China threatens to send the military into Hong Kong
as triads attack protesters.
And China is also on the warpath...pretty much everywhere.
Stay ahead of the curve on this week’s China Uncensored.
This is China Uncensored, I’m Chris Chappell.
This week’s China news headlines!
Retired Chinese Communist Party official Li Peng died on Monday night.
Li Peng was known for...
killing a lot of people.
You might know him as the “Butcher of Beijing”,
one of the masterminds behind the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
Or as state-run Xinhua News describes him,
“an excellent Party member.”
The Tiananmen Square Massacre is on everyone’s mind for another reason:
Hong Kong.
Chinese authorities are maybe possibly considering
sending in the People’s Liberation Army.
If the Hong Kong government asks nicely.
The chief spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense,
Senior Colonel Wu Qian, said,
“The behavior of some radical protesters challenges the central government’s authority...
That absolutely cannot be tolerated.”
So you know, protesters splash black paint on the national emblem,
we get to crush you with tanks.
Fair’s fair.
Colonel Wu went on to reference a law,
“that allows the People’s Liberation Army to intervene,
when requested by Hong Kong’s leaders,
to maintain order or assist in cases of natural disasters.”
In completely unrelated news, the People’s Liberation Army
is running anti-riot drills in Guangdong province,
according to their Weibo account.
But would Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam actually call in the PLA?
Well, she may not have much choice if she’s ah,
“requested to” by Beijing.
But at the end of the day, the Chinese Communist Party
knows who’s really to blame for the protests.
It’s the fundamental incompatibility between China’s authoritarian Party-state
and Hong Kong’s cherished freedoms.
Just kidding!
It’s the black hands—
the hostile foreign forces leading things on the ground.
Which is why the Chinese regime is calling on the US
to remove its black hands from Hong Kong.
Of course, that’s ridiculous.
We left Hong Kong weeks ago.
But even without the Chinese military in Hong Kong,
things are already getting violent.
“After weeks of clashes between demonstrators and police,
the spotlight has shifted to the territory's shadowy criminal network.
Some opposition lawmakers say the men in white were triad gangsters.”
Yes, the infamous Hong Kong triads.
And they’re on the side of the Chinese Communist Party.
I mean, they do have a lot in common.
At least 45 people were injured on Sunday
after men in white t-shirts attacked protesters.
As well as bystanders, like this guy,
who was just trying to get home.
Fortunately, despite the conflicts between police and protesters over the past month,
police were quick to stop the violence.
“One lawmaker said it took police more than an hour to show up after he called them.”
Okay, nevermind.
Now some of the footage was pretty graphic.
Of course we can’t show you that,
because the last time we showed footage of a violent police response
to a protest in the Chinese city of Wuhan,
YouTube age-restricted the video so hardly anyone saw it.
It’s important to protect people from facts.
So far police have arrested several men with triad links related to the attack.
But the police have also banned a planned protest against mob violence.
Well, I’m sure that no one would dare protest now.
But there might be a few hundred thousand people who show up on Saturday
to hold a religious gathering because...
they’re really, really sad that Li Peng died.
Yeah, that’s why.
But I wouldn’t want you to think the Chinese Communist Party
is on the warpath with Hong Kong.
There are plenty of other countries/regions where the Communist Party
is also on the warpath.
In a newly released Chinese military white paper,
the Party says if Taiwan ever moves towards formal independence,
the Chinese Communist Party will go to war.
This comes in the same month the US announced
a 2 billion dollar weapons deal with Taiwan.
So this should be fun.
Defense ministry spokesman Wu Qian said,
“We must firmly point out that seeking Taiwan independence is a dead end.”
He added, wink wink, get it?
Dead end.
After which he chuckled a bit, before saying,
“Seriously, we will invade Taiwan and kill anyone who resists.”
China’s new military white paper also took aim at the Trump administration—
for standing up to the Chinese Communist Party.
“It claimed ‘hegemonism’ is on the rise.”
To which Trump responded, gotta catch ’em all, Hegemon!
But I wouldn’t want you to think the Chinese Communist Party
is on the warpath with only Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the United States.
The white paper also is promising more military cooperation with Russia.
To which South Korea responded,
“Oh really?
We hadn’t noticed.”
A few days before the white paper release,
“two Russian bombers and two Chinese warplanes—
both capable of dropping nuclear weapons—
entered South Korea’s air defense identification zone.”
Which was shortly followed by another Russian aircraft.
And then South Korea scrambled 18 fighter jets,
which fired machine-gun rounds and released flares.
But I wouldn’t want you to think the Chinese Communist Party
is on the warpath with only Hong Kong,
Taiwan, the United States, and South Korea.
Japan said that Chinese and Russian aircraft
also flew over disputed Japanese territory.
Which is great news.
Don’t worry though.
Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan are not the real problems.
It’s the United States that’s to blame—
for destabilizing the world.
The military white paper,
besides highlighting all the places China is willing to go to war over,
singled out the US for undermining global strategic stability.
And China, “resolutely opposes the wrong practices
and provocative activities of the U.S.”
For example, last week,
President Trump met with victims of religious persecution around the world,
including four people from China—
a Tibetan Buddhist,
a Uighur Muslim,
a Christian,
and a Falun Gong practitioner.
Thank you so much, thank you so very much.
My favorite Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman
and Mortal Kombat character, Lu Kang was furious.
He said, “There is no so-called religious persecution in China at all.
The Chinese citizens enjoy freedom of religious belief in accordance with law.”
Ohhhhh, Lu Kang just pulled off a fatality on facts!
Speaking of the US’s provocative activities,
here’s FBI director Christopher Wray clearly antagonizing the Communist Party.
“China is fighting a generational fight here.
And when I say China, I want to be clear,
this is not about the Chinese people as a whole,
or the Chinese Americans in this country.
What it is about, though, is a variety of ways the Chinese Communist Party
is using government officials, private sector entities …
to steal their way up the economic ladder at our expense.”
Okay, sure, Chrisotpher Wray is making it very clear
this is not about Chinese people as a whole.
But when people have criticized the Communist Party before,
that hasn’t ever stopped the Communist Party from crying racism anyway.
After all, Lu Kang is Mr. Fact Fatality.
But the accusation that China was stealing their way up the economic ladder
was echoed by Brigadier General DeAnna Burt of the US Space Command.
She recently said,
China was stealing the US Space Command Blind.
Which I can only assume means China has stolen Geordi’s visor.
But China’s space program may be having some problems.
A senior official there is under investigation for corruption.
Which if you’ve been paying any attention to China Uncensored,
you know what it means when an official is charged with corruption.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has made the military a particular focus
of his so-called anti-corruption campaign.
And while in most cases,
the officials really are corrupt,
the corrupt ones Xi Jinping goes after
also tend to be tied to his political rivals.
Which is why there’s a saying in China,
“Shoot for the moon.
Even if you miss,
dying in the vacuum of space is still better
than what the Communist Party will do to you.”
And finally, the China-Russia cooperation doesn’t stop at the military.
It’s also hitting the big screen!
The Jackie Chan, Arnold Schwarzenegger movie
was directed by a Russian and filmed in Beijing.
It’s called The Mystery of the Dragon Seal: Journey to China.
It’s a chance to recapture all that childhood magic,
and then throw that magic on the ground and stomp on it
after you realize your childhood heroes have been tarnished forever.
And that’s it for this week’s China news headlines!
And now it’s time for me to answer a question from one of you—
a fan who support China Uncensored with a dollar or more per episode,
by contributing through Patreon.
Joe King asks,
“Chris, does the CCP target the ancient eastern religions
with the same fervor delivered unto Western and Middle Eastern religions?”
Well, just ask the Tibetan Buddhists.
But beyond the Tibetans,
Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism
have also been heavily persecuted.
Especially during the Cultural Revolution,
when their ancient religious iconography got smashed.
Under Mao, there was even a specific campaign to criticize Confucius.
But once Buddhists, Daoists, and Confucians were brought to heel,
the Chinese Communist Party set up the State Administration for Religious Affairs,
so religion could flourish as a well controlled part
of the officially atheist Chinese Communist Party.
Each of the 5 major religions in China has been controlled
by the Party under this organization.
But in 2018, Xi Jinping said the State Administration for Religious Affairs would be dissolved,
and religion would come directly under the control of the United Front Work Department.
Because remember, as Lu Kang said,
“There is no so-called religious persecution in China at all.
The Chinese citizens enjoy freedom of religious belief in accordance with law.”
And Lu Kang is an expert at sending people to the afterlife.
Thanks for your question.
And thanks to everyone watching!
We could not make this show without your support.
Whether it’s supporting us through Patreon
or just watching and sharing the show with your friends and family.
So thank you from me and everyone on the China Uncensored team.
Once again I’m Chris Chappell,
see you next time.