The Central Threat of our Times
is the Chinese Communist Party.
And a coverup of the Wuhan Coronavirus.
That and more today’s China News Headlines.
This is China Uncensored.
I’m Chris Chappell.
This week’s China news headlines!
First up, the Wuhan coronavirus.
We’re not going to tell you what the latest numbers are,
because the situation is moving so quickly,
by the time you watch this video,
they will be different.
But we can tell you more about the coverup.
Remember those eight people who were detained by police
for “spreading rumors” about the coronavirus back in December?
It turns out, they were all doctors!
The Beijing Youth Daily interviewed the original doctor
who spread the so-called rumor.
It turns out, the doctor
“had warned a WeChat group of former medical school classmates
about seven patients from a local wet market”
who were exhibiting symptoms that he initially thought was SARS.
After screenshots from the private group leaked on social media,
“The doctor was summoned to a police station
and forced to confess his error
and pledge not to repeat it.”
So were the other doctors in the group chat, apparently.
According to the Beijing Youth Daily,
the doctor is now himself in an isolation ward
after he fell ill while treating patients.
As you can imagine,
this news has contributed to the ongoing backlash
against Chinese officials for covering up news about the virus.
People are so unhappy,
that even the Supreme People’s Court has published an article
about how that the police were wrong for detaining the doctor.
The good news is, the Chinese Communist Party
has obviously learned their lesson about the need
for greater openness in this time of crisis.
Which is why the Party has ordered the article about the doctor
be deleted from the internet.
Nothing to see here, folks.
Ok, so maybe propaganda can’t defeat the new coronavirus.
But you know what can?
Drones.
Specifically, drones that yell at you.
Yes, auntie, this is the drone speaking to you.
You shouldn’t walk about without wearing a mask.
Yes, you’d better go back home and don’t forget to wash your hands.
You see we’ve been telling people to stay at home but you still wander outside.
Now a drone is watching you.
My favorite state-run media, The Global Times,
published this compilation of drones in China policing people
and telling them to wear masks,
or go back home.
Clearly, the best way to keep people healthy
is to scare the bejeezus out of them,
and then post that footage on China’s version of TikTok.
Hey kid! We are in unusual times!
Don’t stroll around outside!
You don’t even wear a mask.
Hurry up and go back home!
The coronavirus is very serious...
Run!! Don’t come outside.
Staying home is contributing to society.
That little girl just got yelled at by a drone.
She’s never leaving her house again.
In non coronavirus news,
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
had some pretty harsh words for China.
“The Chinese Communist Party presents the central threat of our times.”
Central threat?
Personally, I feel like it’s that second helping of pancakes.
Sure, it tastes great.
But don’t expect your day to be productive anymore.
And too much of it will probably give you a heart attack.
But Pompeo has reason for singling out the Chinese Communist Party.
The chairman of Harvard’s Chemistry Department Charles Lieber
was arrested on charges of lying about
getting millions of dollars in Chinese funding.
He’s a pioneer in the field of nanotechnology.
That’s something the Chinese Communist Party
is extremely interested in.
And I know about mostly through Metal Gear.
The nanomachines inside soldiers bodies adapt to different conditions,
promoting the release of neurotransmitters, hormones, and stimulants,
giving them an edge in battle.
The US was funding Lieber’s research with $15 million dollars.
At the same time,
he was part of China’s Thousand Talents Plan.
As part of that,
a Chinese tech university gave him $1.5 million dollars
to set up a research lab in China.
“The school also agreed to pay him a $50,000 monthly salary
and offered about $150,000 in annual living expenses
for “significant periods” from 2012 to 2017.”
As a side note, that Chinese tech university was located in Wuhan.
So lucky for him, now that he’s been arrested in the US,
he won’t have to go back to Wuhan—
where the coronavirus has been spreading.
There were two other people charged
along with professor Charles Lieber:
One is Yanqing Ye,
a Chinese robotics researcher at Boston University.
She had concealed that she was also in the Chinese army.
The other is Zaosong Zheng.
He’s a cancer researcher who was caught traveling to China
with 21 vials of biological samples.
There’s also been a string of Chinese “students”
getting caught spying at the Key West Navy Base.
Pretty freaky stuff.
There’s also been an increase in trademark theft
committed by Chinese factories.
According to China Law Blog,
Chinese factories are stealing intellectual property
much faster than even a year ago.
It comes as they fear US companies
will move their manufacturing out of China
because the trade war has made China production more expensive.
Despite warnings from the US,
the UK has given the go ahead Chinese telecom giant Huawei
to build part of its 5G network.
I believe we have footage of the UK’s prime minister on this issue:
Tell me why.
Ain't nothin' but a heartache.
Tell me why.
Ain’t nothing but a mistake.
I never want to hear you say...
But I want it Huawei.
Huawei has connections to the Chinese military.
This makes the entire UK telecom system vulnerable.
And that also puts the US system at risk by proxy,
as well as jeopardizing the entire Five Eyes.
That’s a security alliance between the US, UK,
Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
So the UK’s decision is very, very stupid.
Do they not get China Uncensored in the UK?
And the European Union is also rather stupid about this whole thing.
The European Commission has set new guidelines
that basically leave the decision to use or ban Huawei
up to individual countries.
Letting countries make their own decisions is not a problem per se.
But it’s a concern in this case because the Chinese regime
has been working to pick apart the EU country by country.
Through investment deals, which often include Huawei deals,
China is able to buy off European countries.
Greece is a great example.
After heavy Chinese investment in its struggling economy,
Greece blocked the EU from criticizing China’s human rights record.
Now, China is using Huawei as a wedge issue across Europe.
Germany is especially at risk.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has favored a Huawei deal.
It’s nice to know that despite Brexit,
Boris and Angela still have one thing in common.
Merkel is pushing for Huawei
even against the recommendations of her own intelligence agencies.
In other words…
“The Chinese Communist Party presents the central threat of our times.”
And that does it for this week’s China News headlines.
What do you think?
Let me know in the comments below.
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And as I’ve mentioned before,
YouTube often demonetizes episodes like this,
because they’re too controversial.
We would have been run out of business years ago,
if it weren’t for fan support
through the crowd funding website Patreon.
So as a thank you to these fans,
I answer their questions at the end of some of my episodes.
This question comes from Kevin Oberdick.
“How did the KMT Party morph into a pro-unification party?
Is Chiang Kai-shek rolling over in his grave?
Or, what am I missing?”
Very interesting question.
So the KMT party was the party of the Republic of China.
They were the government of China
before the Chinese Communist Party won the Chinese Civil War,
and the KMT retreated to Taiwan.
Today Taiwan is a multi-party democracy,
so the KMT is just one of many parties.
But it is known as generally a more Beijing-friendly party.
So how did the mortal enemy of the CCP have such a drastic turn around?
Well, that’s a pretty clear example of just how successful
the Chinese Communist Party is at infiltrating groups and subverting them.
Money is a big part of it.
The KMT argues that Taiwan needs closer economic ties to China
for the economy.
And maybe KMT politicians get some money for that view along the way.
There are claims that China spent 200 million dollars in the last election
to support the KMT candidate.
But also, keep in mind there’s a spectrum to the current KMT.
No prominent KMT politician is arguing
for a one country two systems arrangement like Hong Kong.
At least not any more.
Some, as I said,
genuinely believe the Taiwanese economy
requires close dealing with the Communist Party.
I mean, the best way to make money is to work with Communists,
we all know that.
Others still have this sort of old timey nationalistic feeling
that Taiwan and China should unify in some way.
So it would be a little unfair to say
that every KMT member is pro-Communist.
Is the former head of the KMT, Chiang Kai-shek,
who fought Mao,
rolling over in his grave?
Well, I can’t say for sure.
Grave robbery is a crime.
And I don’t encourage people to commit crimes.
Well, except thought crimes.
Thanks for your question.
And thank you everyone for watching,
and for supporting China Uncensored.
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join our 50-Cent Army!
Go to Patreon.com/ChinaUncensored and contribute.
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Once again, I’m Chris Chappell.
See you next time.