The Tea Leaves Podcast

Sharon Burke is the Founder and President of Ecospherics, an environmental research and advisory firm based in Washington, D.C. She most recently served as the lead on climate change, energy, and environment for the Biden-Harris Transition Team. She previously served as the first Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy at the Department of Defense (DoD), where she oversaw the energy security of U.S. military operations. Before her time at DoD, she worked as a Senior Fellow and Vice President at the Center for a New American Security, where she initiated a program called “Natural Security” to examine the intersection of natural resources and national security. She has also worked at the State Department, Amnesty International, and the New America think tank. Sharon holds a bachelor’s degree from Williams College and a master’s degree in international affairs with a focus on energy policy from Columbia University.

Jennifer Welch is the Chief Geoeconomics Analyst at Bloomberg. She most recently served as Director for China and Taiwan on the U.S. National Security Council and as Special Advisor for Asia and the Pacific in the offices of Vice President Kamala Harris and former Vice President Mike Pence. Previously, she was Fulbright fellow in Xi'an, China, where she worked with local scholars and nutritionists to design a health education program. She holds a bachelor's degree in international relations and East Asian studies from Bucknell University.

Debbie Yong is a Senior Strategist focusing on the Asia-Pacific region at WGSN, a consumer-trend forecasting company. She previously worked as the Editorial Director of the Michelin Guide in Asia and the Middle East, a China media analyst for BBC Monitoring, and a reporter for the Straits Times and the Business Times in Singapore. In 2019, Netflix featured her as a Singaporean food expert on “Street Food: Asia. She holds a dual master’s degree in global media and communications from the London School of Economics and Fudan University in China, as well as a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania.

The Hon. Arthur Sinodinos AO is Partner and Chair of The Asia Group's Australia Practice. He most recently served as Australia's Ambassador to the United States, where he was closely involved in negotiations related to AUKUS, the Quad, and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. Amb. Sinodinos previously served as Australia’s Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science and as Senator for New South Wales in the Australian Parliament from 2011 to 2019. He also served as Cabinet Secretary and Assistant Treasurer, as well as Chief of Staff and Senior Economic Adviser to Prime Minister Hon. John Howard AC.

Phil Davidson is a retired four-star admiral in the U.S. Navy who last served as the 25th Commander of United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM). He served in the Navy for almost 40 years until his retirement in 2021. Before becoming the Commander of INDOPACOM, he was the commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command/Naval Forces U.S. Northern Command. He previously served as commander of the U.S. 6th Fleet, and the commander of the Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, while simultaneously serving as the deputy commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe and U.S. Naval Forces Africa. His decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat “V,” a Superior Honor Award from the U.S. Department of State, and numerous other awards. He holds a Master of Arts degree in national security and a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from the United States Naval War College.

Mitsuru Claire Chino is the Managing Executive Officer of ITOCHU Corporation, a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. She was previously president and CEO of ITOCHU International, the company’s New York-based North America-focused subsidiary. In 2013, she became the first female executive officer of any major trading company in Japan. Before joining ITOCHU, she practiced as a lawyer at an international law firm in the United States and in Hong Kong at Graham & James. Asia Legal Business recognized her as a "Top 25 In-House Counsel in Asia," and the Financial Times named her the "Asia Pacific's Innovative Lawyer" and included her on the "FT Global General Counsel 30" list of the world’s top in-house lawyers. She has also been a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum and a Yale University Maurice R. Greenberg World Fellow. She is a classically trained singer and has given solo performances at venues like the Weill Carnegie Hall and the Suntory Hall.

Anand Shah is a Partner at The Asia Group, which he joined in 2022 as part of the firm’s acquisition of Dhamiri, a venture that he founded to help corporations align their core businesses with public good in critical international markets. He previously led the development of strategic initiatives as Senior Vice President of Indian ride-hailing giant Ola and has also worked at the Albright Stonebridge Group, BMW AG, and Audi AG. He spent 15 years living in India, where he founded Sarvajal, a technology and market-based provider of clean water to rural villages and urban settlements, and helped establish Ahmedabad University. He was also the Founding CEO of the Piramal Foundation, a Co-Founder of Teach for India, and the Founder of Indicorps, a pioneering public service program.

Chatpong "Chat" Chuenrudeemol is the Principal and Founder of CHAT Architects, a Bangkok-based research and design practice, as well as CHAT Lab, a think tank that aims to discover new Thai vernacular typologies. In 2020, Chat received the Silpathorn award from Thailand’s Ministry of Culture – the country’s most prestigious award for contemporary artists. His architectural works have won Architectural Review’s AR House Awards, the Architecture Masterprize in 2021, and a Building of the Year Award in the Asia-Pacific region. He was previously a Partner at Bangkok Architectural Research and an Architect at the Boston-based NADAAA. Chat has taught architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the National University of Singapore, Taylor University, and Chulalongkorn University. He holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.

Kathy Matsui is a General Partner of MPower Partners, Japan’s first ESG-focused global venture capital fund. She is also an external board director at Fast Retailing, at adjunct professor at Kyoto University Graduate School of Management, and an advisory board member at the University of Tokyo. She was previously vice chair and chief Japan strategist at Goldman Sachs. She is the author of How to Nurture Female Employees, published in Japanese in 2020. Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe credited Matsui with coining the term “womenomics” – which she first wrote about in 1999 – and incorporated her research into his economic reforms. MPower’s blog can be found at https://www.mpower-partners.com/blog-en/

Anand Shah is a Partner at The Asia Group, which he joined in 2022 as part of the firm’s acquisition of Dhamiri, a venture that he founded to help corporations align their core businesses with public good in critical international markets. He previously led the development of strategic initiatives as Senior Vice President of Indian ride-hailing giant Ola. He has also worked at the Albright Stonebridge Group, BMW AG, and Audi AG. He spent 15 years living in India, where he founded Sarvajal, a technology and market-based provider of clean water to rural villages and urban settlements, and helped establish Ahmedabad University. He was also the Founding CEO of the Piramal Foundation, a Co-Founder of Teach for India, and the Founder of Indicorps, a pioneering public service program.

Chris Johnstone is a senior advisor at The Asia Group and Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Prior to joining CSIS, he served in government for 25 years in a variety of senior positions with a focus on U.S. policy toward Japan and the Indo-Pacific region. He served twice on the National Security Council, as director for East Asia under President Joe Biden and director for Japan and Oceanian affairs under President Barack Obama. In the Office of the Secretary of Defense, he led offices with responsibility for South and Southeast Asia and East Asia. He began his career as an intelligence officer in the Central Intelligence Agency.

The Hon. Arthur Sinodinos AO is Partner and Chair of The Asia Group's Australia Practice. He most recently served as Australian Ambassador to the United States, where he was closely involved in Australia’s negotiations related to AUKUS, the Quad, and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. Ambassador Sinodinos previously worked as Australia’s Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science and was a Senator for New South Wales in the Australian Parliament from 2011 to 2019. He also served as Cabinet Secretary and Assistant Treasurer, as well as Chief of Staff and Senior Economic Adviser to Prime Minister Hon. John Howard AC.

Valerie Rozman recently joined The Asia Group as Director of Research and Analytics and as a Principal, co-leading the Southeast Asia practice. She served in the U.S. government for nearly two decades, primarily in the intelligence community. She was inducted into the CIA’s Senior Analytic Service and served in a number of senior Asia-focused positions, including as Deputy National Intelligence Manager at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and Deputy National Intelligence Officer for East Asia at ODNI. She has briefed numerous senior U.S. and foreign officials, including the U.S. President and U.S. and foreign Cabinet-level officials, on East Asia issues.

Wendy Cutler is Vice President at the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) and the managing director of the Washington, D.C. office. She joined ASPI after nearly three decades as a diplomat and negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), where she served as Acting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative. During her USTR career, she worked on a range of bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations and initiatives, including the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), U.S.-China negotiations, and the WTO Financial Services negotiations.

Charles Dunst is the deputy director of research and analytics at The Asia Group and an adjunct fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. A former foreign correspondent, he has reported from countries including Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Israel and the Palestinian territories, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Romania, and Hungary. He has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and The Telegraph, among other publications. His first book, Defeating the Dictators: How Democracy Can Prevail in the Age of the Strongman, was published by Hodder & Stoughton in February 2023.

Dr. Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai is an award-winning Vietnamese writer. She is the author of eleven books of poetry, short fiction, and non-fiction. Her books in Vietnamese have won the 2010 Poetry of the Year Award from the Hanoi Writers Association and first prize in the Poetry Competition celebrating 1,000 Years of Hanoi. Her debut novel and first book in English, The Mountains Sing, is an international bestseller and won the 2021 PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award. She regularly writes for Vietnamese newspapers and her writing has appeared in outlets including The New York Times, BBC Vietnamese, LitHub, and Poets & Writers Magazine. Her second novel in English, Dust Child, is forthcoming from Algonquin Books.

On this episode of the Tea Leaves Podcast, Dr. Evan S. Medeiros provided his unique insight into the state of U.S.-China relations following the Chinese surveillance balloon incident, why the incident matters, and the outlook for re-engagement. Dr. Medeiros and Rexon also explored how China’s domestic economic imperatives are shaping its foreign policy, expectations for the upcoming Two Sessions parliamentary meetings, how Washington can use its diplomatic and economic leverage over Beijing, and more. Dr. Medeiros is the Penner Family Chair in Asian Studies at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and a Senior Advisor at The Asia Group. Dr. Medeiros served on the National Security Council for six years under U.S. President Barack Obama, first as Director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia, and then as President Obama’s top advisor for U.S. policy in Asia.

Ashok Malik is a Partner at The Asia Group and Chair of its New Delhi-based subsidiary in India where he leads the firm’s in-market business strategy and services. Prior to joining the firm, Ashok served for three years (2019-22) as Policy Advisor/Additional Secretary in India’s Ministry of External Affairs. In that capacity, he worked closely with External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and others in the senior leadership of the Ministry to help shape and explain India’s foreign policy in a crucial and eventful period for the international system. Between 2017 and 2019, Ashok served as speechwriter and spokesperson for the 14th President of India, President Ram Nath Kovind. Before joining the government, Ashok was a Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, one of India’s preeminent think-tanks, where he analyzed India’s foreign policy and political economy. For nearly two decades, Ashok also had a distinguished career as a writer and editor at The Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Indian Express and numerous other leading Indian publications. He became one of India’s best-read columnists and commentators, and was in 2016 awarded the Padma Shri, one of India’s highest civilian honors.

Admiral Philip S. Davidson served as the 25th Commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command from 2018 to 2021. Before leading USINDOPACOM, Admiral Davidson held U.S. Navy leadership roles in North America, Europe, and Africa, and served ashore in multiple policy, strategy, and operations roles; these included service as senior military advisor to the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (SRAP) at the State Department, deputy director for Strategy and Policy in the Joint Staff,...

Admiral Philip S. Davidson served as the 25th Commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command from 2018 to 2021. Before leading USINDOPACOM, Admiral Davidson held U.S. Navy leadership roles in North America, Europe, and Africa, and served ashore in multiple policy, strategy, and operations roles; these included service as senior military advisor to the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (SRAP) at the State Department, deputy director for Strategy and Policy in the Joint Staff, and as the Navy’s military aide to the vice president of the United States. On this episode, Admiral Davidson examined China's strategic objectives in the Indo-Pacific region, assessed the strengths and weaknesses of Taiwan's deterrence capabilities, and underscored the value of U.S. engagement and cooperation with allies and partners in the region.