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From Our Own Correspondent: China's New Rules for Society

23/09/2021

China's New Rules for Society

BBC Radio 4 - From Our Own Correspondent, China's New Rules for Society

The Party reaches into everyday life; plus stories from France, Lithuania, Chile and Ghana

The Communist Party moves to regulate daily life; diplomacy tested in France; Lithuania's nuclear relics; Chile's beloved stray dogs; artist Kojo Marfo's inspirations in Ghana.

The Chinese government is, as ever, staying busy by devising new regulations.  It's unleashed a raft of regulatory changes on everything from the limits on how much debt property developers are allowed to build up, to changes in the tax code and the breaking up of tech giants. But the Communist Party has also launched a series of rather paternalistic moves, reaching right into family homes, with measures designed to tackle perceived problems of laziness, or even what the state calls 'spiritual pollution'. As Stephen McDonell reports from Beijing, it’s as if there is nowhere that the Party doesn’t know best - and no aspect of life where it’s not prepared to take charge. 

The French government has expressed its fury after the decision by Australia to scrap a contract to buy French submarines. Canberra chose instead to enter a nuclear security pact for the Indo-Pacific with the US and the UK. 'We’ve been stabbed in the back!' is how the French foreign minister put it – and off the record you can imagine that the comments were even stronger. Hugh Schofield has been following the events and says there is nothing confected about French outrage.

When it was part of the Soviet Union, Lithuania played host to stocks of nuclear missiles – huge ICBMs, which could have destroyed cities around the world. Back then, Lithuania’s geography gave it great strategic importance. When it became fully independent in 1991, it found itself a rather small nation, of about three and a half million people, and of lesser international interest. And yet, Lithuania has been rather punching above its weight lately - particularly in recent disputes with China and Belarus. On a recent visit to a small Lithuanian village, Sadakat Kadri found relics of the country’s past, with important lessons for the present. 

When the Spanish conquistadors first landed in the Americas, they brought new and terrifying beasts with them – from ships’ rats to warhorses – not to mention lethal human diseases. But there was one sort of creature the indigenous Americans DID recognise on the European ships: the dogs. Dogs had already been tamed and kept by humans all over the continent for thousands of years. And they’re still there – maybe not the original breeds, but thriving wherever there are people. In fact, in Chile, Jane Chambers has found them hard to avoid…

People who’d love a career in the arts end up doing other things to earn a living – just think of all those aspiring actors waiting tables in restaurants or would-be novelists working away in offices. But some do manage to break through against the odds – and it helps to have a globe-trotting life story as well as a deep well of inspiration at home to draw from. The painter Kojo Marfo has rocketed to fame after years spent working away from his hometown in Ghana. Andy Jones has been exploring his career - and how he went from butcher's assistant to art world sensation.


Producer: Polly Hope

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