PLA Purges and How Xi Rules with Jon Czin
Published: October 22, 2025
Duration: 1:54:37
Jon Czin spent years as a top China analyst at the CIA, served as China Director on Biden’s National Security Council, and now works at the Brookings Institution. We discuss what Xi’s fourth-term means for China’s top leadership and military, Taiwan, and the US. We cover:
How Xi’s mafioso-style “decapitation strategy” has kept the PLA in line and why he’s purged more generals than Mao.
Cognitive decline and how end-of-life thinking might be shaping Xi’s succession plans and Taiwan strategy.
Tariffs, rare earths, and China’s appetite for pain vs. Ameri...