China sails into disputed Japanese waters to intimidate a fishing boat.
The NBA sells out to China even more.
And France... doesn’t surrender?
That and more on this week’s China news headlines!
Welcome to China Uncensored, I’m Chris Chappell.
Japan says China is once again sailing near disputed islands in the East China Sea.
And by once again, I mean, “It marked the 21st time this year that
Chinese boats have entered Japanese waters.”
This time was more aggressive though. Chinese Coast Guard ships sailed near the Senkaku
Islands—which China calls the Diaoyu Islands—and tried to approach a Japanese fishing boat. So
then the Japanese Coast Guard came out to protect the fishing boat. This lasted more than two days.
“It is the longest period Chinese vessels have intruded
in the waters since the Japanese government put the islets under state control in September 2012.”
Time to build those Gundams!
It’s not quite a Gundam, but Japan has just unveiled a new three thousand ton submarine.
To defend itself against no country in particular.
It just happens to come “amid China’s growing assertiveness in the region”.
Coincidence, I’m sure.
You may have watched the US vice presidential debate last week.
And I think most Americans would agree,
it was at least easier to watch than the US presidential debate in September.
But it was not easier to watch in China.
When Pence was responding to the question on China,
CNN's signal went dark in mainland China while Pence was saying China
was to blame for the pandemic. The signal only returned when Kamala Harris began answering.
To be clear, that was China blocking the CNN broadcast,
not CNN censoring the broadcast on behalf of China. I’m pretty sure.
Speaking of the US, you might remember an episode we did back in August about how
Hong Kong’s Rich Corrupt Elite are Screwed because of US sanctions.
I said at the time that things would get real when US sanctions start targeting international banks.
The ones that do business with those sanctioned Hong Kong officials.
Well, things are about to get real.
The US State Department has issued a warning to international financial institutions
that are still doing business with those officials that they could soon face tough sanctions.
What kind of tough sanctions?
Well banks could be facing “restrictions on U.S. loans, foreign exchange, property transactions,
exports and transfers, in addition to measures against their executives.”
Yeah if I were an executive at say, HSBC, I would be worried right now.
Here’s a wild story. The Trump Administration has
been ramping up scrutiny of the Confucius Institute, saying it’s an arm of Beijing.
Which is absurd. The Confucius Institute is a *tentacle* of Beijing.
Anyway, an official for the Confucius Institute at Webster University in Missouri
has been found dead.
Police haven’t given a cause of death. However, it did follow a police investigation.
More specifically, the FBI searched his apartment “amid a child pornography investigation”.
And that sure went in a different direction than you were expecting.
And maybe now you need a short break. Welcome back. If you think the Confucius
Institute is too beholden to the Chinese state...how about the NBA?
Mark Cuban, the richest shark on Shark Tank and the owner of the Dallas Mavericks was on
the Megyn Kelly podcast. A decision I’m sure he deeply regrets. Because she wanted to know,
why is it that the NBA will tweet out silence is violence...
“Silence is violence.”
...while at the same time, the NBA has done nothing to condemn human rights abuses in China?
After repeatedly dodging Kelly’s question, Mark Cuban eventually said,
you know what, despite the genocide, he’s fine doing business with China.
“Why would the NBA take $500 million-plus from a country that is engaging in ethnic cleansing?
So basically you’re saying nobody should do business with China ever.
Why don’t you just answer my question.
No! Megyn, I'm just trying to get to the root of it.
Why would the NBA do that? You are the one who said.
They are a customer. They are a customer of ours. And guess what, Megyn? I’m okay
with doing business with China. You know, I wish I could solve all the world’s problems,
Megyn. I’m sure you do too. But we can’t. And so we have to pick our battles.”
Huh, I wonder if the NBA calling out ethnic cleansing in China instead of taking their money
would do anything to solve some of the world’s problems.
But I think this was my favorite moment.
“Do you condemn the genocide going on in China right now.
I condemn all human rights violations.
Why can't you be specific?
Yes. Because the way proclamations work in this country, the minute you say them,
you're going to use it as a headline, Cuban says this this and this.
What's wrong with that headline: Cuban condemns ethnic cleansing?”
“Cuban condemns ethnic cleansing” would have been a great headline.
Instead, the headline is “NBA’s Cuban: Despite Genocide, China’s a Customer,
and I’m OK Doing Business With Them.”
But hey, good news. Chinese state-run media has agreed to broadcast NBA games again.
That had stopped last year after an NBA general manager
tweeted in support of protests in Hong Kong.
But the NBA has really gone out on a limb since then to keep China as a customer.
But China’s a tough customer to keep. And Korean boy band BTS is finding that out the hard way.
They’re facing a boycott in China.
Because one of the members said something nice about American and South Korean soldiers who
fought in the Korean War. Specifically he said, “We need to always remember the history of pain
shared by the two nations, and sacrifices of many men and women.”
But you see, inside of China, the Korean War is called the “War to Resist U.S. Aggression
and Aid Korea.” Something you can also learn about at the Confucius Institute.
And because of the BTS statement, a lot of companies pulled a Mark Cuban—saying, hey
China’s our customer, we have to do business with them. We can’t solve all the world’s problems.
Hyundai removed ads featuring BTS from Chinese social media outlets.
And Samsung pulled a BTS branded purple smartphone from its stores and websites in China.
And the funny thing is, all this seems to have started because of hissy fit thrown by my favorite
Chinese state-run media, the Global Times claiming BTS hurt the feelings of the Chinese people.
I don’t know. I think the Chinese people’s feelings will be hurt
more if they can’t get their purple BTS smartphone.
And in this case, the Global Times may have made a big mistake.
I for one would not want to face off against the BTS ARMY.
And now it’s time for another short ad break. Hopefully you’ll get an ad for a BTS smartphone.
Welcome back. BTS can’t solve China’s problems. And apparently neither can the Vatican.
The Vatican is under fire for renewing a deal with the Chinese Communist Party.
The deal allows the officially atheist Chinese Communist Party to appoint catholic bishops in
China—although the text of the deal has not been made public.
It’s unclear exactly what the Vatican gets in exchange. I assume they want the Chinese Communist
Party to treat Christians a little better. But that doesn’t seem to be part of the deal,
since the Communist Party has just created a global blueprint for persecuting Christians.
When asked about it,
Pope Francis said they’re a customer of ours. I’m okay doing business with China.
A new report from the UK has come to a shocking conclusion.
And by a shocking conclusion, I mean the thing that everyone else has already figured out:
Huawei works in collusion with the Chinese state.
All it took was a global pandemic to get them to publicly acknowledge it.
And finally, and this will shock you, the French have surrendered to pressure
from the Chinese Communist Party and halted an exhibit they were planning about Genghis Khan.
What’s that Shelley? What do you mean France didn’t actually surrender?
Apparently, the history museum in Nantes is only temporarily delaying their exhibition until 2024.
The reason? “This would give it time to build a new exhibition,
featuring works from European and American collections.”
Originally, the French museum was building an exhibit in collaboration
with a museum in China’s Inner Mongolia region. But because the Chinese regime is currently
persecuting Mongolians there, and because of their increasingly unreasonable demands,
the French museum has decided it just doesn't want to be tied to the Chinese state at all.
So what were some of Chinese regime’s unreasonable demands?
Well, in this exhibit about Genghis Khan, “The Chinese authorities demanded that certain words,
including ‘Genghis Khan,’ ‘Empire’ and ‘Mongol’ be removed from the exhibition.”
Yes, come see our fantastic exhibit about...a
guy. In a region. Who built a thing. You know the one. You’ll love it.
But good for the French museum for standing up for their values.
They’re not ok doing business with china.
And now it’s time for me to answer a question from one of you,
who supports China Uncensored through the crowdfunding website Patreon.
Logan asks, “I share your dislike for the Panda. What are your feelings about the red panda?”
Logan, I am glad to know that there are people like you out there who have accepted the truth
about giant pandas. Nothing in life is black and white.
Except for pandas, which is why you should hate them.
Don’t fall for the propa-panda, people!
But what about the red panda, you ask?
Well, despite the name, red pandas are not in fact related to giant pandas.
You might have heard they’re more closely related to raccoons, but even that isn’t true.
According to Scientific America, “red pandas form their own phylogenetic family.”
Which means, from a genetic perspective, red pandas are more closely related to skunks.
And I would take a skunk any day of the week over a filthy panda.
Thanks for your question Logan.
And if you’d like to have me respond to your question or comment on the show for
hundreds of thousands of people to hear, join what I call the China Uncensored 50 Army...
and support us in the battle against the Chinese Communist Party. You can join for as little as a
dollar per episode on the crowd funding website Patreon. You’ll also get some other cool perks
as well. Head over to Patreon.com/China Uncensored to learn more. Link is below.
Once again, I’m Chris Chappell. See you next time.