China

The elderly lady’s face is red with rage as she screams with all her might at police. Leaning firmly on her walking stick, her head doesn’t even clear the top of their riot shields. Her grey hair tied back in a ponytail, her worn T-shirt is in bitter contrast with the army green and black donned by officers in full riot gear.  I took her photo at a march attended by tens of thousands in the Hong Kong neighbourhood of Yuen Long. A short time later, protestors were dispersed by the authorities. The picture went viral the next day. For those who supported the demonstrations, this woman inadvertently became a symbol of

China is a nation with values deeply at odds with the West. The Chinese spy, steal and bully. They don’t really care about human rights yet are getting disgustingly rich, and — well, I’m sure you’ve heard the rest. The western media likes to depict China as the new enemy — both morally and politically. It seems as if a new iron curtain is coming down, with my country (and family) on the wrong side of the divide. Of course, Britain is my country too: I’ve lived here longer than I did in China. But I have to confess that this fundamental ‘clash of values’ — described in such vivid

When Donald Trump took the US presidency in 2016, China was wary, but hopeful. Here’s was a businessman for whom money was important, and China could offer economic growth for both countries through trade. But three years on, Trump has waged a trade war against China and boycotted its national tech champion, Huawei. The Wall Street Journal‘s Editor at Large, Gerard Baker, writes this week’s cover piece, and argues that this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the containment policy that America is taking against China. He joins Isabel Hardman on the podcast. We also hear from China expert Yu Jie from Chatham House, who

For many years, a framed cover of The Spectator looked down, like a silent reproach, on the drinkers in the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents’ Club. Its cartoon showed Britannia and the British lion on a barren rock, bent in a kowtow towards a distant, unseen overlord. The title read: Our Betrayal of Hong Kong. It was published when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister and the Tiananmen Square massacre had just taken place in Beijing. The editorial, two whole pages of eloquent indictment, did not please the woman who had signed the Joint Declaration with China by which the rights of Hong Kong were to be guaranteed for fifty years after

I was an argumentative teenager, and after emigrating from China to London one of the biggest rows I had with my British school friends was over Tiananmen. They’d insisted on calling it a massacre. I was adamant – it wasn’t a massacre, and the government did what it had to. Did my friends not understand that the protests had shut down the city of Beijing – not to mention other major cities across the country – for months? The protestors were a nuisance; they threatened the livelihoods of small business owners, blockaded roads, cost the country’s economy God knows how many yuan. I didn’t back down then. But I wish

Chinese president Xi Jinping came to France and is taking home 300 Airbus jetliners, a large consignment of frozen chickens and a wind farm. A great triumph for France, declared Emmanuel Macron. And for Macron? Never mind that many of the planes will be built in China. Or that Airbus is no longer a French company but an international one, although headquartered in Toulouse. Or that the hens are unlikely to be free range. It’s hard to argue with a cheque for £30 billion. Or to stop a politician taking credit for a deal that’s been in the works for years. To cement his triumph, Macron hosts Xi today at