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

Papa Xi

For the first time since the death of Chairman Mao four decades ago, a leadership personality cult is emerging in China. You can see it in Beijing’s streets, where President Xi Jinping’s face appears on posters on bus stops, next to those of revolutionary war heroes. Scarlet banners fly with bold white letters saying: ‘Continue

Is party politics broken?

Across the world, outsiders are challenging the political status quo: Ukip in Britain, Marine Le Pen’s Front National in France, Donald Trump in America. So does this mean that voters are finally dumping the established parties which for decades have simply swapped power between themselves? On 13 July 2016, The Spectator held a discussion at

Cindy Yu

The Spectator Podcast: The American tragedy

When Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign just over a year ago, few expected him to make it so far. Yet this week’s Republican Convention in Ohio sees Trump’s coronation as the party’s presidential nominee. Freddy Gray, deputy editor of the Spectator, is there this week, and he writes in the magazine about how ‘The

Coffee House Shots: Owen Smith’s ‘Mission-bloody-difficult’

Jeremy Corbyn is the clear favourite to win the Labour leadership battle, if yesterday’s YouGov poll is anything to go on. But now that Angela Eagle has dropped out of the race, is it just possible that Owen Smith might unite the anti-Corbyn vote and oust Jeremy? In this Coffee House Shots podcast, Fraser Nelson

Coffee House shots: the doomed Labour leadership challenge

Support for leadership contenders Angela Eagle and Owen Smith are roughly evenly split within the party – though all involved agree that only one can go forward if the party is to have any chance of purging Corbyn. But in this Coffee House shots podcast, James Forsyth tells Fraser Nelson that there might not even

The Spectator podcast: Theresa May’s new cabinet

George Osborne has gone, Phillip Hammond is in No 11, David Davis and Liam Fox are back in the Cabinet – and Boris Johnson is the new Foreign Secretary. Theresa May’s reshuffle has made headlines around the world – and Boris’ appointment in particular has been a big talking point. In this week’s Spectator podcast,

Coffee House Shots: Labour’s leadership election

Labour’s leadership contest has finally been triggered as Angela Eagle made her bid for the position today. So how will this contest shape up? And will Jeremy Corbyn appear on the ballot paper? Isabel Hardman tells Fraser Nelson: ‘It’s going to be very bloody because Jeremy Corbyn wants to get back on that ballot paper, thinks

Cindy Yu

Coffee House Shots: Leadsom drops out – what next for May?

Over the course of the past weekend, Andrea Leadsom has come under fire for her comments on having children. Such media scrutiny has proved too much for Leadsom as she announced her withdrawal from the Tory leadership campaign. With this leaving Theresa May as the only candidate for Prime Minister and Conservative party leader, what

The Chinese are willing participants in state censorship

For three decades, Cui Yongyuan has been one of China’s national treasures. As a veteran television presenter for CCTV (China’s BBC), Cui’s career was made by this state-controlled broadcaster. So his recent talk in London – entitled ‘An Idealist’s commitment and compromise’ – caught my attention for its political undertone. Could he have been talking

Chinese state media praises Osborne’s “unwillingness to bring up human rights”

The Global Times, a state-run Chinese tabloid newspaper, had high praise for George Osborne’s visit. But the English translation of its article was heavily edited, cutting out much of the emotion found in the original. Unsurprisingly, the Chinese translation has a rather different tone and is about twice as long. It refers to the ‘little’ West, a derogatory phrase that doesn’t

China’s battery-farm schools

In the early morning light, the sleepy students of Hengshui Senior Secondary School are putting on their tracksuits in the dimly lit dormitories. It’s 5.30 a.m. By the time lessons begin at 7.45 they have already had morning exercise, an hour of self-study and a balanced breakfast. Under a strict regime that you might think

Why is the BBC’s latest ‘documentary’ on China fronted by someone who doesn’t know anything about China?

The BBC’s latest pretty young face is Billie JD Porter. The 23-year-old is entirely lovable. With her brown roots proudly showing, that unmistakably London accent, and a chirpy personality, Billie is the latest in a string of young presenters who the corporation hopes will win back the younger generation. The result? Secrets of China, a three-part documentary series that barely scratches