On this episode of China Uncensored,
The Chinese and US navies have a close friendship.
Or maybe just a close call.
A reporter from Chinese state-run media learns about democracy.
And a famous Chinese actress is free!
To apologize.
This is China Uncensored.
Hi, welcome to China Uncensored,
I'm your host Chris Chappell.
A Chinese warship played a game of chicken
with a US Navy destroyer in the South China Sea.
Apparently they're 45 yards apart,
but it sure looks a lot closer than that.
The US ship was forced to maneuver out of the way
to prevent a collision.
Which means...America blinked first.
Sad!
The Pentagon called the Chinese move
an "unsafe and unprofessional maneuver."
Well that's rather a polite way to put it.
The encounter happened in the Spratly Islands,
where the Chinese regime makes territorial claims.
Actually, they claim pretty much the entire South China Sea.
Needless to say,
not everyone agrees with that claim.
The US has performed regular freedom of navigation operations
in the South China Sea since 2013,
as a way of saying, these are international waters,
and what are you gonna do about it, huh?
And this was the Chinese military saying,
this is what we're gonna do about it.
This also happened right after the US postponed
a planned mid-October security talk
between the Secretary of Defense
and his Chinese counterpart.
So US-China relations aren't doing so hot right now.
If tensions continue to escalate,
things could get serious, fast.
Ok, who TP'ed the US Navy destroyer?
I knew it!
Of course the next time
there's a US-China military encounter,
it may be Xi Jinping himself leading the way.
He looks so natural in the pilot seat, doesn't he?
I guess you could call him a "great helmsman."
Xi Jinping: not just the head of the Chinese Communist Party,
not just the president of the government,
but also the chairman of the Central Military Commission—
among many other titles.
He gave a military inspection this week,
and reminded everyone to be ready for war.
Not with any country in particular.
Just, you know, in general.
I guess Xi wants the PLA to be like the Boy Scouts.
Always be prepared.
But, for war.
Meanwhile, one war the US and China
are already fighting is the trade war.
And the latest battle was fought in the new trade deal
between the US, Mexico and Canada.
The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement,
USMCA, which will replace NAFTA,
has some clauses built into it that will affect trade with China.
Take article 32.10.
It's about free trade negotiations
with non market economies.
China is considered a non market economy.
The clause gives all three countries the power
to block each other from making free-trade
agreements with China without approval.
It effectively gives the US more power in
"weakening Beijing's negotiating power in future trade talks".
Technically, China is not mentioned by name,
but, come on, we know who they mean.
Keep in mind, the USMCA has been agreed on,
but not ratified.
It still needs to be approved
by each of the three countries' legislatures,
which probably won't happen till early next year.
But regardless, Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau
still says that despite the USMCA's restrictions,
he's really excited about closer trade ties with China.
I mean, sure Canadian citizens
are being illegally detained there.
But what's not to love about partnering with China?
I'm telling you, it's the pandas.
Every.
Time.
Hey, ever want to challenge your friends
to see who knows the most about China's glorious leader Xi Jinping?
That's a dumb question.
Of course you have.
And the good news is, now you can!
There's a new primetime game show all about Xi Jinping!
It's called Studying Xi in the New Era.
According to the South China Morning Post,
it's being broadcast on "Hunan TV,
the country's second most watched channel,
which is wildly popular among the younger generation
for its entertainment shows and idol dramas."
It takes place on a spaceship,
with Karl Marx and a robot.
The show is part of a general trend pushing "Xi Jinping thought."
It's his very own brand of ideology
that was added to the Communist Party constitution.
The gameshow tests your knowledge of Xi Jinping,
plus has a smattering of questions
about Karl Marx and Mao Zedong.
And the best part is...there's no cash or prizes!
It's the perfect Communist game show.
And I assume that if a contestant is too intellectual,
he gets sent to the countryside.
Speaking of great Chinese state-run television,
a reporter for China Central Television attended
an event held by Hong Kong democracy activists in the UK,
she yelled at one of the speakers
that he was "anti China"
and called other attendees "traitors".
Then, when a volunteer tried to escort her out of the meeting,
she...slapped him.
If you hit me again, I will call the police.
Oh, how democratic UK.
Wow, she really doesn't understand democracy.
The police came and arrested her.
But then the Chinese embassy intervened,
she was released without charges,
and state-run CCTV demanded that conference organizers
issue an apology to her.
Because did you see how they violated her rights?
Well, you might think that she got off easy,
since a professional journalist from the UK
who did the same thing in China
would have probably been kicked out of the country.
But you would be mistaken,
because CCTV reporters aren't professional journalists.
That's not me saying that.
That's former CCTV president Hu Zhanfan, who said,
"Journalists who think of themselves as professionals,
instead of as propaganda workers,
are making a fundamental mistake about identity."
In that case,
I think this reporter,
sorry, propaganda worker,
is probably going to get a promotion.
Speaking of journalism versus propaganda,
NPR just released a wide-ranging interview
with Chinese ambassador to the US, Cui Tiankai.
After Cui pushed for more "openness" in the US toward China,
the NPR reporter asked if China
would be willing to have more openness
for foreign reporters to go into Tibet,
where they've been banned from traveling for years.
And Cui says, well,
the altitude in Tibet is kind of high,
and the climate is pretty tough.
I mean, the Chinese regime
is just looking out for foreign reporters, you know?
They wouldn't want them to get altitude sickness.
The NPR reporter pushed back, saying that
"we have high altitudes in the United States."
And Ambassador Cui promptly pivoted to the fact that
they can't have too many visitors in Tibet,
because they need to protect the local environment.
I mean, sure the local government
has been encouraging tourism—
mostly from other parts of China—
and now Tibet gets 25 million visitors a year.
But even though the Chinese Communist Party
would love to have foreign reporters over in Tibet,
it's just that, you know,
the house is a mess and they really should clean it up first,
but they've been so busy.
Maybe in another decade or two.
Oh, and about those political re-education camps in Xinjiang?
Ambassador Cui is not saying there are camps,
but he's also not saying there are not camps.
But you know, if there were camps,
they'd be a great place for people to learn skills and…
...look over there, it's terrorism!
It's spreading all over the place!
What a diplomat.
We have an update on Fan Bingbing,
the missing Chinese celebrity superstar.
"Fans heard very little of Fan Bingbing
when she suddenly dropped off the radar in June.
Until now.
The Chinese superstar has released a statement on social media,
apologizing for tax evasion."
She owes 130 million dollars now,
a combination of back taxes and fines.
As we reported two weeks ago,
the entertainment industry in China
has been using what's called yin-yang contracts.
Basically there's a fake contract to show tax authorities,
and a real one with a much higher salary
that the actor actually gets paid.
Fan Bingbing's sudden disappearance
and then public apology falls in line
with an age old tradition in Communist China—
of secretly detaining people
until they see the error of their ways.
"In her statement, she says,
'Without the good policies of the Communist Party and state,
without the love of the people,
there is no Fan Bingbing.'"
And without publicly apologizing
to the Communist Party and the state,
there's also no Fan Bingbing.
Speaking of putting pressure on things,
this dramatic video posted to Chinese social media
shows a giant boa constrictor squeezing the life from a dog.
Three boys attempt to help.
And presumably there's a fourth boy,
who does NOTHING,
just stands there holding a camera.
Anyway, they attempt to unwind the huge snake from the dog.
And I wouldn't end this episode without something uplifting.
So don't worry:
they're finally able to set the dog free.
At least this China Uncensored episode
has someone being set free.
So what do you think?
Leave your comments below.
And before you go,
now is the time when I answer questions from you!
The loyal members of the China Uncensored 50-cent army
who support the show on the crowd funding website Patreon.
David Michael White asks,
"Chris, where did you get those socks?
Ah, the important question gets asked.
I noticed that many of you noticed my socks
in the recent interviews.
Perhaps I should try longer pants?
Perhaps, shorter legs?
Either way, those were some good looking socks.
But I can't tell you where I bought them, David,
because I didn't.
They were a gift from my mom.
Thanks for you question.
But now I have a question for all of you.
I got so many YouTube comments about this,
should I be selling China Uncensored socks?
Wait, what's that Shelley?
When people say, "Nice Socks"
they don't actually mean nice socks?
Fine.
Well thanks for watching this episode of China Uncensored.
Once again I'm your host Chris Chappell.
See you next time.
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Go to Patreon.com/ChinaUncensored
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Check out all the cool rewards you get
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