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  • Chinese citizens are boycotting again

  • This time over a beverage company

  • What did the company do?

  • And is China's cancel culture getting out of hand?

  • Welcome to China Uncensored.

  • I'm Chris Chappell.

  • The CCP celebrated its 100th anniversary on July 1.

  • And in Hong Kong, police were out on the streets to make sure everyone was celebrating in the

  • right way.

  • That is, by not protesting.

  • But that night, a Hong Kong policeman was stabbed in what police called a lone-wolf

  • attack.

  • The man who stabbed the officer committed suicide after the attack.

  • And it turns out, he hadleft behind several suicide notes declaring his hatred of police,

  • his opposition to the Beijing-imposed security law, and his intention to kill an officer

  • on July 1.”

  • The police officer is ok.

  • He's recovering in the hospital.

  • The attacker was a 50-year-old Hong Kong man named Leung Gin-fai.

  • He worked at a Hong Kong beverage factory called Vitasoy, which sells soy milk and other

  • flavored drinks.

  • After the stabbing/suicide incident, an employee at Vitasoy issued this internal memo.

  • It says, “We regret to inform everyone about the unfortunate death of Mr. Leung on July

  • 1st.

  • Our company expresses our deepest condolences to Leung's family.”

  • Now Mr. Leung was the attacker, not the victim.

  • That being said, it's understandable how a Vitasoy employee could have written that

  • memo.

  • Maybe they mixed up the details of what happened.

  • Or maybe they were actually sympathetic.

  • After all, according to this RFA survey, 81% of Hong Kongers consider Leung a martyr, while

  • only 6% consider Leung a terrorist.

  • But publicly, that's not an ok view to have.

  • Hong Kong authorities warned that advocating for people to mourn for the attacker was no

  • different from 'supporting terrorism.'”

  • And unfortunately for Vitasoy, that internal memo got leaked.

  • People started sharing it across the Chinese internet.

  • And Chinese netizens were...how should I put this?

  • Extremely butt-hurt.

  • They were angry at the memo's choice of words.

  • They were furious that a person committing suicide after attacking a police officer was

  • called anunfortunate death”.

  • Plus they didn't like the wordaccidentused to describe the incident.

  • And then mainland China's terrifyingcancel culturereared its ugly head.

  • Immediately, there was a flood of comments criticizing Vitasoy for defending Leung.

  • Trash Vitasoy, rooting for a terrorist!

  • It's time to boycott!

  • Get out of the mainland market!”

  • Those who support Vitasoy should leave China.”

  • Supporting terrorism?

  • Get out of China.”

  • Less than a day after word got out, this hashtag started trending: “Have you thrown out your

  • Vitasoy today?”

  • It got 5 million impressions on social media platform Weibo.

  • The hashtagVitasoy supports Hong Kong Protestorshas 75 million impressions.

  • And the hashtagGet out of the mainland, Vitasoy!” hit 120 million impressions.

  • Celebrities who had business relations with Vitasoy quickly released official statements

  • denouncing their collaborations with the brand.

  • And the commercials that these actors have done for Vitasoy in May have been taken down

  • from Bilibili, China's version of YouTube.

  • Videos began circulating of local retailers rejecting Vitasoy.

  • Starting today after the government announcement, we're taking all of the Vitasoy products

  • off the shelves.

  • We're not selling this.

  • Everyone can go watch the video on Douyin (TikTok) about the Vitasoy incident.

  • It's a pity, it's really a pity.

  • This guy buys a box of Vitasoy, just so he can throw it in the trash.

  • It's my fault for loving trash.

  • Get out of here, Trash!

  • And this kid shows that canceling Vitasoy can be a family activity.

  • That boy is clearly a national hero.

  • You gotta teach 'em to cancel when they're young.

  • And this image went viral.

  • It readsChinese people don't eat Vitasoy!

  • Vitasoy, Get out of China!

  • Oppose anti-Chinese behavior!”

  • Chinese peopleNot eatinghas become a trending meme in China.

  • It means The Chinese people don't accept this.

  • It's like when your 4 year old doesn't want to eat the broccoli on their plate.

  • The phrase was used during the recent boycott over Xinjiang cotton).

  • Fashion brands like Nike and H&M declared they would no longer use Xinjiang cotton because

  • of concerns over Uyghur slave labor . So nationalistic Chinese netizens canceled them...for not supporting

  • China's slave labor.

  • You can watch my video on that, where you'll see how quickly Chinese citizens burned their

  • shoes and apparel in a cotton boycott.

  • And now it's the same thing happening to Hong Kong's Vitasoy . And in Vitsoy's

  • case, it's having a huge impact on their bottom line.

  • More after the break.

  • Welcome back.

  • China accounts for up to 70% of Vitasoy's sales .

  • But once Chinese netizens began to cancel Vitasoy, its shares plunged by 12% practically

  • overnight.

  • It was their biggest single-day drop since their listing in 1994.

  • After the initial backlash from their leaked internal memo, vitasoy tried to walk it back

  • in this official statement.

  • We have noticed that a document related to the incident that occurred in Hong Kong

  • on July 1 is circulating on the Internet.

  • These documents were not officially approved for release by Vitasoy Group.

  • Instead, they were written by an employee privately and forwarded internally.

  • They were not authorized and did not follow the Vitasoy Group's internal approval process.”

  • Vitasoy also released this statement, saying they'recommitted to supporting the stability,

  • prosperity and development of Mainland China and Hong Kong.”

  • Which is code for we are not against the Chinese Communist Party.

  • So officially, Vitasoy's response checked all the politically correct boxes.

  • But it was too late.

  • The Chinese boycott had already begun.

  • Throwing away Vitasoy beverages had already become the newest act of Chinese patriotism!

  • Can't sell this no more.

  • Gotta be a good Chinese person.

  • Can't be selling this stuff, I'm taking it all off the shelf.

  • This too, all of it.

  • All of it.

  • I'm not selling.

  • In this video, a man comes to make sure that this store clerk is taking Vitasoy off the

  • shelves for the right reason.

  • Man: Excuse me miss, you're taking the Vitasoy beverages off the shelves?

  • Woman: It's not an issue with the quality of the product.

  • Man: I know, I know, I saw the news.

  • So I'm just asking if you're removing them off the shelves?

  • Woman: Of course.

  • People are also posting photos of their trips to their local stores, just to check up on

  • whether Vitasoy was taken off the shelves.

  • And any store that still had Vitasoy would be shamed.

  • This live streamer was drinking a carton of Vitasoy lemonade, when his live chat ordered

  • him to get rid of that carton right away.

  • Oh, sorry.

  • Ok ok ok, I threw it out, I threw it out, I threw it out.

  • Did something happen in the news?

  • Let me see.

  • Holy...

  • My iPad needs to charge.... [chat tells live streamer Vitasoy is China-hating

  • and Pro HK Independence]

  • Meanwhile fans in the livestream chat are typinggd”, which is code for the censored

  • termHong Kong Independence”.

  • Ohh, I see, ok.

  • I threw it out right away.

  • Right away, I threw it out.

  • [shows audience tossing in the trash] [thumbs up] China's the best.

  • Yes, China's the best.

  • Because if you don't prove you threw your politically incorrect drink in the trash,

  • the mob will come for you.

  • .

  • And just when things seemed like they couldn't get worse for Vitasoy...came the bomb threats.

  • Then an official notice was posted on the Chinese internet stating the Human Resources

  • Director of Vitasoy's Hong Kong Operations had left the company.

  • This led netizens to believe Vitasoy fired her.

  • But that still wasn't enough!

  • Netizens doxxed her and shared pictures and videos of her LinkedIn account.

  • That account is now no longer available on LinkedIn.

  • And finally, Vitasoy's chairman announced that the company has fired the employee who

  • wrote the original memo.

  • Now I know China takes its law about respecting the police very seriously.

  • But Vitasoy didn't slander the police, and they didn't harm national security.

  • But with the response to Vitasoy's one internal memo, Vitasoy and its employees were put in

  • real danger.

  • Chinese boycotts often get out of hand really fast.

  • When the cause ispolitically correct,” China's state censors will take a back seat,

  • and let the people turn on each other.

  • It's a great way to let people blow off steam.

  • And sure, some people get hurt, but only thebadpeoplethe ones who don't express

  • unconditional love for the Chinese Communist Party.

  • And now, I'll answer a question from a member of the China Uncensored 50-Cent Army that

  • supports this show on Patreon.

  • Marc Chung asks, “I would like to ask about your views if the communist party of China

  • is somewhat reluctant to invade Taiwan.

  • I hope they aren't really considering invading the country of Taiwan.”

  • Well Marc, the Chinese Communist Party is not reluctant to invade Taiwan.

  • They want to do it.

  • In fact, the US admiral in charge of US Indo-Pacific Command recently called it China's number

  • one priority.

  • For the Communist Party, they see it as part of theirrejuvenationof China.

  • Plus they want to occupy Taiwan for military reasons.

  • They need their navy to be established in what's called thefirst island chain

  • to access the Pacific.

  • Now you asked if they're reluctant to invade.

  • They're not.

  • But they are cautious.

  • They won't try it until they think there's a strong chance they'll succeed.

  • And the more Taiwan prepares for an invasion, the less likely it will happen.

  • And the more support countries like the US, Japan, and Australia show for defending Taiwan,

  • the less likely they'll have to *actually* defend Taiwan.

  • Thanks for your question, Marc.

  • And thank you to everyone watching.

  • Be like Marc, and support China Uncensored on Patreon.

  • Visit Patreon.com/ChinaUncensored and contribute a dollar or more per episode, so we can afford

  • to keep making episodes like this for you.

  • Once again, I'm Chris Chappell.

  • Thanks for watching China Uncensored.

Chinese citizens are boycotting again

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