This week on Sinica, Kaiser chats with Professor Tai Ming Cheung of the University of California, San Diego. Tai is the director of the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC) and also a leading expert on Chinese national security and defense modernization. This episode is part of a nine-part series taped in California in December 2019, made possible by the Serica Initiative, SupChina's nonprofit arm. 5:30: What the international security environment looks like to Xi Jinping 14:47: How prioritization on national security is implemented 22:38: How the PLA is funded, and where the money is going 28:36: Made in China 2025’s military counterpart 37:33: Beijing’s long march to technological self-reliance Recommendations: Tai: In the Shadow of the Garrison State, by Aaron L. Friedberg.  Kaiser: A new podcast, The Industrial Revolutions, by David Broker.