China Tobacco: How China’s tobacco monopoly also has ensured that China keeps smoking

This week on Sinica, Kaiser is joined by Jason McLure, a correspondent for a new investigative reporting outfit called The Examination, and reporter Jude Chan, who writes for Initium Media. The two worked with two other reporters on a fascinating expose, funded by the Pulitzer Center, of China's tobacco monopoly, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (or China Tobacco), and how it has managed to be both the biggest seller of tobacco in the world — and also the effective regulator of tobacco laws in China.

06:41 – The origins and mission of The Examination

09:24 – An overview of the tobacco industry in China

12:17 – What is the true power China Tobacco holds in the Chinese tobacco industry?

14:34 – The history and inner workings of China Tobacco

20:30 – China Tobacco - a manufacturer or a regulator?

28:42 – The current situation of anti-smoking advocacy in China

31:47 – The role of smoking in the Chinese culture and the gender discrepancy within the custom of smoking

39:09 – How does China Tobacco manage to prevent the implementation of smoking bans in Chinese cities?

48:07 – What was the reason behind the faltering of promising initiatives regarding smoking control?

55:33 – The approach of Chinese youth towards the unequal fight with China Tobacco?

A complete transcript of this podcast is available at TheChinaProject.com.

Recommendations:

Jude: Zhang Chunqiao: 1949 and Beyond by Zheng Zhong

Jason: Top Boy (British crime drama on Netflix)

Kaiser: The music of Florence Price, and especially Symphony No. 1 and Symphony No. 3 recorded by the Philadelphia Orchestra

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