Drum Tower

To start you’ll need a network of collaborators, sympathetic to your cause. Begin to erode public confidence until your target’s disillusionment is palpable. Add a siege. Then offer to negotiate. If you’ve followed steps one and two, a surrender, brokered by your collaborators, is all but guaranteed.The Communists used a version of this recipe to defeat the Nationalists in Beijing, then called Beiping, during the Chinese civil war. Almost 100 years later the so-called Beiping model is being talked about once more. This time by Chinese officials and state media who ponder whether it could be applied to Taiwan. If so, it means Xi Jinping could defeat the island without a shot being fired.Alice Su, The Economist’s senior China correspondent, and Jeremy Page, our Asia diplomatic editor, ask: how is China laying the psychological groundwork for the Beiping model in Taiwan? And could it work?Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. 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 ancient empress, thrust into the modern world, must win over a CEO and his family. After a one-night stand, two people wake up married, and their wedding goes viral. Micro-dramas deliver non-stop twists in under two minutes and audiences can’t stop watching. This booming industry has outpaced China’s box office and Chinese production companies are looking to replicate its success abroad. Meanwhile, the Communist Party is trying to regulate these micro-dramas and adopt the format to spread party-approved values.Alice Su, The Economist’s senior China correspondent, and Gabriel Crossley, our China correspondent, ask: why is China cracking down on its most addictive entertainment export?Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

3,000 delegates, two cups of tea for Xi Jinping and lots of polite applause. At the National People’s Congress, China unveiled its plans for steering its economy through 2025 with choreographed calm. In fact, there is much to be unsettled about. The world’s second-largest economy is in the doldrums. Chinese consumer confidence is yet to recover from the covid lockdowns and the property market continues to languish. While Donald Trump’s threat of 60% tariffs is yet to transpire, his trade war is stoking uncertainty. Against this backdrop, an economic recovery seems a long way off. Alice Su, The Economist’s senior China correspondent, and Simon Cox, our China economics editor, ask: what is the Communist Party’s strategy to bring the Chinese economy back on track? And is China ready for the global economic turmoil ahead?Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. 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 booming $500 billion industry is thriving in the shadows. Online scams have become as pervasive and lucrative as the global drugs trade. But fraudsters first honed their tactics in China on local victims before expanding their operations worldwide. The Chinese government has been cracking down on scam groups—but will its anti-fraud efforts be enough? Ted Plafker, The Economist’s China correspondent, and Sue-Lin Wong, our Asia correspondent and host of our eight-part podcast series Scam Inc, ask: what is the Communist Party doing to stop scammers?Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Its alumni are a who's who of Chinese tech and it publishes more scientific papers than any other university in the world. Zhejiang University, in Hangzhou, is also the birthplace of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI company that has stunned foreign competitors. China’s best and brightest are lured to Hangzhou’s flourishing tech scene and Zhejiang University’s emphasis on innovation and entrepreneurialism. But if Xi Jinping's crackdown on tech bosses in 2020 is anything to go by, China’s homegrown Silicon Valley has its limitations. Alice Su, The Economist’s senior China correspondent, and Gabriel Crossley, our China correspondent in Beijing, ask: when it comes to building China’s groundbreaking tech firms, what’s so special about Hangzhou? And will DeepSeek be a one-hit wonder?Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

China and India—two countries that are home to nearly half the world’s population—have been rivals for decades. In 2020, deadly border skirmishes froze relations. But now, signs of reconciliation are emerging. With trade surging and diplomatic ties warming, could this be a turning point?Alice Su, The Economist’s senior China correspondent, and Jeremy Page, our Asia diplomatic editor, ask: is the relationship between India and China entering a friendlier phase? And what would that mean for the rest of the world?Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

Calligraphy was once China’s highest art form—then the Communist Party tried to erase it. Now, under Xi Jinping, it’s making a comeback.At Sotheby’s in Hong Kong, a rare copy of the Orchid Pavilion preface, one of China’s most famous calligraphic works, is up for auction. Rosie Blau, co-host of our daily news podcast, The Intelligence, is there to witness the bidding war—but will it sell? And beyond the auction room, why is the Communist Party so invested in calligraphy’s return? Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

China has been deepening its ties with Latin America, making strategic investments in key infrastructure to boost its influence in the resource-rich region. It’s not the only thing that has President Donald Trump worried. He sees countries like Mexico as weak links in America’s defences, blaming them for allowing in drugs, migrants, and foreign imports that threaten American jobs. Increasingly, those threats involve China. David Rennie, The Economist’s geopolitics editor, and Sarah Birke, our Mexico bureau chief, ask: how did Latin America become a front line in Donald Trump's confrontation with China?  Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.

As the superpower rivalry between China and America deepens, Chinese espionage efforts in America are changing. The Communist Party is recruiting members of the diaspora for surveillance, information-gathering and influence operations. And while coercion is not uncommon, some Chinese Americans are happy to help.Alice Su, The Economist’s senior China correspondent, and James Miles, our China writer-at-large, explore how China co-opts members of its diaspora to serve the Communist Party's interests, and ask what liberal democracies do about it.Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts.Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.