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  • Carrie Lam says

  • things are great in Hong Kong

  • Trump challenges the World Bank on China

  • And good news, book burning is back!

  • That and more on this week's China Uncensored.

  • This is China Uncensored.

  • I'm Chris Chappell.

  • This week's China news headlines!

  • The Chinese Communist Party has lost Hong Kong.

  • I know, it's a shock.

  • Who knew massively oppressing people

  • would make them hate you?

  • Apparently, this was news to Hong Kong

  • Chief Executive Carrie Lam.

  • According to the Epoch Times,

  • Carrie Lam thought pro-Beijing politicians

  • woulddefinitely winthe recent

  • local election in Hong Kong.

  • They did not.

  • But even though the pro-Democracy side won big,

  • that has not stopped the protests.

  • This was Hong Kong this past Sunday.

  • “A sea of black as vast crowds of protesters

  • took to the streets of Hong Kong's financial district on Sunday

  • in the biggest rallies since local elections last month.

  • It was the first time since August that the Civil Human Rights Front -

  • organizer of million-strong marches earlier in the year

  • that paralyzed the Asian finance center -

  • had received authorities' permission for a rally.

  • It estimated turnout of 800,000.”

  • Wow, 800,000 people.

  • But Carrie Lam was quick to respond

  • with hurricane-force spin.

  • The massive protests, she says,

  • are a sign that everything is fine.

  • This reflects the freedoms that Hong Kong people are enjoying.

  • So I hope that this phenomenon will go also to abroad,

  • to show that Hong Kong is upholding

  • all the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong people.

  • So all those accusations from various quarters

  • that we are eroding people's freedoms are unsubstantiated.”

  • Right?

  • Right?

  • Six months of continuous protests show

  • there's absolutely nothing wrong in Hong Kong.

  • Here's another bad sign.

  • One of the protesters' five demands

  • is an independent investigation into police brutality.

  • The Hong Kong government refused.

  • They said, we don't need

  • an independent investigation into the police.

  • We already have an organization to watch the police:

  • the Independent Police Complaints Council,

  • or IPCC.

  • See?

  • It says independent,

  • right there in the name!

  • The only problem is that it can't do its job.

  • It can't call witnesses.

  • It can't make the police give up evidence.

  • In fact, it can't even take complaints against the police.

  • People have to submit complaints against the police

  • *to the police,*

  • who then definitely pass those complaints on to the IPCC.

  • A group of foreign experts was recruited to make sure

  • the IPCC's police investigation was objective.

  • Well, they just resigned.

  • You can see that the expert panel,

  • the members of international expert panel

  • all resigned from IPCC,

  • before the publication of interim report.

  • This is a very crucial act and you can see that it's like

  • a vote of non-confidence to this report.”

  • But the fact that people can freely criticize the report

  • is a sign that freedoms are doing fine in Hong Kong...

  • right?

  • Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Police have been going on a PR binge.

  • Accusing people of spreading fake news.

  • Photographing hard-working riot police eating in full gear on the street.

  • And duct taping a tear gas canister to the wall

  • just like that banana art installation.

  • They really need to fire their new PR guy.

  • A Hong Kong democracy protester says

  • he was ambushed by masked Chinese men in Australia.

  • If only Australia had the kind of freedoms Hong Kong does!

  • Meanwhile, Taiwan's top diplomat said Taiwan will help

  • if the Chinese military cracks down in Hong Kong.

  • Sadly he did not mean Taiwan's president Tsai Ing-wen

  • would go full Rambo.

  • He meant that if people start fleeing from Hong Kong,

  • Taiwan is going to work with the international community

  • to provide necessary assistance to those

  • who are displaced by the violence there.”

  • Wow, I can see why he's the top diplomat.

  • That was very...diplomatic.

  • And boring.

  • Especially considering the new claims that

  • the Chinese Communist Party is meddling

  • in Taiwan's election

  • the presidential election

  • coming up on January 11, 2020.

  • A Chinese defector said two Hong Kong executives

  • with close ties to the Chinese military

  • were involved in manipulating Taiwan's elections.

  • That manipulation included “a multipronged effort

  • to finance pro-Beijing candidates,

  • buy off voters and sow disinformation

  • on television channels and on the internet.”

  • Sorry, Putin, you're no longer

  • the world's best election meddler.

  • The World Bank is an organization

  • that lends money at low interest rates

  • to help developing countries.

  • Apparently, that somehow also includes China.

  • Yes, China,

  • the world's 2nd biggest economy,

  • the country that has so much cash to spare

  • that it lends hundreds of billions of dollars to other countries

  • through its Belt and Road Initiative.

  • Well, President Donald Trump has called out

  • the World Bank for lending to China.

  • This was after the World Bank said it would lend China

  • 1 to 1.5 billion dollars in low interest loans

  • through June 2025.

  • The US government had objected to that plan,

  • but the World Bank went through with it anyway.

  • But get this

  • this is actually a decrease in lending to China.

  • In 2017, the World Bank

  • lent China 2.4 billion dollars.

  • Maybe they wouldn't need so many loans

  • if they used more money to help people in China

  • instead of propping up dictators around the world,

  • but what do I know?

  • And when I said use more money to help people in China,

  • I did not mean finance more human rights violations.

  • Just wanted to clear that up,

  • because China apparently tried to get the World Bank

  • to fund surveillance in Xinjiang.

  • Xinjiang is the region where China has locked up

  • more than a million ethnic Uighurs

  • and other minorities in concentration camps.

  • Look, I get it.

  • The Chinese Communist Party needs the cash.

  • Ethnic cleansing isn't cheap.

  • Meanwhile, China's Foreign Minister says

  • China is big, but nonthreatening,

  • like a panda.

  • I actually agree.

  • They are just like a panda.

  • This panda.

  • The foreign minister added that

  • paranoia toward China is a highly dangerous disease.”

  • Don't worry.

  • The Communist Party has a treatment center

  • where they can cure your disease.

  • Recently I did an episode about how China is planning

  • to weaponize rare earth metals to fight the US.

  • Well, now the US Army is going to develop

  • their own rare earth plant.

  • The move would mark the first financial investment

  • by the U.S. military

  • into commercial-scale rare earths production

  • since World War Two's Manhattan Project

  • built the first atomic bomb.”

  • I really don't think that's the result China was going for.

  • Democrats and Republicans once again agree!

  • This timeon a new defense bill that would ban

  • Chinese made buses and railcars.

  • The idea is instead of giving that money

  • to Chinese state-owned corporations,

  • give that money to American companies

  • to build America's buses and subways.

  • Also, American companies are probably a bit less likely

  • to build a subway car that will spy on us.

  • It's been a year since two Canadian citizens

  • were put in Chinese jail.

  • Their crime?

  • Being citizens of a country that arrested

  • a rich Chinese person for breaking the law.

  • Justicewith Chinese characteristics.

  • Well, after a year in jail,

  • there's some really good news for the two men.

  • They might actually get a trial!

  • Nothing like being jailed for a year without trial.

  • Did I mention they haven't been allowed

  • to speak to a lawyer or to their families?

  • Something to think about the next time you visit China.

  • On the bright side,

  • the Candians haven't been alone.

  • A new report by the Committee to protect Journalists

  • says China just beat out Turkey

  • as the top jailer of journalists.

  • Man, Xi Jinping is really winning all the awards.

  • Library officials in China's Gansu province

  • have started burning books

  • that are not politically correct.

  • That happened back in October

  • after the Ministry of Education ordered libraries

  • to get rid of inappropriate books.

  • Burning books.

  • Yes, the Chinese Communist Party

  • is really getting back to its roots.

  • Although honestly,

  • this new campaign really needs to step it up.

  • They did it so much more efficiently in Mao Zedong's time.

  • But this story took a weird twist

  • when the book burning librarians got in trouble.

  • That's because this story went viral

  • on Chinese social media this week.

  • And sparked a huge backlash.

  • Yeah!

  • Burn the books, but not in public, geez.

  • For years, Big tech companies like Microsoft,

  • Google, and Apple have been desperately trying

  • to get into the China market

  • even going so far as doing research

  • with Chinese military Universities.

  • Well, too bad for them,

  • because China is banning foreign tech

  • in government and public offices.

  • Gosh, I really feel bad for these tech companies.

  • More debt trap diplomacy.

  • These are the Faroe Islands.

  • They're pretty much autonomous,

  • but they are part of Denmark.

  • The Chinese Commumunist Party has made it clear,

  • if the Faroe Islands wants a trade deal,

  • they had better accept Chinese telecom giant Huawei.

  • Now the United States has been encouraging everyone

  • to avoid Huawei since it's closely linked to the Chinese military

  • and is a huge national security concern.

  • But for places like the Faroe Islands,

  • Chinese money is a heck of a lot more appealing

  • than no money.

  • And Chinese money comes with Chinese

  • state-backed companies like Huawei.

  • And finally, 11 Chinese migrants tried to

  • smuggle themselves into the US

  • by hiding inside furniture and appliances.

  • That's right,

  • to sneak into America,

  • people are doing this

  • And this.

  • America:

  • So great,

  • it's worth hiding in a washing machine.

  • And that does it for this week's China News headlines.

  • What do you think?

  • Leave your comments below.

  • And as I've mentioned before,

  • YouTube demonetizes episodes like this,

  • because they're too controversial a subject for advertisers.

  • We would have been run out of business years ago,

  • if it weren't for fan support

  • through the crowd funding website Patreon.

  • So as a thank you to these fans,

  • I answer their questions

  • at the end of some of my episodes.

  • This question comes from...

  • Joe King.

  • Will "Joker" face tattoos gain popularity

  • as this technology becomes more widespread?

  • Will China Uncensored offer

  • semi-permanent versions in the merch shop?

  • Wide, super wide, and super extremely wide smile editions

  • would make a fun holiday gift idea..

  • and, no more mistimed family photos!

  • Ah, that's in reference to a recent episode

  • about emotion recognition technology China is pushing.

  • The idea is Chinese facial recognition

  • AI can predict if someone will commit a crime

  • based on their facial expressions.

  • So, would it work to have everyone in China

  • dress up like the Joker?

  • Unfortunately, no,

  • that wouldn't throw off the emotion recognition technology.

  • That's because the emotion recognition technology

  • doesn't work very well in the first place.

  • In other words,

  • I'm pretty sure the Chinese Communist Party

  • will continue to arrest anyone they want

  • for whatever reason they want.

  • And that's the killing joke.

  • Thanks for your question.

  • And thank you everyone for watching,

  • and for supporting China Uncensored.

  • If you're not a patron yet,

  • join our 50-Cent Army!

  • Go to Patreon.com/ChinaUncensored and contribute.

  • The link is below.

  • Once again, I'm Chris Chappell.

  • See you next time.

Carrie Lam says

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