Problems at a Chinese nuclear reactor
A record number of Chinese jets harass Taiwan
And more arrests in Hong Kong
That and more on this week’s China news headlines
Welcome to China Uncensored.
I’m Chris Chappell.
Starting off our great week in China, there may have possibly been a leak at a nuclear
power plant.
French power group EDF said on Monday it had been informed of a build-up of inert gases
at its plant in China, and had called for a meeting with its Chinese partner.
CNN also reported that Framatome, the EDF unit which designed the reactor, had warned
of an "imminent radiological threat."
Okay, it is true there is a potentially dangerous issue at the Taishan Nuclear power plant.
But according to the Chinese Communist Party, everything is fine.
State-run China General Nuclear Power Group, the majority owner of the joint venture with
EDF said in a statement on its website on Sunday that operations at the nuclear power
station met safety rules and the surrounding environment is safe.
See, it’s safe!
Would the Chinese Communist Party ever lie to the world to cover up a dangerous leak?
Yet despite the assurances, the US is apparently still looking into the nuclear plant leak.
The French company warned that “The Chinese safety authority was raising the acceptable
limits for radiation detection outside the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant in Guangdong province
in order to avoid having to shut it down.”
See?
China doesn’t have to lie about the data.
They can just change the definition of how much radiation is safe!
Problem solved.
But here’s a hint that there may still be a small problem.
As CNN put it, “It is unusual that a foreign company, [Framatome], would unilaterally reach
out to the American government for help when its Chinese state-owned partner is yet to
acknowledge a problem exists.”
Yeah, especially when it’s a French company.
Since when do the French ask for help from the Americans?
Ultimately, this situation is pretty typical for joint ventures in China.
The foreign company often realizes too late their Chinese counterparts aren’t as honest
or cooperative as they’d like.
Especially when it has to do with a Chinese nuclear plant that was supposed to be a propaganda
symbol.
It was “the first of its type in the world to enter operation in 2018, after delays hit
similar projects in Finland and France”.
Is it possible that the Chinese Communist Party may have cut some corners to get this
nuclear plant up and running?
Nah.
Speaking of cutting corners, a gas pipeline in China exploded.
It destroyed a busy market in Shiyan city in central Hubei Province.
As of this recording, Chinese state state media say 25 people have died.
But we all know how honest China is about statistics.
Especially when it involves local government screwups.
But as I said in a recent episode about enormous sinkholes opening up throughout China,
the Chinese Communist Party tends to care more about the look of a city than the lives
inside the city.
Corners get cut.
And coming up after the break, the G7 tries to counter China.
Welcome back.
The G7 is a group of the most powerful economies.
They had their annual meeting and awkward family photo last week.
A big part of that meeting was about countering China.
We did a full rundown of their plan on our other channel, America Uncovered.
Yes, we have another channel.
But the G7 this year also talked about China issues that it ignored in the past—Taiwan,
the East and South China Seas, and human rights abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong.
Obviously China is not happy.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian said, “The U.S. is ill and very ill indeed.
The G-7 had better take its pulse and come up with a prescription.”
That sounds like a swipe at President Biden being old and confused.
But the Communist Party isn’t just upset at the G7, they’re also mad at NATO.
NATO called China a global security challenge.
Something they haven’t done before.
We’re talking baby steps here.
NATO only expressed concern about China’s growing military.
While NATO still considers Russia a threat, China merely presents challenges.
But even that was enough to infuriate the Chinese regime.
Which responded that “China is actually a force for peace but will defend itself if
threatened.”
Which is like a burglar saying he’s all about protecting private property, and if
you try to take anything from his sack he’ll knife you.
China once again proved how devoted it was to peace this week, by sending a record 28
fighter jets toward Taiwan.
That was in response to G7 leaders calling for a peaceful resolution to the Taiwan-China
issue.
The problem is, the Chinese Communist Party is never about peace.
It’s about leaving the world in pieces.
Meanwhile, the US sent the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan to the South China Sea, along
with two guided missile destroyers.
The US said it was part of routine freedom of navigation operations in international
waters.
Chinese state media called it “cold war baiting”.
Unlike flying fighter jets toward a country they’ve threatened to invade.
Last month, a botched marathon in China resulted in 21 deaths.
An investigation was launched into why organizers ignored extreme weather warnings.
And now the Communist Party chief who was responsible has mysteriously died.
Well it wasn’t that mysterious.
He fell from a building.
Don’t worry, local police say it wasn’t homicide.
But they also aren’t saying it was suicide.
How many other options are there?
Was he just walking on the roof of a building and slipped?
Speaking of mysterious deaths, a top Communist official at a University in Shanghai was stabbed
to death.
Yes, universities in China are all overseen by a Party official.
This one was stabbed to death by a fellow professor.
But details are sparse because Communist Party run media don’t really like talking about
Communist Party officials being murdered.
Instead they prefer to focus on how much the Chinese people love the Communist Party!
After all, “International polls have indicated over and again that Chinese people’s approval
ratings of the CPC and the government rank the highest worldwide.”
Wow, how do they manage?
Well, the secret is, “EVERYTHING IS FOR THE PEOPLE.”
And yes, state media wrote that in all caps.
Speaking of communist run newspapers, the New York Times!
(They conducted a rare interview with the Chinese scientist potentially involved in
the coronavirus lab leak.
The virologist is Dr. Shi Zhengli.
She’s known as China’s bat woman for her research on bat coronaviruses.
Like the kind she was doing at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
That was getting US government funding approved by Dr. Fauci.
To do research making coronaviruses more contagious and deadly.
Did I mention the Wuhan Institute of Virology had known safety issues?
Or that some scientists have been saying for over a year that there are signs the coronavirus
was engineered?
Anyway, as the New York Times says, “The idea that the virus may have escaped from
a lab had long been widely dismissed by scientists as implausible and shunned by others for its
connection with former President Donald J. Trump.”
But now that Trump is impeached, and out of office, and banned from social media, can
we *please* start investigating the truth of a deadly virus that was never actually
connected to Trump in the first place?
It turns out, still no.
That’s why the New York Times interviewed the virologist at the center of all this—to
dismiss the idea once and for all.
“Dr. Shi has denied these accusations, and now finds herself defending the reputation
of her lab and, by extension, that of her country.”
You see, saying the coronavirus may have leaked from a lab is racist and xenophobic.
The New York Times says Dr. Shi “could barely contain her frustration”.
“I don’t know how the world has come to this, constantly pouring filth on an innocent
scientist.”
I’m glad the New York Times is still doing the propaganda work of the Chinese Communist
Party.
But you know who isn’t doing the CCP’s work?
Romania.
They just banned Chinese telecom Huawei from the country’s 5G network.
Every US administration, from Obama, to Trump to Biden has warned about the risk of Huawei.
The fact that these three guys agree on anything tells you something.
And more and more countries have been joining the US in banning Huawei from 5G networks.
It’s part of what the US State Department calls the Clean Network.
Just another Trump era initiative the Biden Administration is carrying on.
And...Hong Kong police have arrested more democracy advocates.
I’ll tell you why after the break.
Welcome back.
Over in Hong Kong, people celebrated the two year anniversary of the 2019 anti-extradition
protest.
It launched months of protests against the Chinese Communist Party and its growing control
of Hong Kong.
And of course ended with the Hong Kong national security law.
Which was pretty much everything they were protesting against.
Which is why this anniversary was celebrated by police arresting people for commemorating
it.
But that’s not all!
Hong Kong police have had a busy week.
Hundreds of police raided the offices of the Apple Daily, a pro-democracy newspaper.
They also arrested the editor-in-chief and other executives.
Police said Apple Daily was violating the national security law by “publishing articles
which called for sanctions on Beijing or [Hong Kong].”
When other media tried to ask the police which Apple Daily articles violated the national
security law, the police refused to answer.
It’s almost like they’re trying to make all Hong Kong media afraid of publishing things
that could get them arrested.
Police also froze Apple Daily’s assets.
So it’s not clear how long the paper can keep going.
But Apple Daily defiantly printed half a million copies the day after the police raid, with
the message that “everyone has to hang in there.”
Meanwhile, Jimmy Lai , the founder of Apple Daily, is being put on trial.
He faces life imprisonment.
For what?
Why, for violating the national security law.
Somehow.
Something to do with colluding with foreigners.
To do something.
Look, they don’t need a reason.
On the bright side, the American anti-Communist organization, the Victims of Communism Memorial
Foundation , awarded Jimmy Lai a top honor for his lifelong commitment to democracy in
Hong Kong.
Hopefully he can accept the award in person one day.
But if he ends up in prison for life, they also will present Jimmy with this very nice
cake.
Jimmy, we put a special ingredient in the cake.
But I’m happy to say I won’t need to bake a cake for Hong Kong activist Agnes Chow . She’s
been released from prison.
She never should have been in prison in the first place.
That’s according to the Congressional–Executive Commission on China , a bipartisan group of
U.S. lawmakers.
They tweeted “A more appropriate action to commemorate the 2nd anniversary of 2019
Hong Kong protests would have been to drop charges against those who participated in
those protests & release all other political prisoners.”
Which sounds to me like...these hostile foreign forces have been colluding with everyone in
Hong Kong!
China’s gonna have to lock up everybody now!
I’ve got a lot of baking to do.
But first, it’s time to answer a question from a member of the China Uncensored 50 Cent
Army, fans who support us and our efforts to expose the truth about the Chinese Communist
Party, by contributing through crowd funding website Patreon.
Mika Ranta asks “That sinkhole looks like PhotoShop or something.”
Ah, Mika is referring to this thumbnail image from our recent episode China’s MASSIVE
Sinkholes Are Swallowing Cars and Buses.
A lot of people asked me that actually.
It does look photoshopped, doesn’t it?
After all, it's kind of hard to believe this is real.
It’s real.
Sometimes things that happen in China are beyond belief.
Thanks for your question and your support, Mika.
And a big thank you to everyone who supports China Uncensored on Patreon.
We could not do this show without you.
So thank you for joining us in the fight to expose the Chinese Communist Party to the
world.
If you’re interested in joining, head over to Patreon.com/ChinaUncensored.
You’ll get a bunch of cool perks, including the chance to have me answer your question
on the show!
Once again I’m Chris Chappell, see you next time.