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
In Salvador Dalí’s Persistence of Memory, several clocks are melting away in a surreal desert scene where a distorted horse-like creature fades into the sand, below a ledge where a pocket watch crawls with ants. The bizarre painting is rather reminds one of the surrealism of the Brexit process, especially after this week. The government has
When did corporate giants like KPMG, Proctor and Gamble, and Accenture become extensions of the campus safe space culture? Rainbow lanyards inspired by the LGBT Pride flag, email sign-offs to say that you are an ‘ally’ of minorities, and so-called unconscious bias training – these are just some of the things that corporations are encouraging
Shanghai ‘How old are you, young lady?’ A small, curious crowd starts to surround me. ‘How tall are you? What do you work as?’ The parents camping out in Shanghai’s infamous marriage market have no time for small talk. They come here every weekend, rain or shine, seeking a partner for their grown-up son or
As The Spectator‘s podcast editor, I’m all for spending more money on podcasts. There are now six million adults in the UK who listen to podcasts, every week. If growth continues on that path, podcast listenership will be on par with total Radio 4 listenership in just another five years. With a trajectory like this,
It was Harold Wilson who said that a week is a long time in politics. How true that is for the times we are living in now. This time last week, The Spectator spoke to Gavin Shuker MP, the ringleader of the newly-formed Independent Group, about the plotting that happened behind the scenes and the ambitions
This week has been a relief from the usual Brexit conversations. The long talked about rumours of a centrist party have finally materialised, as eight Labour MPs and three Tory MPs defected from their former loyalties. Already, polls are in claiming that the Independent Group is more popular than the Lib Dems. But just how promising
To split or not to split? Moderates in the Labour party have long agonised over the party’s hard left direction. But this week, things are coming to a head. The anti-Semitism sore has flared up again – Stephen Bush tells us on the podcast that the witch hunt against Luciana Berger has shocked many moderates
What do you do when a vegan friend comes over for dinner? Panic first, probably. After all, how can you make a meal out of lettuce and carrots? But these days of stress are numbered. Perhaps you’ve already noticed – more and more people are becoming vegan or vegetarian. Supermarket shelves and even the pasty
The Huawei row is now a full-blown diplomatic incident between China and Canada. Two months ago, on the very same evening that presidents Trump and Xi met to agree a temporary ceasefire in their trade war, Canadian authorities arrested the queen of the Chinese tech world, to be extradited to the US. Meng is the
Over the next couple of weeks, parliament gears up for another meaningful vote. But can Theresa May win around enough MPs – 116 – to pass the Withdrawal Agreement the second time around? To do so, she may well have to soften her Brexit vision into something that looks more like Norway. But if that’s
Does President Xi’s first address of the new year spell trouble for Taiwan? In a 30 minute speech on Taiwan, Xi used much fiercer language than his predecessors on Taiwan’s reunification. Journalists have reported it as ‘chest-beating’ and ‘threatening’. Phrases like ‘the reunification of Taiwan…is the inevitable requirement of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation’ and
Lorries backing up in Kent, a Mars bar shortage, and no more Rome city breaks – these are just some of the things that we have been warned about when it comes to a no deal Brexit. But what will really happen? In this week’s cover piece, Ross Clark weighs up the pros and the
This week, humanity made first contact with the dark side of the moon, thanks to China. A Chinese unmanned spacecraft, Chang’e-4, has been able to send back visuals of just what it looks like: Chinese media exploded in a burst of pride. Given this is the first time any human contact has been made with
As we move into 2019, two big elections could shake up the rest of the year. In May, the European elections could see an unprecedented eurosceptic populist surge. Across the continent, politicians like Marine Le Pen and parties like Germany’s AfD are receiving more support. Fredrik Erixon also writes in this week’s cover that, notably, the
We were all a little bit more innocent at the beginning of 2018, weren’t we? Barely anyone knew – or cared – about the Brexit backstop, Trump and China weren’t at (trade) war, and Labour’s anti-Semitism problem hadn’t been so painfully put on display. In this last episode of the Spectator Podcast for the year,
Why did Sam Gyimah quit his government job? A moderate remainer, a pragmatic politician, and a driven minister – that is, until last Friday. He decided that he couldn’t stomach the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal anymore, even though – he tells us – he has never tried to make his career about Brexit. How many
In the last two years, $20 billion have left the UK as investors withdraw their money from British equity funds. Conventional wisdom might say that this is because of Brexit uncertainty, but talk to many in the City and they will tell you that the political event that their clients and partners are most afraid
This podcast was recorded from the midst of the Brexit omni-shambles. Katy Balls talks to Tim Montgomerie, Sienna Rodgers, and James Forsyth on the latest. But first, something just as monumental is happening on the other side of the world. Watch this: That was the announcement that technology journalist James O’Malley heard when he travelling
As Theresa May prepares to unveil her Brexit deal, we ask: just how bad is it, and what happened to ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’? In the American midterms, the Blue Wave didn’t happen, but Democrats did take control of the House of Representatives – what next for Trump’s presidency? And last,
Angela Merkel is stepping down but what is her legacy and can the EU project survive without her? On this week’s Spectator podcast, we also take a look at whether WhatsApp has made it harder for MPs to plot; and ask: should Brits be allowed to forage for wild mushrooms? Merkel has been Germany’s Chancellor
