The Edition: the red line
Best of the Spectator
The Spectator
4.4 • 785 Ratings
🗓️ 24 November 2022
⏱️ 38 minutes
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Summary
Could China be the key to peace in Ukraine?
In his cover piece for the magazine this week Owen Matthews reveals the covert but decisive role China is playing in the Ukraine war. He is joined by The Spectator's Cindy Yu, to discuss what Xi's motivations are (00:53).
Also this week:
Harriet Sergeant writes that the Iran is at war with its own children as it cracks down on young protesters. She is joined by Ali Ansari, founding director if the Institute for Iranian Studies, to consider the fragility of the Iranian regime (14:32).
And finally:
Julie Bindel says in the magazine this week that after recent controversy the Society of Authors is no longer fit for purpose. She is joined by historian, author, and former chair of the society Tom Holland, to debate whether it's time to replace the institution (23:56).
Hosted by William Moore.
Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This episode is sponsored by Can Accord Genuity Wealth Management, experienced wealth planners and |
| 0:05.7 | investment managers who offer unwavering support in challenging times. Visit can-dowealth.com |
| 0:11.5 | for more information. Hello and welcome to the edition podcast from The Spectator. |
| 0:24.7 | Each week we look at three pieces from the magazine with the writers behind them. |
| 0:29.0 | I'm William Moore, the Spectator's Features Editor. |
| 0:31.8 | On this week's episode, I'll be looking at China's role in the Ukraine war, |
| 0:36.3 | the protests in Iran, and the controversy |
| 0:38.9 | at the heart of the society of authors. First up, Owen Matthews writes in his cover piece |
| 0:44.3 | about the secretive but decisive role that China is playing in the Ukraine war. He joins me now, |
| 0:50.3 | along with the spectators, Cindy Yu. Owen, to start with, you write both in your piece and in your |
| 0:56.6 | new book, Overreach, about the back channels that exist between China and the US. Could you tell |
| 1:03.5 | our listeners a little about these revelations? The key revelation, which I found out about back in April through an old contact of mine, |
| 1:14.8 | who I've known for nearly 30 years, who works very closely with the Chinese government, |
| 1:20.7 | was that at the beginning of the war, China played an unexpectedly decisive role in drawing |
| 1:27.1 | a line in the sand over NATO involvement. |
| 1:30.9 | And that's significant for all kinds of ways, in all kinds of ways, primarily because at that |
| 1:37.0 | moment when the war was very fluid and it was not really clear what NATO support would be, |
| 1:43.9 | the Chinese intervened when it was reported that the US |
| 1:48.5 | was supporting the Polish military's offer of 30-odd Mi-29's Soviet-era fighter jets to the Ukrainian |
| 1:58.3 | Air Force. And through a back channel that involved retired |
| 2:03.6 | European leaders who had had longstanding contacts with the Chinese, a message was passed very |
| 2:09.6 | quickly to Washington that this was unacceptable to China or specifically that NATO's strategic |
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