In this week’s episode of China Insider, Miles Yu goes solo. First, he examines Tesla’s announcement that it will eliminate all China-sourced components from vehicles manufactured in the United States within the next two years. This marks a monumental shift in the company’s supply chain and signals a broader decoupling of key US industries from longstanding Chinese chokeholds and security vulnerabilities. Second, Miles revisits the 2015 purchase of the US insurance firm Wright USA, which specializes in liability insurance for Central Intelligence Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigations personnel, by the Chinese conglomerate Fosun Group. He explains why the subsequent Committee on Foreign Investment in the US–mandated resale of the company back to Starr Companies, controlled by China’s longtime friend Maurice “Hank” Greenberg and his AIG network, may be the more consequential part of the story. Last, Miles analyzes the China factor in the ongoing US–Venezuela standoff. He discusses how the Maduro regime has advanced Beijing’s strategic interests of manufacturing global strategic distractions for the US by fueling instability and chaos across Latin America—the region long referred to as the United States’ own “backyard.”
China Insider is a weekly podcast project from Hudson Institute’s China Center, hosted by China Center Director and Senior Fellow, Dr. Miles Yu, who provides weekly news that mainstream American outlets often miss, as well as in-depth commentary and analysis on the China challenge and the free world’s future.