00:18:45) - Putin on China and the United Nations

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