A bus crash kills 27 people on their way to forced quarantine.
President Biden says the US would defend Taiwan.
Definitely.
Maybe.
And China is funding new research involving monkey brains.
What could go wrong?
That and more on this week’s China News headlines.
Welcome to China Uncensored.
I’m Chris Chappell.
This week a Chinese bus in Guizhou province crashed—killing 27 people, and injuring
20.
Which is a tragedy in its own right.
But that bus was taking people to a Covid quarantine camp.
And while the crash killed 27 people, “Only two people have died from Covid in [that same
province] since the pandemic struck almost three years ago.”
At least according to official statistics.
And now there’s a public outcry.
Because people didn’t get on that bus willingly.
They were being forcibly hauled off to government quarantine.
And it’s not even clear whether these people even had Covid.
Authorities just said the people on the bus were “pandemic related.”
So they could have just been people from areas where cases were detected.
Here’s how China’s Zero Covid policy works.
Even people who test negative but are just close contacts of Covid patients can get hauled
off to quarantine.
And a close contact doesn’t even mean someone who lives in the same apartment.
It can mean anyone who lives in the same apartment building.
Or who happened to be in a grocery store at the same time as someone who later tests positive.
Which is why you constantly see videos of people trying to get out when someplace goes
into lockdown, like this Costco.
Really gives a new meaning to “going on a Costco run”.
Basically, because of how broad and strict China’s Zero Covid policy is, this bus crash
could have happened to anyone.
Which is why the Chinese public is seeing itself among the victims: “a country being
held hostage by the government’s harsh policy.”
People protested online, spreading news of the bus crash, saying “we’re on that bus
too.”
“They shared on social media an old article with the headline ‘Evil is prevalent because
we obey unconditionally.’”
According to one writer, “The saddest part is not that we’re witnessing pointless deaths
but that we’re living lowly, obedient and twisted lives and dying of lowly, obedient
and twisted deaths.”
And this outpouring of grief and rage finally prompted the Chinese Communist Party to reflect
on its policy and...just kidding.
First they tried to channel all that public anger toward local officials instead of the
Party.
Then they punished three local officials,
censored the public outcry,
and did literally nothing to fundamentally change their Zero Covid policy.
So...not the change the people were looking for.
It never is.
Speaking of terrible Covid policies,
this drone footage posted to China’s version of TikTok has revealed a massive Covid quarantine
center in Sichuan province.
It has enough beds for 14,000 people.
It looks like a bunch of shipping containers put together.
So out in the middle of nowhere, the Chinese Communist Party has built a giant *camp*,
designed for a large *concentration* of people considered undesirables.
What could possibly be the problem here?
Also speaking of terrible Covid policies, Hong Kong.
A National Security Law in 2020 put Hong Kong completely under the iron-fisted rule of the
Chinese Communist Party.
And that means, it also has to follow Zero Covid.
So while most other countries are returning to normal, Hong Kong is still for the most
part locked down.
And China’s Zero Covid policy has cost Hong Kong its status as a global aviation hub.
Because who wants to land at the Hong Kong airport to make a simple flight transfer,
only to be detained after a routine temperature check?
And even worse, the Zero Covid policy has driven out international sports events—including
the Hong Kong Marathon and the World Dragon Boat Racing Championship.
Obviously, being under the Communist Party’s rule has also cost Hong Kongers their freedom
of speech, right to protest, and any semblance of democracy.
But to lose the Dragon Boat race?
Brutal.
And in other signs that Hong Kong is doing just great, Hong Kong police have arrested
a man for playing the harmonica during a vigil for Queen Elizabeth.
The harmonica player was arrested after he played the song Glory to Hong Kong, which
was used as a popular protest anthem.
People started singing along, and then shouting “Hong Kong, add oil.”
All very seditious.
And after the break, President Biden gets tough about Taiwan.
I think.
Welcome back.
In an interview this week on the CBS show 60 Minutes, President Joe Biden said the US
would defend Taiwan if China attacks.
For the fourth time.
“But would U.S forces defend the island?”
“Yes, if in fact there was an unprecedented attack.”
“So unlike Ukraine, to be clear sir, U.S forces—U.S men and women—would defend
Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion?”
“Yes.”
Wow.
This is the clearest statement Biden has made about the issue.
Finally, a solid commitment that will deter China from invading.
I just hope nothing changes that.
“After our interview a White House official told us U.S policy has not changed.
Officially, the U.S will not say whether American forces would defend Taiwan.”
Well, at least there’s sort of some good news about Taiwan.
That interview with Biden was aired on Sunday, and then on Tuesday, US and Canadian warships
sailed through the Taiwan Strait.
It was the second time this year.
And it was meant to demonstrate that the Taiwan Strait is international waters, not China’s
waters.
It also backs up the strong commitment that President Biden made...and then awkwardly
got walked back by his underlings.
We told you in June about Chinese influencer Austin Li, a.k.a.
China’s Lipstick King, and how he got taken off their air and disappeared...
“...when he livestreamed an ice cream dessert shaped like a tank on the eve of the Tiananmen
Square Massacre anniversary.
That got him yanked offline.
He hasn’t been seen since.”
Well, good news for all you China Uncensored fans who love to buy lipstick:
Austin Li is back this week after a mysterious three-month disappearance.
His first two-hour livestream attracted 63 million viewers.
His makeup, skincare, and clothing products were once again snapped up by eager fans.
And how did he explain his strange disappearance at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party?
He didn’t.
Not a word.
He kept those lips shut.
And after the break, China is investing millions in new research involving monkey brains.
What could go wrong?
Welcome back.
This week, a US Treasury official made a statement about China’s foreign debt practices, calling
them “unconventional.”
Which is a bit like calling Hannibal Lecter’s eating habits “unconventional.”
US Treasury counselor said that “as many as 44 countries each owed debt equivalent
to more than 10% of their gross domestic product to Chinese lenders—but Beijing has consistently
failed to write down debts when countries needed help.”
So, basically he’s calling China a loan shark.
But he did it nicely.
A new report by Strider Technologies shows how scientists at America’s top nuclear
lab were recruited by China to design missiles and drones.
“[The report] describes what it calls a systemic effort by the government of China
to place Chinese scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where nuclear weapons
were first developed.”
Basically, the Chinese government pushed scientists to work there, where they got inside knowledge
about America’s advanced military technology.
The report says 162 of those Los Alamos scientists have already returned to China.
The Chinese government paid some of them hundreds of thousands of dollars to move back.
It’s part of the Communist Party’s “Thousand Talents Program.”
And the report says now these former Los Alamos scientists have made “considerable contributions
to [China’s] hypersonic, missile, and submarine programs that present an array of security
risks for the United States and the entire free world.”
Good job, everyone.Speaking of research that couldn’t possibly backfire...
China is investing more than $700 million dollars on brain research, including studies
involving monkeys.
It’s called the China Brain Project.
Now before you get concerned that the Chinese Communist Party might start doing weird genetic
experiments on monkeys, don’t worry!
They’ve *already* done weird genetic experiments on monkeys.
Chinese neuroscientist Mu-ming Poo is one of the project leaders.
He spent four decades honing his skills in the US, and he’s even a professor emeritus
at UC Berkeley!
Now he lives in Shanghai.
In 2019, his team in China made headlines by combining cloning with gene editing to
produce five genetically identical monkeys that lacked a key gene regulating the circadian
clock.
How did that research go?
Well, firstly, those 5 monkeys were all that survived out of 325 gene-edited embryos.
Secondly, those 5 monkeys weren’t the lucky ones.
See, by removing the gene that regulated their circadian rhythm, the monkeys exhibited “sleep
disorders, increased anxiety, and depression.”
Well, it doesn’t take a neuroscientist to predict that.
But it does take a neuroscientist to do cruel genetic experiments on monkeys to *prove*
it.
Mu-ming Poo may do some of his new research at the International Center for Primate Brain
Research, which is funded by the Shanghai government.
That center is led by another neuroscientist, Nikos Logothetis.
Logothetis moved most of his team from Germany to China because his lab in Germany kept getting
targeted by animal rights activists.
What jerks!
Well, China has a solution for activists.
A final solution, if you will.
And now with activists and, really, all ethical concerns out of the way, I’m sure the Chinese
regime’s $700 million investment into brain and monkey research will provide a bright
future for all of humanity.
Just like the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s investment into gain-of-function research.
And this show would not be possible without viewer support.
Join my exclusive 50-Cent Army by contributing directly to the show on Patreon or Locals.
And as a perk, I answer my supporters’ questions at the end of some these episodes.
Today’s question comes from...
Bill Nurre on Patreon: “In your episode ‘China’s Covid Lockdown Stops People From
Escaping Earthquake’, at 7:37 you report on speech therapists in Hong Kong being persecuted
for publishing a book about sheep and wolves.
Where did you find the translated copy of that.
I really want to read it.
Thanks.
Keep up the good work.”
Well, Bill, there are actually three of those books.
For those of you who don’t know, this is a book series written for children aged 4
through 7.
It depicts evil wolves going after innocent sheep, who try to flee.
The wolves are the CCP and Hong Kongers are the sheep—
at least that’s what a Hong Kong judge has decided.
He convicted all of the books’ authors with sedition.
If you want to read those books, Hong Kong activists have translated them to English
and posted them online.
I’ve put links to all three books in the YouTube description.
Thanks for your question, Bill.
And thank you to everyone else as well who supports us directly through Patreon.
Patreon is a way for you to contribute a dollar or more per episode, and interact with us.
The link is below.
As you know, we rely primarily on viewer support for this show.
Once again, I’m Chris Chappell.
Thanks for watching China Uncensored.