The Compass

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Mexico City: Women Jan 29, 2020

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Mexico has always felt like a country where men live on their own terms. A place where women strive for equality - and safety. More than nine are murdered in the country every day, according to UN Women. Tim Samuels and Anna Holligan travel to Mexico City and hear from a sports commentator, a domestic worker, journalists, newspaper editors and aspiring actresses. Mexican women are marching, calling on authorities to do more to combat the high rates of femicide - the murder of a woman because of her gender. Accusations of discrimination and harassment, most of them anonymous and in creative industries, have spread online. But what impact will the #MeToo movement have?

Producers: Barney Rowntree and Ant Adeane Editor: Gloria Abramoff

(Photo: Feminist students protest against femicide and violence against women in Mexico, Ibero University, Mexico City. Credit: Getty Images)

Chinese Dreams: India Jan 22, 2020

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India and China have a complex and troubled modern history – including a fully-fledged war in 1962. Today Indian consumers seem to love all things Chinese, from the cheap plastic toys to smartphones and apps like Tik Tok. Some Indians think this success is a result of unfair trade. They think that Chinese imports are taking advantage of the relatively open Indian economy, while Indian companies are prevented from getting a foothold in China. This creates a huge trade imbalance between the two Asian giants. These flames are fanned by Indian perceptions of Chinese support for both Pakistan and Kashmiri ‘separatists’. An affiliate of the governing BJP party has called on consumers to boycott Chinese goods. And India has refused to sign a regional economic trade agreement to prevent China using it as a backdoor to the Indian market. Shabnam Grewal, a British BBC journalist of Indian descent, investigates the complex feelings that Indians have towards their increasingly rich and powerful neighbour – a combination of admiration, envy and even anger.

Producer: Shabnam Grewal Editor: Hugh Levinson

(Photo: Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Credit: Kenzaburo Fukuhara/AFP/Getty Images)

Chinese Dreams: Kenya Jan 15, 2020

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There has been a lot of media focus on China’s investment in Africa’s physical infrastructure: but what about its play for Africa’s attention? CGTN, China’s state-run international TV station, has steadily increased its footprint on the continent from its African HQ in Nairobi – while Chinese-owned StarTimes is on its way to providing satellite TV access for 10,000 rural villages. Hundreds of African journalists have been trained in China. Does this represent a major shift in international focus, away from Western media sources (including the BBC) and towards well-funded Chinese outlets? Kenyan reporter Frenny Jowi hears of fears these developments will mean less scrutiny of China’s controversial multi-billion dollar deals with her country. Producer: Rob Walker

(Photo: Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Credit: Kenzaburo Fukuhara/Kyodo News Pool/Getty Images)

Chinese Dreams: Canada Jan 08, 2020

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Canada has been sucked into a global dispute between the US and China. It started in Vancouver, with arrest on an American warrant of Meng Wanzhou, an executive with the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei. China’s furious response caught Canada off guard. Two Canadians have been detained in China – seemingly in response, precipitating an acute foreign policy crisis. Canadian journalist Neal Razzell examines what could be the first of many tests for this nation, in which it is forced to choose between its two biggest trading partners.

(Photo: Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou leaves her home to appear in British Columbia Supreme Court, Vancouver. Credit: Reuters/Lindsey Wasson)

Chinese Dreams: Indonesia Jan 01, 2020

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Will the rise of China help or damage Chinese-Indonesians? The ethnic Chinese minority in Indonesia have long suffered discrimination – forbidden from taking jobs in government and the military and targeted during violent riots in 1998. In the city of Yogyakarta they are still not allowed to own land. But some Chinese-Indonesians have benefited economically from the rise of China, as middlemen between the two economies. Today, 8 of the 10 richest Indonesians are thought to be ethnically Chinese. And now more and more Indonesians are studying in China or learning Mandarin. BBC Asia Editor Rebecca Henschke asks if the rise of China and the growing prominence of some ethnic Chinese will create further resentment - or if there can be a happier outcome?

Produced by Arlene Gregorius for the BBC World Service.

Editor: Hugh Levinson.

Chinese Dreams is a five-part series examining how China’s rise is affecting nations around the globe.

(Image: Favian – a young Chinese businessman, standing in the warehouse of his family’s business in the city of Balikpapan in Indonesia. Credit: Yudistira Tribudiman/BBC)

Chinese Dreams: Australia Dec 25, 2019

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As China grows in power, there are fears that it is trying to alter the course of Australian politics. The Australian government has legislated against "foreign influence operations" after allegations of Chinese spies making payments to lawmakers. More recently, there have been disputes on university campuses between students supporting the pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong and those loyal to mainland China – with allegations that the latter have the covert support of the Chinese Embassy. Are these genuine concerns, or are they merely the latest expression of covert racism towards Australia’s Chinese minority? Australian reporter Heidi Pett investigates for Chinese Dreams, a 5-part series examining how China’s rise is influencing countries across the globe.

Chinese Dreams: The preview Dec 23, 2019

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As China grows richer and more powerful, its values are spreading. But what kind of impact is this having on the rest of the world? This mini-series, Chinese Dreams, visits Australia, Indonesia, Canada, Kenya and India to find out how the expanding reach of the most populous nation on Earth, is affecting the international community. From political policy to life on university campus, its influence is wide-reaching.

Episode one features reporter Heidi Pett, investigating the concerns Australia has over its relationship with China. It is available Wednesday 25 December.

The Kids are Alright: Tackling violence Dec 11, 2019

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In the South African town of Atlantis, a group of teenage reporters are speaking out against the rising levels of violence ripping at the fabric of their lives. Once a week, Temica Bonn, Logan Hansen and Meagan Lubbe broadcast a live show from Radio Atlantis inspiring conversations and educating the community on how gun crime is threatening the way they live. The team have been focusing on this topic for two years in the hope of steering young people away from a path which leads to guns and gangs. In London, it is knife crime which is scaring the neighbourhood where Shanea Oldham lives. After two violent events which changed the course of her life, she is starting a social enterprise to help young people in her community who are struggling to cope with the challenges that surround them.

Sandra Kanthal meets some very brave and determined teenagers to hear how they are using their voices to fight for change on the streets where they live.

(Photo: Temica Bonn, Logan Hansen, Meagan Lubbe, Monique Hansen. Credit: Sandra Kanthal)

The Kids are Alright: Opportunity Dec 04, 2019

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Mohamad Aljounde is an 18-year-old student in Sweden. He is a keen photographer, amateur film-maker, a Syrian refugee and winner of the 2017 International Children’s Peace Prize. When the war in Syria broke out, he and his family fled to Lebanon where they lived for years. Due to a shortage of money, and a lack of school places, Mohamad’s education came to a halt. So, when he couldn’t go to school, he did a remarkable thing - he helped build one, and that school is thriving, providing an education to other Syrian refugees.

On the other side of the world, 15-year-old Taarini Kaur Dang is building a million dollar investment fund in Silicon Valley to try and maximise the social impact one entrepreneurial teenager can achieve. What both these young adults have in common is a determination to grasp opportunities in the best and worst of circumstances.

The Kids are Alright: Environment Nov 27, 2019

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Stella Bowles is a teenage environmental campaigner; one you probably haven’t heard about - yet. But she has sparked real change in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Her school science project, and a great deal of persistence, led to a 15 million Canadian dollar project to clean up pollution in her local river. Now she is trying to show other teenagers around the world how they too can be guardians of their local waterways.

Teenagers are often dismissed as too young to have an opinion and too inexperienced to make a difference. But throughout history, changes in society have been powered by youthful outrage and determination. Today’s young adults face a new array of dangers which will stretch out over decades. This is their inheritance, and they have a clear incentive to improve it.

This is the first of a three-part series, in which Sandra Kanthal talks to teenagers around the world who are determined to be a voice for change. They are passionate, articulate and determined. Their experiences may provide inspiration to others who are fighting to make their world a better place.

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