China pushes for more nukes

And China censors Friends

That and more on this week's China news headlines

Welcome to China Uncensored, I'm Chris Chappell.

This episode is sponsored by PC-Doctor Toolbox.

Protect your PC from software  crashes, hardware failures and…

Yeah, get PC-Doctor Toolbox. The link is below.

Anyway, the South China Sea  dispute heats up this week.

On Monday, 16 Chinese warplanes  breached Malaysian air space.  

Malaysia released these  photos of the Chinese planes.

Malaysia scrambled jets to  intercept the Chinese aircraft.

And is now summoning a Chinese  envoy for a dressing down.

The Chinese embassy denied any wrongdoing. “The  planes conducted routine flight training and  

'strictly abided by' international law without  violating airspace of other countries.”

Wait, are they saying they didn't violate  the airspace of other countries...because  

Malaysia has been part of  China since ancient times?

But it's not just Malaysia having  problems. Indonesia announced it's  

expanding its submarine fleet in response to  China's aggression in the South China Sea.

Indonesia is expanding its sub fleet from 4 to 12,  

“in response to the Chinese communist regime's  repeated incursion into the disputed waters”.

It comes shortly after Indonesia's  fifth submarine sank in April.

And the Philippines lodged a  formal diplomatic protest to  

China's illegal presence in the South China Sea.

The complaint is over “incessant  deployment, prolonged presence,  

and illegal activities of Chinese  maritime assets and fishing vessels”.

It comes as China stationed its maritime militia  ships just off an Island in the Spratlys this  

week. The island is occupied by the Philippines. It's about 300 miles from the Philippine mainland. 

On top of that, earlier this year,  

China sent hundreds of its maritime  militia ships to Whitsun Reef,  

which is also part of the Spratlys and within the  Philippines' 200-mile exclusive economic zone.

But really, why is everyone so afraid  of the Chinese Communist Party?  

Is it the military aggression? It's  the military aggression, isn't it?

Well, that's why Chinese leader Xi Jinping  is calling for a more lovable image of China.

Xi told state-run Xinhua, “It is necessary to  make friends, unite and win over the majority,  

and constantly expand the circle of friends  [when it comes to] international public opinion.”

This might look like warm and fuzzy  language--China wants to be loveable!  

It needs to expand its circle of friends! But  it's not. Because the whole point of Xi's speech  

was that the Chinese regime needed to  do better at “public opinion struggle.”

“In such a struggle, there are friends in  the form of compliant media and apologists,  

and there are enemies in the  form of recalcitrant journalists,  

academics and politicians who insist  on criticism—exactly what this external  

push is designed to neutralize.” And nothing says “let's be friends”  

quite like a targeted propaganda  campaign aimed at silencing criticism!

The Chinese regime will “strengthen propaganda  efforts to help foreigners understand the Chinese  

Communist Party and the way it 'strives  for the happiness of the Chinese people.'”

Now you might be thinking, China is a country  that uses gang rape as a form of torture.

How are they striving for the  happiness of the Chinese people?

Well think about it—how much  better will the rest of your day  

seem compared to the gang rape?! Apocalyptic  pollution is nothing compared to that!

Wow, I want to be friends with China already!

But if Xi Jinping really wants to present a  lovable image of China, I suggest he start  

comparing himself to one of the most lovable  characters of all time: Winnie-the-Pooh!

Of course if friendship doesn't work,  my favorite Chinese state-run media,  

the Global Times, says China needs more  nukes. You know, for threatening the US. 

The editorial came out just hours after U.S.  Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Chinese  

Vice Premier Liu He held an online meeting. I think the Chinese Communist Party doesn't  

like Tai. Earlier in May, she said in a  Congressional hearing, “If China cannot or  

will not adapt to international rules and norms,  we must be bold and creative in taking steps  

to level the playing field and enhance  our own capabilities and partnerships.”

Bold and creative. Well, China's answer  to “bold and creative” is more nukes.

But maybe I'm being unfair. It's possible  that the Global Times article had nothing  

to do with the trade meeting. Because  it also came out after the US started  

pushing for more investigations into  the origin of the coronavirus outbreak.

But you know, speaking of my favorite  Chinese state-run media, the Global Times,  

I can't help but think about the Washington Post.

At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic,  The Washington Post was very critical of anyone  

pushing the absolutely insane conspiracy theory  that the coronavirus leaked from a Chinese lab.

Here's a headline from February 2020,  Republican Senator Tom Cotton keeps  

repeating a coronavirus conspiracy  theory that was already debunked

Well, this week they quietly changed that headline  

to Tom Cotton keeps repeating a coronavirus  fringe theory that scientists have disputed.

How about that?

It comes as the Washington Post has recently been  

forced to admit the lab leak  theory is actually credible.

You know, journalists should own up to  their mistakes. What's that Shelley? Oh,  

it seems I made a mistake. And I'll own up to it.  

I said the original headline was from  2020. I was wrong. It's from 1984.

But if you love disturbing coverups,  stick around after the break.

Welcome back.

If you're feeling nostalgic for the  early days of the coronavirus pandemic,  

China is reporting the very first case  of a human getting a new bird flu.

Don't worry, the Chinese government says  the risk of large-scale spread is low.  

And when have they ever lied?

Speaking of people without a clue, Tesla  is setting up a data center in China.  

All Chinese user data will be easily  accessible by the Chinese government.

And after Tesla did the unethical thing the  Chinese Communist Party wanted them to do,  

the Party screwed Tesla anyway.

I feel like there's a lesson here somewhere.

But speaking of crackdowns, Hong Kong.

Today is June 4. It's the anniversary  of when the Chinese Communist Party  

sent their army to crush student  protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

And every year since then, Hong Kongers have  held a candlelight vigil in Victoria Park,  

to commemorate the thousands of victims.

But now that the Chinese government has  passed its Hong Kong National Security Law,  

it looks like they won't be  permitting these vigils ever again.

You know, because of health and safety reasons.

This year, it's because of the coronavirus.

Next year, who knows? Maybe  we'll have a new bird flu?

It's such a dangerous safety issue,  

that anyone who attends can be thrown  in prison for up to five years.

And to make sure that no one dangerously  gathered in large groups in public,  

the Hong Kong police mobilized 7000  officers to patrol the streets.

Looking for people who were wearing black,  chanting slogans, or holding candles. 

You can always spot a dangerous  criminal by the candle they're holding. 

Speaking of dangerous Hong  Kong criminals, Grandma Wong. 

She's an elderly Hong Kong democracy protester.

When we were there in 2019, we  saw her at all the big protests.

But now, she's been arrested for  commemorating the Tiananmen Square Massacre.

Obviously, her protest was  a health and safety risk.  

Even though...she was the only one at her protest.

But look, arresting this elderly woman was for  her own good. I would never question my government  

if they tell me they have to take away  my liberty for everyone else's safety.

Also for safety issues, two days  ago authorities from the “Food  

and Environmental Hygiene Department” shut  down Hong Kong's Tiananmen Square museum.  

It was for illegally operating a  “place of public entertainment.”

You've got to protect people's safety!

And speaking of catastrophic assaults  on human dignity—the Friends Reunion. 

Apparently that was a big deal to some people.  

But if you were watching it in China,  you saw something a little different.  

Because the cameos by Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber,  and Korean boy band BTS were all censored.

That's right, they're all banned in China,  so those bits got cut in the mainland.  

But since the Friends Reunion was  unwatchable, I'm not sure anyone noticed.

And this episode is sponsored  by PC-Doctor Toolbox.

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I'm Chris Chappell. Thanks  for watching China Uncensored.