China’s military pushes forward
Threatening Taiwan and challenging the US
Plus, you won’t believe what’s censored on Chinese TV
That and more on this week’s China news headlines.
Welcome to China Uncensored. I’m Chris Chappell.
The war for Taiwan is getting closer.
But first, you can help us continue to uncensor China by joining what I call the
China Uncensored 50 Cent Army. All it takes is as little as a dollar per episode on the crowd
funding website Patreon. Check out all the cool perks you get on Patreon.com/ChinaUncensored.
So last week, I told you Chinese
jets performed a pincer maneuver, surrounding Taiwan on three sides.
This week, things are getting worse.
On Monday, China said an aircraft carrier group was conducting exercises close to the
island. Taiwan's defense ministry said 15 Chinese aircraft, including 12 fighters,
entered its air defense identification zone.
The Chinese aircraft carrier was the Liaoning.
It’s China’s first functional aircraft carrier. This was a major escalation.
The Chinese forces conducted exercises to the east and west of the island of Taiwan.
China claimed it was just a routine training exercise.
Which is true. Training to invade Taiwan is now routine.
But Taiwan’s Foreign Minister responded to the “exercises” with some pretty strong words.
“Our defense ministry is very determined in defending ourselves.
We are willing to defend ourselves and (it) is without any question. And we will fight the war
if we need to fight a war. And if we need
to defend ourselves to the very last day, we will defend ourselves to the very last day.”
How did China respond?
“China sent more fighter jets into Taiwan's air defense zone on Wednesday.”
The US military is warning there’s a rising risk China will invade Taiwan.
Now what ever would lead them to that conclusion?
But the US and Australia are working together on contingencies
around a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Here’s Michael Goldman, the charge d’affaires
at the U.S. Embassy in Canberra, on The Australian National University’s National Security Podcast.
“I think we’re committed as allies to working together, not only in making our militaries
interoperable and functioning well together but also in strategic planning. And when
you look at strategic planning, it covers the range of contingencies that you’ve mentioned,
of which Taiwan is obviously an important component.”
But the Chinese Communist Party is also preparing. Here’s a great idea from Hu Xijin
the editor in Chief of my favorite state run media, the Global Times.
This was in response to a Chinese netizen on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter.
“I will catch you [the young male netizen] and send you to bomb the bunkers on [Taiwan]
as a member of the commando. If you dare to run away, I will shoot you from behind.”
So it sounds like the Chinese people are all on board for an invasion of Taiwan.
Whether they want to be on board or not.
The genocide of Uyghurs in China is turning into a real PR disaster for the Chinese Communist Party.
Who knew people would be so touchy about genocide?!
Some people are suggesting a boycott of the 2022 Beijing Olympics
could put pressure on the regime. Here’s US State Department Spokesman Ned Price
answering a question about the US and allies joining a boycott.
“It is something that we certainly wish to discuss. A coordinated approach will be not only
in our interest but also in the interest of our allies and partners. So, this is one of the issues
that is on the agenda, both now and going forward,
and when we have something to announce, we will be sure to do that.”
And now the State Department has something to announce!
They aren’t going to do it.
The White House also says a boycott is not on the table.
China is certainly warning it will not tolerate a boycott of its Olympics.
But there are still growing calls for at least a partial boycott of the Olympics.
Like the idea from New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof
that athletes could participate, but government officials and companies shouldn’t.
That’s funny. He thinks the Olympics are about athletics and not corporations.
But there is one kind of boycott the Chinese regime encourages:
a boycott of Western brands that refuse to use cotton made with Uyghur slave labor.
More after the break.
Welcome back. The Chinese regime is going hard against some Western companies, like H&M and Nike.
They’re facing an official boycott in China, because
they refuse to use slave labor cotton from Xinjiang.
The problem is, these are popular brands in China.
Sometimes people even show up on television wearing these clothes.
Not to worry, the Chinese regime has figured out a surefire way to
completely erase them from the public memory. By making TV shows blur out their logos.
Wait, unless the guys were actually naked.
Even large groups of people had their clothing logos blurred out.
Yes Anti-China forces must be blurred to protect the feelings of the Chinese people.
Wait, what’s going on?!
The Chinese Communist Party is very proud of its Covid vaccines.
They even require foreigners to take a Chinese vaccine to get into the country.
But it turns out, Chinese officials
might be a little less enthusiastic about the Chinese vaccines.
Leaked documents show Chinese officials trying to dodge vaccinations.
For example, “In a town called Xintai, only three out of 66 officials have gotten vaccinated, with
another two on the registration list—showing a dismal willingness rate of less than 10 percent.”
Meanwhile, Chinese health officials said they plan to vaccinate 70-80 percent of the population.
“In some cases, overzealous officials have gone
door to door to vaccinate residents and even threatened to blacklist the uncooperative.”
I guess the other 20-30 percent that won’t be vaccinated are the officials and their families.
You know, in other countries, like Canada, vaccine corruption
means the rich and powerful trying to get the coronavirus vaccine before they’re eligible.
In China, vaccine corruption means the rich and powerful trying to
avoid getting Chinese vaccines whenever possible.
Yet another Chinese official has been sacked for corruption.
This time for owning nearly 3000 real estate properties.
“Xu Changyuan, a former high-ranking CCP official,
was involved in mafia-linked assets worth more than $1.52 billion.”
And Xu’s family sure used mafia tactics.
“The Xu family employed violence in collecting debts.
An investigation showed they cut some debtors’ Achilles tendons, forced some into cutting off
one of their fingers as a punishment or subjected others to illegal detention.”
Now this may surprise you, but according to local reports
Xu was also very active in the genocide against Falun Gong practitioners.
Falun Gong is a spiritual group the communist regime has been persecuting for 20 years—killing
them and selling their organs in state-run hospitals.
I mean, you’re not a good communist regime if you can’t make a little profit, right?
And now it’s time for me to read a question or comment from a member of the China Uncensored 50
Cent Army. Those are fans who support the show on Patreon by pledging a dollar or more per episode.
Steve M says, “I understand the desire to boycott the Beijing Olympics. I think it
would be more effective to go to the Olympics and then have all the non-Chinese participants
carry flags for Taiwan, Tibet, Xijiang, etc and see how China tries to censor that.”
Well, Steve, that’s an interesting idea. If there were an entire stadium filled with
people holding flags for those places, it would certainly make a huge impact.
But it probably wouldn’t get that far.
If you’re talking about the Olympic athletes carrying flags for Taiwan, Tibet, and Xinjiang,
they would get in trouble. They could possibly even
get disqualified from participating in the Games.
That’s according to a new rule from the International Olympic Committee.
“Athletes are barred from conducting protests or demonstrations on the field of play,
in the Olympic Village, during medal ceremonies,
or during the opening or closing ceremonies of the games.”
And if you’re talking about ordinary audience members holding flags for those places,
well that would still be hard to pull off.
China has an incredible surveillance system. From the moment you land at the airport,
to inside your hotel lobby, to the train to the Olympic events,
to the security measures at the venue—Chinese authorities can track your every move.
If you’re carrying a Tibetan flag, they’ll know about it.
And if you try to organize a mass protest like this—even while you’re in the US—they’ll
know ahead of time. Try creating a Facebook group! You think just because Facebook is
banned in China, Chinese police don’t use it to monitor people overseas?
The one thing Chinese authorities can’t do, is force people to come to the Olympics.
Well, they can’t force non-Chinese people to come. So a boycott is one of the few
effective things people in the West can do, without getting detained in China for it.
And if politicians and companies in the West refused to support the 2022 Olympics, it would
be a big embarrassment for the CCP. That’s why just the serious threat of a boycott might be
enough to get them to make concessions—like letting independent inspectors into Xinjiang.
Thanks for your comment, Steve.
And if you’d like me to read your question or comment, join the China Uncensored 50 cent army.
Pledge as little as a dollar per episode. Visit pateron.com/ChinaUncensored to learn more.
Thanks for watching. I’m Chris Chappell, see you next time.