logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2022
27m 54s

US-China Tech Race: Brave new world

Financial Times
About this episode

In this episode, how a mysterious death in Belgrade prompted Serbia to embrace Chinese surveillance technology, raising concerns among Serbian human rights and privacy activists. They’ve been fighting back against the Serbian government’s use of Huawei facial recognition tech in public spaces. But Serbia is just one of many countries around the world that’s adopted this cutting-edge Chinese mass monitoring equipment. What does it tell us about the spread of Chinese influence around the world?


Presented by James Kynge, this episode features interviews with Danilo Krivokapic (director, Share Foundation), Andrej Petrovski (director of tech, Share Foundation), Stefan Vladisavljev (programme co-ordinator, Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence), Wang Huiyao (director, Beijing Center for Globalisation) and Wawa Wang (director, Just Finance).


Read James Kynge, Valerie Hopkins, Helen Warrell and Kathrin Hille’s previous reporting on Chinese surveillance tech in the Balkans: https://www.ft.com/content/76fdac7c-7076-47a4-bcb0-7e75af0aadab


Presented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is senior producer. Josh Gabert-Doyon is producer. Manuela Saragosa is executive producer. Special thanks to Marton Dunai and Bojan Radic. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.


News clips credits: PBS, CNBC, CGNT, DW, Moconomy, BBC


Check out stories and up-to-the-minute news from the FT’s technology team at ft.com/technology


For a special discounted FT subscription go to https://www.ft.com/techtonicsale


And check out FT Edit, the new iPhone app that shares the best of FT journalism, hand-picked by senior editors to inform, explain and surprise. It’s free for the first month and 99p a month for the next six months.


Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com




See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Up next
Oct 8
Mission to Mars: Elon Musk's 'Starship' Enterprise
Elon Musk wants humans to settle on Mars, and his rocket company SpaceX is spending billions of dollars on developing the spacecraft to take us there. The ‘Starship’ is being designed to take astronauts back to the moon, and eventually, on to the red planet. But why is Musk so ob ... Show More
29m 34s
Oct 1
Coming soon: Mission to Mars
US President Donald Trump has pledged to “plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars”, China could send its first crewed mission to Mars within a decade, and Elon Musk wants people to actually settle on Mars, transforming the human race into an interplanetary species. In a ne ... Show More
1m 40s
Sep 30
Vote for Tech Tonic in the Signal Awards!
Tech Tonic has been nominated for a Signal Award in the Technology category! It's a Listener Choice award, which means we need your help. Vote for us to win here. We appreciate your support.And while you're at it, vote for some other FT podcasts that have also been nominated. The ... Show More
49s
Recommended Episodes
May 2022
US-China Tech Race: brave new world
In this episode of Tech Tonic, how a mysterious death in Belgrade prompted Serbia to embrace Chinese surveillance technology, raising concerns among Serbian human rights and privacy activists. They’ve been fighting back against the Serbian government’s use of Huawei facial recogn ... Show More
27m 54s
Apr 2022
Tech Tonic, the US-China Tech Race: Spies & Lies (Part One)
In the first episode of this season’s six-part series, the FT’s Global China Editor James Kynge tracks China’s dramatic transformation from the manufacturing workshop of the world to the next global superpower. The driver of that change is technology, sparking a battle between Ch ... Show More
31m 37s
Apr 2022
US-China Tech Race: Spies and Lies (Part Two)
In the second episode of this season of Tech Tonic, James Kynge, the FT’s Global China Editor, asks how significant Chinese intellectual property theft has been to the country’s rise as a global tech superpower.We hear from an FBI agent based in Silicon Valley whose job is to pre ... Show More
30m 37s
May 2022
US-China Tech Race: The great decoupling
In the final episode of this season of Tech Tonic, we ask if the growing tensions between the US and China could split the world into two competing technological spheres. It has been dubbed 'the great decoupling'. Some in the US want to see Chinese companies cut off from American ... Show More
26m 3s
Apr 2022
US-China Tech Race: Shock and Awe
In the latest episode of this Tech Tonic season about US-China tech rivalry, the FT’s US-China correspondent Demetri Sevastopulo tells the inside story of his scoop on China’s secret hypersonic weapon test and how it changed geopolitics. We hear about the new space race between C ... Show More
28m 40s
Apr 2022
US-China Tech Race: Chips with Everything
Our latest season of Tech Tonic continues, with a deep dive into the semiconductor industry and Taiwan’s unique position as a bastion of computer-chip talent. James Kynge, the FT’s global China editor, looks into the unintended consequences of the race for semiconductor dominance ... Show More
25m 58s
Mar 2022
The US-China technology rivalry heats up
HSBC has repeatedly edited its analysts’ research publications to remove references to a “war” in Ukraine, the US has denied that it is seeking to overturn Vladimir Putin’s regime, Plus, the FT’s Global China Editor explores how the bitter hi-tech war between the US and China is ... Show More
8m 49s
May 2024
Coming soon: China, the new tech superpower
In a new season of Tech Tonic, longtime FT China reporter Jame Kynge travels around the world to see how China is pushing towards tech supremacy. Will China be able to get an edge in crucial technological areas? What does China’s attempt to leapfrog the west look like on the grou ... Show More
1m 7s
Aug 2022
FT Weekend: Ukraine’s digital war. Plus: how computers changed chess
FT Weekend has its own podcast feed! For more content, including our special Food & Drink mini-series, search 'FT Weekend' where you listen to podcasts and subscribe there. This weekend, we go to Ukraine. FT columnist Gillian Tett introduces us to the tech entrepreneurs and engi ... Show More
28m 44s
Apr 2022
Poet Maria Stepanova. Plus: Inside the FT newsroom
This week, guest host Marc Filippino discusses the FT's war coverage in Ukraine with our Editor, Roula Khalaf. How does a news organisation make decisions during wartime? Then Marc talks with Maria Stepanova, author of In Memory of Memory, which was short-listed for the Booker Pr ... Show More
29m 43s