China Decode: Ballistic Missile Test, Europe's AC Addiction, and China's AI Coding Challenger

Alice Han and James Kynge start with China's latest ballistic missile test into the Pacific and what it means alongside a new Australia-Fiji defense pact. Then: Europe wants to shrink its record trade deficit with China, but its worst heat wave on record has sent demand for Chinese air conditioners soaring. They break down whether the two sides can actually cooperate on AI and renewable energy even as tensions rise. Plus: Z.ai just launched ZCode, a coding agent for its GLM-5.2 model said to rival Claude and ChatGPT. Alice and James discuss how big a threat this is to U.S. AI dominance, as well as the fallout from claims that Anthropic used hidden code to track Chinese users. Finally: China's new "Ethnic Unity" law took effect July 1. What does it mean for Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Taiwan… and how is Beijing defending it internationally? Subscribe to China Decode on Substack for weekly analysis, livestreams, and deep dives into the biggest story shaping the global economy: chinadecode.profgmedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices