Who could replace Ian Blackford?
9 min listen
Ian Blackford will stand down as SNP leader. After five years in the role, it is time for 'fresh leadership', Blackford says. But who will take over? Cindy Yu speaks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls.
Cindy Yu
Cindy Yu is a Times columnist, and formerly both an assistant editor of The Spectator and presenter of our Chinese Whispers podcast.
Thursday
The new vandals
31 min listen
This week: In his cover piece Douglas Murray writes that museums are turning against their own collections. He is joined by the historian Robert Tombs to discuss whether a culture of self-flagellation is harming British museums (00:56). Also this week: For the magazine The Spectator’s assistant editor Cindy Yu writes that the tune is changing in China. She is joined by Professor Kerry Brown, director of the Lau China Institute at King’s College London to consider what the recent protests could mean for the Chinese Communist Party (13:24). And finally: Nicholas Lezard writes in The Spectator about how to beat London's expanding Ultra Low Emissions Zone. He is joined by journalist Tanya Gold to investigate an elegant loophole in the plans (24:56).
Wednesday
Why I’m grieving for China
I’ve always loved the Chinese national anthem. I used to think I was the loudest Communist Youth League pioneer as my class belted it out, dressed in our little red neckerchiefs, during our school’s weekly flag-raising ceremony. ‘The March of the Volunteers’ was composed in the 1930s during the Japanese invasion of Manchuria; it starts with ‘Stand up, those who refuse to be slaves’ and only gets more rousing. I could see, even at a young age in the early 2000s, that China wouldn’t be facing those days again – it was getting wealthier and more powerful. Standing in a Nanjing schoolyard, I was proud of China’s return to greatness. During those years of reform, it felt like people could achieve anything they wanted.
Changing times: can companies really transform themselves?
35 min listen
It’s fair to say that the tobacco industry is one of the most controversial ones out there, with the phrase ‘Big Tobacco’ almost a meme, a shorthand for unscrupulous business practices. No wonder then that tobacco companies are trying to remake themselves, companies like Philip Morris International. PMI has a history dating back to the 1840s, and yet, today, their tagline is now ‘Delivering a smoke-free future’. Over the course of ten years, they’ve seen a third drop in the volume of cigarette sales. They’re keen to talk about their story of ‘transformation’, which is why they’ve sponsored this podcast. So what’s really going on? Cindy Yu talks to David Miller, a lecturer at Princeton where he specialises in faith and ethics.
Tuesday
Echoes of 1989: where the protests go next
40 min listen
Comparisons with 1989’s Tiananmen Square protests are too often evoked when it comes to talking about civil disobedience in China. Even so, this weekend’s protests have been historic. It’s the first time since the zero Covid policy started that people across the country have simultaneously marched against the government, their fury catalysed by the deaths of ten people in a locked down high rise building in Xinjiang. Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Xi’An, Urumqi, Nanjing (my home city) have all seen protests over the weekend. Most of them attack the zero Covid policy, but some have called out ‘Down with Xi Jinping’.After two days of protests, these cities, especially Shanghai, now see heavy police presence, with the authorities searching phones of any seeming troublemakers.
Sunday
China’s zero-Covid anger is erupting
Protests seem to be breaking out in several major Chinese cities in what has been a week of horrors for China’s zero-Covid policy. Rare displays of public anger have risen to levels not seen since the Shanghai lockdown, and perhaps even since the death of the whistleblower doctor Li Wenliang three years ago. Chinese social media lit up the night he died, and a similar level of frustration and pain is being shared online right now. The latest tragedy is the death of ten people after a fire broke out in their locked down high rise in Urumqi, the capital of the remote region of Xinjiang – leading to angry scenes and video last night. There are reports of police using pepper spray, with posts about protests on social media being immediately deleted.
Friday
How will the NHS cope this winter?
10 min listen
Today the nurses' union have announced that they will strike this winter as they seek a pay rise of 5 per cent above inflation. How do the government navigate these strikes? Where do Labour stand? Also on the podcast, with the government trying to fill the 1 million vacancies in the job market, how do they get people back into work? Cindy speaks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls. Produced by Cindy Yu and Oscar Edmondson.
Thursday
The red line: Biden and Xi’s secret Ukraine talks
38 min listen
On this week's podcast: Could China be the key to peace in Ukraine? In his cover piece for the magazine this week Owen Matthews reveals the covert but decisive role China is playing in the Ukraine war. He is joined by The Spectator's Cindy Yu, to discuss what Xi's motivations are (00:53). Also this week: Harriet Sergeant writes that the Iran is at war with its own children as it cracks down on young protesters. She is joined by Ali Ansari, founding director if the Institute for Iranian Studies, to consider the fragility of the Iranian regime (14:32). And finally: Julie Bindel says in the magazine this week that after recent controversy the Society of Authors is no longer fit for purpose.
Saturday
Austerity 2.0: is all the pain really necessary?
34 min listen
It's no doubt a depressing time for the British economy, but how much that is the fault of the government, either for getting us to this stage and/or for not setting out a more optimistic exit route? On this episode, Cindy Yu moderates a debate between Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth and Kate Andrews who battle out their respective views. Produced by Cindy Yu and Matt Taylor.
Friday
Will Hunt’s budget survive scrutiny?
9 min listen
The front pages are almost universally bad today, but the government is more concerned with the reaction from the markets, which, so far, have not turned against yesterday's budget. Could this high tax low spend fiscal statement yet pass scrutiny, given the torrid economic climate at large? Cindy Yu talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls. Produced by Cindy Yu.
Wednesday
Is Xi drifting away from Putin?
There’s been none of the wolf warriorism we’ve become used to from Chinese diplomats as President Xi met world leaders this week. While meeting presidents Biden, Macron and Australia’s PM, Xi was all smiles; the discussion focused on climate change and food security, as well as how to prevent tensions from spilling over into war. The one exception to Xi’s more charming image seems to have been his encounter with Canada’s leader Justin Trudeau, who received a dressing down for his government leaking contents of their bilateral the day before. But this awkward clash was the exception. And on Russia, Xi seems to have said all the right things.
What do we know about the Polish missile tragedy?
12 min listen
Last night there were fears of a direct attack from Russia on a NATO country, after a missile struck two Polish nationals on the border with Ukraine. An investigation is now underway, but who is responsible for these deaths? Also on the podcast, Dominic Raab took PMQs today despite bullying allegations against him gathering pace. What are the latest developments in the bullying row? Cindy Yu speaks with James Forsyth and Katy Balls. Produced by Cindy Yu and Oscar Edmondson.
Is China finally easing its zero Covid strategy?
China’s president Xi Jinping has shaken hands with more world leaders over the last two days than he has met in three years. Xi hasn’t worn a mask throughout the G20 summit: from the moment he and his opera singer wife stepped off the plane in Bali, emerging from a Covid cocoon. When the summit finishes tomorrow, Xi will go straight to Thailand to meet other Asian leaders at the APEC summit. His outgoing deputy Li Keqiang has also been meeting other southeast Asian leaders in Cambodia. For China’s leaders, pressing the flesh has been unthinkable since the pandemic first broke out in China in December 2019. Now the pathological zero Covid approach may be easing up. Xi’s appearance at the G20 coincides with some slight opening up for ordinary Chinese too.
Tuesday
Why is the workforce shrinking?
11 min listen
Figures released today show that the number of people in employment has dropped by 50,000 since September, despite a national worker shortage of 1.25 million. Does this shed some light on the recession? Are these shortages simply because of disputes over pay or could the NHS waiting list be to blame? Also on the podcast, as public sector pay stagnates, how many will be lost to the private sector? Cindy Yu speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth. Produced by Cindy Yu and Oscar Edmondson.
Monday
Second class citizens: the lives of China’s internal migrants
40 min listen
When the city of Zhengzhou, home to the world’s largest iPhone factory, locked down recently, some of its factory workers had nowhere to go. Hoping to escape Covid restrictions, many of them walked miles along motorways to their hometowns, their journey captured by video and shared on social media in China and out. https://twitter.com/StephenMcDonell/status/1586640166751387650 This episode is all about China’s migrant working class – poorly paid and often poorly educated people from the countryside who go to cities like Zhengzhou for better lives. There are hundreds of millions of these so-called ‘internal migrants’, making their story an important part to understand if you want to understand modern China.
Wednesday
How much has the Williamson row damaged Rishi Sunak?
11 min listen
Though Gavin Williamson has now resigned, Rishi Sunak still had to fend off a number of questions on the disgraced minister at today's Prime Minister's Questions. How much damage has the row done to the Prime Minister? Cindy Yu talks to James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman. Produced by Cindy Yu.
Tuesday
Will Hunt protect the pensions triple lock?
12 min listen
Ahead of the Autumn Statement next week, questions remain over whether the government intends to protect the pensions triple lock. With pensioners being such an important part of the Conservative party's demographic, will Jeremy Hunt risk the inevitable backlash? Also on the podcast, what will Rishi Sunak do about Gavin Williamson as the bullying claims grow? Cindy Yu is joined by Isabel Hardman and James Forsyth. Produced by Cindy Yu and Natasha Feroze.
Monday
Does Westminster have a whipping problem?
12 min listen
Gavin Williamson is in trouble, again. This time the reveal of some expletive-laden texts he sent to then-chief whip Wendy Morton has raised questions for the government over why Williamson was brought back into frontline politics. On the podcast, Cindy Yu talks to James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman about whether the dual role of government whips (as discipline enforcers and pastoral carers) is confused and out of date.Produced by Cindy Yu.
Wednesday
Does China’s WeChat show Twitter’s future?
Imagine you’re scrolling through Twitter. You see a new coat and, on impulse, tap ‘buy’. Purchase confirmed. Later, you open Twitter again to order a taxi to a restaurant and once there, you scan a QR code to see the menu, from which you order directly to the table. All of this is charged to your Twitter-wallet, filled with money you’ve received as a birthday present from friends or family, sent of course via Twitter. These are all real examples of how my family and almost a billion other Chinese use WeChat, a Chinese super-app that has become far more than just a messaging platform. Elon Musk has already expressed his ambitions to turn Twitter into something similar – an ‘everything app’.
Monday
Reflections on the 20th Party Congress: how Xi took complete control
32 min listen
This week Xi Jinping has taken his new Politburo Standing Committee on a group trip – to Yan’An, the base of Mao Zedong’s Communist revolution after the Long March. The symbolism is easy to see. On this episode of Chinese Whispers, I’ve asked back Bill Bishop, author of the popular Sinocism newsletter, and Professor Victor Shih, author of Coalitions of the Weak, to reflect on the Party Congress just past. It's been a more dramatic event than many (inside and outside the party) expected, starting with a brave, lone protestor hanging a 42-character banner off a popular bridge in Beijing, lambasting the authoritarian regime; and ending with the forcible removal of former general secretary Hu Jintao in front of the world's media.
