Chinese citizens are boycotting again
This time over a beverage company
What did the company do?
And is China’s cancel culture getting out of hand?
Welcome to China Uncensored.
I’m Chris Chappell.
The CCP celebrated its 100th anniversary on July 1.
And in Hong Kong, police were out on the streets to make sure everyone was celebrating in the
right way.
That is, by not protesting.
But that night, a Hong Kong policeman was stabbed in what police called a lone-wolf
attack.
The man who stabbed the officer committed suicide after the attack.
And it turns out, he had “left behind several suicide notes declaring his hatred of police,
his opposition to the Beijing-imposed security law, and his intention to kill an officer
on July 1.”
The police officer is ok.
He’s recovering in the hospital.
The attacker was a 50-year-old Hong Kong man named Leung Gin-fai.
He worked at a Hong Kong beverage factory called Vitasoy, which sells soy milk and other
flavored drinks.
After the stabbing/suicide incident, an employee at Vitasoy issued this internal memo.
It says, “We regret to inform everyone about the unfortunate death of Mr. Leung on July
1st.
Our company expresses our deepest condolences to Leung’s family.”
Now Mr. Leung was the attacker, not the victim.
That being said, it’s understandable how a Vitasoy employee could have written that
memo.
Maybe they mixed up the details of what happened.
Or maybe they were actually sympathetic.
After all, according to this RFA survey, 81% of Hong Kongers consider Leung a martyr, while
only 6% consider Leung a terrorist.
But publicly, that’s not an ok view to have.
“Hong Kong authorities warned that advocating for people to mourn for the attacker was no
different from ‘supporting terrorism.’”
And unfortunately for Vitasoy, that internal memo got leaked.
People started sharing it across the Chinese internet.
And Chinese netizens were...how should I put this?
Extremely butt-hurt.
They were angry at the memo’s choice of words.
They were furious that a person committing suicide after attacking a police officer was
called an “unfortunate death”.
Plus they didn’t like the word “accident” used to describe the incident.
And then mainland China’s terrifying “cancel culture” reared its ugly head.
Immediately, there was a flood of comments criticizing Vitasoy for defending Leung.
“Trash Vitasoy, rooting for a terrorist!
It’s time to boycott!
Get out of the mainland market!”
“Those who support Vitasoy should leave China.”
“Supporting terrorism?
Get out of China.”
Less than a day after word got out, this hashtag started trending: “Have you thrown out your
Vitasoy today?”
It got 5 million impressions on social media platform Weibo.
The hashtag “Vitasoy supports Hong Kong Protestors” has 75 million impressions.
And the hashtag “Get out of the mainland, Vitasoy!” hit 120 million impressions.
Celebrities who had business relations with Vitasoy quickly released official statements
denouncing their collaborations with the brand.
And the commercials that these actors have done for Vitasoy in May have been taken down
from Bilibili, China’s version of YouTube.
Videos began circulating of local retailers rejecting Vitasoy.
Starting today after the government announcement, we’re taking all of the Vitasoy products
off the shelves.
We’re not selling this.
Everyone can go watch the video on Douyin (TikTok) about the Vitasoy incident.
It’s a pity, it’s really a pity.
This guy buys a box of Vitasoy, just so he can throw it in the trash.
It’s my fault for loving trash.
Get out of here, Trash!
And this kid shows that canceling Vitasoy can be a family activity.
That boy is clearly a national hero.
You gotta teach ’em to cancel when they’re young.
And this image went viral.
It reads “Chinese people don’t eat Vitasoy!
Vitasoy, Get out of China!
Oppose anti-Chinese behavior!”
Chinese people “Not eating” has become a trending meme in China.
It means The Chinese people don’t accept this.
It's like when your 4 year old doesn't want to eat the broccoli on their plate.
The phrase was used during the recent boycott over Xinjiang cotton).
Fashion brands like Nike and H&M declared they would no longer use Xinjiang cotton because
of concerns over Uyghur slave labor . So nationalistic Chinese netizens canceled them...for not supporting
China’s slave labor.
You can watch my video on that, where you’ll see how quickly Chinese citizens burned their
shoes and apparel in a cotton boycott.
And now it’s the same thing happening to Hong Kong’s Vitasoy . And in Vitsoy’s
case, it’s having a huge impact on their bottom line.
More after the break.
Welcome back.
China accounts for up to 70% of Vitasoy’s sales .
But once Chinese netizens began to cancel Vitasoy, its shares plunged by 12% practically
overnight.
It was their biggest single-day drop since their listing in 1994.
After the initial backlash from their leaked internal memo, vitasoy tried to walk it back
in this official statement.
“We have noticed that a document related to the incident that occurred in Hong Kong
on July 1 is circulating on the Internet.
These documents were not officially approved for release by Vitasoy Group.
Instead, they were written by an employee privately and forwarded internally.
They were not authorized and did not follow the Vitasoy Group’s internal approval process.”
Vitasoy also released this statement, saying they’re “committed to supporting the stability,
prosperity and development of Mainland China and Hong Kong.”
Which is code for we are not against the Chinese Communist Party.
So officially, Vitasoy’s response checked all the politically correct boxes.
But it was too late.
The Chinese boycott had already begun.
Throwing away Vitasoy beverages had already become the newest act of Chinese patriotism!
Can’t sell this no more.
Gotta be a good Chinese person.
Can’t be selling this stuff, I’m taking it all off the shelf.
This too, all of it.
All of it.
I’m not selling.
In this video, a man comes to make sure that this store clerk is taking Vitasoy off the
shelves for the right reason.
Man: Excuse me miss, you’re taking the Vitasoy beverages off the shelves?
Woman: It’s not an issue with the quality of the product.
Man: I know, I know, I saw the news.
So I’m just asking if you’re removing them off the shelves?
Woman: Of course.
People are also posting photos of their trips to their local stores, just to check up on
whether Vitasoy was taken off the shelves.
And any store that still had Vitasoy would be shamed.
This live streamer was drinking a carton of Vitasoy lemonade, when his live chat ordered
him to get rid of that carton right away.
Oh, sorry.
Ok ok ok, I threw it out, I threw it out, I threw it out.
Did something happen in the news?
Let me see.
Holy...
My iPad needs to charge.... [chat tells live streamer Vitasoy is China-hating
and Pro HK Independence]
Meanwhile fans in the livestream chat are typing “gd”, which is code for the censored
term “Hong Kong Independence”.
Ohh, I see, ok.
I threw it out right away.
Right away, I threw it out.
[shows audience tossing in the trash] [thumbs up] China’s the best.
Yes, China’s the best.
Because if you don’t prove you threw your politically incorrect drink in the trash,
the mob will come for you.
.
And just when things seemed like they couldn’t get worse for Vitasoy...came the bomb threats.
Then an official notice was posted on the Chinese internet stating the Human Resources
Director of Vitasoy’s Hong Kong Operations had left the company.
This led netizens to believe Vitasoy fired her.
But that still wasn’t enough!
Netizens doxxed her and shared pictures and videos of her LinkedIn account.
That account is now no longer available on LinkedIn.
And finally, Vitasoy’s chairman announced that the company has fired the employee who
wrote the original memo.
Now I know China takes its law about respecting the police very seriously.
But Vitasoy didn’t slander the police, and they didn’t harm national security.
But with the response to Vitasoy’s one internal memo, Vitasoy and its employees were put in
real danger.
Chinese boycotts often get out of hand really fast.
When the cause is “politically correct,” China’s state censors will take a back seat,
and let the people turn on each other.
It’s a great way to let people blow off steam.
And sure, some people get hurt, but only the “bad” people—the ones who don’t express
unconditional love for the Chinese Communist Party.
And now, I’ll answer a question from a member of the China Uncensored 50-Cent Army that
supports this show on Patreon.
Marc Chung asks, “I would like to ask about your views if the communist party of China
is somewhat reluctant to invade Taiwan.
I hope they aren’t really considering invading the country of Taiwan.”
Well Marc, the Chinese Communist Party is not reluctant to invade Taiwan.
They want to do it.
In fact, the US admiral in charge of US Indo-Pacific Command recently called it China’s number
one priority.
For the Communist Party, they see it as part of their “rejuvenation” of China.
Plus they want to occupy Taiwan for military reasons.
They need their navy to be established in what’s called the “first island chain”
to access the Pacific.
Now you asked if they’re reluctant to invade.
They’re not.
But they are cautious.
They won’t try it until they think there’s a strong chance they’ll succeed.
And the more Taiwan prepares for an invasion, the less likely it will happen.
And the more support countries like the US, Japan, and Australia show for defending Taiwan,
the less likely they’ll have to *actually* defend Taiwan.
Thanks for your question, Marc.
And thank you to everyone watching.
Be like Marc, and support China Uncensored on Patreon.
Visit Patreon.com/ChinaUncensored and contribute a dollar or more per episode, so we can afford
to keep making episodes like this for you.
Once again, I’m Chris Chappell.
Thanks for watching China Uncensored.