Is China’s social contract under pressure?

22/10/2025 49 min
Is China’s social contract under pressure?

Listen "Is China’s social contract under pressure?"

Episode Synopsis

China's ruling Communist party is meeting to discuss the country's economic plans, at a time of international uncertainty. The party has a grand bargain with its citizens — people will accept one party rule and restrictions on freedoms in exchange for a better life, but, is that bargain no longer so secure?

Also in the programme: an international force has seized illegal drugs worth an estimated billion dollars in the Arabian Sea, is the Gulf region becoming a major market? And the EU’s top human right prize goes to two imprisoned journalists.

(Image: Delegates in the Great Hall of the People. Credit: Reuters)