Xi Jinping and his Father — Power, purges, parenting
The run-up to the lunar year has been a busy one for China’s President Xi Jinping, with world leaders beating a path to Beijing to meet him; he also found time to purge two of the Chinese military’s t...
17 Feb 45min
China and Britain — Thawing ties, underlying tensions
Sir Keir Starmer described his recent trip to China as a chance to end the ‘ice age’ in the two countries’ ties and build a more ‘sophisticated’ relationship. But despite the announcement of visa free...
3 Feb 41min
Mistress Dispellers and Shanghai Girls — Two female film-makers on love, marriage and divorce in China
In this episode we look at love, marriage and divorce in contemporary China, from the perspective of two female filmmakers. These are topics with a political as well as personal significance — the Chi...
17 Dec 202542min
Japan-China Tensions — Taiwan, Tourism, Migration
Relations between China and Japan — never smooth, given the legacy of Japan's invasion of China in the 1930s — are currently at their tensest in years. This follows the new Japanese Prime Minister San...
1 Dec 202543min
Involution and Lying Flat — The challenges for China’s young generation
While young people around the world face growing difficulties finding work and coping with the cost-of-living crisis, the situation confronting China’s youth seems particularly acute. Years of pandemi...
14 Nov 202517min
Trade War Truce — and a Five Year Plan
China and the US reached a truce in their trade war at the recent meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in South Korea. And the two leaders even pledged to visit each other’s countries next year...
3 Nov 202530min
Translating China — Prizes, pressures and prospects for Chinese literature today
The inaugural US-based Baifang Schell Book Prize for Chinese language fiction in English translation was recently awarded to the Taiwanese writer Yang Shuang-zi’s novel 'Taiwan Travelogue'. And with a...
16 Okt 202545min
Innovation in China — After the 'DeepSeek moment'
After the sudden emergence of the Chinese company DeepSeek’s generative AI model in January, there has been much excitement about the future of innovation in China. But continuing US efforts to limit ...
3 Okt 202539min
