A Chinese police reality TV show is a hit
And now posing as an arrested criminal
Is the latest viral trend in China
Welcome to China Uncensored.
I’m Chris Chappell.
China is spending more on policing its own people than on its defense budget.
Now, you might think: Oh my gosh, that sounds like an Orwellian nightmare.
Well, allow me to re-educate you.
Let’s say you’re caught not wearing a mask during Covid.
China’s police are there to assist you...for the greater good.
What if you’re riding an unlicensed scooter?
The police are there to teach you and your child that violating the rules is dangerous.
Here, China’s police are helping a poor delivery guy who can’t walk.
He needs help getting to his next delivery because the police took his scooter.
This video appears to show city management officers--the notorious chengguan--stealing
cooking oil from a small business.
But really, they’re just doing it to grease the wheels of the people’s government.
Sure, it looks like these city management officers are stealing farmers’ vegetables
at the market.
But you’ve got to keep the officers healthy!
And this city management officer may look like he’s just randomly smashing people’s
stuff with a sledgehammer...but, what, are you going to waste a good sledgehammer by
not using it?
All this is to say, there’s some conflict in China—where a lot of people don’t realize
how heroic their law enforcement officers are.
And it's important everybody knows this.
Simply writing negative comments about the police on social media, like "these police
are not a good thing...Lol", can get you in trouble.
The guy was detained for 7 days.
See, “When information goes up online of state agents behaving poorly, it makes the
state a little more vulnerable.
This violates public expectations about how the police or other state agents should act.”
The problem is, there are just way too many videos of violent Chinese police making their
way around the internet and social media—more than China’s massive censorship apparatus
can deal with.
“Listen to me.
The police are the nation’s weapon of violence!”
So what’s the Chinese Communist Party to do to counter these negative perceptions?
Well “Many police stations have a social media account on WeChat or Weibo and aim to
present a more positive, friendly image of the police.”
And when that’s not enough, “The ministry [of Public Security] also teamed up with CCTV
to produce television content.”
Which brings me to “Guardians of Jiefangxi.”
It’sa hit reality TV show about the daily life of police who operate on Jiefangxi Road,
in a district of Changsha.
Changsha is a mid-size city in Southern China, roughly the size of New York City, but way
less interesting.
Guardians of Jiefangxi is like the show COPS.
But instead of showing the heated rush of a police crackdown in Florida,
it follows the daily life of China’s heroic police officers.
“Special police forces, fighting terrorism and preventing violence.
Dealing with unexpected circumstances, and capturing criminals.”
Now there’s actually not that much street crime in China.
Unless you count this...or this—which you should not.
But ordinary people can’t really get away with street crime anymore—thanks to the
massive surveillance system that the show constantly reminds people of.
So this show just isn’t as exciting as COPS.
Most of what happens in Guardians of Jiefangxi is police officers dealing with Chinese youth
who get drunk, fight, and cheat each other.
And a lot of it is about dating mixups.
All the juicy drama caught on camera.
Girl: Me and him have been dating for five years, but when I’m with him it’s just…
Cause we’ve been dating for so long, I just didn’t feel secure you know?
And I kept trying you know?
Cop: Well let me ask.
So now you’re dating two guys at once?
Girl Sighs)
It’s like Jerry Springer is a confused Chinese police officer.
Young viewers all across China can find a role model and parental figure in the police.
Cop: I think this girl feels that men are like a commodity.
Pick and choose.
At the time I felt she won’t be able to find true happiness this way.
See, the police are strong, but gentle.
The police are there to listen to you.
And make sure you stop hitting yourself.
All of Changsha…
I’M THE BOSS -fighting-
Cop: Stop hitting yourself!
That scene went viral.
And you know what else went viral—completely on its own with no help from Chinese internet
censors?
The hashtag that reads “Check in at the famous Changsha Pozi Street”.
That’s the police station where the show is filmed.
And now, it’s a thing.
Chinese teenagers are taking photos of each other in front of the police station, crouching
as if they’re about to be arrested.
Haha, everybody is having fun posing as criminals.
The Pozi Street Police Station absolutely loved the positive attention.
The police station posted on Weibo, “Click here!
Unlock the famous pose of the Pozi Police Station!
Reminder: The ‘Cover Your Head’ pose is mostly used when catching criminal suspects
on the spot.
Pay attention that you’re doing it right!”
Yes, just in case the police someday come after *you*.
But wait, there’s more!
The police station has now begun using their celebrity status as a tourist site to bring
in lucky fans of the show, where they can walk around and celebrate the police.
Here’s the front desk.
Here’s a poster for the show.
And here’s the room where we track everything you do when you’re in public.
Guardians of Jiefangxi has been a major propaganda victory for the Chinese Communist Party.
Hopefully, in the future, Chinese citizens won’t try to run away when the police go
after them.
Instead, they’ll crouch down and submit to authority.
Just like on TV!
You should try it!
And now it’s time for me to answer a question from you, a fan who supports the show through
the crowdfunding website, Patreon.
Knowgoat asks: “Companies must deliver growth to their shareholders, so as stupid as it
is, I understand why they look to high growth markets.
But why don't Western governments step in and regulate investments into China, effectively
making Companies look elsewhere to expand?”
Good question Knowgoat.
Yes, a lot of publicly traded companies claim they have a fiduciary responsibility to maximize
profits for their shareholders.
Now, that’s... not actually true.
But it’s a great excuse to engage in practices that are deeply unethical, but still technically
legal—like pouring money into Xinjiang, an emerging investment hotspot!
Now, sure, it makes you complicit in the CCP’s terror on Uyghurs.
Oh, wait, that’s not a news article.
It’s just like, one guy’s opinion.
And it’s not, as it turns out, the opinion of the US government.
The Trump White House had briefly considered blocking all US investments in China.
The idea—as presented to the media—was “to protect U.S. investors from excessive
risk due to lack of regulatory supervision.”
And not because the CCP is murdering its own citizens.
But that block never happened.
Eventually it was pared down to just a ban on investing in companies directly linked
to the Chinese military.
And that was pitched as a national security issue.
So why doesn’t the US government do more to stop Americans from investing in China?
Because Wall Street has strong ties to Congress and the White House.
And as long as Wall Street *thinks* they can make money in China, they’ll do whatever
they can to keep the US government from stopping them.
And it’s pretty much the same deal in other Western countries.
Thanks for your question, Knowgoat.
And thanks for watching.
Help us keep making China Uncensored by supporting us with a dollar or more at Patreon.com/ChinaUncensored.
The link is below.
I’m Chris Chappell.
See you next time.