Cindy Yu

Cindy Yu

Cindy Yu is a Times columnist, and formerly both an assistant editor of The Spectator and presenter of our Chinese Whispers podcast.

Monday

Cindy Yu

The Taiwanese view on Ukraine

From our UK edition

35 min listen

Taiwan is not Ukraine. But despite the very important differences in their situations, the Russian invasion can still shed much light on Taiwan's future. Even many Taiwanese think so – and have followed the developments closely, with solidarity marches held for Ukraine, protests at the Russian embassy and the Ukrainian flag lighting up Taiwanese buildings.On this episode of Chinese Whispers, my guests and I discuss the mainstream take on Ukraine (and also the not so mainstream – such as the view that America can't be relied upon, given it hasn't despatched troops to Ukraine). I'm joined by Brian Hioe, editor of New Bloom, an online magazine covering youth culture and politics in Taiwan, and Professor Kerry Brown from Kings College London, author of The Trouble with Taiwan.

Tuesday

Cindy Yu

Is China’s zero Covid game up?

From our UK edition

Omicron has broken through China’s Covid wall. On Tuesday, the country saw a record-high of more than 5,000 cases, the highest number since the original Wuhan outbreak. To Brits (and most people around the world), that might sound like a laughably small number – but, as you might expect, China’s zero Covid machine has jumped into action, leading to a disproportionate, severe response. In the most afflicted areas like Shenzhen and Changchun, public transport has been suspended, non-essential businesses closed, residential compounds locked down.

Monday

Cindy Yu

Freud and China: a love affair

From our UK edition

40 min listen

This episode of Chinese Whispers is slightly different – instead of taking a look at a theme within China, my guest and I will be seeing China through the eyes of the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Professor Craig Clunas, chair of art history at Oxford University, has curated a new exhibition at London’s Freud Museum, which displays Freud’s collection of Chinese antiquities. On this episode, I talk to Craig about what these pieces – jades and figurines – meant to Freud, especially in the context of 20th century Europe, where there was appreciation of Chinese art but, as we discuss, not quite the matching level of knowledge.

Tuesday

Cindy Yu

Russia invades: what comes next?

From our UK edition

11 min listen

Last night Vladimir Putin gave an hour-long television address to the Russian people over his decision to move troops into Ukraine. Amid international condemnation, Boris Johnson held a Cobra meeting this morning to discuss the UK's next moves. Meanwhile, Germany has put the brakes on Nord Stream 2.‘The ball is now back in Vladimir Putin’s court. This is at the maximal end of responses that were expected' — James Forsyth.Cindy Yu speaks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth.

Monday

Cindy Yu

Baby bust: what happens when China’s population shrinks?

From our UK edition

46 min listen

China’s population is ageing. It’s estimated that a quarter of Chinese people will be elderly within three decades. The relaxing of its one child policy – first to two children in 2016 and then to three last year – hasn’t stimulated fertility rate, which is still stagnant at 1.7 births per woman. In November last year, nappy producers supposedly pivoted their marketing towards elderly clients over parents of babies. Demographers and economists warn about the problems that an ageing – and eventually shrinking – population will cause, in China and elsewhere. On this episode, I speak to the demographer Wang Feng, Professor of Sociology at University of California, Irvine, about what awaits China.

Cindy Yu

Is an anti-Xi resistance emerging?

From our UK edition

From the 1980s to 2017, at least every five years, China’s National Party Congress would be a moment of intriguing flux in the usually staid public politics of the Chinese Communist party. Rising stars are promoted, the old retired and, every other Congress, a new Secretary General would be appointed. Beforehand, a flurry of papers and opinion editorials would be published as various factions jostled for influence. This year’s Congress wasn’t meant to be exciting. Having abolished term limits, this is the moment when Xi Jinping is meant to be affirmed in his third term. There are few viable successors on the horizon.

Cindy Yu

Will Brits with Covid still self-isolate?

From our UK edition

11 min listen

With Boris Johnson set to announce the end of legal Covid restrictions later today, how will people respond? Will they continue to isolate, or choose to go about their life even if they have the virus?Cindy Yu talks to James Forsyth, Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson about the change, as well as the continuing crisis in Ukraine.

Friday

Cindy Yu

Should Boris scrap free Covid tests?

From our UK edition

11 min listen

Next week is the end of recess and Boris Johnson is expected to scrap universal access to free Covid tests. What will be the reaction to this?'You do have to wonder if tests are the best use of taxpayer's money given the pressure on the NHS' - Fraser NelsonAlso on the podcast, the Met Office has told millions to stay at home as Storm Eunice battles across the UK. Could this be another sign of the times?

Thursday

Cindy Yu

Is Rayner in trouble with Labour?

From our UK edition

11 min listen

Angela Rayner received an outburst of criticism today after her views on shooting terrorists went viral. The deputy Labour leader is known for her colourful language, but how much is this damaging Labour's branding? In her column this week, Katy Balls takes a look at the Labour Party’s strategy around Boris:‘I think Boris Johnson staying on is now good for them because he’s mortally wounded’ - Katy Balls.Also on the podcast, what is the latest British intelligence on Russia and Ukraine?All to be discussed as Cindy Yu speaks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth.

Wednesday

Cindy Yu

What will be the cost of sanctions against Russia?

From our UK edition

10 min listen

Joe Biden has set out his intentions to impose sanctions against Russia should Putin decide to launch an invasion against Ukraine. Are European countries that economically rely on Russia prepared for the inevitable costs that will come with these sanctions?'There is no way you could have a set of sanctions on Russia without thinking there will be some cost to the West for imposing them' - James ForsythAlso on the podcast, what's the latest with the Partygate police probe? All to be discussed as Cindy Yu speaks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth.

Monday

Cindy Yu

Why do the Americans think war is imminent?

From our UK edition

11 min listen

Over the weekend things between Ukraine and Russia seem to have gone from bad to worse. After a call between Biden and Putin failed to yield any meaningful results, the US warned that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could being as soon as Wednesday.Cindy Yu sits down with Katy Balls and James Forsyth to discuss whether war is truly just days away.

Saturday

Cindy Yu

The fading legacy of Deng Xiaoping

From our UK edition

After Mao Zedong’s death in 1976, it was clear to pragmatists in the Chinese Communist Party, led by Deng Xiaoping, that Maoism had not worked. By the late 1970s, food production had failed to keep up with population growth and nine out of ten Chinese were living on less than $2 a day. But the Party didn’t want to admit the inviability of communism, its raison d’etre. Instead, it dubbed the ensuing decades of privatisation, foreign investments and lifting of price controls ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’. So the country remained nominally communist, even though state-owned enterprises were liquidated en masse and the private sector made up the bulk of Chinese GDP by 2005.

Monday

Cindy Yu

The Xi-Putin alliance: how China and Russia are getting ever closer

From our UK edition

41 min listen

In 2008, President George Bush was the star guest at Beijing’s opening ceremony. Fourteen years later, under a cloud of diplomatic boycotts led by the US, the guest of honour spot was filled instead by President Putin. Under a confluence of factors over the last decade, China and Russia are closer now than they have been since the Cold War. On this episode of Chinese Whispers, I talk to Alexander Gabuev, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center, about how this situation came about. If the beginning of the end of the Cold War can be traced back to the Sino-Soviet split – allowing a bipolar world to be split into three when China began rapprochement with Nixon’s America – then what does today’s alliance mean at this moment in geopolitics?

Thursday

Cindy Yu

Frozen: can China escape its zero-Covid trap?

From our UK edition

40 min listen

In this week’s episode: Is China stuck in a zero-Covid trap?For this week’s cover story, Cindy Yu looks at Xi Jinping’s attempt to grapple with Covid. She joins the podcast, along with Ben Cowling, Chair Professor of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong. (01:42)Also this week: Whose in The Zac Pack? And what is their influence in No.10?James Heale, The Spectator’s diary editor has written in this week’s magazine about The Zac Pack. A group made up of Carrie Johnson, Lord Goldsmith and some highly influential figures in the Westminster corridors. James is joined by Christian Calgie, a senior reporter at Guido Fawkes to discuss the power this group have in No.10.

Wednesday

Cindy Yu

Frozen: can China escape its zero-Covid trap?

From our UK edition

To understand what Xi Jinping wants from the Winter Olympics, look at the man chosen to direct the opening ceremony. Zhang Yimou is one of China’s most famous film directors, but his hits (such as Hero and Raise the Red Lantern) are better loved by foreigners than by the Chinese. His job is to wow the outside world with images of China’s power and culture. In a deeply controversial Olympics — already being boycotted by ministers and officials from Britain, the US and many others — he is Beijing’s secret artistic weapon. But unlike the extravagance of Beijing’s 2008 opening ceremony (also directed by Zhang), this Winter Olympics will be a decidedly pared-down affair.

Saturday

Cindy Yu

Can Boris save his premiership?

From our UK edition

12 min listen

Boris Johnson has come out fighting, but that doesn't mean he's in the clear. Cindy Yu talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls about the Prime Minister's efforts to keep himself inside No. 10.

Friday

Cindy Yu

Will Sue Gray’s report be a whitewash?

From our UK edition

10 min listen

Today the Metropolitan Police requested that Sue Gray's report makes 'minimal reference' to the events in her inquiry, whilst there is an ongoing police investigation. 'I think it puts the government in a difficult position. If you publish the report with minimal reference to the alleged parties being investigated by the police you’ll be accused of a whitewash report' - Katy Balls.As a consequence of the police investigation, there are also rumours that staffers in Whitehall might be fined over parties in the coming weeks. What will be the outcome of this? Will the culprits, who are likely to be junior staffers at No.10 dispute the fines?All to be discussed as Cindy Yu speaks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth.

Monday

Cindy Yu

Politics and language: decoding the CCP

From our UK edition

59 min listen

All political parties have weaknesses for jargon and buzzwords, and the Chinese Communist Party more than most. It's why Party documents – whether they be speeches, Resolutions or reports – can be hard going. Sentences like the following (from the Resolution adopted at the Sixth Plenum) abound: All Party members should uphold historical materialism and adopt a rational outlook on the Party’s history....We need to strengthen our consciousness of the need to maintain political integrity, think in big-picture terms, follow the leadership core, and keep in alignment with the central Party leadership. In other words, full of platitudes and dense Marxist terminology. So what is, then, the purpose of official Party documents?

Cindy Yu

How damaging are Nusrat Ghani’s claims?

From our UK edition

16 min listen

Over the weekend the MP Nusrat Ghani accused the government of sacking her because allegedly her Muslim faith was an issue, and they thought she didn't defend the Conservative party's charges of Islamophobia more. In the week of the release of the infamous Sue Gray report into Partygate how are the Tories dealing with these two scandals? 'The whip's office is caught between Sandhurst and a HR department.' - James ForsythCindy Yu is joined by James Forsyth and Katy Balls to unpack the weekend's revelations.And if you are interested in learning more about Nasrat Ghani's Journey to become an MP do listen to Katy's interview with her from last year's Women with Balls podcast here: https://spectator.

Saturday

Cindy Yu

Spectator Out Loud: Nick Moar, Tanya Gold, Cindy Yu

From our UK edition

14 min listen

On this week's episode, we'll hear from Nick Moar on Twitter’s decision to suspend Politics for All.Next, Tanya Gold on the importance of chicken soup. And finally, Cindy Yu who has reviewed The Kingdom of Characters, a book on Chinese language.Subscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher:spectator.