Cindy Yu

Cindy Yu

Cindy Yu is an assistant editor of The Spectator and presenter of our Chinese Whispers podcast. She was brought up in Nanjing. She tweets at @CindyXiaodanYu

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cindy Yu

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.

Cindy Yu

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

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,

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. This episode

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.

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

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

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

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

Did Rishi win at PMQs?

12 min listen

Rishi Sunak faced up against Keir Starmer in his first Prime Minister’s Questions today, and rallied the Conservative backbenches to a more enthusiastic mood than has been seen in, perhaps, months. Cindy Yu talks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth about the attack lines that Labour are trying out at the moment (on everything from

Xi Jinping has zombified the Chinese Communist party

In the run up to China’s National Party Congress, there were whispers that a high level official in state security had been wiretapping the President. After all, why else would Sun Lijun, previously the vice-minister of public security, have been sentenced to death for taking bribes that others got much lighter sentences for?  But if

Censorship and sexuality: being gay in China

31 min listen

I recently caught a rare viewing of a 2001 Chinese film, Lan Yu. It tells the story of two gay men falling in love and finding domestic life throughout the reform and opening years of China. The filmmakers never bothered to apply for approval from the censors, knowing that its homosexual storyline would never make it