Chinese Whispers By cover art

Chinese Whispers

By: The Spectator
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  • Summary

  • A fortnightly podcast from the Spectator on the latest in Chinese politics, society, and more. From Huawei to Hong Kong, Cindy Yu talks to experts, journalists, and long time China-watchers on what you need to know about China.
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Episodes
  • Was Marco Polo a 'sexpat'?

    Was Marco Polo a 'sexpat'?
    Apr 15 2024
    When I recently came across a book review asking the question ‘was Marco Polo a "sexpat"?’, I knew I had to get its author on to, well, discuss this important question some more. The 13th century Venetian merchant Marco Polo’s account of China was one of the earliest and most popular travelogues written on the country. Polo spent years at the court of Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis, and whose family founded the Yuan dynasty in China.

    My guest today, and the author of that book review, is the historian Jeremiah Jenne. Jeremiah has lived in China for over two decades, and he is also the co-host of the fascinating podcast Barbarians at the Gate, all about Chinese history. He has been doing a series of historical book reviews for the relatively newly established website China Books Review, and in re-reading The Travels of Marco Polo, he noticed that there was a lot of sex.

    We talk about all of this, of course, but there’s a serious point here too. How much do Europeans observe when they go to China and how reliable are their accounts, understood and told through the perspective of the outsider? How much has Marco Polo’s portrayal of China moulded the western mindset on the country in the centuries since, and even today? And what does it say about the China of the 13th century that a trio of Venetian merchants could make it to the heart of the Mongol empire?
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    25 mins
  • What Chinese hackers want

    What Chinese hackers want
    Mar 28 2024
    Over the last week the UK has been rocked by allegations that China was responsible for two cyber attacks in recent years – one on the Electoral Commission, where hackers successfully accessed the open register, which has the details of 40 million voters; and a set of attempts to access the emails of a number of China critics within parliament.

    So what do we know about China’s cyber capabilities? What are its goals? And now that the UK knows about these attacks, what should we be doing?

    Joining me on the podcast today is Nigel Inkster, senior advisor for cyber security and China at the think tank IISS, formerly director of operations and intelligence at MI6, and author of China’s Cyber Power, a 2016 book on precisely this question.

    You can also join Cindy Yu at The Spectator's Chinese wine lunch on June 14th. To find out more and buy tickets, visit spectator.co.uk/chinesewine.
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    27 mins
  • Life on the margins pt II: Li Ziqi and the phenomenon of the rural influencer

    Life on the margins pt II: Li Ziqi and the phenomenon of the rural influencer
    Mar 18 2024
    In the last episode, I discussed Chinese rural lives with Professor Scott Rozelle. One point he made which particularly stuck with me was the dying out of farming as an occuption – he'd said that most rural people under the age of 35 have never farmed a day in their lives.

    So that got me thinking, what do they do instead? In this episode I’ll be looking at one, very high profile, alternative – vlogging. I’ve noticed through my hours of scrolling through Chinese social media that there is a huge genre of rural, pastoral content.

    This is an interesting phenomenon both for what it says about the rural population today, as well as what it reveals about the – often – urban viewers on the other end. So today I’m joined by Yi-Ling Liu, a writer on Chinese society who has had bylines in the New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine and WIRED. She’s looked in detail at the phenomenon of the rural influencer.

    On the episode, we talk about a few of our favourite rural influencers. You can watch Li Ziqi's videos on YouTube here and 王大姐来了 (the middle aged rappers I mention) here.
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    23 mins
Political Science Social Sciences
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Informative fun and warm hearted

I initially found the podcast on the Apple App where I listened this and half dozen other episodes. They offer rich information about today’s China and the world around it, through the interviews of long time “China watchers” who provide not just expertise but also a mixture of perspectives, all nicely produced and fun to listen to. Thank you!

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How ‘common prosperity’ is important for China’s future

Listening to Scott Rozelle discuss the transformation of 90% of China's rural low-income population into middle-class consumers provided me with valuable insights into the motivations behind the 'common prosperity' agenda. Despite political complexities, the potential impact on countless lives is evident. This candid conversation between Cindy and Scott offers a refreshing departure from shallow demonization, presenting a nuanced understanding of developments in China. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of what is happening in China.

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