H.R. McMaster on U.S.-China Competition

Young China Watchers

In this episode, Sam speaks with Lt. General H.R. McMaster about his new book, "Battlegrounds," in which McMaster lays out his vision for some of the key foreign policy challenges facing the current and next U.S. administration. McMaster discusses what he believes to be the flawed assumption embedded in previous U.S. administrations' China policy — namely, that the PRC would liberalize. McMaster puts it bluntly: "Engagement with the Party has not worked," and has in his view emboldened the Party.

They also discuss China's overseas investment and the difficulty of imposing international standards of accountability as well as China's aims to export its model, what McMaster says has been called a "new type of colonialism."

McMaster makes the case for characterizing Trump's trade war within the appropriate bounds of competition rather than confrontation with China. "This is not a U.S. and China problem; it's a free world and China problem."

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Lt. General H.R. McMaster is a former National Security Advisor to U.S. president Donald Trump. He currently holds fellowships with Stanford University and the Hoover Institution. McMaster is the author of "Dereliction of Duty" (1997) and "Battlegrounds" (2020).

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The YCW Podcast is a monthly podcast series by Young China Watchers. We’re a global community of young professionals, providing a platform to discuss the most pressing issues emerging from China today. We organize events with China experts in our 10 chapters across Asia, Europe and the U.S., fostering the next generation of China thought leaders.

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Produced by Sam Colombie, edited by Joshua Cartwright, with support from Johanna Costigan.

Music: ‘We Build With Rubber Bands’, ‘Dirty Wallpaper’ by Blue Dot Sessions.

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