meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
From Our Own Correspondent

Lockdown Life in Shanghai

From Our Own Correspondent

BBC

News, News Commentary

4.41.3K Ratings

🗓️ 14 May 2022

⏱️ 29 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

China has been warned by the World Health Organisation that its so-called 'zero covid' approach is unsustainable. Hundreds of millions of people have been kept under lockdown in cities across the country, leaving the economy severely jolted, and critics calling it an abuse of human rights. However, the Chinese authorities seem determined to carry on as before, and have announced that the city of Shanghai will be placed under its tightest restrictions yet. The news came as a disappointment to Rebecca Kanthor, who has already gone through seven weeks of lockdown. Choosing what to wear in El Salvador can be literally a matter of life or death. The country is plagued by gang violence, with eighty people murdered over just one weekend this year. The government has promised a crackdown, passing new laws which allow police to lock up suspected gang members as young as 12. Mike Lanchin lived in El Salvador during the 1990s, and when he returned for a visit with his family, he quickly learned the value of covering up. More than five million people have now fled Ukraine, and have been taken in by countries across Europe. Switzerland has offered homes to tens of thousands, giving them an immediate right to work, and other benefits too. Yet this hospitality has left refugees from other countries questioning what they see as double standards. As Imogen Foulkes explains, plenty have run from war and persecution elsewhere, and yet have not found the Swiss to be quite so accepting. Germany has been commemorating the end of World War Two - a complicated anniversary, remembering both the country's dead, but with an eye to its Nazi past. This year’s anniversary comes amidst Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and furious arguments in Germany about how far to intervene. John Kampfner was invited to one remembrance ceremony in the old East Berlin, where Germany’s complex relationship with Russia was to the fore. Women’s boxing celebrated its biggest night ever recently, as Ireland’s Katy Taylor defended her world lightweight title against Amanda Serrano from Puerto Rico, at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Women’s boxing has always struggled to win recognition, but women have fought hard to prove it is not just a men’s sport. Steve Bunce was ring-side at the recent bout.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC sounds, music, radio, podcasts.

0:05.6

Good morning.

0:06.6

Today we hear about life in China under COVID lockdown and about life in El Salvador where gang

0:13.1

violence is out of control.

0:16.2

Refugees from Ukraine are being welcomed in Switzerland as elsewhere in Europe, but what

0:21.3

about those fleeing other conflicts?

0:24.4

Are correspondents in Berlin attend a ceremony to mark the end of World War II?

0:29.6

One finds himself unsure whether the right lessons of that war have been learned.

0:35.3

Under ringside report from the biggest night in women's boxing is the sport finally getting

0:40.7

the recognition it deserves.

0:42.9

First, the warning to China this week was stark.

0:47.1

Its so-called zero COVID approach is unsustainable according to the World Health Organization.

0:53.9

Hundreds of millions of people have been kept under lockdown in cities across the country,

0:59.0

while the rest of the world begins to learn how to live with COVID.

1:03.3

The economy has been severely jolted.

1:06.1

People inside China have called it an abuse of human rights, and lockdowns can in any

1:11.2

case only hold the virus a bay for so long that WHO said.

1:16.9

That criticism didn't go down too well with the Chinese authorities who seemed determined

1:22.2

to carry on as before.

1:24.7

Indeed this week it was announced that the city of Shanghai would be placed under its

1:28.9

tightest restrictions yet, severely limiting access to grocery stores and hospitals, news

1:35.5

which came as a disappointment to Rebecca Canfer, who's already gone through seven weeks

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.