On this episode of China Uncensored,
Bangkok has him.
Hi, welcome to China Uncensored,
I’m your host Chris Chappell.
And this is Joshua Wong—
one of the most prominent faces of the 2014
Hong Kong Umbrella Movement—
a mass protest lasting two-and-a-half months,
where young people stood up for freedom in Hong Kong
in the face of mainland Chinese encroachment.
And I would have gotten away with too!
If it weren’t for you meddling kids…
That’s a simple way to put it.
Needless to say,
Joshua Wong—
being a pro-democracy student leader and all—
is not on the Chinese Communist Party’s list of Top 10 Faves.
What a pain it is that Joshua Wong
lives in Hong Kong.
The most they could do to him there
was getting him sentenced to 80 hours community service
for getting people to care about their government.
This other thing other thing that happened to him last year?
Uh, it had nothing to do with the Chinese regime...
that’s… provable.
I mean, accidents will happen, right?
Like what happened to Kevin Lau in 2014.
“A journalist known for his aggressive reporting on China,
Kevin Lau,
was walking to his car earlier today,
and then stabbed multiple times by an unknown attacker
and left bleeding.”
I’m sure he just fell down the stairs...
into a knife...
multiple times.
So Joshua Wong is safe...ish in Hong Kong.
At least safer than if he were in Mainland China.
And while it is shocking to see the Chinese regime’s influence
in Hong Kong,
which is supposed to operate under the One Country,
Two Systems policy,
it’s only about as surprising
as when your grandmother
gets you the same subscription to Zoobooks for your birthday
she’s given you for the past 25 years.
Thanks Nana,
you shouldn’t have.
But when Joshua Wong became an activist
he probably didn’t anticipate just how far the Chinese regime
could extend its reach.
Like a Hungry, Hungry Hippo...
of evil!
Last week,
Joshua Wong was scheduled to speak at a university in Thailand
for the 40th anniversary of a bloody government crackdown there
on student demonstrators.
What is it about student demonstrators and bloody government crackdowns
that go together like peas and carrots?
But instead of Joshua Wong giving his speech,
Thai police detained him at the airport.
They held him for 12 hours,
then stuck him on a plane and sent him back to Hong Kong.
According to The Nation,
an English-language paper in Thailand,
an airport official said the request to arrest Wong came from China.
But according to China:
Nuh-uh!
It was totally Thailand!
Regardless,
this image has been blowing up on Thai social media.
It shows Thailand as as part of China.
It’s really...
well it looks kind of nice, actually.
I mean, you know, maybe we could try it and see how it works out…
Because as the Wall Street Journal puts it,
“This fits a global pattern.”
The Chinese regime gets in good with countries that
don’t necessarily have the most sparkling human rights records.
And that means,
if you’re on the wrong side of the Chinese Communist Party,
you might not be safe even outside of China.
It’s like a game of whack-a-mole,
where the moles are dissidents,
and the Chinese regime has a giant mallet.
The democratically elected government of Thailand
was overthrown by a military junta in 2014.
That’s bad news for the many Chinese dissidents living there.
In fact,
things could have gone much worse for Joshua Wong.
They merely sent him back to Hong Kong.
This Hong Konger living in Thailand
got kidnapped and sent to mainland China...
probably.
Well,
we don’t really know what happened.
His Hong Kong bookstore sells books about Chinese politics.
He disappeared late last year from his condo in Thailand.
The next time anyone saw him was in early January
making a confession on Chinese state-run TV.
And he hasn’t been seen since.
And while that sounds pretty bad,
it’s not as bad as what happened
to the last 100 guys.
And no one saw them again either.
So I guess Thailand and China are bros now.
But hold on, Thailand.
Malaysia deported a group of Chinese Uyghur asylum seekers
way before you did.
Oh,
and they also deported Joshua Wong before you did.
Thailand is such a Malaysia wannabe.
And in Nepal,
Tibetans who’ve fled China are frequently harassed by police
or deported.
Sometimes you don’t even need to be Chinese.
Armenia,
Kenya,
Cambodia,
and Malaysia have all deported Taiwanese citizens
to Mainland China,
which adds yet another layer of wrongness to this whole thing.
Unsurprisingly,
all these countries rely on the Chinese regime
for trade and investment.
So what does this mean?
If you criticize the Chinese regime,
you could be in trouble not just if you visit China,
but if you visit...well,
a number of other countries too.
So keep your head down and your mouth shut.
But don’t worry,
dissidents of all stripes are welcome here
on China Uncensored.
So Joshua Wong,
if you’re watching,
you’re welcome on this show any time.
If you're coming to New York,
just maybe take a direct flight.
So how do you feel about China extending its reach
beyond its borders?
Leave your comments below...
where they will be traced and stored
as future incriminating evidence.
Thanks for watching this episode of China Uncensored.
Once again, I’m Chris Chappell,
see you in the reeducation centers!