Are these Chinese military police gathering near Hong Kong?
A new poll says more Americans See China as a Threat.
And the Communist Party declares war on Buddhist statues.
That and more on this week’s China Uncensored.
This is China Uncensored.
I’m Chris Chappell.
This week’s China news headlines!
What you’re looking at is a satellite photo
of China’s Shenzhen Bay Sports Center,
filled with what appears to be
more than 100 armored military vehicles.
That sports center is only 10 miles
from the border with Hong Kong.
Some people fear the Chinese military is preparing for an attack,
to quell the protests that have erupted in the city
for the past two months.
I, however, am just amazed those alleged armored trucks
are keeping off the grass.
On Thursday, reporters witnessed China’s paramilitary police force,
the People’s Armed Police,
doing drills in the stadium,
and shot footage of police and their vehicles outside.
According to my favorite Chinese state-run media,
the Global Times,
the military police were massing in Shenzhen
“in advance of apparent large-scale exercises.”
Oh I get it, that’s why they’re at the stadium.
It really was for large-scale exercises.
Clearly nothing to do with Hong Kong.
Even though one of the exercises involved some police
“wearing black t-shirts similar to those worn by protesters in Hong Kong”
While another group of police
“practiced charging at them” with riot shields.
So does this mean that Chinese military police
are minutes from marching into Hong Kong?
Is it time to panic?!
Not so fast.
The Chinese Communist Party is keenly aware
that the optics of sending in the People’s Armed Police
to crush a peaceful democracy movement in Hong Kong,
is not a good look.
Especially during the 30th anniversary
of the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
But the Party also wants Hongkongers to worry that
they could send in the military police.
So it’s time to stop protesting because the Communist Party
wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to Hong Kong.
That they might be forced to do.
US officials have suggested
removing Hong Kong’s special trade status
if China intervenes in the protests.
Which once again shows who’s really
to blame for the Hong Kong protests.
The United States.
Yes, “Official state media pin the blame for protests
on the ‘black hand’ of foreign interference,
namely from the United States.”
Which really hurts President Trump’s feelings.
China’s Foreign Ministry also accused
Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell
of inciting chaos in Hong Kong.
Which is ridiculous.
These two people could never work together on anything.
Other Chinese media published a photo
of a US diplomat speaking with protesters,
under the headline Foreign Forces Intervene.
Those reports have gone from irresponsible to dangerous,
according to the US State Department.
They accused the Chinese government
of leaking personal information about
that U.S. diplomat in Hong Kong,
including the names of her children.
But the disinformation doesn’t stop at blaming
everything on the US and endangering children.
No, they’re way more sophisticated than that.
After one young protester lost her eye to a police bean bag,
CCTV posted this photo,
alleging it was the same girl,
that she wasn’t actually injured,
and that she’s being paid off.
Of course, that’s not the same girl,
but I guess CCTV has a hard time telling Chinese people apart.
Of course you can’t be sure of
the intentions of all of the protesters.
Especially after Hong Kong Free Press released this video.
Why are protesters beating and arresting other protesters?
It’s because they were actually Hong Kong policemen.
They’ve now admitted to “disguising” themselves
as protesters to go undercover.
Of course, this is in no way part of Beijing’s disinformation campaign
to incite conflict and make protesters seem violent.
That’s ridiculous.
“I can say that during the time
when our police officers were disguised,
firstly they would not provoke anything.
Reporter: “People have seen them yesterday provoking”
“We won't ask them to stir up trouble,
and we won't ask them to conduct illegal acts.”
So you see?
Any rumors you may have heard about
communist spies dressing up as protesters to start trouble
are completely ridiculous.
Why would they need to do that when they have
the Hong Kong police to do it for them!
But stories like that may be putting protesters on edge.
Which could be why protesters surrounded three different men
during a protest on Tuesday
and accused them of being undercover police.
Two of them had to be taken away by ambulance
after being roughed up by the crowd.
Even though this man claimed he was a tourist,
protesters say he was acting suspiciously.
Turns out, he’s a reporter for the Global Times.
And now a hero in the Mainland.
Must be why the editor in chief of the Global Times
said Hong Kong protesters should be shot on the spot.
Obviously not the protesters who are your undercover agents.
The other ones.
That incident happened at a recent five-day protest
inside the Hong Kong airport.
The first three days were peaceful.
The fourth day,
the Hong Kong government cancelled all flights,
thousands of them,
leading to tensions between protesters and travelers.
On the fifth day,
the government sent in police to break it up.
Flights have since resumed.
Time to visit Hong Kong!
It’s the Pearl of the Orient!
And it seems like Hong Kong police
are getting at least some of their strategies
from major Hollywood blockbusters.
This is police firing tear gas...
in a subway...
at very close range.
That’s horrible.
Now it probably smells almost as bad as the New York subway.
And China has rejected a US Navy request
to dock ships in Hong Kong
later this month and in September.
Finally, the Communist Party is doing something
to protect peace in the region!
Meanwhile, in a show of support for Hong Kong,
Taiwan is offering Hong Kongers who come to Taiwan humanitarian aid.
Which, it’s shocking to think of Hong Kong
as a place where people now flee from to get humanitarian aid.
And of course, in response to the offer,
the Chinese Communist Party told Taiwan
to remove its black hands from Hong Kong.
But I wouldn’t want you to think the only China news this week
comes from Hong Kong.
According to US Ambassador-at-Large
for International Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback,
the US may consider sanctions on Chinese tech companies
involved in the persecution of Uighur Muslims.
“Regarding possible sanctions on high-tech Chinese companies
involved in the oppression Uighurs,
Brownback said they are ‘never off the table’
and ‘always a possibility.’”
So...we may be soon seeing the headline
“Trump Administration Sanctions China for Persecuting Muslims.”
We are living in the strangest timeline.
Meanwhile, Coach and Versace
have hurt the feelings of the Chinese people.
The Chinese internet exploded in rage at the discovery
of t-shirts suggesting Hong Kong, Macau,
and Taiwan were separate from China.
They should really take a lesson from Hermes.
Let’s just say,
they know how to navigate Chinese sensibilities
with this one-of-a-kind and extremely patriotic Birkin bag.
And at the low low price of only 124 thousand dollars!
It’s such a steal.
That’s not a joke.
Birkin bags can go for up to $300,000 dollars.
Maybe the fact that this bag is so cheap
hurts the feelings of the Chinese people.
You’d better be careful about playing video games.
Because that’s the latest target of
one of China’s most prolific hacker groups.
According to this report by cybersecurity firm Fire Eye,
The group, known as advanced persistent threat 41,
or APT41,
injected malicious code into legitimate files
that were later distributed as video game updates.
The reason this is significant is because
it means a state level operator
normally engaged in espionage activities
has taken to financial crime.
It’s always good to diversify.
But it’s not just the video game industry APT41 is targeting.
They’re hitting other industries like “Healthcare,”
“Media,” “Pharmaceuticals,” “Education,”
as well as “High-Tech” sectors.
I just hope they don’t hit the
“small team making videos about China on YouTube” sector.
And it’s really not too surprising that
this new poll by the Pew Research Center
shows Americans’ view of China
is becoming increasingly negative.
“60% of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of China,
up from 47% in 2018
and at the highest level since Pew Research Center
began asking the question.”
China is also tied with Russia
as the perceived greatest threat to America.
Greatest threat?
Apparently most American’s haven’t yet heard of…
pumpkin spice spam!
And finally, the Chinese Communist Party seems to have it out...
for Buddha.
Buddha statues across the country are being demolished,
according to Bitter Winter,
a magazine on religious and human rights in China.
Some are being dismantled.
Others demolished.
Of course, the Communist Party is surely doing this
to protect the Chinese people from Buddhist extremists
who might terrorize China.
Such as by blowing things up across the country.
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 Patreon.
LT Straven asks,
“do we know any other nations in the world
who have shown any manner of support for Hong Kong
and have done so clearly/visibly?”
I’d say so far the US and Taiwan
have probably shown the most support for the Hong Kong protesters.
As I mentioned,
Taiwan is offering aid to Hong Kongers who come to the island,
and there’s been mass demonstrations in Taiwan
showing solidarity with Hong Kong protesters.
Many high ranking US politicians
in the Trump Administration and Senate
have also voiced their support.
However, as of yet, there’s been no concrete action taken.
I mean, other than being the black hands
secretly behind the entire protest movement.
Sadly though, the UK government
has been kind of quiet about the whole thing,
which is disappointing since the UK has certain moral—
if not legal—
obligations to its former colony.
The UK made an agreement with the Chinese Communist Party
called the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
It set up the one country two systems model
and was supposed to guarantee Hong Kong’s
freedom and independence.
Two years ago that China made it clear
they didn’t consider that deal to have any meaning.
And the British, being British,
apologized and quietly walked away.
Thanks for your question.
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And to everyone, thanks for watching!
Once again I’m your host Chris Chappell.
See you next time.