Who’s to blame for the deadly Chinese virus?
That’s the life or death power struggle
Happening right now in China.
This is China Uncensored.
I’m Chris Chappell.
It’s been weeks now since the Chinese city of Wuhan,
where a deadly coronavirus first spread,
has been under quarantine.
And inside the city,
people are afraid to leave their homes.
And it shows.
They’re going a little stir crazy
But people are finding ways to pass the time.
Like fishing.
An impromptu lion dance for the new year.
Or enjoying the party life...
with a safe amount of distance
between you and the next family.
But despite it all, the people of Wuhan are finding solidarity.
They’re chanting “Wuhan, jiayou.”
Which means “Wuhan, add oil”.
Which is like saying, “Go Wuhan, let’s be awesome.”
Which is way more than I can say for Chinese Communist officials.
For them, it’s all about who’s not awesome.
High ranking officials in Beijing
are blaming low ranking officials in Wuhan
for the spread of the virus.
Meanwhile, Wuhan’s mayor is blaming Beijing leadership
for some of the cover up.
Yeah, he’s going down.
But regardless of the conflict Communist Party officials
are having right now,
there’s one thing they can all agree on—
the real enemy is the Chinese people!
Authorities are cracking down hard on people
trying to break through the veil of government secrecy.
Or as they call it, spreading rumors.
According to state-run Xinhua,
“All those who spread fake news and thus disturb social order
will face up to three years in prison,
detention, or disciplinary action.
Those who have caused serious consequences
will be given 3-year to 7-year prison terms.”
It makes sense: If they lock *everyone* in
prison,
then the outbreak can’t keep spreading, right?
Well, despite the threat of prison,
a lot of people are still going online to blame the government,
both high and low ranking officials.
Some residents of Wuhan are posting videos
calling for international help.
This footage that went viral shows bodies on the floor
as other patients sit by.
And people are posting dozens of videos of massively crowded hospitals.
Which is why local authorities
are trying to build a new giant hospital in a week.
Don’t get too enamored.
The footage you’ve seen is originally from Chinese state media.
They released it to the west as a propaganda tool,
so we can all see how great their authoritarian approach to problem solving is.
They’re not really hospitals.
Actual hospitals cannot be built in a week.
These are large temporary buildings
that will be used as quarantine centers.
It’s still a good thing,
because normal hospitals are so stressed that
there are reports of people going to multiple hospitals a day
to try to get tested or treated.
Oh, and there are limited test kits available so hospitals
have to decide who they’re going to test.
That’s one reason why the true extent of the virus
is still being underreported.
Meanwhile, earlier this week,
Chinese premier Li Keqiang visited Wuhan.
Everybody was really impressed.
Except this auntie.
You never know when you’re going to have a chance to buy groceries again.
But as Li Keqiang’s propaganda show went on in Wuhan,
Chinese authorities in other parts of China
were pinning the blame for the coronavirus on people of Wuhan.
By treating anyone who is from or has been to Wuhan like fugitives.
Here’s a Wuhan resident who thought he’d escaped,
being forced into a van by police.
Rather than take blame for the cover up for the virus,
the Communist Party is trying to paint the unquarantined people of Wuhan
as being responsible for the spread of the virus.
So I think we should all be sending a message of support
to the people of Wuhan.
Wuhan, jiayou.
So what do you think about the blame game playing out in China?
Leave your comments below.
And now I’ll answer a question from a fan
who supports China Uncensored
on the crowd funding website Patreon.
Andy Sleeper asks,
“Demonetized?
Interesting, since I saw ads before, during, and after.”
I’m glad you brought this up, Andy.
So you saw ads on a demonetized episode.
What does that mean?
YouTube is pretty brutal with how they demonetize us.
Most episodes are instantly demonetized by a bot.
There is an appeals process though.
When I appeal, there’s a period of time where,
as YouTube says,
“limited, or no ads will play.”
In other words,
you might see an ad on a demonetized video
only one out of 20 times.
Then 24 or 48 hours after my appeal,
maybe YouTube accepts the appeal
and admits that the algorithm was totally wrong
for demonetizing our episodes.
But by that point,
the video will have already gotten most of the views it’s going to get.
In other words, even though it's been remonetized,
we aren’t going to make very much money from it.
Now, believe me,
I’m not doing this show for the money.
If I were, let’s just say I could make a lot more money being pro-Beijing.
But YouTube has made it very hard to fund this show.
I’d have had to quit making China Uncensored years ago
if fans like you, Andy, hadn’t stepped up
and started supporting the show through Patreon.
So I think you and all the supporters on Patreon deserve a big thanks,
not just from me, but from everyone else
who is still able to watch the show today because of your support.
For those of you watching,
if you’re interested in standing up to the Chinese Communist Party,
join what I lovingly call the China Uncensored 50-cent army.
Visit patreon.com/chinauncensored to learn more.
Once again I’m Chris Chappell,
thanks for watching China Uncensored.