Weeks ago, we interviewed our China Current London-based editor, Laura de Belgique, about the unfolding situation in the UK. Since the interview, we have seen Europe fight hard against the tidal wave of COVID-19. As governments everywhere are struggling to respond to the fast-moving virus, the public tries to adjust to the new reality impacting their day-to-day lives. With orders to stay home, families are coming together more than ever to stave off the rising fear of an unprecedented time.

Lateefah Simon is a prolific civil rights and racial justice advocate, community leader, and elected public official in the San Francisco Bay Area. As the pandemic deepens in the United States, groups like the Black Lives Matter warn that people of color will be harder hit, because of a inequities in a healthcare system that often means higher rates of chronic disease, and lower access to basic services. Our host James Chau worked with Lateefah in AIDS, and in this interview they discuss the stakes for people of all colors, the future they face, and what chance they have in this emergency. She says when they unify, they unleash the collective power of the American promise.

“Everything that happened in China will have to happen in other economies.” Renowned economist Lawrence Lau speaks on the economic, governmental, and societal impacts of the current global health crisis. Professor Lau has lived more than half his life in the United States, studying first at Stanford and Berkeley, before joining the Stanford faculty and becoming a professor at the age of 32. After the onset of SARS, he became the Vice-Chancellor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he continues to serve as the Lauder Professor of Economics. Our host James Chau interviewed him in Hong Kong.