Drum Tower from The Economist

China’s decades-long economic boom was powered by workers who migrated from the countryside to cities to find jobs. But to do so, many of them had to leave their children behind. Now some cities are vying to attract migrant workers' children. 

Zhejiang province is piloting an experimental policy which should make it easier for migrants to bring their children with them to cities and send them to school. David Rennie, our Beijing bureau chief, and Alice Su, our senior China correspondent, examine Yiwu, a city in Zhejiang that has enacted this policy.

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China is watching Taiwan’s next presidential race closely. The results will influence Xi Jinping’s next steps when it comes to resolving the “Taiwan question”. 

Ahead of the vote on January 13th, Alice Su, our senior China correspondent, goes to campaign rallies of the 3 parties in the race. We meet voters, young and old, who each have a different idea of who should win and why. Together with David Rennie, our Beijing bureau chief, they ask: is the election of Taiwan’s next President really a choice between war or peace, as some candidates are saying?

If you’re interested in Taiwan, listen to our four-part series on the future of the island. 

1. What does Taiwan want?

2. How strong is Taiwan’s silicon shield?

3. Is Taiwan ready for war?

4. Could China take over Taiwan without force?

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Tickets for “Nvzizhuyi”—a monthly stand-up comedy show in New York City— often sell out in less than a minute. The show invites Chinese citizens, mostly women, to tell jokes, perform skits and recount the absurd challenges they’ve encountered as feminist activists in China—things they could never utter in public back home. 

This week, Alice Su, our senior China correspondent, reports from the dark basement of a comedy club. Together with David Rennie, The Economist’s Beijing bureau chief, they ask: Why are some of China’s exiled feminists doing stand-up comedy abroad? And can their performances have any impact back home?

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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. 

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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.

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At a time when Republicans and Democrats agree on very little, there is striking unity in DC about China. This week, we return to David Rennie in Washington DC, where he talks to senators and congressmen at the heart of China policymaking. We hear what brings the two parties together on China, and find out if this bipartisan consensus is as solid as it looks.

David Rennie, The Economist’s Beijing bureau chief, and Alice Su, our senior China correspondent, host. They speak to Mike Gallagher, the Republican chair of the House of Representatives’ China Select Committee and Chris Coons, a Democratic senator. Runtime: 31 min

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Drum Tower is turning one. To celebrate our first anniversary, we are taking listeners behind the scenes of how we make the podcast. We will also open our mailbag to answer listeners' questions about how we report on China. David Rennie and Alice Su host.

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All is not well in the world’s most important relationship. China and America are at loggerheads over everything from trade to Taiwan. 

For a special live show, David Rennie and Alice Su travel to Washington DC to find out how relations between the two superpowers deteriorated and what can be done to improve them.

They speak to Evan Medeiros, a former top Asia advisor to President Barack Obama who is now a professor at Georgetown University. David and Alice also talk to a class of postgraduate students looking at the US-China relationship and find out what this younger generation thinks about the future.

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China is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The global infrastructure project is a keystone of Xi Jinping’s foreign policy and he has lauded the huge economic benefits the scheme has brought to the world. But enthusiasm for the BRI is fading at home.

David Rennie, The Economist’s Beijing bureau chief, and Alice Su, our senior China correspondent, host the second episode of a two-part look at China’s BRI and how it’s changing. They speak to Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University. 

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Ten years ago Xi Jinping announced the “project of the century”, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Over the last decade, more than 150 countries have signed up to Mr Xi’s global infrastructure project. 

In this first episode of a two-part look at the BRI, Alice Su, The Economist’s senior China correspondent, travels to Laos to assess the impact of the project. She rides a train from Luang Prabang to the Chinese border, on a railway built by China. She and David Rennie, our Beijing bureau chief, ask who gains more from the Belt and Road Initiative: a host country like Laos; or Beijing? Runtime: 43 min

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