Cindy Yu is a Times columnist, and formerly both an assistant editor of The Spectator and presenter of our Chinese Whispers podcast.
41 min listen
‘Scratch a communist, you’ll find a nationalist underneath’, Professor Kerry Brown, the director of the Lau China Institute at King’s College London, tells me on this episode. Together with Professor Victor Shih of UC San Diego, we talk about what drives the Chinese Communist Party (hint: it’s not communism), what membership means today and the policy
10 min listen
Overnight the European Commission’s rhetoric on vaccine export bans hotted up. In the run up to Thursday’s meeting between European leaders to discuss its vaccines options, what will the UK government do? Cindy Yu talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls about Boris’s options.
23 min listen
America has belatedly joined the vaccine diplomacy arena, the progress of which by Russia and China has been covered by The Spectator. On this episode of Saturday’s Coffee House Shots, Cindy Yu talks to Katy Balls, James Forsyth, Kate Andrews and Fraser Nelson about the latest developments in the race and whether Britain should be
12 min listen
The European Medicines Agency has announced that the Oxford-Astrazeneca jab is safe after all. In light of this, will the European Commission go through with its threat of banning vaccines from leaving the bloc? Cindy Yu talks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth.
‘We must prepare together for a long-term strategic competition with China… We cannot and must not return to the reflexive opposition and rigid blocs of the Cold War. Competition must not lock out cooperation on issues that affect us all.’ These words were not spoken by Boris Johnson as he presented the integrated review to
16 min listen
Britain’s exports to the EU fell by 40 per cent in January 2021, new figures from the ONS show. Are the numbers a real reflection of post-Brexit trade, or should they be treated with caution? Cindy Yu speaks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls.
36 min listen
Is it fair to blame Meghan for the Royal Family’s problems? (00:55) Why is China censoring a book of Dante’s poetry? (12:40) Would you go to moon? (24:50) With The Spectator‘s US editor Freddy Gray; The Spectator’s restaurant critic Tanya Gold; author Ian Thomson; Kerry Brown, professor of Chinese Studies at King’s College London; The
13 min listen
A number of polls in recent days have shown a majority support for Scotland staying in the UK. Cindy Yu talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls about how Scottish independence is not inevitable.
You might have seen ‘Asian dad’ memes on the internet, poking fun at the famously high expectations of fathers from my part of the world. ‘You Asian, not B-sian,’ he says in one version. Or: ‘After homework, you can play… the piano.’ My personal favourite is a picture of a crying Chinese girl saying: ‘I
32 min listen
Tiger mums and dads are infamous in the West, but in China the pressure is ramped up several times higher. From kindergarten to university, exams form the structure of a disciplined and competitive educational environment. It yields result – with even the poorest students in Shanghai scoring higher on maths and reading than the richest
41 min listen
Could a blip in inflation ruin the UK’s economic recovery? (00:50) Why is support for the IRA becoming normalised? (12:20) What makes a great diarist? (31:15) With The Spectator’s economics correspondent Kate Andrews; economist Julian Jessop; writer Jenny McCartney; politician Mairia Cahill; satirist Craig Brown; and historian, journalist and author Simon Heffer. Presented by Cindy
14 min listen
Day Two is sometimes when the budgets come unravelled. But Rishi Sunak’s Budget seems to have survived the scrutiny of the polls, pundits and papers. Cindy Yu talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls.
On Monday, in their first bilateral summit, Joe Biden will meet (virtually) Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Among other things on the agenda, Lopez Obrador is expected to ask Biden to share America’s vaccines with his country. With 186,000 deaths, Mexico has one of the world’s highest Covid-19 death tolls and it desperately needs
17 min listen
Teachers will assess pupil’s grades next year, the Education Secretary said today. Has the decision come too late, and will it disadvantage students? Cindy Yu speaks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls.
30 min listen
After getting off the phone with Xi Jinping, Joe Biden warned his senators that on infrastructure ‘and a whole range of other things’, China was spending much more than the US, and America risked being left behind. So just how interconnected is modern China and is it really a good growth model to emulate? With
15 min listen
Yet more personnel changes have happened in Downing Street, with Oliver Lewis the latest to depart. The weekend papers were full of briefings that Carrie Symonds is the reason for the latest strife. Cindy Yu talks to Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson about how much truth there is in that.
22 min listen
On this episode, Cindy Yu begins by explaining why China and Russia are ahead in the great game of vaccine diplomacy. (00:45) Fraser Nelson is next, and he tells us why The Spectator went to court. (10:35) Josiah Gogarty finishes the podcast, asking how middle-class your dad is. (16:35)
10 min listen
Emmanuel Macron has said wealthy nations should begin donating up to five per cent of their vaccines to Africa. It comes as Boris Johnson hosts a virtual G7 today – Joe Biden’s first multilateral meeting. Has the French president stolen Boris’s thunder? Cindy Yu speaks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls.
44 min listen
How are China and Russia getting ahead in the great game of vaccine diplomacy? (00:50) Has the US press lost its way? (11:30) Why is Anglo-Saxon history making a comeback? (27:20) With The Spectator‘s broadcast editor Cindy Yu; journalist Owen Matthews; Harper’s publisher Rick MacArthur; The Washington Post‘s media critic Erik Wemple; journalist Dan Hitchens;
At the end of January the President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, gave a speech on the tarmac of Santiago airport. ‘Today is a day of joy, excitement and hope,’ he said, standing in front of a Boeing 787 which had just arrived from Beijing. Inside it were two million vaccine doses produced by the Chinese