Cindy Yu is a Times columnist, and formerly both an assistant editor of The Spectator and presenter of our Chinese Whispers podcast.
The Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai sits in a crowded restaurant surrounded by friends and her coach, who is going through next year’s training plan with her. ‘Tomorrow is November 20th’, he says, in a seeming non-sequitur. ‘No, tomorrow is the 21st’, one of her friends corrects him. ‘Oh yes, oh yes, the 21st’. This
12 min listen
Priti Patel has blamed the European Union’s freedom of movement for the ‘mass migration crisis’ that Britain is facing. In a visit to Washington, the Home Secretary said: ‘the real problem on illegal migration flows is the EU has no border protections whatsoever — Schengen open borders’. Tories MPs are reportedly frustrated at the government’s
11 min listen
Now entering its second week, the foray around members of parliament holding second jobs shows no sign of dying down. And, unfortunately, it seems whatever Boris Johnson tries to do to get himself out of this situation, he appears to just be digging himself and his party a deeper and deeper hole. ‘Boris Johnson hadn’t
31 min listen
Deng Xiaoping used to say, ‘let some people get rich first’. Four decades on from the start of his economic experiment with marketisation, Xi Jinping is, these days, talking about ‘common prosperity’ instead – prosperity for the many, not the few. But what does this new economic direction mean in practice, and could it, in
15 min listen
COP26 is now over, but was it a flop? Even Alok Sharma, the President of COP26, apologised on the last day for ‘the way this process has unfolded’, as he teared up when announcing the final agreement to phase down, rather than phase out, coal. On this episode, Cindy Yu talks to Fraser Nelson and
13 min listen
Boris Johnson today has said that Britain is not a corrupt country, but what does it mean that he felt the need to say that? On today’s Coffee House Shots, Fraser Nelson points out that there is no clear firebreak to the present string of sleaze stories; and James Forsyth estimates that around a quarter
Every year, China plants trees over an area the size of Ireland. The country may be the biggest polluter on Earth, but its reforestation efforts are enough to make Saint Greta look twice. In the last decade, the ‘Great Green Wall’ project has cost more than £73 billion, and the country aims to expand its
11 min listen
The row over Owen Paterson has come to a head today as the amendment to lift his suspension – tabled by fellow Conservative MP Andrea Leadsom and backed by the government – has upset many sides. Labour and the SNP are going in hard on accusations of Tory sleaze, with a real possibility of this
37 min listen
It’s not easy to talk about the Cultural Revolution inside China – let alone teach it. In recent years, one of the last professors to have taught the period has been hounded out of her role at a top university. Sun Peidong has now taken a post at Cornell, after Chinese journals stopped publishing her
16 min listen
Cindy Yu talks to James Forsyth and the Paris-based journalist John Lichfield about the nature of the dispute between France and the UK over fishing rights.
11 min listen
The new year is fast approaching and if your resolution is to quit smoking, the taxpayer will now cover the cost for your new vape. Opinions differ on the podcast as to whether this is a good idea. Cindy Yu talks with Isabel Hardman and James Forsyth about this new scheme as well as looking
51 min listen
These days the Conservative party is not just associated with the colour blue – it’s also the winner of the red wall seats; the pursuer of a green agenda. But do these new identities, achieved under Boris Johnson, all fit together? In particular, critics often label tackling climate change as a middle class pursuit, not
Jack Ma used to give rock star performances for his employees at Alibaba, Asia’s biggest online commerce company. He once dressed as Michael Jackson. But those halcyon days are gone. Over the last year, China’s richest man has had his wings clipped by the Chinese Communist party. The flamboyant Ma has only made a handful
11 min listen
The Chancellor is making final preparations to his Budget, announced next Wednesday. On the podcast, Cindy Yu talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls about the major themes coming up, and whether this is the moment when Rishi Sunak sees a turn in his popularity.
14 min listen
Compared to our extremely strong vaccine rollout, the booster numbers are not doing so well. But what is causing the slow take-up? Cindy Yu is joined by James Forsyth and Katy Balls to discuss this as well as the ever-rising covid figures, partisan mask wars, and a potential new trade deal with New Zealand.
11 min listen
There was a sombre tone as Boris Johnson faced Keir Starmer at the despatch box for PMQs. This was seen as one of the Labour leader’s most successful outings as he emphasised finding common ground on tackling certain issues like online abuse, extremism and terrorism Cindy Yu is joined by Katy Balls and James Forsyth
31 min listen
Last week, the US and Canada each sent a warship through the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan has appealed to the US for faster delivery of fighter aircraft. It’s been a tense month in the Strait, kicked off by China’s celebration of its national day on October 1 through flying a record number of aircraft through
12 min listen
The former housing secretary, Robert Jenrick delivered a warning to his former colleagues in government yesterday that a failure to build new homes will cost the Conservatives down the line. Cindy Yu is joined by James Forsyth and Katy Balls to discuss this, as well as the update to Covid holiday restrictions and the sad
10 min listen
Although Boris won over the audience during his conference speech, the opinion polls might say otherwise. Starmer’s voice of reason could be starting to resonate with the public as the cost of living continues to rise. Underlying tensions with businesses are also still bubbling. Are they really to blame for labour shortages? And what now
Pig farmers are protesting, joining the ranks of climate activists and Remainiac Steve Bray outside Conservative Party Conference. The Prime Minister’s seeming dismissal of the imminent cull of 120,000 pigs as ‘just what happens’, has riled up farmers across the country who say that the cull is a result of the same sort of labour
