Chinese authorities are producing propaganda videos
showing fake rescues,
and fake “feel good” cop stories.
But now we see behind the scenes.
Welcome to China Uncensored. I’m Chris Chappell.
I know Chinese police can sometimes get a bad rap,
what with all the stories of laziness, corruption, and outright theft.
But every so often, you see videos online of the Chinese police being the good guys,
and it warms your heart. Or at least, it’s supposed to.
Chinese presitator Xi Jinping likes to call these videos “positive energy”.
That’s opposed to “negative energy”, which are videos like this. Oh, c’mon, you harass her,
then dump out her plums? That’s the pits. And that’s why China needs more “positive
energy” videos. To guide public opinion to love the authorities.
In fact, Beijing appoints more than 2 million propaganda workers and
collaborators, who’ve been ordered to “make more efforts in opinion guiding on hot topics.”
Many times on this show I’ve shown you how Chinese authorities treat everyday citizens.
Like when they pin this elderly man to the ground and take his cart of apples.
Or when they come to take a share of her produce. Or all their produce.
Or when they just randomly start smashing mahjong tables; ok, that cop has some real anger issues.
I’m only going to show you that much. Any more and YouTube would probably demonetize or even
age-restrict this video. Beijing isn’t the only group involved in “guiding public opinion.”
Anyway, some of China’s “positive energy” police videos are just weird.
Like this boy who lets go of his father’s hand so that he can hold a police officer’s hand instead.
Or this girl who is performing a dance for the authorities as a
thank you for keeping her safe during the Covid lockdown. Yup, the authorities are
keeping people safe by nailing bars over their apartment doors so they can’t leave.
Now if you’re thinking, “I wonder if some of these ‘positive energy’ videos are
staged”... Well, do I have something to show you.
Lights, Camera, Action! Help the old man across the street.
Okay, push the car and… Cut!
Remember your roles. You’re here to keep the streets clean.
Great work, everyone, take 5. Stand up, stretch your legs.
Now, as a video creator myself, I know it’s not easy to always get the best shot.
Like, sometimes, you need a video of police rescuing flood victims,
but there’s not enough rain. But with a little creativity, you can make it work.
Might as well also shoot a video of hard working public servants
sweeping up during a typhoon. And by typhoon, I mean fire hose.
Sometimes, these slip-ups make it hard to understand what’s
actually going on in the minds of Chinese police.
It’s like they know what the right thing to do looks like...
but they still insist on faking it.
Now if you’re wondering what Chinese officials do when these videos and photos get leaked online...
they just slap on a fat watermark that says “FAKE. REPOSTING PROHIBITED.”
Easy peasy.
Now I understand the Chinese Communist Party’s perspective.
They want to “provide boundless spiritual energy to those who are struggling.”
For instance, after the devastating floods last month, there was a trend of videos that showed
troops being sent from neighboring villages to assist in relief in flood-stricken areas. Locals
would chase these vehicles and toss them boxes of food and supplies to support the soldiers.
But you can see a slip-up in this video, where an unsuccessful throw reveals the
box of supplies is nearly empty. That one didn’t make the final cut.
This video is supposed to show healthcare workers lying down on the sidewalk, exhausted
from treating Covid patients nonstop. But you can hear one healthcare worker tell another to
change her position—because they can’t all be in the same position or it would look suspicious.
She’s clearly not too exhausted to move.
One of the worst things about making all these “positive energy” videos
is that they’re wasting the time of people who could be actually trying to solve
whatever problem they’re pretending to solve.
I mean, I get it, it’s hard to always be positive.
I’m sure the actual work of being a policeman is hard—in any country.
And there are also problems within the ranks of police—in any country.
But in China, the Chinese Communist Party doesn’t try to reform the police by cracking down on
their bad behavior. Instead, they just create propaganda videos to make the police look good.
They want citizens to think, “The police can’t be THAT bad,
because they clearly do SOME good.” And that logic seems to work.
And all this only touches on one of the many ways the Chinese Communist Party uses propaganda.
Propaganda workers are also responsible for spending money
to improve the Party’s image abroad. They’re even building their influence
on foreign social media like Twitter and Facebook, which are both banned in China.
I just hope people in the West don’t fall for it,
or we’ll end up living in a world of Xi Jinping thought.
And now it’s time for me to answer a question from one of you—a fan who
supports China Uncensored by contributing through the crowdfunding website Patreon.
Carbide149 asks, “Are there any competitors to Goldman Sachs,
Blackrock or JP Morgan that are avoiding investment in China?”
Good question. Unfortunately, all the big financial companies invest in China.
It’s taken as a given that China is too big to ignore.
Too big to ignore.
And did I mention too big to ignore?
And even if one didn’t want to invest in China, it’s almost impossible not to,
because all of the big market indexes, like MSCI, give heavy weight to Chinese stocks.
I only know about one index that doesn’t. It’s called the “Freedom 100 Emerging Markets Index”.
It includes investment in companies around the world, but weighted by their country’s freedom,
not just by market size or growth rates. And it doesn't include China at all.
Their logic is that free markets grow more sustainably, use capital more efficiently,
and recover from crises faster. So long term, free countries are better investments.
There’s also an ETF based on the Freedom 100 Index.
Last year, we did a podcast with the founder of the Freedom 100 Index,
Perth Tolle. The Iink is below.
Thanks for your question and your support, Carbide149.
And a big thank you to everyone else who supports China Uncensored on Patreon.
We could not do this show without your direct support.
If you’re interested in supporting us, 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, thanks for watching China Uncensored.
Cut. Ugh, thank goodness.