On this episode of China Uncensored,
China Wants to Tell You About the South China Sea.
Hi, welcome to China Uncensored.
I’m your host Chris Chappell.
An international United Nations Tribunal
may have ruled against China's claims to the South China Sea,
but the Chinese Communist Party has something the UN doesn't have
billions of dollars to spend on propaganda.
The Chinese regime has invested
8.9 billion dollars in what they call “external publicity work.”
That is, spreading its propaganda message to the West.
They've bought newspapers, television networks,
they even created an English language version of state-run CCTV
and put its headquarters seven blocks from the White House.
And hey, newspapers around the world are struggling financially.
Why not just pay them to put propaganda side by side with actual journalism?
They call it China Watch.
Here it is in the Wall Street Journal,
The Daily Telegraph,
and the New York Times.
And then there's this.
If you haven't noticed the giant ad
for Communist Party mouthpiece Xinhua in the center of Times Square,
you're probably playing too much Pokémon Go.
Oh, but it's been there.
Broadcasting Chinese propaganda 24/7, 365 days a year since 2011.
Yes, for five years.
At that time,
this prime piece of ad space
was estimated to cost at least three hundred thousand dollars
a month.
And the Communist Party is putting it to good use now.
Check this out!
Okay, so you can't actually hear the sound in Times Square.
But it’s a video explaining why the South China Sea
clearly belongs to the Communist Party
and why the Hague ruling is illegitimate.
The newest one has been playing 120 times a day since July 23.
And its last day is August 3,
so hurry to Times Square before it's too late!
I'm kidding of course.
As a New Yorker,
I recommend you avoid Times Square like the plague.
Fortunately, the video can also be seen online.
It’s one among many propaganda videos on the South China Sea
you can enjoy from China’s state-run media.
Here’s a fun animation of a grandpa telling his granddaughter
about why the South China Sea belongs to China.
Well, I think those countries should really take a look at history.
Then they'll see that China was the first to settle there,
the first to trade there, and the first to make the area secure.
You can believe it,
because Grandpa has a British accent.
Then there’s this one from China Daily.
It shows foreigners trashing the tribunal.
"China has a position
a long standing position,
and it's not budging."
That’s weird.
No, not that those quotes sound like they could be
merely describing China’s position not supporting it
but that China Daily used the same hip hop baseline
as this song about about tricking people and then stabbing them to death.
Just saying.
Anyway, are you shocked that the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda
can be played in New York's Times Square?
Well, I'll tell you who was shocked.
Catherine West.
She's a member of the UK Parliament.
Here's what she said in the video about the South China Sea.
That's why we have to be careful,
that yes, we need to resolve something very locally,
and have a grown up approach to dialogue."
Well that's just what China is always saying about the South China Sea!
She gave that interview at the 5th China-Europe High-level Political Parties Forum in Beijing
held in May 2016.
Except when Quartz reached out to her for comment,
it turned out grown-up dialogue is still lacking.
Not only did nobody tell her they were going to use her interview for this,
they completely quoted her out of context.
What she was actually saying is that China has been militarizing the region
and it needs to stop doing that
and start using dialogue, like grown-ups.
Not exactly the same message,
but you wouldn't know that if you're watching in Times Square.
So how do you feel about the Chinese regime broadcasting its message in Times Square?
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Thanks for watching this episode of China Uncensored.
Once again, I’m Chris Chappell.
See you next time.