There are a lot of misconceptions about China And you might have some of them
Here are the top 7
Welcome to China Uncensored, I’m Chris Chappell.
I’ve been doing China Uncensored for 10 years, and in that time, I’ve gotten all
sorts of different responses from people.
Many people get the message that I’ve been sending all this time: that China is run by
an authoritarian Marxist-Leninist regime that’s so power hungry that it’s willing to sacrifice
people’s lives and undermine world security.
Then there are the people who are like, “But they have pandas.
So can China *really* be that bad?
Look, it’s waving!
What’s a Uyghur, anyway?”
There are a lot of people out there who are very skeptical that China is as bad as people
make it out to be.
Perhaps you yourself are skeptical.
If so, this episode is for you.
Here are some common misconceptions people have about China, starting with
Number 7: criticisms against China are exaggerated.
Nobody these days likes or trusts the media, especially in the West.
According to Fortune Magazine, trust in the media is so low that half of Americans now
believe that news organizations deliberately mislead them.
Which the media refutes with this chart they say is totally accurate and definitely real.
So some people are skeptical when mainstream media comes out with negative press about
China, and want a more “balanced” view.
And it’s true, China is a huge country full of different viewpoints.
But just about the only perspective coming out of China is the Chinese Communist Party’s
state-backed media.
And even that makes things look pretty bad.
Like when state-run media rolled out this video showing a simulated missile strike against
Taiwan.
Or when this state media work tried to make a post showing how free the Uyghurs are, and
ended up showing how bad things are.
China uses rape as a form of torture.
What’s the balanced view of that?
On top of that, the idea that mainstream media wants people to hate China couldn’t be further
from the truth.
Many have vested interests in *not* making China angry.
Media companies are more than willing to receive money from China,
Publish pro-Chinese op-eds,
And even self-censor.
Some still have a rosy view of China and call for engagement with it.
But the fact that they still have reports that paint China in a negative light shows
just how bad China’s actions are.
Even the media doesn’t lie *that* much.
Speaking of painting China in a positive light,
Number 6: Chinese apps are no different from Western ones.
Most people probably know by now about TikTok , which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance
. Its data collection faces a lot of scrutiny, with many countries seeking to restrict TikTok
use, at least in government devices.
But, I mean, let’s face it, pretty much every app these days seems to have shady data
collection practices, so it’s easy to wonder how TikTok’s data collection is any different
from Western apps like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter .
It’s pretty creepy how every time I log onto Facebook there are tons of ads for things
I Googled earlier that day.
I’m just joking.
I didn’t Google Gilmore Girls on DVD.
I’ve owned that on Blu-ray for years.
I’m not dismissing Western apps’ data collection as completely harmless.
The level of data collection we allow in our lives now is downright scary.
That all deserves scrutiny, but TikTok and other Chinese apps like WeChat, Temu, and
Shein are much worse.
Chinese apps are *really* hungry for data.
TikTok, for example, collects all this, including keystrokes.
I’ve covered this before — many times — and I *still* don’t know why they want
that.
This is like if some stranger asked everyone how fast they can eat a hot dog.
Seems like a harmless question, but the fact they want to know so bad is… unsettling.
Fast fashion app Shein, meanwhile, was caught collecting users’ clipboard data, which
is completely unnecessary for buying cheap clothes made from toxic materials with slave
labor.
And the Chinese Communist Party, a Marxist-Leninist regime, can have that data whenever it wants
it.
There is no “no” when the party asks for something.
So why does it matter if the CCP gets your data?
Well, for one, there’s always the chance that these Chinese companies will fail to
protect consumers’ data from criminals.
They don’t care if this guygets his hands on your cell data… and looks for videos
of you eating hot dogs so he can time it.
Seriously, why does he want to know that?
What’s his endgame?!
And if even democratic governments are tempted to use their power to exploit data, then think
how much worse it is under an authoritarian government like China’s.
The fact that China collects so much data from so many people is the perfect cover for
targeting the very few who come into China’s crosshairs, such as the journalists who exposed
ByteDance’s access to US user data.
Chinese apps also give the CCP power to influence what people watch and read, and as we’ve
seen over the past few years, we’re seeing these apps rot people’s brains by encouraging
shorter attention spans, literally more toxic products, misinformation, and shorter attention
spans.
I had to say it twice because of, well… shorter attention spans.
So data mining is all around us, and it’s bad, but with Chinese apps, it’s really
extra bad.
More after the break.
Welcome back.
Some people believe that authoritarianism, while restrictive, gets things done, which
leads us to
Number 5: the Chinese government is more efficient and pragmatic than democracies.
There’s an idea out there that authoritarians excel at certain things better than democracies.
Supposedly, authoritarians can pass laws more quickly and actually get things done because
they don’t have to worry about elections and getting bogged down by party politics
or compromise.
Because who needs freedom when you can get trains that run on time?
Have you ever had a train show up 15 minutes late?
Ugggh!
Just take my rights!
A little light genocide is worth not having to deal with that!
It’s a very rosy view of authoritarians, and a very misplaced one at that.
China is a perfect example.
China has all sorts of projects meant to show the world that it’s world-class, but what
it doesn’t want people to see is its incompetence.
China’s top-down approach hampers everything, from the culture to its military effectiveness,
all thanks to political commissars who prioritize party control over creativity and autonomy.
The biggest victim is China’s economy.
China’s economy has taken multiple beatings from the Chinese Communist Party, but let’s
just talk about the most recent time.
China’s top-down push for zero-Covid sent China’s economy into the gutter.
Prison-like quarantine camps and cramped quarantine barracks don’t just suck.
They also cost tons of money to build and run.
And the policy was unviable from the very beginning.
Yet China couldn’t admit that it was wrong and doubled down on it.
It’s like when you make a wrong turn when driving, someone points it out, and you swear
you know a shortcut.
And they’re like, “Through a canal?”
China touts its response to Covid as a success, but almost no one believes that.
Not even the New York Times.
Which means it wasted billions of dollars just to show off how tough they were.
Even spending on stupid things like testing sea creatures and vegetables.
During China’s lockdown, people starved
And even died, such as here, where lockdowns stranded people in a burning building.
But thank God they didn’t eat any Covid-positive fish and veggies.
Because that would have been a *real* tragedy.
Even more people, potentially millions, died thanks to China botching its post-Covid-zero
reopening.
Never forget.
A majority of local governments are high in debt, and all but Shanghai report having deficits.
It’s not just because of Covid.
China’s management of its economy sucks.
China’s been operating on a ponzi scheme of debt fueled by even more debt.
The International Monetary Fund estimates that China’s debt, including its hidden
debt, surpassed $18 trillion last year.
One of the ways China tries to solve this problem is by throwing money at infrastructure
projects, but they aren’t guaranteed to be of much use.
Especially their highways, high speed rails, and roads to nowhere.
Driving through canals is actually your best bet in certain parts of China.
China constructs buildings very poorly.
Really, really poorly.
Even other countries that have Chinese-built infrastructure are realizing just how bad
it is.
And it’s not just economics that China has screwed up.
China’s demographics are taking a hit.
The One Child Policy absolutely screwed over China’s population.
With too many men, too many old people, and not enough kids, the CCP will have an even
tougher time with its economy.
Honestly, the only thing China hasn’t screwed up… is screwing everything up.
They’re so consistent about ruining *everything* it’s kind of inspiring.
So no, China doesn’t actually get things done efficiently.
It hasn’t since the CCP came into power, which leads to our next
Number 4: China lifted people out of poverty.
China and many influential institutions like the World Bank love to repeat the claim that
China lifted 800 million people out of poverty.
But the official poverty statistics underlying that claim counted people who earned below
$1.90 per day.
And probably also counted the tens of millions of people their policies got killed.
Can’t be poor when you’re dead.
Problem solved!
China’s Premier Li Keqiang even revealed that more than 40 percent of China lives on
less than $5 a day.
It’s laughable that China claims that $5 a day doesn’t count as poverty.
The CCP even claims to have eliminated poverty.
But this was done after inventing its own definition of “extreme poverty.”
It claims that absolute poverty in China disappeared, but China hasn’t explained the metrics.
They just said “Mission Accomplished!”
Besides the fact that it’s standard for *not* being labeled poor is extremely low,
how did China get that poor in the first place?
An inconvenient truth China doesn’t want people to know is that it was the CCP’s
own collectivist policies.
The true reason why China’s economy has even risen to where it is today is because
the Chinese people lifted themselves up after the government backed off from collectivist
policies.
That plus a lot of foreign investment has helped China continue to survive even in a
system that isn’t sustainable.
And I’ll have more for you after the break.
Welcome back.
We’ve covered four misconceptions I’ve heard about China, and here’s
number 3: China doesn’t meddle in other countries’ business.
Lots of people around the world criticize the US for poking its nose into other countries’
affairs, which is fair.
But some see China as a role model for noninterference, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
For years, China has said it values non-interference.
But that’s like Count Chocula saying he values sugar-free breakfast options.
While China doesn’t push for human rights and transparency like the West, it definitely
pushes its own agendas.
It illegally interferes in other countries' elections, especially in Australia and Canada,
to get politicians who can push for more China-favorable policies.
And it’s not just politicians China’s after.
Even ordinary people in their own countries aren’t safe from China thanks to over a
hundred illegal police stations worldwide.
That’s from just four Chinese provinces.
But hey, illegal police stations in other countries isn’t interference.
That’s just… helpful assistance.
They’re like sous chefs of justice!
Ever since that issue came to light, many countries have been cracking down on them.
China claims that they’re just innocently helping people abroad with things like getting
their driver’s licenses, patrolling tourist spots, and preventing fraud, but these “police
officers” are actually being used to illegally threaten and extradite innocent people.
Even without police stations, Chinese officials are using agents to stalk, intimidate, and
harass people abroad.
Some even do the deed with their own hands, like these Chinese officials pulling a protester
into their consulate as the police try to save him.
Speaking of foreign interference, time for
Number 2: the US gets in the way of peace in Taiwan.
Which is like saying a cage is getting in the way of peace between parakeets and cats.
In recent years, the US has been ramping up, albeit slowly, military support for Taiwan.
Some are now blaming the US for putting its nose into the Taiwan situation and escalating
conflict with China.
Those people believe that the US should mind its own business and stop messing with Taiwan
so that there can be peace in the region.
That’s a very, very naive idea.
For one, the country that’s causing tensions is China, not the US.
China’s the one constantly scrambling its jets and waging cyberwarfare first.
If only the US would stop telling China to stop intimidating Taiwan, then maybe they
wouldn’t.
You hear how dumb that sounds when it’s said out loud?
That’s like saying
maybe a dog will stop eating shoes if you just…
do nothing.
They’ll tire out eventually.
From China’s perspective, a peaceful conquest would be most ideal, but China’s own white
paper makes it very clear that it will not renounce the use of force to put Taiwan under
its control.
Whenever the US has backed off, China always exploited it.
For example, it ignored a deal with the US and occupied the Philippines’ Scarborough
Shoal in 2012 after the US navy retreated and did nothing.
And despite promising to not militarize the South China Sea, China did the exact opposite.
But maybe the US just hasn’t done *enough* nothing!
If China found itself at a military advantage over Taiwan, why wouldn’t it invade?
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine clearly shows that authoritarians will try to invade if
they have the opportunity.
And even if China conquered Taiwan peacefully, it would be the worst form of peace.
Just look at Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Tibet, and pretty much every place China touches.
And finally
Number 1: criticism against China is an attack on Chinese people.
Now, I know that I’ve been alternating between saying the CCP and China to mean the same
thing.
That’s because, right now, the government of China is the CCP.
The fact of the matter is that China is under the rule of the CCP, but the CCP does not
need to define who Chinese people are.
Unfortunately, a lot of people, even those who fled from the communists, tie their identity
and pride to China under the Chinese Communist Party, and there are even some who share the
party’s ugly ideas, including its racist Chinese supremacist sentiments, but most Chinese
people are not like that.
There are many, even in China, who do not like the CCP.
Many have protested.
These protesters are chanting “step down CCP, step down Xi Jinping.”
Of course, protesting in China is…dangerous.
It’s not racist to attack the CCP.
Many people are afraid attacks on the CCP will lead to attacks on ethnically Chinese
people, but the CCP feeds off of that fear and exploits it.
This ends up perpetuating harm against China’s victims, including ethnic Chinese people.
We shouldn’t be afraid of criticizing the CCP.
The CCP is a political regime that does not represent one race.
I do want to see a thriving China, but China can’t truly thrive as long as the CCP stays
in power.
And this show would not exist without support from viewers like you.
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Join what I call the China Uncensored 50 Cent Army, by contributing to the show on Patreon.
You’ll get a bunch of cool perks, including the ability to ask me questions I’ll answer
on the show.
Today’s question comes from StatedChimp “Do you think, or are afraid
that the CCP is watching your videos that exposes its military weaknesses, and then
learns and improve itself for its invasion of Taiwan?”
An interesting question!
I do know at least someone in the CCP watches the show.
After all, Chinese state run media has singled out China Uncensored calling it, “disgraceful
anti-China garbage.”
Because criticizing the CCP means you hate Chinese people, right?
But I think the CCP is very well aware of all the challenges it faces in an invasion
of Taiwan.
There are very smart people working for the CCP and I’m sure they’ve strategized every
conceivable scenario for an invasion.
The CCP has wanted to take over Taiwan since the beginning.
The fact that we haven’t seen some slapdash invasion is because they understand the risks
and don’t want to pull the trigger unless they think they can win.
Of course the problem is Xi Jinping (Corner Box) could just one day decide to ignore all
the advice and give it a go.
Or people might be too afraid of him to tell Xi things he doesn’t want to hear.
So this is a very dangerous time right now for Taiwan.
Thanks for your question and your support State Chimp.
And thank you for watching.
Once again I’m Chris Chappell.
See you next time