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Dusk in Shenzhen, January 2025
I was born in China and raised in the UK. Landing in Heathrow or in Shanghai Pudong, I’m often struck by the feeling of walking into a different world. Not only are the two countries so completely different physically, their respective understandings of the world and the collective memories that inform them are also worlds apart. My Chinese family and friends cannot understand why the West loathes and fears their country; similarly, Brits often ask me questions that many Chinese would find laughable, for example: ‘Do the Chinese want to take revenge for the opium wars?’
This gap obscures the commonality between the two peoples. At the end of the day, people in China just want the same things as those in the West do: for their children to grow up healthy and safe, for their jobs to be rewarding, for their parents to be looked after in old age, for their country to be a good place to live.
The Chinese Whispers podcast series was born out of these differences and commonalities. From the beginning, its mission has been to bring a more colourful and complex picture of China to the non-expert but intelligent and interested English-speaking audience. I resolved to tackle the biggest political and economic stories of the day, but also to go beyond these subjects and into the cultural and historical issues that matter for Chinese society more widely. Perhaps the gap can be narrowed a little if only English-speakers can understand more about how the Chinese see the world.
Since leaving The Spectator magazine to join The Times and the Sunday Times, I have restarted the podcast under my own steam. By subscribing to this Substack, you can keep abreast with all the latest episodes, from Chinese history to its global influence. and my latest writing, both from the Times and original pieces found just on here. I hope you stay, and enjoy.
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