On this episode of China Uncensored,
now you can watch Chinese propaganda
from the comfort of your living room.
Hi welcome to China Uncensored.
I’m your host, Chris Chappell.
If I say, “In West Philadelphia,”
♫ ♫
and you just thought “born and raised,”
then you’re old enough to have watched,
and loved,
broadcast television.
Now maybe these days you get your favorite shows on Netflix.
Or YouTube.
But you still rely on cable TV in a lot of ways.
Cable gives you live sports,
like LeBron James crying on the floor of the Oakland arena.
Live events,
like Leo pretending not to cry at the Oscars.
And, let's not forget, Saturday afternoon marathons
of '80s classic Teen Witch,
which made us all cry
with embarrassment.
"Look at how FUNKY he is!"
"I'm hot!
And you're not!
But if you want to hang with me,
I'll give it one shot.
Top that!
Top that!"
Top that, indeed.
And of course,
your internet is probably part of your cable TV package
with a company like Comcast, Time Warner Cable,
Charter, Cox, Optimum, and so on.
Millions of Americans still get most of their
news and information from cable TV.
Which can be great or terrifying,
depending on what they’re watching.
And this is amplified for the 4 to 8 million Chinese people in the US.
Because most of the Chinese language TV channels
they get on cable are controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.
Every major cable company in America
carries China Central Television, or CCTV.
That’s the Communist Party’s main television mouthpiece.
With news stories like this:
“Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said at today's press conference that
the United States' human rights report about China is absurd and laughable.
He urges the US to stop becoming the savior of other countries' human rights.”
Right, because any criticism of China is inherently wrong.
And as I’ve told you before,
"The Chinese Communist Party is investing $8.9 billion
into spreading their censorship overseas."
Anyway, turn on your cable box right now,
and you’ll see China’s state-run propaganda on your television.
And CCTV isn’t the only channel with Chinese propaganda.
Time Warner Cable is the second-largest cable provider in the United States.
Here in New York,
Time Warner Cable has 17 Chinese language channels in its lineup.
16 of them are either directly run by the Chinese Communist Party,
or run by someone with strong ties to the Party,
or whose programming is influenced by the Party in various ways.
And only 1 of them is totally independent.
That independent network is New Tang Dynasty Television, or NTD.
NTD has a 24-hour channel.
It’s number 1414 in New York.
NTD is extremely dangerous…
in part because of its support for subversive programming,
like China Uncensored.
As I’ve told you before,
my show is sponsored in part by NTD, and I use their studio.
Of course, the vast majority of NTD’s programs are in Chinese.
And who’s behind this dangerous nonprofit organization?
Chinese Americans—who want to provide truthful news.
Most of NTD’s founders were Tiananmen Square survivors,
Falun Gong practitioners, or others who felt that
maybe the Chinese Communist Party isn’t the most reliable source for information.
Some people have called NTD the “Freedom Channel.”
Others have called it “undermining China.”
In the sense that freedom undermines China,
they’re both right.
That’s especially the case because,
in addition to being on cable in the US,
NTD also broadcasts directly into China via satellite,
where millions of people
including Chinese officials
have to pretend they don’t watch it.
Because—like Twitter, Facebook, and Björk—
NTD is banned in China.
But of course, the opposite is true in the US.
Because while of course an American TV network like NTD
is free to broadcast here,
state-run propaganda outlets like CCTV are, too.
This is America.
Freedom of the Press.
And that’s why I don’t want to criticize Time Warner Cable
for including CCTV in its lineup.
Allowing for alternative views is part of what America is all about.
It just might be healthier if there were more options than CCTV's alternative view.
For example, after the September 11 terrorist attacks,
CCTV and Beijing Television broadcast a documentary called “Attack America.”
It said, “This is the America the whole world has wanted to see.
Blood debts have been repaid in blood.”
And that’s why we should all be concerned that Time Warner Cable
is considering dropping the independent New Tang Dynasty Television
from its channel lineup.
Time Warner has carried NTD in New York City for more than 10 years.
But the current contract expires on June 30 (2016).
NTD wants a new contract,
but the leaders of Time Warner haven’t agreed yet.
If they drop NTD,
they would be dropping the only free voice of the Chinese people,
and it will disappear from 3 million homes
in New York, Los Angeles and Hawaii.
And that’s why NTD needs your help.
That’s right, you, my 50-Cent Army!
I want you to call Time Warner Cable
at this number on screen (212-364-8300).
Actually call them.
You should be able to connect to a human within a few minutes,
at least during business hours.
Tell them that you heard Time Warner
wants to drop New Tang Dynasty TV in New York,
which is channel 1414.
Tell them it’s an important channel, and to keep it.
And make sure they pass the message on to management.
If you can’t call for any reason,
you can fill out the "Request a Channel" form online.
The link is in the Description below.
Enter your name, email, and phone number.
For “Enter Channel” put “New Tang Dynasty TV.”
Then leave your request.
Write it in your own words,
or modify the sample text in the Description below.
Do it right now if you can.
The sooner the better.
You can feel good about calling a cable company for once.
And you won't even have to wait at home
between the hours of 10 am and 2 pm.
Thanks for watching this episode of China Uncensored.
Once again, I’m Chris Chappell. See you next time.
Why are you still watching?
Go call Time Warner Cable or go to their online request form.
Check the Description below.
To arms, my 50-Cent Army. To Arms!