Why China’s nostalgia industry is booming
Nostalgia is a thriving industry in China. I first noticed this while walking around Nanjing last summer. There were shops…
The rootlessness that haunts the children of immigrants
Edward Wong tries to connect with his Chinese heritage by retracing his father’s military postings before the Great Famine – but finds the country too changed to make comparisons
Why the Tories can’t count on the Hong Kong vote
On a high street in suburban London, a curious message appeared recently. Written on a stand-up whiteboard in traditional Chinese,…
China will struggle to resist Biden’s trade war
Attending a business summit in Shanghai earlier this year, I was struck by how downbeat the mood was. China’s stagnant…
Be more tiger mum!
‘What’s it to do with me if your boyfriend wants to break up with you? Or if you cried, or…
What Xi wants in Europe
On a quiet street in Belgrade, a bronze statue of Confucius stands in front of a perforated white block, the…
The problem with Netflix’s Three-Body Problem
How many modern Chinese books, TV shows or films do you count among your favourites? Perhaps Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon comes to…
An insider’s account of the CCP’s stranglehold on China
A high-ranking intelligence officer leaves a cache of letters revealing his increasing disenchantment with the party after being purged numerous times
Why the Tories need the new Hong Kong voter base
With the Conservatives trailing around twenty points in most polls, the outcome of the next election seems all but set.…
Can Xi successfully stage manage Li Keqiang’s legacy?
Political deaths in China always carry the risk of social unrest. It was premier Zhou Enlai’s death that triggered the…
125,000 Hong Kongers have come to the UK. Where are they?
125,000 have come to Britain. Where are they?
How I got to know Westminster’s ‘Chinese agent’
How I got to know Westminster’s ‘Chinese agent’
‘I want to see my parents. I’ll take any deal’: the Tiananmen Square leader desperate to return to China
Dissident Wu’er Kaixi on why he’s desperate to return to China
James Cleverly faces his biggest challenge yet on his trip to China
Much has changed since the last time a British Foreign Secretary visited China. Back in 2018, when Jeremy Hunt met…
Chinese cities are being sacrificed to save Beijing
Bazhou and Zhuozhou, two small cities to the south of Beijing, have been submerged in record floods since late July, when…
Why Xi Jinping finally agreed to meet Antony Blinken
When Antony Blinken got on the plane to Beijing two days ago, the US Secretary of State didn’t even know…
The 19th century Chinese craze for all things European
By the 1800s, the mechanical clock had become a status symbol for wealthy Chinese. The first arrived with Jesuit missionaries…
The root of the problem
The novelist and filmmaker Xiaolu Guo is attracted by the freedom a New York job promises, but misses the young daughter she has left behind in London
Could the UK’s new China policy prevent a second cold war?
What a difference a year makes. Three prime ministers ago, in April 2022, Liz Truss gave a characteristically punchy speech…
The EU puts Ukraine at the centre of its China policy
If Beijing was in any doubt that its 12-point peace plan for Ukraine has gone down badly in Europe, those…
Taiwan’s voters face a big decision at the upcoming election
‘We must peacefully strive to rejuvenate the Chinese nation. This is an unshirkable duty for Chinese people on both sides…
Michelle Yeoh and Britain’s invisible East Asians
This week Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian to win Best Actress at the Oscars – and not by playing…
Beijing is likely to react badly to Sunak’s Integrated Review
It was only last summer that Rishi Sunak declared China ‘the largest threat to Britain’, but in today’s refreshed Integrated…
