Drum Tower

An article from The Economist read aloud. The United Arab Emirates is a small country, but it punches above its weight thanks to its oil reserves. One of our cover stories this week explores how to thrive in a fractured world.

Karl Marx and Confucius may have lived 2,400 years apart, but recently, on Chinese state television, their characters were depicted meeting. The show, “When Marx Met Confucius” is one of the latest attempts to promote Xi Jinping Thought on Culture—the leader’s new doctrine for stronger cultural confidence in China. It, and the series, are part of a larger national rejuvenation plan.  This week, Alice Su, The Economist’s senior China correspondent and David Rennie, our Beijing bureau chief, watch the show and explore its significance. They ask: why is it so useful for these two historical giants to meet in Xi Jinping’s China?This is a subscriber-only episode. To listen, sign up for a free trial of Economist Podcasts+If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Despite the sabre-rattling happening in the Taiwan Strait, Xi Jinping has a plan to take over Taiwan without firing a shot: “peaceful reunification”. He points to Hong Kong as a model of how it could be done.But Hong Kong’s autonomy all but disappeared after China imposed a national-security law on the city in 2020. Today, Hong Kong is much less an advertisement and more of a cautionary tale for Taiwan. In the final episode of our four-part series looking at the future of Taiwan, David Rennie, The Economist’s Beijing bureau chief, and Alice Su, our senior China correspondent, ask what Taiwan needs to do to protect its democracy. They meet Kacey Wong, an artist who fled to Taiwan after witnessing Hong Kong’s loss of civil liberties. He explains what’s at stake for the island he now calls home. This is a subscriber-only episode. To listen, sign up for a free trial of Economist Podcasts+If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

An article from The Economist read aloud. This week’s cover story argued why America must understand China’s weaknesses as well as its strengths.

What if China were to invade? For the third episode of our four-part series, we look at the worst-case scenario for Taiwan—armed conflict with its neighbour. David Rennie, The Economist’s Beijing bureau chief, and Alice Su, our senior China correspondent, meet Jack Yao. He is a Taiwanese barista who volunteered in Ukraine. Now he’s getting ready for the day when he might need to defend his own homeland. But he’s rare among Taiwan’s young people in that he takes the threat of war seriously. Our hosts also speak with Jeremy Page, our Asia diplomatic editor, about how an invasion of Taiwan by China could start and end. His special report this week examines China’s armed forces and true military capabilities.This is a subscriber-only episode. To listen, sign up for a free trial of Economist Podcasts+If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

No industry matters more to Taiwan than chipmaking. That’s because semiconductors power everything—from mobile phones to electric cars—and Taiwan makes the most advanced ones in the world. Taiwan’s chips also give the world an economic reason to protect the island from a Chinese invasion. But now America and China are competing to control the supply of these sophisticated chips. And that puts Taiwan in the middle of the two superpowers.For the second episode of a four-part series on the future of Taiwan, David Rennie, The Economist’s Beijing bureau chief, and Alice Su, our senior China correspondent, ask whether semiconductors could save Taiwan from attack.Henry Hsieh, a former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company engineer, and his wife, Lin Cai-wen, explain the part Taiwanese people played in China’s economic growth. C.C. Chen, Taiwan’s deputy minister of economic affairs, explains how the island’s trade policy has changed as the threat from China has grown. This is a subscriber-only episode. If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

An article from The Economist read aloud. China approves the world’s first flying taxi. A company called EHang could soon take passengers on pilotless joyrides over Guangzhou.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many have worried: is Taiwan next? China is giving Taiwan a terrifying choice: unify with China, or face war. People in Taiwan want neither of these.For this special four-part series, David Rennie, The Economist’s Beijing bureau chief, and Alice Su, our senior China correspondent, ask whether Taiwan can preserve its freedoms and decide its own future.In this first episode, they explore how Taiwan’s divided and changing identity impacts how close Taiwanese people want to be to China. They meet Chen Yao-chang, a doctor turned novelist, whose idea of what it means to be Taiwanese has changed in recent years.Sign up for Economist Podcasts+ now and get 50% off your subscription with our limited time offer. If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you’ll have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

A special mini episode to welcome you to our subscription service. Our exclusive new show, The Weekend Intelligence, starts Saturday October 28th. Sign up for Economist Podcasts+ before October 31st for 50% off.If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription.For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.