Subtitles section Play video Print subtitles Mike Pence talks tough on China He blasts the regime for human rights abuses and a Range of unfair trade practices And he got plenty of strong reactions Welcome back to China Uncensored. I'm Chris Chappell. Vice President Mike Pence. The bran muffin of the Trump administration. Sure, bran muffins are wholesome, but everyone still hates them. Last Thursday, Pence gave an hour-long talk on US policy towards China. And everyone hated it. First, as you can imagine, Pence has deeply hurt the feelings of the Chinese people. And by Chinese people, I mean the poor spokespeople at China's Foreign Ministry, whose job it is to respond to this kind of thing. "Pence's speech was exactly the same as the one he made last October, revealing sheer arrogance and hypocrisy, and it was filled with political bias and lies." So just what kind of biased, hypocritical lies did Mike Pence spew from his arrogant mouth? Here's just one example. “Millions of ethnic and religious minorities in China are struggling against the Party's efforts to eradicate their religious and cultural identities. The Communist Party in China has arrested Christian pastors, banned the sale of Bibles, demolished churches, and imprisoned more than one million Muslim Uighurs.” OK, well those things are all true. But China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson was right about one thing. That *was* same thing Pence said last October. “And when it comes to religious freedom, a new wave of persecution is crashing down on Chinese Christians, Buddhists, and Muslims.” But overall, it wasn't *exactly* the same speech. Because last year, Pence blamed the Communist Party for exploiting American corporations. This time, he blamed American corporations for hypocrisy and for buckling to communist censorship. "Far too many American multinational corporations have kowtowed to the lure of China's money and markets by muzzling not only criticism of the Chinese Communist Party, but even affirmative expressions of American values." And that brings us to the second group Pence's speech has upset: American corporations that have kowtowed to the lure of China's money. And one in particular: the NBA. Pence cited that tweet from Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey: "Fight for Freedom, Stand with Hong Kong." And unless you've been living in a cave— the kind of cave with no wifi— you know the backlash that happened next. The NBA apologized to China and then tried to distance itself from that kind of discussing pro-freedom talk. “In siding with the Chinese Communist Party and silencing free speech, the NBA is acting like a wholly owned subsidiary of that authoritarian regime.” And that remark sparked an angry reaction from former NBA all-star Charles Barkley. “Vice President Pence needs to shut the hell up... These holier-than-thou politicians, if they are so worried about China, why don't they stop all transactions with China?” Um, I don't think the only two options are never criticizing someone, or never talking to them again. But anyway, the idea of stopping all transactions with China is actually a thing. It's called “decoupling,” and some people have advocated for just that. “I like the term 'decoupling.' I think being coupled to China in such a fulsome way is actually damaging to our democracy.” But, Pence can add decoupling advocates to the list of people he's upset— because he didn't advocate for decoupling, either. “People sometimes ask whether the Trump administration seeks to 'decouple' from China. The answer is a resounding 'no.'” Pence said the US wants to engage with China, but does China really want to engage properly with the US? "All that Beijing is doing today, from the Party's great firewall in cyberspace or to that great wall of sand in the South China Sea, from their distrust of Hong Kong's autonomy... it's the Chinese Communist Party that has been 'decoupling' from the wider world for decades." In other words, I'm rubber and you're glue. Whatever you say bounces off me and... ends up in my speech on national television. Pence also came out in favor of Hong Kong protesters. For four months, they've been protesting increased Chinese Communist Party interference in their political system. The Beijing-backed government has responded with escalating levels of violence. "Nothing in the past year has put on display the Chinese Communist Party's antipathy to liberty so much as the unrest in Hong Kong." ”To the millions in Hong Kong who have been peacefully demonstrating to protect your rights these past months, we stand with you. We are inspired by you, and we urge you to stay on the path of nonviolent protest." Unsurprisingly, these words also upset the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman. "Affairs of Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang are all China's domestic affairs. No foreign forces whatsoever are allowed to interfere in our internal affairs." But I have to say, they should at least agree with Pence's support of *nonviolece*... since Chinese state-run media have repeatedly called for an end to violence. But no, Chinese media were still upset. You know who else was upset about Pence's speech? China hawks who felt Pence should have given his speech sooner. Pence was originally supposed to give the speech in June. But then Trump wanted to meet with Xi Jinping at the G20. And according to Reuters, the speech was seen as “potentially hampering Trump's bid to use that meeting to get negotiations back on track.” But then China's state-run Global Times criticized the delay, too. Because the delay “reflects White House chaos”. So American China hawks and the Global Times agree? I'm not sure what's happening here. Still, Pence tried to end his speech on a positive note of peace and cooperation. "There is an ancient Chinese proverb that reads, 'Men see only the present, but Heaven sees the future.' As we go forward, let us pursue a future of peace and prosperity with resolve and faith. faith that Heaven sees the future — and by God's grace, America and China will meet that future together." And how did that go over? "He's not playing bad cop. There are some lists of human rights violations. But overall, the speech shows a new respect towards China.” So at least that part didn't upset anyone. Except China hawks who thought he was too soft. And China doves who thought he shouldn't have given the speech at all. And atheist Communist Party officials who couldn't stand all that talk of “faith in Heaven” and God's grace.” Really, there's no winning this one. So what do you think about Pence's China speech? Leave your comments below. And now it's time for me to answer a question from one of you. Most of China Uncensord's income comes from direct viewer support through the website Patreon. So as a reward to our supporters, I answer a question from our Patrons at the end of some of my episodes. This question comes from... Justin: “There seems to be signs that Hong Kong will have an economic recession