Coronavirus Resurgence in China?

Is the coronavirus on the rise in China? The US strengthens ties with Taiwan. Plus, Hong Kong manages to get even worse for activists. That and more on this week's China news headlines. China Uncensored, I'm Chris Chappell. This week's China news headlines. Coronavirus has now killed almost 1.5 million people worldwide. And you know, it's amazing. Even though the virus began in China, there were only around 4,000 deaths there, according to official numbers. As my favorite Chinese state-run media, the Global Times says, 1.4 billion Chinese people have declared victory over Covid-19. And now, I will show you what victory looks like. This is a video of the Shanghai International Airport that was posted online last weekend. Officials in hazmat suits desperately tried to hold back the crowd from leaving the airport. They weren't super successful. Several people at the airport tested positive for Covid-19, or what I've been calling the CCP virus. Officials then prevented everyone from leaving the airport, while they did an airport-wide coronavirus testing. And the video shows them corralling thousands of people into a parking garage. These people are clearly happy to be squished together with thousands of other people who wouldn't possibly have the CCP virus, because they know China has declared victory. But despite the clear victory, the CCP virus seems to be making a resurgence in other parts of China now, too. Chinese authorities are testing millions of people, imposing lockdowns, and shutting down schools after multiple locally transmitted coronavirus cases were discovered in three cities across the country last week. And here's the thing. If for some reason you question the official numbers China is putting out, then you might realize that maybe these widespread lockdowns and mass testing are a sign that there might be more than a few locally transmitted cases. This is a serious concern for more than a billion people in China. Don't worry, because there are some people who can still find the silver lining in all this. People like Li Yi, a Chinese scholar and also a US resident. In fact, he seemed quite gleeful about it. Here he is making a speech at a forum in Shenzhen last month. It went viral this week after Chinese media started promoting it. Wow, what a great thing it is that the Chinese Communist Party covered up the coronavirus, allowing it to become a global pandemic. It's killed so many Americans, now China can easily push America out of existence. This month, President Trump issued an executive order banning American investment in 31 companies linked to China's military. Well, it turns out that was badly needed, because US investors have pumped billions of dollars into those companies. According to an investigation by the Epoch Times, US entities have shares worth almost $15 billion in 16 publicly traded Chinese firms that are now on the blacklist. Some of the biggest investors are investment management companies like BlackRock and Vanguard, as well as pension, like the California Public Employees Retirement System. Unfortunately, the Trump administration is still trying to crack down on good, hardworking Americans trying to make an honest buck investing in companies tied to the Chinese military. They're creating a new list of 89 more firms that have Chinese military connections, and restricting them from buying a range of US goods and technology. According to Reuters, this could further escalate trade tensions with Beijing, and hurt US companies that sell civil aviation parts and components to China, among other industries. Oh no, not that! Please, everyone, listen to Henry Kissinger. Go easy on China. But there's one American industry that is still able to make its money from China. The media. I'll tell you more after the break. Welcome back. Foreign state-run media have to report their spending to the US Justice Department. Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. And over the past six months, China Daily, one of China's biggest propaganda outlets, has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to Western media companies. This latest filing shows that from May through October this year, China Daily paid over $800,000 to advertise in the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, Foreign Policy, the Financial Times, and the Globe and Mail. And a filing from earlier this year shows that since November 2016, China Daily paid $50,000 to the New York Times, $4.6 million to the Washington Post, and nearly $6 million to the Wall Street Journal. Those ads looked like this. A section called ChinaWall, which was designed to look like news articles, was of course propaganda. After some bad publicity, the Washington Post and the New York Times stopped running China Daily ads. But other media like the Wall Street Journal and the LA Times clearly aren't about to miss this golden opportunity. The Chinese Communist Party depends on American investment to keep going. Because the Chinese economy isn't actually doing as well as the Party wants you to believe. China has seen a succession of corporate defaults, driving up the country's debt storm. Many of the defaults this year have come from the so-called too-big-to-fail state-owned enterprises. Just this month, a state-run semiconductor conglomerate, Tsinghua Unigroup, defaulted on an almost $200 million bond. A state-owned mining company also defaulted on $151 million of debt. The company later announced that it would miss the payment deadline for two more bonds as well. And you know what that means. Now is a great time to invest in Chinese bonds. Even the ones that foreign investors usually avoid. Thanks, Bloomberg. What could possibly go wrong? The history of state by Pompeo continues to bolster US ties to Taiwan. Last week, during the US-Taiwan Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue, he said the US and Taiwan are only going to get closer. On Twitter, he said, The United States and Taiwan are strong partners in defending freedom, advancing economic ties, and promoting our shared democratic values. And considering this month Pompeo also broke precedent by acknowledging Taiwan is not part of China, I wouldn't be surprised if the US one day formally acknowledges Taiwan as a country. Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong has been arrested. Again, he along with other activists Ivan Lam and Agnes Chow pleaded guilty to being in an unlawful assembly, or what in the US we might call a peaceful protest. However, as the alleged offenses took place before China enacted a harsh national security law in June, they avoided a potential life sentence. Oh good, how nice. Of course, these three are a serious risk to national security. I mean, look at Agnes Chow's recent Instagram post. Clearly, she could solve any of China's mysteries, like exposing corruption in the Communist Party. Arrest her! But, and I'm finding myself getting used to saying this, they weren't the only ones arrested in Hong Kong this month. Two pro-democracy legislators were also arrested. For economic crimes. Right. Now these were district councillors, not the higher ranking members of the Hong Kong Legislative Council. Those lawmakers have already resigned in protest. And now's a good time for Hong Kong activists to follow the tradition of ancient Chinese scholars in times of turmoil. Lead of the mountain. But there's a silver lining. It seems like what the CCP has done to Hong Kong, and also of course the coronavirus, may have actually woken up the UK to the threat from the CCP. In July this year, the UK finally, finally recognized that Chinese state-linked company Huawei is a national security threat, and banned it from its 5G network. And now, the UK is threatening huge fines to UK telecoms that violate the ban on Huawei. As much as $100,000 a day. The UK's standing up to China, just like the US. It's a surprise to be sure. But oh well, I know what it is. It's the hair. The hair made them do it. Speaking of standing up to China, this is even more surprising. Ho has criticized the Chinese Communist Party for its persecution of Uighur Muslims. Wait, what's that Shelley? Okay, it looks like the Pope didn't actually accuse the CCP of persecuting Uighurs. In his book, he just listed the Uighurs among groups of persecuted peoples. Not going to say persecuted by whom, but just in general persecuted. Obviously the Chinese regime was still not happy. But they are happy that the Pope has kept silent on the CCP's persecution of Christians in China. I mean, he'd hurt the Communist Party's feelings if he criticized that. And that wouldn't be very Christian of him. And now it's time for me to answer a question from one of you, a contributor on Patreon who supports our more overt criticisms of the CCP's persecution of various peoples. Lunar Works asks, Hey Chris, just how would the US react if China just outright assimilated Hong Kong as just another Chinese city? As in, no more autonomy? Well, basically already happened. With a new national security law in place, and literally all the remaining pro-democracy legislators either purged or resigning, Hong Kong basically has no autonomy anymore. It's just another Chinese city. The crackdown on free speech and religion hasn't reached the level it has in Main China, but at this rate, it won't be too long until that happens. The only possible way out is if the rest of the world really puts up a big fight. The US has done a lot. The Treasury Department has sanctioned Chinese and Hong Kong officials. That was the result of unanimous bipartisan legislation called the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act and the Hong Kong Autonomy Act. Basically the US used to treat Hong Kong as if it were different from the rest of China. Not anymore. Unfortunately though, that's not enough to stop what the Communist Party is doing there. Basically, what it will take is the entire world realizing the Communist Party is an authoritarian regime that is literally killing its own people. And then start treating it that way. Because it's international so-called cooperation that has been keeping the Communist Party afloat. Thanks for your question, Lunarworks. Thank you for watching. We are in an information war with the Chinese Communist Party, and knowledge is the best weapon. YouTube has been hitting us with demonetization a lot again. So help us in our fight to bring truthful, uncensored information about China to the world. Join the China Uncensored 50-Cent Army on Patreon. And for as little as a dollar an episode, you can help us keep up the fight. And you'll be able to ask me questions I might answer on the show. Visit Patreon.com slash China Uncensored join. Once again, I'm Chris Chappell.