Trump Threatens China on trade
China’s mysterious discovery on the moon
And a CIA agent found in Hong Kong
That and more on this week’s China news headlines.
This is China Uncensored.
I’m Chris Chappell.
We’ve entered a new phase in the US-China Trade War.
On September 1,
the first in a new round of tariffs against China went into effect—
15% on 112 billion dollars worth of goods.
That means about two thirds of Chinese imports
are now being taxed.
Thankfully, that doesn’t include
everyone’s favorite seasonal Chinese import:
pumpkin spice mooncakes.
Hey, it could happen.
There’s already a spicy chicken mooncake.
It’s filled with real chicken...
and real regret.
Anyway, by December 15,
virtually all Chinese imports will be taxed,
when the second round of new tariffs go into effect.
That will be 15% on another 160 billion dollars worth of imports.
And President Trump is warning China:
Things can get much worse.
Even worse than spicy chicken mooncakes.
But the Chinese Communist Party is playing a waiting game—
hoping things will get worse for Trump instead.
They hope Trump will lose the 2020 election,
and someone more favorable to Beijing will be elected.
Obviously, Trump is pretty confident in himself.
He tweeted that *when* he wins reelection,
a trade deal will get much tougher.
Tougher than a Trump steak served well done.
Meanwhile, according to the latest data,
the trade gap between the US and China
is actually getting smaller.
And both sides are now meeting again
for more trade talks in October.
Of course, as we’ve already seen,
actually getting a trade deal won’t be easy.
And as former U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said
at a recent talk at the Council on Foreign Relations,
just look at Hong Kong.
“And watching what’s going on in Hong Kong right now,
their authoritarian mode against their own people,
it takes a real stretch of imagination to say
they would treat foreigners better than they’d treat
their own people at home.”
The US-China Trade War isn’t just about trade imbalances.
In a way it’s an ideological battle
between America’s free market model,
and China’s communist model.
The Chinese Communist Party has used illegal trade practices,
intellectual property theft,
and currency manipulation to boost the Chinese economy
at the expense of American workers.
The most recent example?
According to the Wall Street Journal,
the Chinese telecom giant Huawei is being investigated
over new allegations of technology theft.
“Huawei was accused of stealing intellectual property
from multiple people and companies over several years.”
This is obviously really unfair.
The US calling China out, I mean.
Obviously.
That’s why China is taking the US to court.
China has lodged its third complaint about tariffs
to the World Trade Organization.
It’s a strange move,
considering how many times the US
has lodged complaints about China to the WTO—
complaints China simply ignored.
So the Chinese regime should have first hand experience
with how toothless one of those WTO complaints can be.
But don’t worry,
the Chinese regime is taking steps to ensure
you’ll be seeing fewer stories about technology theft—
like this one from the Wall Street Journal.
No, not because they’re going to stop stealing.
They just banned a Wall Street journal reporter.
Much easier.
Another sticking point in the trade war
is actually China’s drug war against the United States.
President Trump has been complaining
that Chinese leader Xi Jinping has not honored his agreement
to block shipments of fentanyl from China.
Of course, China’s top drug enforcement official
has said that’s not true at all.
In April, China said it would ban all forms of Fentanyl,
cutting the supply to the US.
But, they never specifically said they wouldn’t ship it to Mexico,
and use drugs cartels to smuggle it across the border!
Speaking of mysterious substances turning up,
China’s lunar rover has apparently found
a mysterious and strange shiny gel on the Moon.
Here’s a picture of it.
Wait, no.
That’s just the crater they say
they found the mysterious gel in.
They haven’t actually released
any photos of the gel itself yet.
But they say it’s there.
So take their word for it.
When have they ever lied?
This just in:
Don’t always take their word for it.
This footage of an American man
getting arrested in Hong Kong
went viral.
You have to tell me why!
Tell me why!
And Chinese media said he was actually a CIA commander.
The initial accusation came from a single post by a Chinese netizen.
Then several Chinese media outlets reported it,
and then a major pro-Beijing Hong Kong television network did.
It was later taken down.
Just goes to show that the Chinese media
don’t know how to spot a CIA commander.
But they do know how to cover up their mistakes.
So how are things in Hong Kong?
After all, Hong Kong chief Executive Carrie Lam this week
officially announced the pending withdrawal
of the extradition bill
that was the source of all the protests.
And that’s not all.
"Clearly, the most important challenge
to resolve the current problem
is to stop violence,
strictly enforce law and restore the peace situation.”
Wow, that’s great!
The Hong Kong government is *finally*
going to stop police from getting violent
and make sure that they follow the law.
Wait, what’s that, Shelley?
Lam wasn’t talking about the police,
she was talking about the protesters?
That’s weird.
Because I think it’s pretty clear that things
get much more peaceful in Hong Kong
when the police stop beating people in the subway.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong protesters say
withdrawing the extradition bill isn’t enough.
Actually, they were a little more graphic than that.
“If you scrape your knee,
applying a bandaid onto the wound will be a quick fix.
But if you don't do that,
and even start rubbing dirty fingers onto the wound,
what used to be a small easily fixable injury,
will morph into an infection,
then eventually rotting flesh,
and eventually amputation or death by sepsis.
If Carrie Lam had withdrawn the bill two months ago
that may have been a quick fix.
But applying a bandaid months later,
onto rotting flesh,
will simply not cut it.”
I think what she’s saying is,
Carrie Lam’s going to need a much bigger bandaid.
And while students around the world
are headed back to the classroom,
not so in Hong Kong.
Thousands of students are boycotting the first days of school.
Middle school and high school students held hands...
And pens…
And umbrellas…
To protest the government.
My first day of school was never so much fun.
With the trade war and the situation in Hong Kong,
things are looking pretty grim
for the Chinese Communist Party.
But that’s okay,
because all they need is a little fighting spirit,
according to Xi Jinping.
Because decades of relentless Communist “struggle”
has worked out so well for the people of China.
October 1 is the 70th anniversary
of the Communist takeover of China,
and state-run media are going into overdrive.
They’ve been calling Xi “the People’s Leader,”
a title previously only given to Mao.
And this week,
the People’s Daily ran a front page commentary
criticizing, “some cadres, especially the young ones”
for being “weak-kneed and unwilling to fight.”
Yeah, if only they could be willing to fight,
like the young people of Hong Kong!
On second thought, nevermind.
But this will be a challenging time for Xi Jinping.
During the anniversary,
the Central Committee will meet
for the first time in 20 months.
And Xi Jinping may have a lot to answer for.
But at least Xi Jinping can say
he’s still bringing home the bacon.
Because, did you know China
has emergency pork reserves?
Neither did I.
But with the African Swine flu
devastating China’s pig farms,
the government had to open the vaults.
China consumes a lot of pork.
Half of all the pigs in the world are in China.
It’s a crucial part of the diet.
Because remember,
some animals are more equal than others.
Of course, Chinese pork lovers
might be a little better off if their government
hadn’t put that 25% tariff on US pork.
And in a move that’s sure to anger
the Chinese Communist Party,
the US and 10 ASEAN countries have begun
their first joint naval exercises in the South China Sea.
“The US said the drills
will help ‘maintain maritime security.’”
Not from any particular threat or country of course.
Now the drills will be held in the South China Sea—
in what the US considers international waters.
But since China considers the whole thing to be
Chinese territorial waters,
things could get dicey.
So long as China gets rid of those young cadres
too weak-kneed and unwilling to fight, that is!
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 the crowdfunding website Patreon.
Ralph K. Ginorio asks
“Can you recommend a film documentary series...
that studies the Great Leap Forward
and the Cultural Revolution;
Mao's true legacy?
A wonderful question.
It’s really hard to find a truly comprehensive documentary
about the Chinese Communist Party,
but if you’re interested in the Great Leap Forward,
the Cultural Revolution and Mao,
I’d recommend PBS’s “China: A Century of Revolution.”
The three part series is six hours,
full of archival footage of a China
the Chinese Communist Party would like to sweep under the rug.
Let me know what you think of it.
Thanks for your question.
And if you have a question for me
you want to hear answered on the show,
sign up to join the China Uncensored 50 cent army,
by supporting the show with a dollar or more per episode.
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we would have to shut down the show
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And to everyone, thanks for watching!
Once again I’m your host Chris Chappell.
See you next time.