China launches a new assault on India
The Philippines warns off China in the South China Sea
And your favorite Chinese restaurant might be spying on you.
That and more on this week’s China news headlines
Welcome to China Uncensored, I’m Chris Chappell.
A new variant of the coronavirus is spreading like wildfire in India.
And the Chinese Communist Party is taking full advantage of it.
India is China’s largest regional rival.
The CCP takes every opportunity it can to undermine India’s influence in the region.
And this deadly new coronavirus surge is no exception.
You see, as recently as last month, India was the world’s largest producer of coronavirus
vaccines.
Much to the chagrin of China.
Who is trying to woo the world with its vaccine diplomacy.
You know, get people to see China as the one who saved them from the coronavirus.
Rather than see China as the place the pandemic started from.
The only fly in the ointment—Chinese vaccines don't work so well.
And that’s according to a top Chinese health official.
“But [India’s] second Covid-19 wave has been so brutal that India has stopped almost
all vaccine exports.”
In fact India is now importing vaccines to meet its needs.
And this has given the Chinese Communist Party an opportunity.
“China has moved swiftly to fill the void as anxiety grows in countries that were dependent
on Indian-made shots.”
Even if Chinese vaccines aren’t very effective, many see it as better than nothing.
The CCP is using the current crisis in India in more ways too.
A major Chinese state-run airline suspended cargo flights to India.
Those flights were “needed to bring in medical supplies, and Chinese manufacturers of medical
supplies have raised prices.”
Now, that Chinese state-run airline has just retracted the ban.
But it sure sent a clear message to the Indian government: You’re dependent on China.
The Chinese regime is also using the crisis to try and drive a wedge between the US and
India.
“When India asked the United States this month to lift a ban on exporting vaccine raw
materials...Washington appeared to drag its feet, citing the need to ‘vaccinate the
American people’ first.”
As you can imagine, that really did not go over well.
And the Chinese Communist Party saw an opportunity to exploit a possible rift between India and
the US for its own gain.
Chinese state-run media were quick to attack the US for selfishness and indifference.
Suggesting India should maybe rethink who its allies are.
Meanwhile, “Chinese leaders have repeatedly expressed a desire to help [India], pledging
to ‘offer support and assistance to the best of our capability if the Indian side
informs us of its specific needs.’”
This of course comes as the US and India have strengthened their alliance to counter China.
That’s part of the Quad, an alliance between the US, India, Japan and Australia.
Which also has been working to counter China’s vaccine diplomacy.
India, so far, hasn’t taken up Beijing’s offer.
And the Biden Administration is now sending vaccine materials to India.
As well as more than 100 million dollars in Covid supplies.
But as humanity still struggles to end the pandemic the Chinese Communist Party is responsible
for, the Party will still be here, trying to turn the pandemic to its own advantage.
The Philippines is getting a little salty over the Communist Party’s repeated incursions
into disputed waters in the South China Sea.
That’s why the Philippine Coast Guard is holding maritime drills.
China of course is complaining about it.
But the Philippines’ Defense Minister is telling China to mind its own business.
Philippines President Rodrigo Dutetere was a little softer.
He said, “While the Philippines owed China a ‘huge debt’ of gratitude for many things,
including free COVID-19 vaccines...he would not compromise on his country's sovereignty
in the South China Sea.”
Yes, according to Duterte, part of their huge debt to China is for China’s coronavirus
vaccines.
Like I said, the Communist Party is always turning the coronavirus to its own advantage.
Meanwhile, hundreds of US-funded scientists may be compromised by China.
These scientists at American universities get US funding, while also setting up labs
in China and getting funded by China as well.
Michael Lauer, Deputy Director of the National Institutes of Health, gave an example of a
US researcher who, “had a laboratory in China and was basically being funded by the
Chinese government to do the exact same work”—despite receiving an NIH research grant to do work
in the U.S.
Speaking of, US scientists who said there’s no way the coronavirus came from a Chinese
lab admit to being collaborators of that Chinese lab.
For instance, NBC Science Contributor Dr. Joseph Fair . He’s said the lab leak idea
was a conspiracy theory.
Incidentally, here he is in 2013 being given an award from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Another is Dr. Ian Lipkin . He also said in numerous media reports the virus didn’t
come from a Chinese lab.
Here he is speaking at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Now to be clear, these doctors specifically said they didn’t believe the coronavirus
was engineered in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
But there is mounting evidence the coronavirus may have *accidentally* leaked from the Wuhan
Institute of Virology.
So it’s probably a bad idea that so many influential US doctors and scientists are
so closely tied to the Chinese Communist Party.
And speaking of close ties to the Chinese Communist Party—your favorite Chinese restaurant!
Coming up after the break.
Welcome back.
If you’re like me, you love to eat Chinese hotpot.
When Shelley, Matt, and I were in Hong Kong in 2019, a friend took us to Haidilao, one
of the most famous hotpot restaurants from mainland China.
The food was great.
That’s probably why Haidilao is so successful.
It has more than 900 restaurants around the world.
Plus they give free manicures.
But it turns out, Haidilao is also successful at spying on its customers and staff.
According to the Sunday Guardian, “A manager with Haidilao Hot Pot in Vancouver confirmed
that over 60 surveillance cameras have been installed in the restaurant at the request
of the [mainland China based] Haidilao corporation, as part of the social credit system in China.”
That’s where Chinese authorities monitor citizens to see if they’re politically correct.
The social credit system punishes or rewards people according to how well they follow Party
directives.
And in case you think these cameras are just for security, no, they’re not.
The manager at Haidilao admitted that “The cameras were installed to ‘punish’ staff
if they didn’t adhere to corporate standards and to ‘people track.’”
And he said the footage was sent back to China—but he declined to say why.
Only that the reason was “secret”.
Further reporting from Hong Kong’s Apply Daily suggests the surveillance is happening
in Taiwan, too.
And a closer review of our own photo from Hong Kong shows...that we were absolutely
stupid for not noticing!
But I’m not too worried.
Because we can never go back to Hong Kong anyway.
22 years ago this week, Falun Gong practitioners went to Beijing to petition the government
for their right to practice their beliefs freely.
State-run media had once promoted Falun Gong, but by 1999 that had flipped.
Long story short, this guy was playing power struggle games, and Falun Gong was a convenient
political victim.
And yet, more than two decades later, millions of people inside China still practice Falun
Gong.
And it’s become China’s largest civil disobedience movement.
They’re also still one of the biggest groups outside China protesting the Communist Party.
For more, check out the recent interview we did on the China Unscripted podcast with the
Executive Director of the Falun Dafa Information Center.
John Kerry is President Biden’s climate envoy to China.
And he has returned from China with great news!
He says as far as climate change goes, we can turn it around.
But of course, the only way to do that is if we work with China.
John Kerry said “We have other differences on human rights...but those differences do
not have to get in the way of something that is as critical as dealing with climate.”
Well said!
For example, China makes most of the world’s solar panels.
That’s because they stole the technology from US companies, but that’s beside the
point.
We can’t let that get in the way of cooperating on climate issues.
Solar panels can help us go green.
And we can’t let human rights concerns, like that those solar panels are made by ethnic
slave labor, get in the way of dealing with climate.
Now sure, the Chinese Communist Party has a long history of lying about...everything.
And repeatedly violating international agreements.
But surely, when it comes to climate change, we can trust the CCP this time for some reason.
As John Kerry said, “My sense is the Chinese know that there is a benefit to both of us
being able to resolve the climate crisis because our citizens are deeply affected by our failure
to do so.”
Because if there’s one authoritarian regime that really cares about its citizens, it’s
the Chinese Communist Party.
I mean, surely the CCP recognizes the mutual benefit of reducing greenhouse gas emissions...which
is why THEY’RE STILL BUILDING AN INSANE NUMBER OF NEW COAL PLANTS!
Dear American officials: If you think you can trust the Chinese Communist Party, because
this time it will be different—that is literally the definition of insanity!
And now 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
on the crowd funding website Patreon.
Charlie Badge asks, “if china invades Taiwan, what about the US military equipment sold
to them.
Does Taiwan have the F35 bomber?
Is American willing to protect this technology?”
Excellent question.
Obviously it is a concern to the US what happens if US military equipment sold to Taiwan falls
into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.
It’s actually one of the reasons why Taiwan doesn’t have the F35.
Even without an invasion, US military technology in Taiwan is at risk.
According to one expert, “It would be very hard for the Taiwanese to hold the secrets—not
because they would give them up willingly, but because of the infiltration of the Chinese
into their system.”
Then there’s issues with money.
The F35 is a very expensive fighter jet.
Not just to buy, but to maintain.
Some think that money would be better spent on other defense systems.
However there are arguments for selling Taiwan the F-35.
“From a military perspective, experts say the F-35 is perfectly suited for flying in
Taiwan.
The plane can take off from short runways and land vertically like a helicopter.
That would be important in a war with China, which would likely bomb Taiwan’s airfields
preventing traditional jets from taking off.”
But of course, such a move might—anger China.
And so, for a variety of reasons, US military support of Taiwan remains limited.
Thanks for your question Charlie.
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.
Once again I’m Chris Chappell, see you next time.