Working out what’s going on in China is never easy. But the current situation feels utterly bewildering. More than two years after COVID-19 first appeared in Wuhan, 400 million people are now living under some form of lockdown across the country, amid security clampdowns, strict social media censorship and growing civil unrest.

What can China do to resolve a crisis that threatens not only the health and security of its people, but of the world’s largest economy and all those who depend on it? Naturally we asked the experts: Professor Jane Duckett and her colleagues at the University of Glasgow’s Scottish Centre for China Research, who have been tracking the Chinese government’s rollercoaster COVID strategy from the outset. Their long-form account of the dilemma now facing the country’s leadership, and the risk to President Xi Jinping’s grip on power, is fascinating and frightening in equal measure.

It feels like we all need to brush up on our economic knowledge right now, and this eye-opening piece on five economic facts of life that you probably won’t believe is a great place to start. Plus we assess claims that taking hormone replacement therapy before menopause can protect the brain and even prevent dementia.

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