PLAY PODCASTS
'Starmer's trip to China was a humiliation': Wild Swans author Jung Chang hits out at PM

'Starmer's trip to China was a humiliation': Wild Swans author Jung Chang hits out at PM

The Daily T · The Telegraph

February 8, 202649m 45s

Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (sphinx.acast.com) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.

Show Notes

Keir Starmer’s visit to Beijing was meant to signal a reset in Britain’s relationship with China. Instead, it has sparked fresh questions about how far the UK should go in courting a global superpower accused of sliding back towards authoritarian rule.


On today’s Daily T, Camilla and Tim speak to bestselling author Jung Chang, whose latest book Fly, Wild Swans traces China’s path from the horrors of Mao’s Cultural Revolution to the Xi Jinping era. Chang argues that Western leaders are ignoring uncomfortable truths about modern China, and warns that the country risks drifting back towards a darker past.


She also reflects on her own extraordinary story: growing up under Mao, watching her father persecuted, and eventually escaping to Britain, where she would go on to write one of the most influential accounts of modern China ever published. So, as Britain looks east for trade and diplomacy, are we forgetting the lessons of history?


We want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] or find @dailytpodcast on TikTok, Instagram and X


► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor


Producers: Georgia Coan and Lilian Fawcett

Senior Producer: John Cadigan

Additional production from Annabel Hogan

Executive Producer: Charlotte Seligman

Video Producer: Will Walters

Studio Operator: Meghan Searle

Social Producer: Nada Aggour

Editor: Camilla Tominey


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.