The Wire China Publishes Broken Engagement, an E-Book Featuring Exclusive Interviews with Top U.S. Policymakers on China

Associated Press

17-03-2025

NEW YORK, March 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Wire China today announced the publication of Broken Engagement: Interviews with those who have made — and remade — the U.S.'s policy towards China, a new e-book featuring a collection of in-depth Q&A interviews conducted by Bob Davis, a distinguished former journalist at The Wall Street Journal.
Between 2022 and 2024, Davis interviewed some of America's most influential policymakers, diplomats, and experts to examine how the U.S.-China relationship has evolved over the past six presidential administrations. Through candid conversations with figures such as Robert Lighthizer, Kurt Campbell, Charlene Barshefsky, Matt Pottinger, Nancy Pelosi, Robert Rubin, Ash Carter and Robert Gates, Broken Engagement explores the key decisions that shaped U.S. policy on trade, security, human rights, and diplomacy—and how perspectives on engagement with China have shifted over time.
Davis, who covered China and international trade for The Wall Street Journal for decades, brings deep historical context to these discussions. Having reported on the Asian financial crisis, China's WTO accession, and the U.S.-China trade war, he revisits these events through the eyes of the officials who lived through them—providing invaluable insight into the successes, missteps, and ongoing challenges of U.S. policy toward China.
'Broken Engagement is a genuine marvel — sober, sharp, a joy to read, and rich with revelations on how the United States has wrestled with China for forty years,' says Evan Osnos, author of Age of Ambition and a National Book Award winner. 'With a reporter's eye, and a deep grounding in economics, Bob Davis poses the essential questions: do we isolate or engage, push for change or settle for stability, root for China's success or hedge against it?'
'The result is an indispensable guide to the real-world choices that have shaped the world's most important relationship — and the ones still ahead.'
The interviews in Broken Engagement: Interviews with those who have made — and remade — the U.S.'s policy towards China, were edited by Andrew Peaple, a former Wall Street Journal reporter and now news editor at The Wire China, ensuring a sharp and engaging narrative that provides readers with a comprehensive view of the shifting dynamics between the U.S. and China.
Published by The Wire China, a division of the New York-based firm, The Wire Digital Inc., 'Broken Engagement' is available for digital download starting March 14, 2025.
About The Wire Digital Inc.
The New York-based startup was co-founded by David Barboza, a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter who was based in China for The New York Times, and Lynn Zhang, an expert in corporate records. The Wire Digital publishes the online magazine, The Wire China, and owns WireScreen, the leading China-focused business intelligence platform.