logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2023
24 m

Covid in China

Bbc World Service
About this episode

When it came to tackling Covid, China has been among the strictest on the planet. There have been almost three years of travel restrictions, testing and lockdowns. Host James Reynolds also chats with Yanni, Lex and David, who discuss what it has been like to live under China’s ‘zero Covid’ policy and how they have all recently had the disease, following a nationwide surge in cases. We also get a perspective on what’s been happening in China from two foreigners living in the county: Jonathan, a Canadian, and Lee, a South African, who tells us that she has felt unable to leave Beijing for the past three years.

Up next
Today
Ark of the dry lands
Researchers in Morocco are developing dry-land agriculture at ICARDA (the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas). It is home to a gene bank, in which around 150,000 different seed-types are kept in perfectly calibrated cold vaults, and duplicated to prot ... Show More
26m 29s
Yesterday
Bonus. World of Secrets: The Killing Call
Sidhu Moose Wala explodes onto the Canadian music scene. His sound is a fusion of two worlds - hip-hop with the poetic language of rural Punjab, where he is from. After years of struggle he is making it. But with the spotlight comes a dark side. As his fame grows, so do the threa ... Show More
35m 54s
Jul 8
Re-homing France’s immigrant workers
France’s last foyers – housing for immigrant workers – are set for demolition. But some current residents are worried about what they’ll lose. Hundreds of “foyers” - housing units especially for immigrant workers – were built after World War II. The economy was booming and France ... Show More
27m 11s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2023
Covid whiplash in China
It came as a complete surprise. Last month, the Chinese government dropped most of its “zero covid” restrictions. Today on Post Reports, we find out what’s behind the shift and a massive covid outbreak that has since swept the country. Since the start of the pandemic, China has k ... Show More
22m 49s
Jan 2023
China's Covid nightmare: Can Beijing bounce back?
China has this week reopened its borders for the first time in nearly three years. There have been scenes of joy and relief for many Chinese citizens after years of isolation. Ed Butler asks whether this is a turning point, as some are describing. What are the longer term economi ... Show More
19m 7s
Jan 2023
China’s Abrupt Reversal of ‘Zero Covid’
For nearly three years, China had one of the lowest coronavirus death rates in the world, thanks to its strict yet effective “zero Covid” approach.But last month, the government suddenly abandoned the policy. Since then, there have been millions of coronavirus cases across the co ... Show More
23m 42s
Jan 2023
The World Ahead 2023: China's challenges
As president Xi Jinping begins his third five-year term, China’s path forward is uncertain. Covid-19 is tearing through the country after it relaxed its strict “zero-covid” policies. China also faces slowing economic growth and rising geopolitical tensions with America. Are China ... Show More
26m 31s
Apr 2015
Stand Up for China
Comedian Des Bishop finds out what makes the chinese laugh. He has learnt Mandarin to take his jokes to China. He finds that there is a long tradition of comedy in China called Xiangsheng, or Crosstalk, often in the form of two comedians playing off each other. Join him in a come ... Show More
27m 2s
Nov 2021
Where is China Heading?
Helen and David talk to Cindy Yu, host of the Chinese Whispers podcast, about the trajectory of Chinese politics. What is Beijing’s political strategy for Hong Kong and Taiwan? Is Xi Jinping really a socialist? Can the CCP escape its history? Plus, what’s the real reason Xi didn’ ... Show More
47m 31s
Mar 2023
Yasheng Huang on the Development of the Chinese State
Yasheng Huang has written two of Tyler’s favorite books on China: Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics, which contrasts an entrepreneurial rural China and a state-controlled urban China, and The Rise and Fall of the EAST, which argues that Keju—China’s civil service exam syste ... Show More
54m 22s
May 2022
Censorship in China
By almost every metric imaginable, China is a huge country -- and its government works around the clock to control the flow of domestic and international information. As Hollywood studios become increasingly dependent on profits from the Chinese market, they're forced to obey Chi ... Show More
1h 7m