If you don’t like how China has handled the coronavirus...
you’d better keep your mouth shut.
Or else, you’re a racist!
At least, that’s what the Chinese Communist Party says.
Welcome back to China Uncensored.
I’m Chris Chappell.
In our last segment, I showed you how the Chinese Communist Party
covered up the coronavirus, and used ruthless authoritarian tactics
to suppress its citizens...
...and yet still managed to turn it into a propaganda win.
Watch that segment if you haven’t already.
It’s a great lesson on how to create a huge mess
and then make everyone believe you are saving them
from the mess that you created.
But some people here in the west continue to criticize how
the Chinese Communist Party has handled the coronavirus.
Like how they covered it up for weeks,
which is why it’s now a global pandemic.
That makes it much harder for the Chinese Communist Party
to claim they’ve saved the world.
Which is why the Party has a new term for the people who criticize them:
Racist.
Just look at this article
in my favorite Chinese state-run media, the Global Times:
“Racism shows ugly side as China fights coronavirus.”
I feel like the Communist Party really gets us.
As soon as they made it about racism,
American media latched onto it.
And sure, I get it.
There have been documented instances of racism,
from the predictable to the weird.
Like this questionable Corona Time photo from Belgium.
And this Mexican performance with a dancing coronavirus,
wearing a conical hat and a fu manchu.
And then, from New York City...
“This video, showing a man on the subway
spraying an Asian man with Febreze.”
Which is not only racist, but also bad science.
Febreze cannot neutralize the virus.
Also, what kind of person carries around of Febreze?
There have also been more serious cases of allegedly racist attacks.
Anyway, all this is to say, there have definitely been cases
of individuals being racist towards Chinese people—
or I guess towards Asians in general,
since racist people don’t always try to make that distinction.
But that’s not what the Chinese Communist Party is concerned about.
What they’re doing is accusing governments
and media organizations of being racist.
And using that to push their own propaganda.
For example, in February, as the Chinese economy was crashing
from the impact of the Communist Party’s massive quarantines,
the Wall Street Journal published this editorial,
calling China the real sick man of Asia.
“Sick man of BLANK”
actually refers to a country that’s in trouble economically—
and that’s very clear if you actually read the article.
But as I talked about in a previous episode,
“Sick Man of Asia” is a term
that has historically been considered racist in China,
dating back to the early 20th century.
So it’s not surprising that Chinese state-run media
demanded an apology for the “racist headline.”
In fact, they published dozens of articles that criticized
the “racist” and “anti-China” reaction to the coronavirus
that used the Wall Street Journal article as the main example.
And Chinese authorities expelled three Wall Street Journal reporters from China
after it came out...
...though the expulsion was probably not really about the headline,
as much as it was getting rid of Western journalists in China.
Chinese state-run media also cried racism
when a newspaper in Denmark published this image.
The article criticized the Chinese regime’s coverup of the coronavirus.
The Chinese embassy demanded an apology.
Which they did not get.
Because the image wasn’t racist against Chinese people.
It was satirizing the Chinese government,
which allowed the virus to spread
because it covered it up for almost two months!
Foreign governments are not immune to charges of racism, either.
That Chinese state media article says the Australian government’s
travel ban on people who had recently been in China
“provoked a new resurgence of racism.”
Even though the ban was only on people coming to Australia from mainland China.
It did not target ethnically Chinese people coming to Australia from elsewhere,
including Taiwan.
So the travel ban targeted the country that had the outbreak,
not Chinese people.
So really, when it comes to media and governments,
what we’ve been seeing is not racism,
but words and actions specifically targeted at the country of China
and its ruling regime, the Chinese Communist Party.
But that nuance is intentionally ignored by the Chinese Communist Party
and its state-run media.
They want to conflate those issues to play the racism card.
Let me show you exactly how they do it.
Here’s an opinion piece in the LA Times,
written by the head of the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles.
First he spends half the article
praising China’s response to the coronavirus,
claiming that its response saved the rest of the world,
and repeating how the World Health Organization is praising China.
This is exactly the type of propaganda spin
we talked about in our previous segment.
But here’s the key paragraph.
The Chinese diplomat brings up
“disturbing reports from around the world about discrimination
and stigmatization of the Chinese community.”
What kind of discrimination?
Xenophobia on social media, attacks on Chinese people,
and discrimination against Chinese doctors.
Then in the very next sentence, he says,
“And despite its unparalleled response to the crisis,
the Chinese government has been attacked by some people
out of ideological prejudice.”
In three sentences,
this Chinese diplomat equates criticism of the Chinese government
with xenophobia and physical attacks against Chinese people.
He’s saying they’re the same thing.
That’s the trick.
They’re taking individual cases of racism,
and mixing them with targeted actions against the Chinese government
and targeted criticisms of the Chinese regime.
And state-run media are spinning it as “the West is racist against China.”
Yes, that’s the trick and people are falling for it.
In fact, Chinese state-run media have even gone so far as to say
racism is a worse enemy than the epidemic.
Oh right.
It’s *racism* that’s killed 6,000 people in the past two months.
In February, Chinese state-run media
had criticized the US for implementing a travel ban
on people who had recently been inside China.
And then in March, Chinese state-run media upped their game:
claiming it’s racist to even say the coronavirus originated in China.
This Global Times article says
“Some American officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,
are using ‘Wuhan virus’ which is considered a racist term.”
So even though the first cases of the coronavirus were in Wuhan, China...
it’s racist to say that?
Yes.
Apparently it is.
Because starting in late February,
Chinese state media began spinning a new narrative:
the idea that the coronavirus “may not originate in China.”
Yes, the origin “still hangs in the air.”
And soon, Chinese social media sites began
“pushing the idea that the virus really originated in the United States.”
And then, the Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson tweeted that,
“It might be [the] US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan.”
Now, at first glance, this seems crazy.
But the more they push that idea,
the more people will actually start to question
whether it really did start in China,
especially when you can’t say it did without being called racist.
The good news is that the US government
is not letting them get away with it.
Last week, the State Department summoned the Chinese Ambassador
over the Foreign Ministry spokesperson’s tweets.
And Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned China’s efforts
to shift the coronavirus blame on the US,
in a phone call with a communist party official.
But that hasn’t stopped the Chinese government from pushing the idea
that no one knows where the coronavirus really came from.
And now, when someone suggests the coronavirus originated in China,
they cry racism!
What’s incredible is how quickly the narrative shifted.
Because just 8 weeks ago,
Chinese state media had specifically referred to the coronavirus
as the “Wuhan virus.”
But what’s even more incredible is how some Western media
have completely bought into the Chinese Communist Party’s narrative
about racism.
For example, after a US congressman referred to the “Wuhan virus” in a tweet...
...the media jumped on it, saying the remark stirred a ‘racism’ debate.
“GOP lawmakers continue to use ‘Wuhan virus’ or ‘Chinese coronavirus’”.
And “Republicans face backlash over racist labeling”.
Nicely done, Chinese Communist Party.
You know us so well.
It’s only been a few months since the outbreak.
And instead of the West criticizing you for your massive coverup
that turned it into a global pandemic that’s killed thousands of people,
you’ve got us fighting ourselves over racism.
Now, I’m not going to argue about whether the term
Chinese coronavirus or Wuhan coronavirus is racist or not.
No, I’ll be tackling that in an episode of my new show,
Racism Unleashed.
What’s that, Shelley?
Ok, I’m being told that’s a terrible idea for a show.
But my point is, the Chinese Communist Party is using accusations of racism
to cover their own butts.
The fact that they can also use accusations of racism
to get us to fight with each other forever is just a bonus.
So dear viewers, I have a suggestion.
Let’s not call it the “Wuhan coronavirus” or the “Chinese coronavirus.”
It was the Chinese Communist Party that turned a small number of infections
into a global pandemic by covering it up—
and that’s exactly what they’re trying to distract us from.
So let’s call it what it really is: The “CCP Coronavirus.”
It’s hard to argue *that’s* racist.
Next up, I’ll answer a question from a member of our 50-Cent Army.
Those are the people who support China Uncensored through Patreon.
DeBrainz asks:
“Does the CCP have any influence in choosing medical managers
inside Chinese hospitals?
If so, how does it work?
In the US, a board of directors chooses the most qualified a
nd experienced medical professional in a department to be the manager.”
Good question.
Broadly speaking, the answer is yes.
I’m not saying US hospitals are always a meritocracy.
But in China, qualification and experience
cannot be the most important criteria in any big organization.
That’s because organizations with 50-plus employees in China
are required to have a Communist Party branch.
Party representatives will make sure that the decision-makers in that company
are loyal to the Party.
A company that’s disloyal to the Party will be punished or be shut down,
so it’s in each company’s interest to make sure the people in charge
toe the Party line.
That’s why many people join the Party.
It’s not because they are fans,
but because it’s a solid career move.
The person in charge might also be qualified professionally,
but the Party generally has a hand in who gets promoted.
Thanks for your question.
And thanks for watching.
Support China Uncensored by pledging a dollar or more per episode,
so we can keep covering the coronavirus,
even as YouTube demonetizes us.
Once again, I’m Chris Chappell.
See you next time.