Is China building a new aircraft carrier?
The US-China Trade War Heats up
And PUBG gets shot in China.
That and more on this week’s China news headlines.
This is China Uncensored.
I’m Chris Chappell.
This week's China news headlines:
Last year, at the request of the US government,
Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou,
the CFO of Huawei.
Huawei is the Chinese telecom company
the US has been warning everyone
is a national security threat.
Meng is accused of violating US sanctions on Iran.
And now, after months of waiting,
we finally have an update.
Meng’s extradition trial is set to begin...
in January 2020.
And it could go for any length of time.
That’s so unfair!
If only the Canadian legal system
were more like the Chinese legal system,
where a foreigner can be sentenced to death after a quick trial.
Satellite photos of a shipyard outside Shanghai
show China is building a mysteriously large ship.
This photo was published by the Washington-based think tank
the Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS.
You know what?
I can look at satellite photos and comment about them too.
Doesn’t mean I give myself some fancy pants name
like the Center for Strategic looking at stuff.
Here, let me give it a go.
Here’s a photo from the Gobi Desert.
It’s...a bunch of lines.
Which could be a secret...thing.
Fine.
Here’s one from the middle of Kazakhstan.
I know what it is.
It’s a giant pentagram!
I have no idea what to make of it, though.
Okay, this is harder than it looks.
According to CSIS,
parts of the ship’s hull are over 130 feet wide.
“Experts said while it was difficult to be sure,
the size and scale of the new vessel
strongly suggested China's much-anticipated new aircraft carrier,
referred to as Type 002.”
And Chinese state-run media has been hinting at it as well.
Okay, that’s a bit more than a hint.
The Chinese Communist Party has been
rapidly trying to build up its navy.
According to US government reports,
in two years the People’s Liberation Army Navy added 32 ships.
Hopefully China’s new aircraft carrier
will be better than its last one.
I’m just kidding.
Hopefully the new one will be a piece of junk, too.
More on the latest developments in the US-China trade war.
This Reuters report suggests China may not have been
that serious about making reforms.
“In each of the seven chapters of the draft trade deal,
China had deleted its commitments to change laws
to resolve core complaints that caused the United States
to launch a trade war:
Theft of U.S. intellectual property and trade secrets;
forced technology transfers;
competition policy;
access to financial services;
and currency manipulation.”
I know, we’re all shocked.
Try to breathe.
Of course, the Reuters report cites anonymous sources,
so we don’t know if that’s all true.
But there have been signs that
maybe the trade deal isn’t going as planned.
That’s okay though,
because the Chinese economy is full of resilience,
according to state run media.
Yes, the Chinese economy is just chock full of resilience.
People are practically tripping over the resilience.
And that’s good,
because as of Friday,
the Trump administration went ahead
and increased tariffs on
200 billion dollars worth of Chinese goods.
It came “after a pivotal round of trade talks
in Washington on Thursday
night failed to produce a [trade] agreement.”
So what will the Chinese Communist Party do now?
Well, obviously they’re upset.
And they’ve vowed to take necessary countermeasures.
What exactly those countermeasures are,
is not clear.
Hopefully it’s deep introspection,
culminating in the realization that it’s morally wrong
to steal other people’s intellectual property.
But I won’t hold my breath.
There’s one part of China that’s getting
a lot of love from the US government:
Taiwan.
I mean, the Chinese Communist Party
considers Taiwan a part of China,
so it should be very happy about the new pro-Taiwan bill.
Okay, obviously the Chinese regime is freaking out.
In the past,
similar bills have brought the threat of war.
And I mean, you know, the Chinese Communist Party
could soon have an entire fleet of three aircraft carriers,
some of which might even work properly,
so...watch out.
But here’s the real shocker to this story.
This bill supporting Taiwan was passed unanimously
in the US House of Representatives.
As in 414 to 0.
I didn’t think that many Democrats and Republican
could ever agree on anything.
As I always like to say,
the Chinese Communist Party is really bringing America together.
But if this bill does spark war, be warned—
the People’s Liberation Army fears nothing.
That’s according to this recent video
by state-run People’s Daily.
Here they are, heroically...
jumping neck deep into a hole filled with muddy water.
Jumping into a hole filled with muddy water?
Well, at least they’ll be ready for a career in politics.
Do you like the Chinese style model of mass surveillance?
Who doesn’t?
Certainly not the city of Darwin, Australia.
They’re bringing it home!
Inspired by the Chinese model,
they’ll be setting up poles “fitted with speakers,
cameras and Wi-Fi.”
This will allow the Darwin city council
“to gain data on how many people walk on what footpaths
and where they use certain websites and apps in the city.”
It’s what the residents there have always wanted:
A mass surveillance tool in the hands of the government.
And finally, are you a fan of the South Korean-made game
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, a.k.a. PUBG?
I mean, pretending to kill people,
what could be more fun?
But if you like PUBG,
I hope you’re not in China.
Because it’s been pulled in favor of a more patriotic game.
That more patriotic game is called Elite Force for Peace,
or Game for Peace.
An expert speaking to Reuters said,
“It’s almost exactly the same.
The game play,
the background,
the graphic design and the characters,
they’re almost the same.”
Almost.
The new game is apparently more “socialist”
and focuses on China’s air force fighting terrorists.
The important part is,
you’re still running around killing people.
But in Elite Force for Peace,
“when you shoot people,
they don’t bleed,
and the dead get up and wave goodbye!”
Yes, that’s what peace is all about.
And it just goes to show:
There’s no foreign intellectual property
Chinese companies won’t rip off—
and make into a slightly stupider version.
This all happened because Tencent,
he Chinese mega company that licensed PUBG,
did not get a license renewal from Chinese censors
to continue to publish the game.
Tencent got angry and tried shooting the censors,
but the censors just got back up and waved.
So what do you think?
Leave your comments below.
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 Patreon.
Jeppe Christensen asks,
“Chris, when can we expect to see you
on the top 10 most wanted by the CCP
or do you aim for top 3?”
Oh my gosh,
that would be a dream come true.
Unless of course the CCP really tries to go after me.
Like, arrest me in Hong Kong level kind of thing.
Hmm, you know what?
The more I think about this,
the more creeped out I am.
I mean, if they’re even using
Chinese inspired surveillance in parts of Australia,
I might start to have some problems.
I think I’ll stick to flying under the radar.
Thanks for your question.
And thanks to everyone watching!
We could make this show without your support.
Whether it’s Patreon or just watching
and sharing the show with your friends and family.
So thank you from me and everyone
on the China Uncensored team.
Once again I’m Chris Chappell,
see you next time.