Chinese students are being brainwashed
about how terrible Ukraine is and how great Putin’s invasion is.
And it’s even creepier than you think.
Welcome to China Uncensored.
I’m Shelley Zhang, filling in for Chris Chappell, who’s hopefully enjoying his vacation
and not just doomscrolling on Instagram.
Seriously, Chris, put down the phone.
Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin are friends.
Best friends.
I wonder what their text messages look like right now.
Probably a lot of this.
No one understands an authoritarian leader who’s trying to reclaim his historical territory,
better than another authoritarian leader who’s trying to reclaim his historical territory.
Which means, so far, these guys are sticking together.
And one way to do that is to make sure everyone knows your bestie is right, and the guy he’s
fighting with is wrong.
Even if it means brainwashing a billion people.
Especially the children.
While externally, the Chinese Communist Party has been careful to not be too supportive
of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, internally it’s another matter.
Quietly, they’ve done things like...using Huawei to help Putin stabilize Russia’s
internet.
And censoring anyone who isn’t supporting Russia’s invasion, including people who
are calling for peace.
They even censored cries for help from Chinese students trapped in Ukraine.
But deleting those cries for help wasn’t a big deal.
Because they were completely unnecessary!
According to Chinese state-run media, all Chinese nationals trapped in Ukraine have
been safely evacuated!
To…other parts of Ukraine.
Thanks, motherland!
When Russia’s invasion first started, “Chinese media initially easily slotted the Russian
invasion into a narrative where Russian President Vladimir Putin was the put-upon hero and NATO
and the West were the malevolent villains.”
I mean, every story the Chinese Communist Party tells has the West as the malevolent
villains.
And the lack of good information inside China led to Chinese netizens just making up their
own news, like how Ukraine set fire to its own nuclear plant.
Yes, totally not because of a Russian attack.
But the most telling sign of the Chinese Communist Party’s stance on the Ukraine invasion is
how it’s being discussed in schools.
I’ll show you after the break.
Welcome back... to the Chinese Communist Party’s real stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Get ready for class.
“READY, READY!”.
Place your books.
“BOOKS ARE PLACED.”
Class 3-1.
“HERE!”
And that’s just the warm up.
It gets…more intense.
Whose soldiers?
“YOUR SOLDIERS” Whose troops?
“YOUR TROOPS” Hands on the desk.
“BACK STRAIGHT”
And that’s not just one isolated classroom.
Online videos show this is a trend.
You know, like a viral TikTok dance, but way more aggressive.
Whose soldiers?
“YOUR SOLDIERS” Whose troops?
“YOUR TROOPS”
First graders.
“HERE!”
Whose soldiers?
“YOUR SOLDIERS” Whose troops?
“YOUR TROOPS” Hands on the desk.
“BACK STRAIGHT” Place your books.
“UPPER RIGHT”
Whose soldiers?
“YOUR SOLDIERS” Whose troops?
“YOUR TROOPS”
This is now officially the creepiest viral trend.
It almost makes me miss the Harlem Shake.
And it’s even creepier with older students.
Shhhhh.
6th grade class.
“HERE!”
Whose soldiers?
“YOUR SOLDIERS” Whose troops?
“YOUR TROOPS” Teacher: There’s been a sudden global change.
Ukraine has become the centerpoint of the world’s attention.
In the 20th century, Ukraine was once a country of riches.
Because at the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukraine, being the “second son” of the
USSR, inherited a huge military legacy.
The first inheritance: A nuclear arsenal, the most powerful of which are the intercontinental
missiles, Satan missiles, unstoppable.
The second inheritance: Battle tanks, more than 6,000 of them.
With speeds of up to 70 kilometers per hour.
The third inheritance: Three aircraft carriers.
With more than 300 planes.
Ready to launch at a single command.
The fourth inheritance: The world’s largest strategic bomber, Tupolev Tu-160.
It has a graceful appearance, giving it the nickname, “White Swan.”
Why are Chinese students being forced to recite all of the different weaponry Ukraine had?
The real lesson here is that Ukraine used to be strong, thanks to the Soviet Union.
But now it sucks.
Teacher: Ukraine is a wastrel.
They’ve inherited so much military equipment from the Soviet Union in the past.
But now they’ve become the most remorseful country.
So what is the lesson we have learned?
“Self-reliance!
We must study hard.
Build the motherland.
Defend the motherland.”
And if that’s not weird enough...
there’s this.
“We will bravely defend the motherland’s every mountain and river.
It’s your firm conviction!
Let the fiery struggle guide me.”
Surprise!
It turned into a TikTok dance after all.
The choreography could use some work.
But the key part of the lesson actually comes right before the dance routine, when the kids
start talking about self-reliance.
That particular phrase comes straight from Xi Jinping, who has spent years emphasizing
China’s need for self-reliance.
Self-relieance is important, in case the rest of the world gets really mad at the Chinese
regime for its unfair trade practices, massive Covid coverup, aggressive territorial expansion,
and you know, genocide.
And then the world stops giving China money.
Hey, a girl can dream.
So in this lesson, Ukraine isn’t just an example of what happens when you want to join
the evil West, but also what happens when your country is not self reliant.
But there’s also plenty of the West is evil stuff, too.
Teacher, Why is Russia sending soldiers to Ukraine?
Because of conflict.
And because Ukraine wants to join NATO.
Listen to this story and it will all become clear.
I’m going to spare you from having to watch this entire thing.
So let me summarize: in this morality tale, Russia and Ukraine are the sons of the Soviet
Union.
Sure, older brother Russia and younger brother Ukraine have some family squabbles, but everything
is fine until Ukraine decides to throw it all in Russia’ face by embracing Russia’s
worst enemy: NATO.
So Big Brother Russia needs to bring Younger Brother Ukraine back home.
“Younger brother, if you make an error on our principles, I will beat you up.”
But America has always been in the back playing dirty tricks, fooling Ukraine into fighting
with Russia.
Older brother Russia’s attitude was resolute on the principle of national security, and
it sent troops to the border.
Teacher: What do you think about this story?
The world undergoes constant, complicated ups and downs.
We are not living in a peaceful time, though we are living in a peaceful country.
Thank you, motherland.
We are so happy and fortunate in your embrace.
Yes we are so happy and fortunate in your embrace.
Somehow I didn’t get the sense that that teacher wanted to know what those kids really
thought about this story.
But from the Chinese Communist Party’s perspective, these stories about Ukraine and Russia are
actually about America and China.
And of course, Taiwan.
Ukraine was weak and un-self reliant and was therefore manipulated by America.
Russia was justified in invading its “little brother” Ukraine in order to save it.
And someday, a self-reliant China will be just as justified when it invades Taiwan in
order to save it.
You know what they say.
Motherland knows best.
And now it’s time for me to answer a question from a fan who supports China Uncensored on
the crowdfunding website Patreon, or the exclusive social media platform Locals.
On Patreon, Laura J asks: “With all those sanctions on Russia and Russian banks and
businesses, and even video game companies are starting to boycott and stop sales from
Russian civilians, how come the west is so quick to defend Ukrainians but not the Uyghurs
and all the minorities that CCP has been abusing and invading for decades?
In fact, they even INVADED other people's countries and independent sovereign territories
like HK, and the west didn't do much about it.
I already know why because the west cares more about actual sentiments AND a lot of
it being bought out by CCP, but I just want to hear what y'all think.
wait, is this how i ask you guys questions?”
Well, Laura, yes.
This is how you ask questions.
You can leave a comment in a Patreon post, or direct message us.
Look, it’s easier for the West to stand up to Russia than China, for a lot of reasons.
One, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is happening now.
It’s not a thing that happened 70 years ago like China’s invasion of Tibet.
China took over Tibet and East Turkestan and Southern Mongolia long enough ago that these
areas are officially recognized as part of China by other countries.
And it’s geopolitically harder to pressure a regime to stop abusing its own people within
its borders.
I mean, for years Putin poisoned people and imprisoned political opponents, suppressed
protests, and did several other “special military operations”, and he didn’t get
the reaction he’s getting now.
Meanwhile, the US and the EU have sanctioned China for its genocide of the Uyghurs.
Which is definitely a step in the right direction.
But the West should be doing more.
Two, Russia’s invasion is being done with military force, unlike China’s takeover
of Hong Kong.
That was done through an agreement with the UK.
Russia is also invading another country.
Ukraine has been a sovereign nation for 30 years, unlike Hong Kong, which has been legally
recognized as being part of China since 1997.
Before that, it was a British colony.
Hong Kong was never an independent sovereign territory.
Any freedoms Hong Kong has had since 1997 were granted under China’s “one country,
two systems” policy.
China promised to let Hong Kong keep those freedoms for 50 years.
But as the Chinese Communist Party demonstrated back in 2020, they could take those freedoms
away any time they wanted.
And they did.
Now if China invades Taiwan, which is an independent country, that’s a different story.
And three, it’s easy for the US to sabction Russia because Russia is a much smaller economy
than China.
For the most part, the US doesn’t need to trade with Russia.
US-Russia trade is less than one tenth the size of US-China trade.
And China is much more enmeshed in the global economy than Russia is.
That’s why you don’t see McDonalds, Starbucks, or Coca-Cola being willing to pull out of
China like they’re doing in Russia.
Thank you for your question, Laura.
And thank you to all of you who support China Uncensored by contributing a dollar or more
per episode through the crowdfunding website Patreon.
Visit Patreon.com/ChinaUncensored to learn more.
Thanks for watching China Uncensored.
I’m Shelley Zhang.
See you next time.