stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing. more on that, i am joined now by benjamin cowling, professor and chair of epidemiology at hong kong university. thank you very much forjoining us on the programme. why exactly are these cases so high in china? the latest omicron _ these cases so high in china? tue: latest omicron sub these cases so high in china? tte: latest omicron sub variance on more transmissible than ever before, and i think that the measures that it are being used in china are struggling to stop transmission when it happens so quickly and with such intensity, with the a5 in the latest more recent than ba five. fine intensity, with the a5 in the latest more recent than ba five.- more recent than ba five. one of the reasons the — more recent than ba five. one of the reasons the chinese _ more recent than ba five. one of the reasons the chinese government - more recent than ba five. one of the| reasons the chinese government says that they are keeping with the zero covid policy is to protect those who are vulnerable

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing.ore on that, we earlier spoke to benjamin cowling, professor and chair of epidemiology at hong kong university. i asked him why he thought the cases are so high in china. the latest omicron subvariants are more transmissible than ever before, and i think that the measures that are being used in china are struggling to stop transmission when it happens so quickly and with such intensity, with bas and the latest omicron subvariants more recent than bas. one of the reasons the chinese government says that they are keeping with this zero covid policy is to protect those who are vulnerable and are older. there also seems to be quite a bit of resistance to vaccination. why is there this reluctance to get vaccinated? there's a number of different reasons why older people particularly are less keen to get vaccinated, but i think one of the major reasons would have to be the zero covid policy. if the government continuously reassures people that there won't be a large epidemic of covid in diffe

stephen mcdonell. _ all over the place. stephen mcdonell, thank _ all over the place.m official data released today by nhs england. 0ur health editor hugh pym has been looking at the details. even that alone i suppose reminds us of the pressures again on the nhs. yes, this latest release from nhs england, the first of its regular winter weekly series of data publications, does underline absolutely the strains right across health and care in england and those ambulance delays really are a symptoms of log jams elsewhere. let�*s take a look at a couple of other figures announced today. first of all, that one there, 95% of beds in england in the latest week were occupied. that leaves very little margin for other patients if hospitals are going to carry on doing what they normally do. one of the reasons for that is delays in transferring patients outside hospitals back home and into the community who are fit to leave and the latest figures show more than 13,000 were fit to leave but were still occupying hospital beds and that demonstrates issues in social care, difficulties

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing.me minister — says the "golden era" of relations between the uk and china is over. in his first major foreign policy speech, the prime minister said the idea that trade with china would lead to reform was "naive". he called for a new approach to diplomacy. we recognise china poses a systemic challenges to our values and interests, a challenge that grows more acute as it moves toward even greater authoritarianism. instead of listening to their people's protests, the chinese government has chosen to crack down further, including by assaulting a bbcjournalist. the media and our parliamentarians must be able to highlight these issues without sanction, including calling out abuses in xinjiang and the curtailment of freedom in hong kong. of course, we cannot simply ignore china's significance in world affairs — to global economic stability or issues like climate change. the us, canada, australia, japan and many others understand this, too. drew thompson is visiting senior research fellow at

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing. international probe into iran's violent crackdown of women's rights protests. the human rights commissioner said iran is experiencing a "fully fledged" human rights crisis over the past eight weeks. 111,000 people, included children, have been arrested so far. more than 300 people have ben killed. net migration to britain reached a record ofjust over half a million in the yeartojune, despite government pledges to reduce numbers. 1.1 million people came to britain, mostly from outside the eu. more than half a million left. the lower house of the russian parliament has unanimously passed a law banning all material the authorities deem to be lgbt propaganda. the ban broadens previous legislation, aimed at children, to the entire population. malaysia's constitutional monarch king abdullah has announced that anwar ibrahim will be the country's next prime minister, after a general election last saturday in which no parties won a majority of seats in parliament. the decision follows five day

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing.da for the british minister rishi sunak, who gave his first major speech on foreign policy on monday. mr sunak has criticised the chinese authorities for what he called their �*authoritarian�* response to the protests. let's have a listen to what he had to say. we recognise china poses a systemic challenges to our values and interests, a challenge that grows more acute as it moves toward even greater authoritarianism. instead of listening to their people's protests, the chinese government has chosen to crack down further, including by assaulting a bbcjournalist. the media and our parliamentarians must be able to highlight these issues without sanction, including calling out abuses in xinjiang and the curtailment of freedom in hong kong. of course, we cannot simply ignore china's significance in world affairs — to global economic stability or issues like climate change. the us, canada, australia, japan and many others understand this, too. let's get some of the day's other news. police

from there, stephen mcdonell reports. chanting.t's not unusual to see acts of defiance in china, but this was something different. chanting. a crowd of protesters in shanghai chanted, calling for the country's leader xijinping to stand down and for the communist party to give up power. a fire which killed ten residents in xinjiang last week has prompted widespread anger in china. zero covid restrictions have been blamed for hampering people's escape and slowing the access for fire crews. whether this is true or not, it sparked waves of protests in the regional capital urumqi. chanting. this has now spread to other cities and university campuses as spontaneous memorial services for those who died in the fire have transformed into demonstrations, calling for an end to lockdowns. translation: it's all too chaotic. - the implementation is so messy. it's been three years already. translation: the pandemic policy is prolonging our - suffering. this policy is neither sustainable nor scientific. this policy won't change, unless we speak up

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing.d president of the taiwan foreign correspondent�*s club — hejoins us now from taipei. thank you so much forjoining me. it is clear these protests are a direct challenge to china's leadership, it has almost gone beyond covid restrictions calls for press freedom and democracy, it is not a good look for the chinese leadership so what is the latest on these protests and what is the government in china saying? we what is the government in china sa inc? ~ . , ., saying? we have seen large olice saying? we have seen large police presence _ saying? we have seen large police presence deployed i saying? we have seen large - police presence deployed across cities in china and a lot of them are now randomly checking phones on the street and making sure if they have any apps like telegram at twitter they will be asked to remove them and some people also have to give personal information to police, we don't know how they will be used but sources inside china already told me they have to remove all t

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing. our world affairs editor, john simpson, is with me. reporting on china, how does this challenge to authority compare to others that you've seen in the past? the obvious example is the tiananmen demonstrations in 1989 but this isn't much like that. then a group of essentially students took over the centre most part of the capital city, beijing. and they held it and they paralysed china for an entire month. this is not anything like this. what it is is over a vast area at any rate, a demonstration which seemed to show the discontent that people have with the government itself, and it is really the result of the rigidity, perhaps you could say the arrogance, of xi jinping himself, and his determination to force everybody to do precisely what he says. and so you have this reaction to it, which is already damaging to the chinese economy. and which will somehow or other reinforce that difference, that separation between people, particularly young people, and there is such a high youth unemployment in china that is starting, and the chinese c

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing. of the agenda for the british prime minister, rishi sunak, who gave his first major speech on foreign policy on monday. mr sunak has criticised the chinese authorities for what he called their "authoritarian" response to the protests. lets have a listen to what he had to say. we recognise china poses a systemic challenges to our values and interests, a challenge that grows more acute as it moves toward even greater authoritarianism. instead of listening to their people's protests, the chinese government has chosen to crack down further, including by assaulting a bbcjournalist. we will be getting reaction about what rishi sunak said and also looking at the business reaction in about 20 minutes. a teenager who carried out a racist massacre in the united states six months ago has pleaded guilty to murder and terrorism charges. payton gendron shot dead 10 people at a supermarket in the city of buffalo. his plea means he will be sentenced to life in prison without parole. our north america

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing.now speak tojoanna chiu, who is a journalist and author who covers china. she joins us from vancouver. thank you so much forjoining us. what is your reaction to the scale of these protests? yeah, it's nothing i've seen before as a reporter in beijing or following china from before as a reporter in beijing orfollowing china from outside china. it is rare because generalised political dissent, including quite a few protesters calling for xi jinping to step down, is unusual because everyone in china pretty much well knows about the risk of doing so. so far, it seems like authorities have not cracked down as hard as they could have, perhaps hoping this will fizzle out in time. but i also see it as a long time coming because the west may see it as the chinese being like them, in that they don't tolerate covid regulations, maybe not knowing the scale of regulations and restrictions in china where people have starved because of food shortages, because they could not leave their apartments to

our china correspondent, stephen mcdonell, has the latest.to warn you, his report contains some flash photography. the chinese capital became the latest city with a demonstration, calling for an end to the country's covid restrictions. the symbol of this movement has become white sheets of paper, with protesters holding them up to signify the way in which people are silenced here by official censorship. they're chanting that strict lockdowns and compulsory testing should stop. but dissatisfaction with the government's handling of the crisis is also spilling over into calls for press freedom and democracy. translation: we want freedom, not unlimited government power. | we want the rule of law. we don't want the next generation to live in this era of horror. zero—covid in china has meant trying to return each outbreak to zero infections, using strict stay—at—home orders, travel bans and phone apps tracking people's movements. entire cities are sometimes officially locked down or effectively closed with businesses shut. yet covid—19 continues to

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing.man rights watch sophie richardson. thanks for being with ours. how significant do you think these protests are and how much of a threat to the regime are they? the? threat to the regime are they? they are unprecedented, _ threat to the regime are they? tie: are unprecedented, notjust threat to the regime are they? tie1: are unprecedented, notjust during his tenure of the last ten years but it is possible these are the largest and most widespread protests since 1989, the tiananmen square protests and it is extraordinary that they are notjust calling for an end to the covid lockdown but, as the setup he suggests, also very frontally challenging the president and the chinese communist party boss mike will. this is an extraordinary set of developments overjust the past week. of developments over 'ust the past week. ., . , of developments over 'ust the past week. . . , , ., week. other grievances 'ust about these covid — week. other grievances 'ust about these covid restrictions _ week. ot

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing.ribed the detention of a bbcjournalist who was covering the protests in shanghai as "shocking" and "unacceptable". ed lawrence was arrested yesterday and held for several hours before being released. the bbc says during that time he was beaten and kicked by police. chinese officials have disputed the claims. china has some of the most rigorous anti—covid measures in the world, with tens of millions of people living under some kind of lockdown, and a regime of endless testing. local authorities are under instructions to impose strict rules even if only a handful of covid cases are found. our medical editor fergus walsh explains the situation. china's population is trapped in the midst of an unwinnable war, zero covid has kept cases and deaths very low so far but at relentless cost to personal freedoms and livelihoods. zero covid means zero tolerance of any coronavirus infections. that looks increasingly unsustainable in the face of the highly contagious omicron variant. china has relied

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing.s led to nationwide train strikes. speaking to the bbc�*s laura kuenssberg, he warned he didn't have a "bottomless pit" of taxpayers' money to throw at the problem. 0ur political correspondent, helen catt, reports. there have been repeated walk—outs on the railways for months. just yesterday it was the driver is out on a daylong strike. guards and signallers among the staff held another series of walk—outs this time for 48 hours each time in december and january. this morning the transport secretary mark harper said he wanted to see the dispute resolved but insisted a deal on pay must be funded by reaching agreement on changes to working practices. train operating companies and network rail will have the ability to reach a deal but we have to be able to have the reform package negotiated because it is only that that throws up the savings. i do not have a bottomless pit of taxpayers' money to throw out the problem. the rmt union general secretary mick lynch met with mr harper early this

cities like nanjing, shanghai, wuhan and the capital beijing — from where our china correspondent stephen mcdonellort. it's not unusual to see acts of defiance in china, but this was something different. a crowd of protesters in shanghai chanted, calling for the country's leader, xijinping, to stand down and for the communist party to give up power. officially, china's goal is to return each outbreak to zero new infections using strict stay—at—home orders, travel restrictions and mass testing. entire cities are still being locked down. the government says easing the policy would lead to a significant death toll, but it's been criticised for not prioritising vaccination amongst high—risk groups and not increasing hospital capacity. there's also still no stated plan to open up, even at some time in the future. a fire which killed ten residents in xinjiang last week has prompted widespread anger in china. zero—covid restrictions have been blamed for hampering people's escape and slowing the access for fire crews. whether this is true or not, it sparked waves of protests in the regional capital, urumq

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing.om lancaster, andrew chubb, a fellow at the asia society policy institute�*s centre for china analysis and a senior lecturer in chinese politics and international relations at lancaster university. good to have you with us. what is your take on these protests we are seeing, and the causes that have prompted them? it is seeing, and the causes that have prompted them?— seeing, and the causes that have prompted them? it is good to be with ou. i think prompted them? it is good to be with yom i think the _ prompted them? it is good to be with you. i think the most _ prompted them? it is good to be with you. i think the most dramatic- you. i think the most dramatic protests, of course, for a political point of view are the ones in shanghai, that your reporter has outlined there. there are calls for xijinping to stand down, and other anti—government slogans being chanted. i think a lot of the protests in other places around china have basically involved other issues as well. as mentioned, the

from there, stephen mcdonell reports it's not unusual to see acts of defiance in china, but this wasng different. chanting. a crowd of protesters in shanghai chanted, calling for the country's leader, xijinping, to stand down and for the communist party to give up power. a fire which killed ten residents in xinjiang last week has prompted widespread anger in china. zero—covid restrictions have been blamed for hampering people's escape and slowing the access for fire crews. whether this is true or not, it sparked waves of protests in the regional capital, urumqi. this has now spread to other cities and university campuses, as spontaneous memorial services for those who died in the fire have transformed into demonstrations calling for an end to lockdowns. translation: it's all too chaotic. the implementation has been so messy. it's been three years already. translation: the pandemic policy is prolonging our suffering. this policy is neither sustainable nor scientific. this policy won't change unless we speak up. people are also blaming xijinping personally for not changing the zero—cov

our china correspondent stephen mcdonell has the latest.t to warn you, his report contains some flash photography. the chinese capital became the latest city with a demonstration, calling for an end to the country's covid restrictions. the symbol of this movement has become white sheets of paper, with protesters holding them up to signify the way in which people are silenced here by official censorship. they're chanting that strict lockdowns and compulsory but dissatisfaction with the government's handling of the crisis is also spilling over into calls for press freedom and democracy. orders, travel bans and phone apps tracking people's movements. entire cities are sometimes officially locked down yet covid—19 continues to spread. the country posted record new case numbers over the past five days in a row. last month, the country's leader, xijinping, said there'd be no swerving from the current approach, as he entered a historic third term in power. now protesters in the south—western city of chengdu are blaming him personally for allowing

from there, stephen mcdonell reports. chanting. see acts of defiance in china, but this was something different. chanting. a crowd of protesters in shanghai chanted, calling for the country's leader, xijinping, to stand down and for the communist party to give up power. a fire which killed ten residents in xinjiang last week has prompted widespread anger in china. zero—covid restrictions have been blamed for hampering people's escape and slowing the access for fire crews. whether this is true or not, it sparked waves of protests in the regional capital, urumqi. shouting. this has now spread to other cities and university campuses, as spontaneous memorial services for those who died in the fire have transformed into demonstrations calling for an end to lockdowns. translation: it's all too chaotic. - the implementation is so messy. it's been three years already. translation: the pandemic policy is prolonging _ our suffering. this policy is neither sustainable nor scientific. this policy won't change unless we speak up. people are als

stephen mcdonell in beijing has more.ne can be tested, and that is because one person in this complex was somehow linked to each case. person in this complex was somehow linked to a case. now, it may be that this only lasts for a day or so, or it could go on. of course, if the testing of everyone picks up more people, we could all be here for a week. all across, especially in beijing, there are thousands of towers where people are confined to their homes. and in many cases, that is for a minimum of three days at the moment as the city government tries to deal with the outbreak here. now, that of course is going on all across china — north, south, east, west. you have various levels of lockdown in many, many cities. of course, this is really hitting the economy here, and it is despite the fact that there have been, you know, very serious measures put in place to try to prevent the spread of the disease. now, the thing is, though, that recently the authorities introduced a series of measures to try to take the heat off the

state media's not mentioning the protests, and on coverage of the world cup — as the bbc�*s stephen mcdonell't see thousands of fans without masks. zero—covid has meant the chinese state constraining the virus and its own people. and as covid spreads, and protesters call for change, the government continues its efforts to control both. the founder of the right—wing oath keepers militia group in the us has been convicted of seditious conspiracy, in relation to last year's attack on the capitol building in washington. he and four other people were accused of using force to block congress from certifying president biden's election victory. barbara plett usher has the latest form washington. the founder and leader of the oath keepers has been charged with seditious conspiracy and also another man another one of the defendants kelly maggs has been charged with seditious conspiracy in this the leader of the foreign chapter of the oath keepers and led one of them into the capital building during that right and the other of the defendants have not been acquitted of this particular charge although so

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing.these covid lockdowns and the zero—covid policy of xi jinping. but the change now is the introduction of political dissidents and the anger and outright calling for xijinping to be removed. we should recognise with dozens if not more cameras trained on the faces of every single chinese national brave enough to protest, these are amazing acts of bravery because they will be identified by police forces at some point. there is a huge amount of peril involved. the prime minister is making a foreign policy speech at mansion house tonight. what are you hoping that he will say in light of what we are seeing about china? so, rishi sunak promised when he became prime minister he would change china policy on day one. we haven't seen that as yet but i recognise he has had enormous economic priorities to look at at home so now is the time for him to set out his stall. what does it mean? what is the pragmatism when it comes to china, which i agree has to be cautious pragmatism ? i'd like to see him

and wuhan, nanjing, shanghai, and the capital, beijing, from where our china correspondent, stephen mcdonell the latest. awarning, a warning, this report contains flash photography. the chinese capital became the latest city with a demonstration, calling for an end to the country's covid restrictions. the symbol of this movement has become white sheets of paper, with protesters holding them up to represent the way people are silenced here by official censorship. they are chanting, saying that strict lockdowns and compulsory testing should stop. but the satisfaction of the government's handling of the crisis is also spilling over into calls for press freedom and democracy. in the south—western city of chengdu, protesters blamed china's leader xi jinping personally, and criticised his lifetime leadership entitlement, and said their country does not need and said their country does not need an emperor. this followed earlier calls in shanghai for xijinping to step down, and for the communist party to give up power, at the sites where protesters clashed with police barriers have gone up to stop g

and wuhan, nanjing, shanghai, and the capital, beijing, from where our china correspondent, stephen mcdonellt — and a warning, his report contains flash photography. the chinese capital became the latest city with a demonstration, calling for an end to the country's covid restrictions. the symbol of this movement has become white sheets of paper, with protesters holding them up to represent the way people are silenced here by official censorship. they are chanting, saying that strict lockdowns and compulsory testing should stop. but the dissatisfaction of the government's handling of the crisis is also spilling over into calls for press freedom and democracy. in the south—western city of chengdu, protesters blamed china's leader, xi jinping, personally. they criticised his lifetime leadership entitlement, and said their country doesn't need an emperor. this followed earlier calls in shanghai for xijinping to step down, and for the communist party to give up power, party to give up power. at the site where protesters clashed with police, barriers have gone up to stop gathering again. waves of

stephen mcdonell in beijing has more.onfined to their homes. and in many cases, that is for a minimum of three days at the moment as the city government tries to deal with the outbreak here. now, that of course is going on all across china — north, south, east, west. you have various levels of lockdown in many, many cities. of course, this is really hitting the economy here, and it is despite the fact that there have been, you know, very serious measures put in place to try to prevent the spread of the disease. now, the thing is, though, that recently the authorities introduced a series of measures to try to take the heat of the economy. the heat off the economy. they know that zero covid is smashing the economy. but the problem is they have kind of created the worst of both worlds in a way because now businesses are still being hit, and yet bite sort of easing off some of those measures, they are not quite as effective at crashing every outbreak as it happens. the feeling is that this might drag the whole crisis on for e

stephen mcdonell reports.the global community. he is also known as a powerbroker, economic reform and something of an eccentric. after the bloody 1989 crackdown on protesters in and around tiananmen square, china was ostracised internationally. in the aftermath, he was chosen as a compromise leader in the hope that he would unify hardliners and other elements. he prioritised market forces, giving china the highest level of per capita growth of any major country. but political reforms were put to one side. and he has been criticised for the mass detention of practitioners of a certain following who were seen as a threat to the party. he was at the helm for the hong kong handover, when china joined the world trade organisation, and when it was awarded the 2008 olympics. whether it be playing ping—pong... singing or shoving off his hawaiian guitar skills er... jiang zemin was a showman, in sharp contrast to the leaders who have followed him. exciting country he famously gave hong kong journalists a public dressin

stephen mcdonell is our correspondent in beijing.hen busting through these big covid senses, which are supposed to restrict people�*s movements. after that they were clashing with police and security dressed in white hazmat suits. these clashes turned violent, people were injured, some of them had to go to hospital. and yet again, itjust shows that the tensions have just been building there since that mass break—out several weeks ago when thousands of workers fled foxconn and walked hundreds of kilometres home after these rumours spread of very strict, even bizarre anti—covert measures. the foxconn factory is apple�*s main subcontractor. it employs around 200,000 workers on a large campus in the suburbs of zhenzhou. last month it went into lockdown because of an coronavirus outbreak. many workers fled over the fence. pictures of their escape went viral on social media. some workers rode lorries back to their hometowns. foxcon — which is taiwanese owned — recruited new workers with the promise of generous bonuses. workers say that has

(read on) stephen mcdonell in beijing has more iamat i am at home and my community is in lockdown andere are thousands of towers where people are confined to their homes. in many cases, it's a minimum of three days at the moment as the city government tries to deal with the outbreak here. that is going on all across china, north, south, east, west, you have various levels of lockdown in many cities, of course, this is really hitting the economy here. and it is despite the fact that there have been very serious measures put in place to try to prevent the spread of the disease. the thing is, though, recently, the authorities introduced a series of measures to try and take the heat of the economy, they know that zero covid—19 are smashing the economy. but problem is that the kind the worst of both worlds, businesses are being hurt but by easing some of the measures, they are not as effective at crushing every outbreak as it happens. the feeling is best to drag the crisis on for even longer. and we have no indication yet from the government what the author route is and that it is a time w

i'm joined now by our china correspondent, stephen mcdonell.eaction has there been since this announcement? perhaps i should first mention — this announcement? perhaps i should first mention what _ this announcement? perhaps i should first mention what the _ this announcement? perhaps i should first mention what the most - first mention what the most important thing, which will be at the forefront of the current chinese leadership's mind is the potential political impact of his death. the reason i say this is that in 1989, the death of a reformist leader brought people out into the streets, and this transformed into the tiananmen square upheaval, which threatened the party's very existence year. so, they will be worried that if there are such gatherings in the street to mark the death ofjiang zemin, it could also possibly transform into protests, given what we have seen in recent days, the discontent of the handling of zero covid, the events that keep going on here, that will be something the government market was very mindful of. d0 something

stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing.s i president. when the president of china looked at the reasons why the soviet communist party had collapsed in russia, they identified a —— essentially the strand that the government, the party there, had been too soft, and allowed people to come out onto the streets, and at that stage, clearly, xijinping decided that the way china has been run in the 80s and 90s, where in the 90s, really, after the disaster of tiananmen square in 1989, they had also been too soft, they allowed people to do too much of what they wanted to do. and he cannot possibly now go on television and say, i have heard what you say, we will find other ways around this and let's get on together. he cannot do it. it is simply not the person that he has presented himself as, and it would be a fatal weakening, frankly, it if he did try that. what he can do is try to say all the different provinces and local party organisations in china, you do the dirty work. you send your cops out and so on. and in the hopes it wil

state media's not mentioning the protests, and on coverage of the world cup — as the bbc�*s stephen mcdonelltkins. let's have a look at today's papers. and most of the front pages carry photos of england's victory over wales in the final group game at the world cup last night. the mirror leads with the headline, 'bish rash bosh', next to an image of double goalscorer marcus rashford. 'rash bang wallop' says the sun, as it quotes rashford as saying, "this is what i play football for". he is quite good, isn't he? i like the look of him. he he is quite good, isn't he? i like the look of him.— the south wales evening post leads with the words, 'we wouldn't have missed it for the world', adding that wales can be proud of its growing reputation on and off the field. and the guardian's lead story — as we've also been reporting this morning — focuses on the clinical trial of a drug which has been found to slow decline in patients in the early stages of alzheimer's. to slow down that decline. a real breakthrough- — to slow down that decline. a real breakthrough. we _ to slow down that decline. a real