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  • On this episode of China Uncensored,

  • a beautiful woman wants to go to China,

  • and the Chinese regime is freaking out.

  • Hi, welcome to China Uncensored,

  • I'm your host Chris Chappell.

  • There is a terrifying force sweeping the world,

  • and we are helpless against it.

  • I'm not talking about ISIS.

  • I'm talking about beautiful women.

  • Oh, beauty queens!

  • It's so unfair!

  • You look so beautiful,

  • and I look like the bad guy from The Matrix.

  • Now sure, when some people think of beauty queens, they think of this:

  • "I believe that our education,

  • like such, as

  • in South Africa and the Iraq,

  • everywhere like such as, and."

  • But that isn't always the case.

  • That was Miss Teen USA.

  • But Miss World is different.

  • Their motto is "Beauty With a Purpose."

  • That that's why they were so thrilled to have Chinese-born Canadian Anastasia Lin win Miss

  • World Canada this year.

  • "Anastasia Lin was crowned Miss World Canada in May.

  • She has spoken out about religious persecution in China,

  • and acted in films that highlight human rights issues."

  • "The 25-year-old actress testified at a U.S. Congressional hearing on religious persecution

  • in China in July."

  • Wow. That's actually pretty awesome.

  • That is "beauty with a purpose."

  • One reason she was inspired to speak out about freedom of belief in China is the Chinese

  • regime's persecution of Falun Gong

  • a meditation practice.

  • She practices Falun Gong herself.

  • And if you've watched China Uncensored before,

  • you know that Chinese authorities throw a fit at the mere mention of Falun Gong.

  • That's why

  • even though initially Chinese state-media were proud to report that a Chinese-born contestant

  • had won Miss World Canada

  • they used a fake name for her.

  • And obviously didn't tell her whole story.

  • Later, when Anastasia's win and activism gained more international media attention,

  • Chinese security officials threatened her father,

  • who's still living in China.

  • So he called her and asked her to stop talking about human rights.

  • "My initial reaction was of course I'm not going to speak about this anymore.

  • My family's in danger.

  • But, after about a few days of thinking,

  • I realized, if they're able to silence me now,

  • I won't ever get a chance to speak again.

  • Cause they know that [if] this tactic will work on me,

  • I will submit to their manipulation this way."

  • Not only did Anastasia refuse to submit to China's manipulation,

  • so did Miss World Canada's national organizers.

  • During the run-up to this year's pageant,

  • they received a mysterious threat:

  • "Don't be surprised if your sponsors start pulling out due to an insulted Chinese government."

  • Not only did Miss World Canada ignore the threat,

  • they forwarded the email to Anastasia.

  • And when the two Chinese judges intentionally gave her a score of zero out of ten,

  • organizers ignored them, too.

  • Score one for Anastasia and for the folks who run Miss World Canada.

  • And this courage in the face of threats is why so many fans have been hoping she'll win

  • the international Miss World finals next month.

  • It'll make both Chinese people and Canadians look good.

  • There's just one problem. Next month's finals will be held in China.

  • "Anastasia Lin, the reigning Miss World Canada,

  • needs an invitation from the Chinese host venue to apply for a visa that she says other

  • contestants have already received."

  • And she never got that invitation letter.

  • "So without the invitation letter from China I cannot apply for the visa."

  • And rehearsals started on Monday.

  • It's just like that episode of Gossip Girl."So... When's the party?"

  • "Saturday. And you're kinda not invited."

  • Wait, does that mean the CCP is Blair?

  • Anyway, not to worry.

  • Because this is the perfect opportunity for Miss World to show that the "Beauty With a

  • Purpose" pageant won't let China get away with using scare tactics to intimidate

  • Wait. What's that Shelley?

  • They are letting them get away with it?!

  • According to the Daily Beast,

  • Miss World pageant organizers basically told Anastasia, sorry,

  • there's nothing we can do.

  • You need China's invitation letter to get the visa.

  • And since you didn't get the letter by last Friday,

  • I guess you can't participate.

  • Now this may seem like a weird change of heart for the Miss World organization, but it's

  • really not.

  • The folks who were so supportive of Anastasia's activism before represented Miss World Canada.

  • But the finals in China are run by the larger organization,

  • Miss World Limited.

  • It's a British company headquartered in London.

  • So naturally, Anastasia flew to London to talk to them.

  • They told her they were too busy to meet with her.

  • Then, as a media firestorm began to descend on Miss World for,

  • you know, helping the Chinese regime intimidate a Canadian citizen,

  • they told reporters,

  • "We do not know what is in a contestant's background that would cause their visa applications

  • to be rejected."

  • Um... Falun Gong is what's in the contestant's background, ok?

  • Did you even read about your own contest winner?

  • It's really not that big a mystery.

  • Or maybe Miss World Limited just doesn't have time to deal with this.

  • But you know what they do have time for?

  • Millions of dollars.

  • You see, this year's Miss World will be held in Sanya city on China's Hainan Island.

  • Since 2003, the Miss World Competition has been held there seven times.

  • Six of those times were in a theater they built specifically for the pageant.

  • This is great publicity for Sanya, and great for China's overall soft-power propaganda.

  • That's why, instead of charging Miss World to use facilities,

  • the Chinese city paid Miss World 4.8 million dollars to be allowed to host them.

  • Not only that,

  • but Miss World was also allowed to keep all the broadcasting fees paid by TV networks

  • outside of China.

  • So rather than demanding Anastasia's entry into China,

  • or changing venues as a matter of principle,

  • the pageant will be held in the nice custom-built Chinese theater, as the British organization

  • pockets loads of money.

  • See? "Beauty With a Purpose."

  • Money. Money's the purpose.

  • But perhaps there is something you can do.

  • Because if we allow China to stop Canada's most beautiful woman from participating in

  • Miss World,

  • what will happen when China holds the winter Olympics in 2022?

  • Should we also let them block any athlete who says something critical about the Chinese

  • regime?

  • That's why one Canadian, presumably this guy...

  • After you, maam

  • ...has started an online petition

  • where you can ask Chinese leader Xi Jinping to let Anastasia into China for the Miss World

  • pageant.

  • "Because it's the right thing to do."

  • The link is in description below if you want to join.

  • Show the Chinese Communist Party that they can't bully the world into submission.

  • Once again I'm Chris Chappell.

  • See you next time.

On this episode of China Uncensored,

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