Thousands of students protest in China
Facing off with riot police
Did they actually win?
Welcome to China Uncensored, I’m Chris Chappell.
Massive protests happened in China last week. There’s something you don’t hear every day.
Thousands of students clashed with police last week across several universities.
Walls of student protesters met a wall of police at a university in Nanjing.
Police surged into the university.
And hauled off protesters.
That’s one way to graduate.
The Party has been terrified of Chinese students ever since the
student-led protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
The Party sent in tanks to crush those protests on June 4th. This is known in the West as the
Tiananmen Square Massacre, and in China as “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
So yeah, the Chinese Communist Party doesn’t deal well with student protests.
And since this series of student protests began on June 4th, the Party was less than thrilled.
So why did these students protest last week? Was it about freedom and democracy?
Actually, it was about college mergers.
The Chinese Ministry of Education is trying to merge private colleges with vocational schools.
Which led to this. These students feel very strongly about academic administration.
Let me explain. Chinese society today is ultra competitive.
“China is expected to have a record nine million university graduates this year.”
That’s a lot of people competing for a very small number of good jobs. So everyone is
looking for an edge. If students don’t get into a university, some turn to private colleges instead.
They charge higher tuition, but you can graduate with a bachelor’s degree.
A bachelor’s degree is seen as more prestigious than a vocational degree. But the Communist Party
has now ordered private colleges to merge with vocational schools.
So students at private colleges are now paying more money and getting a worse degree.
They were not happy with that plan.
At Nanjing Normal University, where over a thousand students protested,
Chinese police said students held their 55 year old principal hostage.
“But students said on social media platforms that [the principal] was protesting together
with students by sitting on the ground in front of a lecture hall. Students provided [the principal]
with water, food, a cellphone charger, and tissues, according to social media posts.”
Wait, are you saying that Chinese police would lie about the students to justify their own actions?
Hard to believe.
The backlash got so bad, some provinces suspended the college merger plan.
Though the protesters who camped out at Nanjing Normal University
weren’t told about that until *after* police attacked them with batons and pepper spray.
So on the surface, the students have won. The college merger plan has been suspended,
for now. But, it’s likely that Chinese officials just don’t want any trouble
ahead of the Communist Party’s 100-year anniversary in July.
Once that’s over, the Party’s retaliation against these student protesters will likely begin.
Now the interesting thing about this story is that all these students
have gone through decades of what China calls patriotic education.
It was a systematic brainwashing campaign led by the Communist Party
after the Tiananmen Square Massacre to ensure that students of all ages don’t question the Party.
I’m sure most of these students never even heard of the Tiananmen Square Massacre
and were completely oblivious to the anniversary they unintentionally commemorated.
So it must have been a shock to them when their reasonable concerns
were met with violence from the police.
The Communist Party gave the Chinese people a Faustian bargain.
If you don’t criticize our regime, you can have freedom to...make money. But that’s it.
If you’re not happy about it,
there’s nothing you can do. In fact, if you do protest, you’re branded as a troublemaker.
So when the Communist Party cracks down on a person, or a group,
the general reaction is, well that group did something wrong. They brought it on themselves.
Until, like these students,
you find yourself in the group that’s being repressed for a “reasonable” concern.
Remember, in a communist regime, everyone’s a target.
And now it’s time to answer a question from a member of the China Uncensored 50 Cent Army,
fans who support us and our efforts to expose the truth about the Chinese Communist Party,
by contributing through crowd funding website Patreon.
Balthamus195 asks, “China has threatened anyone who tries to boycott
the 2022 Beijing Olympics but nobody is even allowed into the country,
unless they've taken a Chinese vaccine. I doubt many athletes care that much about the boycott
but I don't think they’d be willing to get the Chinese vaccine (especially if they've
already been vaccinated). So will China back down on this requirement for entry?”
That’s a really interesting question. The Olympics really matter to the Chinese Communist Party.
That’s why they’re freaked out by any international calls for a boycott.
But China is also using the Olympics for its vaccine diplomacy.
They’ve offered Chinese vaccines for this year's Tokyo Olympics and next year’s Beijing Olympics.
And the International Olympics Committee was like, thank you so much! That’s such a great idea!
Japan, however, said no thank you.
But for the Beijing Olympics in 2022, can China force Olympic athletes to take Chinese vaccines?
Earlier this year, China did say that only foreigners who took
Chinese vaccines would be allowed into the country.
But according to an embassy statement in April, US citizens who have taken
US vaccines can now enter China as well.
So while I’m sure the Chinese regime will make every effort to make a deal with the IOC to push
Chinese vaccines, the Communist Party’s priority is making sure the Olympics happen without a
hitch. So I don’t think athletes would be banned if they haven’t taken the Chinese vaccines.
Thanks for your question and your support, Balthamus195.
And a big thank you to everyone who supports China Uncensored on Patreon. We could not do this show
without you. So thank you for joining us in the fight to expose the Chinese Communist Party to
the world. If you’re interested in joining, head over to Patreon.com/ChinaUncensored. You’ll get
a bunch of cool perks, including the chance to have me answer your question on the show!
Once again I’m Chris Chappell, see you next time.