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
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
Somehow it has already been two years into a Trump presidency, and America is facing midterm elections. Will Democrats win in a landslide? We also delve a little deeper at the political faultlines behind the Jamal Khashoggi story – is Turkey taking advantage of his death? And last, is the use of wild animals in
When Mohammed bin Salman was first made Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, the West rejoiced. It looked as if, finally, a young reformer with 21st century values was taking the reins of the state. After he allowed women to finally drive, the West hoped the Saudis would free jailed journalists, meaningfully engage with Europe and America
A few months ago I wrote about the damning revelations surrounding one of China’s most trusted vaccines providers. Changsheng Biotech had been profiteering from the creation and distribution of useless vaccines for children. First, they mixed old vaccines with new ones when selling jabs meant to immunise against diphtheria, whooping cough, and tetanus (all three diseases
This week, Brexit negotiations grind to a halt again as Brussels and the UK draw mutually exclusive red lines on the Irish border problem. We talk to James Forsyth and Dan Hannan on what next for Brexit. We also look a little deeper into the methods and mission of Bellingcat, the investigators that unveiled the
As we head into Conservative Party Conference, Theresa May has never looked more alone. We talk to Iain Duncan Smith and James Forsyth about a Prime Minister abandoned. And while chaos reigns in the Conservative Party, Labour is gearing up, led by a pragmatic but radical Shadow Chancellor. Just who is John McDonnell? And last,
Six years ago, the Spectator began podcasting. Why? For fun, really. Our writers were always being invited to comment on national broadcast shows, and so we thought, why not create our own? It’s been a big success. We started with ‘The Spectator Podcast’, which now has over 30,000 listens each week. We launched Coffee House
It seems that everyone, young or old, has a smartphone these days. But why are the brightest in Silicon Valley taking screen time away from their children? Have they realised that we’re addicted? Also on this podcast, Tory MEPs recently voted in favour of the Viktor Orbán government in European Parliament. Are British Tories flirting
