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
13 min listen
A by-election is on the cards for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, after former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier was recalled by her constituents. She’d flouted lockdown rules in 2020, taking a train from London to Scotland despite testing positive for Covid. Given that Labour will need to make gains in Scotland in order to win the
37 min listen
In the 1800s, Qing China’s final century, European powers were expanding eastwards. The industrialised West, with its gunboats and muskets, and the soft power of Christianity, pushed around the dynasty’s last rulers. But was this period more than just a time of national suffering and humiliation for China? The British Museum’s ongoing exhibit, China’s hidden century,
33 min listen
The way we use energy is changing. As electric heat pumps and electric vehicles become more popular, and as the government tries to phase out fossil fuels to reach its net zero target, some estimate that our electricity demand will increase by 50 per cent by 2035. But can our energy system take that strain?
14 min listen
A year on from allegations that Chris Pincher groped two young men at the Carlton Club (allegations that ultimately triggered the downfall of Boris Johnson), Parliament’s standards watchdog has now found that Pincher brought the House into disrepute and recommended an eight-week suspension. On the podcast, Isabel Hardman says that this makes a by-election in
36 min listen
It’s now a week since the Wagner Group revolted against the Kremlin. Though the dramatic uprising was quelled within 24 hours and the group’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is now exiled to Belarus, the episode will have lasting impact on President Putin’s authority. Among those closely watching the events unfold would have been the Chinese leadership,
11 min listen
Today is the seven years’ anniversary of the Brexit referendum, and new polls find that a majority of Brits would prefer a closer relationship with the EU, or rejoining the European Union altogether. Can Labour capitalise on this? Cindy Yu talks to James Heale and Fraser Nelson. Produced by Cindy Yu.
39 min listen
The word ‘West’ is often used as a shorthand to describe liberal democracies in Europe, and perhaps in Asia too, such that we’ll often talk about ‘the West’s attitude to China’, or the ‘West’s relations with China’. But this is at best a lazy shorthand – because when you dig a little deeper, it’s clear
When Antony Blinken got on the plane to Beijing two days ago, the US Secretary of State didn’t even know if he’d be meeting with Xi Jinping. Blinken’s visit was originally planned for February before the US withdrew, at the last minute, after a Chinese spy balloon was spotted over Montana. Beijing has always insisted there was nothing untoward about
15 min listen
In his politics column for The Spectator this week James Heale profiles the three candidates that the Tories have shortlisted for London mayor. With the seventh London mayoral election coming up, can the Tories capitalise on Sadiq Khan’s declining popularity recently, and offer some answers in the ongoing Ulez debate? Cindy Yu speaks to James Heale and
13 min listen
Having said she’ll step down, Nadine Dorries has now said that she won’t formally resign as an MP until later this year… It’s hard to see this as anything other than revenge taken on Rishi Sunak, so as to prolong the by-election pain, Katy Balls says. Cindy Yu also talks to Kate Andrews about the
12 min listen
This morning Rishi Sunak has delivered a direct rebuke of Boris Johnson over the resignation honours row, during an interview at London Tech Week. Is this the Prime Minister going into fighting mode? Do his comments go some way towards heading off a Johnson-led rebellion? Also on the podcast, Nicola Sturgeon was released from custody
21 min listen
This week: Michela Wrong asks whether anywhere is safe for Kagame’s critics (00:58), Emily Rhodes charts the rise of fake libraries (07:54), and Cindy Yu reviews a new exhibition at the British Museum on China’s hidden century (15:25). Produced and presented by Oscar Edmondson.
11 min listen
Boris Johnson has published his resignation honours list, proposing a number of supporters, long time loyalists and even young staffers to be given peerages and honours. But is this an abuse of a system which should, instead, be about rewarding people for their public service? Cindy Yu talks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls. Produced
By the 1800s, the mechanical clock had become a status symbol for wealthy Chinese. The first arrived with Jesuit missionaries and Portuguese merchants years earlier, but it wasn’t until the early 19th century that those outside of the imperial court could afford them. Rich merchant families displayed their clocks proudly, like their European counterparts had
12 min listen
The Prime Minister will be flying stateside tonight to visit Joe Biden. Top of the agenda will be AI regulation and Britain’s role in it (they may also talk about Ben Wallace’s bid to become the next Secretary General of Nato). It’s a tricky issue and famously fast moving, so can the two leaders crack
Want a taste of the Andes without forking out for the trans-Atlantic flight? There is a herd of delightful llamas to be found in the fields behind The Merry Harriers Inn in the quaint village of Hambledon, Surrey, in which you can walk under the guidance of the equally delightful young llama handler, Clara. Afterwards,
41 min listen
In much of the conversation surrounding China and Taiwan, the question of invasion seems to be a ‘when’ not an ‘if’. But is an invasion really so inevitable? No one knows for sure, of course, but there are good reasons to think that speculations of a war have been overblown. For one, the economic links
11 min listen
The Prime Minister has gone to Iceland today to see the Council of Europe, where he has been talking about immigration and the ECHR with other European leaders. On the episode, Katy Balls explains his mission to get other leaders on board with the UK’s hardline approach to immigration. Cindy Yu also talks to James
A friend recently moved back to the UK after living in China for ten years. Being English, he was always going to be an outsider in China, but what surprises him now is how foreign he feels in England too. He asked me whether this feeling ever ended. I told him that I suspect people
36 min listen
The mail-order bride industry is booming – but today’s international dating doesn’t look as it used to. It turns out that it’s not so much young and uneducated Chinese women looking to marry out of the country anymore, and more middle aged and financially well off divorcees, looking for something different. The mail order bride
