Why China won't invade Taiwan
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...
5 Jun 202340min
How China's mail-order brides are taking back control
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...
15 Mai 202335min
Young and jobless: Is the government letting down China's Generation Z?
Hidden in March’s GDP figures was a shocking statistic – a fifth of Chinese 16 to 24 year olds are out of work. This is a near record high, and the economic background to a fresh wave of disillusionme...
1 Mai 202331min
Japan's role in the making of modern China
Just before Christmas, it was reported that the billionaire Jack Ma had moved to Tokyo after getting into trouble with the Chinese authorities. If he's still living there, he'd be one of several well ...
17 Apr 202348min
Hollywood and China: happily ever after?
Until a few years ago, Hollywood dominated Chinese cinemas. In the People’s Republic, Marvel’s superhero romps were the people’s favourite, with Avengers: Endgame taking in over £510 million at Chines...
3 Apr 202331min
What Beijing wants out of the Russian invasion
As Xi Jinping visits Vladimir Putin in Russia this week, this episode of Chinese Whispers is returning to one of the missions of this podcast series – to look at things as the Chinese see them. My gue...
20 Mar 202351min
Spy planes and infiltrators: a history of the CIA in China
The Chinese Communist Party likes to blame its domestic political problems on foreign interference, and it has done so since the days of Chairman Mao.But sometimes, does this paranoia, this narrative,...
6 Mar 202346min
Tiananmen and the Tang: the rise of rock in China
Every protest needs an anthem, and for the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, 'Nothing to My Name' by Cui Jian became that emblem. Cui was one of China's earliest rockers, taking inspiration from the pea...
20 Feb 202335min
