22 episodes

Curiouscast and Global News present the “Rising” series:

Season 1 - In this series, Host Jeff Semple, the Europe Bureau Chief for Global News, talks to Russian Trolls, looks at Cyberwarfare and Hacking, KGB agents, and The Putin Generation.
Jeff is on the ground gathering stories to form pieces of a puzzle, to separate fact from fiction, and unravel the mystery behind Putin’s Russia.

Season 2 - Hosted by Global News Senior Correspondent Jeff Semple, this ten episode season investigates allegations Beijing is applying pressure and working to infiltrate the upper echelons of power in Western countries, including Canada. The Chinese government is accused of deploying a range of tactics, from disinformation to hostage diplomacy. How should Canada and its allies respond to China Rising?

Russia Rising Curiouscast

    • News
    • 4.6 • 760 Ratings

Curiouscast and Global News present the “Rising” series:

Season 1 - In this series, Host Jeff Semple, the Europe Bureau Chief for Global News, talks to Russian Trolls, looks at Cyberwarfare and Hacking, KGB agents, and The Putin Generation.
Jeff is on the ground gathering stories to form pieces of a puzzle, to separate fact from fiction, and unravel the mystery behind Putin’s Russia.

Season 2 - Hosted by Global News Senior Correspondent Jeff Semple, this ten episode season investigates allegations Beijing is applying pressure and working to infiltrate the upper echelons of power in Western countries, including Canada. The Chinese government is accused of deploying a range of tactics, from disinformation to hostage diplomacy. How should Canada and its allies respond to China Rising?

    China Rising - Hostage Diplomacy | 1

    China Rising - Hostage Diplomacy | 1

    On the first episode of China Rising, we'll examine  the Chinese government's practice of detaining political prisoners, by hearing directly from Canadians who've become caught in the crossfire. Christian aid workers Julia and Kevin Garratt lived in China for 30 years before their arrest in 2014, when they were suddenly cast as pawns in a geopolitical chess match. The Garratts’ traumatic experience is eerily similar to the case of the 'Two Michaels,' Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, detained in China since December 2018. Using their stories and others as a guide, we'll investigate how Western countries, including Canada, should respond to China's so-called 'Hostage Diplomacy.'

    Contact:

    Twitter: @JeffSempleGN

    Email: jeff.semple@globalnews.ca
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 38 min
    China Rising - Where's Huseyin? | 2

    China Rising - Where's Huseyin? | 2

    Huseyin Celil is a married father of four and Chinese-Canadian who has been imprisoned in China for 15 years. Celil was arrested while on vacation with his family in Uzbekistan 2006. His lawyer says his only crime was speaking out for the rights of China’s Uyghur Muslims. Canada’s Parliament recently called China’s treatment of its Uyghur minority a “genocide” and the Canadian government is fighting to free two other Canadian prisoners in China, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. But there’s been scarcely any mention of Huseyin Celil’s case. We’ll speak to his wife, Kamila, who believes the coming months could provide a rare opportunity to finally secure his release.

    Contact:

    Twitter: @JeffSempleGN

    Email: jeff.semple@globalnews.ca
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 32 min
    China Rising - Wolf Warrior | 3

    China Rising - Wolf Warrior | 3

    On the third episode of China Rising, we’ll explore the Chinese government’s so-called ‘Wolf Warrior Diplomacy’. That term, inspired by the 2017 Chinese action movie ‘Wolf Warrior 2’,’ has recently been used to describe the shift to a much more aggressive and combative style of Chinese diplomacy, cracking-down on descent at home and abroad. How should Western allies respond to an increasingly bold and brazen Beijing? As part of our examination, we’ll investigate the head ‘Wolf Warrior’: Chinese President Xi Jinping. He's one of the world's most powerful men and yet we know remarkably little about him.

    Contact:

    Twitter: @JeffSempleGN

    Email: jeff.semple@globalnews.ca
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 40 min
    China Rising - Wuhan | 4

    China Rising - Wuhan | 4

    In January 2020, a mysterious new virus broke out in Wuhan, China. The Western world watched in horror as China cut-off the city of 11 million people, which scrambled to contain the spread. Within weeks, COVID-19 was everywhere. But before long, Beijing was declaring victory over the pandemic. We'll investigate how Beijing capitalised on the crisis, becoming a top exporter of Personal Protective Equipment and COVID-19 vaccines. The Chinese government is also challenging the narrative around COVID-19's origin and is accused of pushing disinformation to undermine trust in Western-made vaccines. We'll cut through the noise and hear directly from those of the frontlines of China's pandemic response.

    Contact:

    Twitter: @JeffSempleGN

    Email: jeff.semple@globalnews.ca
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 35 min
    China Rising - Follow the Money | 5

    China Rising - Follow the Money | 5

    On episode five of China Rising, we'll investigate the mysterious murder of a 41-year-old Chinese woman, Bo Fan, who was found brutally beaten to death in Surrey, B.C on June 17, 2020, not far from where her company had just hosted an event. The murder is raising questions about Fan's employer, a secretive self-improvement organisation from China called Create Abundance International, also known as Golden Touch. We'll also explore how British Columbia has become a hotbed for organised crime and money launderers with connections to China.

    Contact:

    Twitter: @JeffSempleGN

    Email: jeff.semple@globalnews.ca
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 39 min
    China Rising - Under Pressure | 6

    China Rising - Under Pressure | 6

    On Episode 6 of China Rising, we'll hear from Canadians who say they and their families have faced threats, harassment, intimidation and surveillance in Canada for speaking out against the Chinese Communist Party. And we’ll investigate claims that the Chinese government is responsible for the alleged abuse, launching a state-sponsored campaign to crack down on dissent both at home and abroad.

    Contact:

    Twitter: @JeffSempleGN

    Email: jeff.semple@globalnews.ca
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 39 min

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5
760 Ratings

760 Ratings

Orbieone ,

Well worth the listen

Very informative, well presented. I suggest listening to both seasons . Gave me a very good understanding of how both Russia & China work. Well done

Andrew Eisenberg ,

Listen to both seasons

Both Russia Rising and China Rising are well worth listening to. The stories are interesting and this gives you a deeper understanding of how these two major powers work.

Matt'sgetterdon ,

Very scary

I hadn’t followed the major shift in Chinese policy. As for racism it is a sign of low intelligence the is exhibited by all nationality around the world and the more we talk about individual groups the long we will continue keeping people segregated. We are all one and treating people poorly based on any differences needs to stop

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