Sharp China: All Eyes on Iran; Two Sessions Questions; Alibaba, DeepSeek and Distillation; Another UK Spying Scandal

This episode of Sharp China is outside the paywall.

Show Notes:

On today’s show Andrew and Bill begin with the war in Iran and its implications for the PRC. Topics include: Upsides and downsides for China, why US strategy was likely related to Iran and not the PRC, questions about the Strait of Hormuz, the Iran partnership and PRC global leadership, implications for Taiwan, why a Beijing visit from Donald Trump remains likely, and yet another US war in the Middle East… From there: What to watch for at the Two Sessions this week, an exodus at Alibaba, waiting for a new DeepSeek model, and distillation alarm at American AI labs. At the end: Another spy scandal engulfs Labour in the UK, and fun facts about Spider-Man: No Way Home and its failure to clear $2 billion worldwide.

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Related Readings:

Reactions to the US-Israel attack on Iran; Prepping for the Two Sessions; Science and technology insurance -- Sinocism

Reactions to Iran war; US-China; Two Sessions; DeepSeek and Qwen -- Sinocism

China Calls on All Sides to Protect Ships Transiting Hormuz -- Bloomberg

What’s behind China’s careful response to its ally Iran after US-Israel strikes? -- SCMP

Taiwan Arms Sale Approved by Congress Is Delayed as Trump Plans Visit to Beijing -- NYT

Inside the plan to kill Ali Khamenei -- FT

What to Watch at China’s Two Sessions in 2026 -- Center for China Analysis

Alibaba AI Whiz Who Warned of US-China Tech Gap Steps Down -- Bloomberg

DeepSeek to release long-awaited AI model in new challenge to US rivals -- FT

Detecting and preventing distillation attacks -- Anthropic

Exclusive: China’s DeepSeek trained AI model on Nvidia’s best chip despite US ban, official says

Husband of Labour MP among three arrested on suspicion of spying for China -- The Guardian

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