Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • Welcome back to China Uncensored.

  • I'm Chris Chappell.

  • Wait, what's that?!

  • Why, it's a Chinese spy ship!

  • Off the coast of Alaska!

  • And I'm guessing it's not there

  • just for the beautiful view of

  • Alaska's rugged wilderness.

  • But don't worry!

  • US officials know it's there.

  • Making it...

  • maybe not the best spy ship.

  • Unless

  • Wait, where did it go?!

  • Shoot, folks,

  • I guess it's nowhere to be found.

  • So what was it doing there in the first place?

  • I mean really, there are so many things

  • happening in Alaska that China

  • would want to spy on.

  • For example,

  • what's going to happen

  • on the next season of Deadliest Catch?

  • Or Ice Road Truckers?

  • Or Alaskan Bush People?

  • Or The Last Frontier?

  • Or Gold Rush?

  • Or Slednecks?

  • Fun fact:

  • Alaska has more reality shows per capita

  • than anywhere else in the world.

  • There are several more

  • that we didn't even show you.

  • Maybe we should just get the Chinese military

  • a subscription to the Discovery channel.

  • Well, one thing's for sure.

  • With a Chinese spy ship so close to US shores,

  • the US government

  • Wait, the US government says they don't care?

  • Having a Chinese spy ship

  • hanging around Alaska is totally fine?

  • Wait a minute,

  • maybe this is for a new reality TV show!

  • But as fun as that would be,

  • there's probably something else going on.

  • "The Chinese spy ship

  • was only 100 miles from Kodiak, Alaska.

  • That's where our military launched

  • an anti-ballistic missile earlier this week."

  • Ah, that makes more sense.

  • They were watching the US military

  • as it tested its THAAD missile system

  • on July 11th.

  • So it starts here near Hawaii,

  • where the Pentagon says an airforce plane

  • launched a target missile.

  • And then it launched a so-called THAAD missile

  • from Kodiak, Alaska to intercept it.

  • Well, let's see

  • the two missiles met mid-air

  • and 'big boom' is the result.”

  • So the Chinese spy ship

  • was there to watch our missiles go boom.

  • Understandably, that's exciting.

  • But the thing is,

  • this spy ship came fairly close to US shores

  • just around 100 miles away.

  • That's technically in international waters,

  • but still...

  • For some context,

  • this Alaska.

  • Kodiak is a small city on a small island

  • also named Kodiak.

  • It's home to some not so small bears,

  • also named Kodiak.

  • Those bears are probably why

  • the Chinese spy ship left in a hurry.

  • Although that would also be a great reality show.

  • So what's the big deal about this US missile test

  • that the Chinese military would risk

  • imminent bear-death to watch?

  • Well, as I said,

  • it was a test of a missile defense system called THAAD.

  • It's the same kind of missile defense array

  • the US has installed in several places

  • around the world.

  • In particular,

  • the US installed a THAAD system

  • in South Korea a few months ago.

  • That was designed to defend against

  • attacks launched by North Korea.

  • But the stakes were raised earlier in July.

  • That's when North Korea tested

  • an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

  • that could hit Alaska.

  • So maybe China sent its spy ship

  • to observe whether THAAD would be successful

  • if it had to deal with any future missiles

  • from North Korea.

  • “'Big boom' is the result.”

  • That's CNN-speak forvery successful.”

  • So clearly, the THAAD system in Alaska

  • is working well.

  • Or as CNN might say,

  • it's booming well.”

  • But that's not necessarily good news

  • from the Chinese Communist Party's perspective.

  • They're upset about the similar THAAD system

  • the US installed in South Korea.

  • It's not that the Chinese regime

  • wants South Korea to be destroyed

  • by North Korean missile strikes.

  • It's that an American missile defense system

  • stationed in South Korea

  • could also be used against China,

  • should the Chinese regime ever decide

  • that it wants to take its growing military technology

  • out for a spin.

  • So a Chinese spy ship

  • off the coast of Alaska is unusual.

  • But it follows a lot of other unusual activity

  • recently by the Chinese military.

  • An officials told CNN that,

  • the US had observed similar Chinese vessels

  • in recent days sailing off the coast of Guam

  • and shadowing a joint US-Australian

  • military exercise.”

  • Also, China just sent half of their aircraft carriers

  • through Taiwan's defense zone.

  • What's that, Shelley?

  • China only has two aircraft carriers?

  • So they sent one aircraft carrier to Taiwan.

  • China also just told Japan to get used to the fact

  • they'll be flying bombers by.

  • Though if the Chinese Communist Party

  • really wanted to see how the latest

  • US THAAD test turned out,

  • they could have just watched CNN

  • from the comfort of their own homes.

  • Big boom' is the result.”

  • Waaaiit a minute,

  • that's a great idea for a new reality show!

  • And when we come back,

  • how China's real estate boom is about to go bust.

  • A spy ship can't see everything.

  • But you can if you go to ChinaUncensored.tv!

  • That's where we have the full half hour episode,

  • which includes this and other segments!

  • So what are you waiting for?

  • Click below and go to ChinaUncensored.tv.

Welcome back to China Uncensored.

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it