Protests
Political backstabbing
And sheer, utter mayhem
Those are just a few of the biggest stories to come out of China in 2022.
Welcome to China Uncensored, I’m Chris Chappell.
Well, it's been another year, and still no apocalypse!
For many that’s a win.
For me who put a lot of money on 2012 being the end of the world, that’s…still a bit
of a sore spot.
Turns out living every day like it’s your last isn’t great financial advice.
But 2022 was also a big year in China.
A lot of things happened.
Things that could change China and the world forever.
So to wrap up 2022, let’s take a look back at the 10 biggest China stories of the year.
Number 10 Chinese Police Stations Everywhere
Chinese police have such a wonderful reputation of care and compassion.
That’s why countries around the world were thrilled to learn that China had been secretly
establishing police stations in other countries.
Over 100 of them, in 53 countries.
Including the US!
This was about as exciting as discovering you have scurvy.
Yay!
This’ll save me so much time brushing my teeth.
Why was China sending police to other countries?
Well, after it came out China was secretly doing this, the official explanation was they
were there to catch scammers and help overseas Chinese process legal documents.
But according to the human rights NGO Safeguard Defenders , these police stations were actually
part of a campaign to pressure Chinese citizens to return to China, supposedly to face “justice”
for crimes they had committed in China or abroad.
Essentially, it’s like Taken, but if Liam Neeson were the villain.
In other words, they were just harassing overseas Chinese people who got on the bad side of
the Party.
And let's just say this year, a lot of overseas Chinese got on the bad side of the Party.
More on that later in the countdown.
And if you want to learn more about this or any of the other stories I’m talking about
today, I’ll have links to full episodes in the description below.
And onto
Number 9 Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had a big impact on China.
But let me give you just a little bit of a pre-invasion timeline so you can see China’s
hand in it.
Months before the invasion, the US government was warning it was going to happen, and tried
to convince Chinese officials, thinking they could help stop it.
The Chinese officials totally dismissed what the US was saying.
I know.
Who could have seen that coming?
Chinese officials then turned around and gave all the information the US gave them to Russia,
and told Moscow “China would not try to impede Russian plans and actions.”
Weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Xi Jinping met with Vladimir Putin ahead of
the Beijing Winter Olympics.
After that meeting, China and Russia released a joint statement saying the China-Russia
friendship “has no limits” and there are “no forbidden areas of cooperation.”
Reports came out that China actually asked Russia to delay the invasion until after the
Beijing Olympics were over.
And yet just days before the invasion, China was still saying the US was exaggerating the
Russian threat to Ukraine.
For those of you who think China mainly uses coal to power everything, this proves they’re
also experts at using gas lighting.
No matter how the war between Russia and Ukraine goes, the Chinese Communist Party plans to
be the winner.
And they’re doing that by turning Russia into North Korea.
What I mean is, for years, China was seen as the only go-between for North Korea and
the rest of the world.
They want that with Russia.
As the Washington Post says, “China is believed to have more influence over Russia than any
other country, due to the nations’ growing security and economic ties.”
China says it's ready to play a role in a Ukraine ceasefire.
But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine also has a lot of people making comparisons between
China’s threats to invade Taiwan.
Which the Chinese Communist Party is not happy about.
More on that after the break.
Welcome back.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has made a lot of people take China’s threat to invade
Taiwan a lot more seriously.
Which brings me to the next big China story of the year.
Number 8 Nancy Pelosi Visits Taiwan
In August, then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelsoi visited Taiwan.
During her trip, she met with the President of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-Wen.
And Pelosi had one main message: the US supports Taiwan.
"Today, the world faces a choice between democracy and autocracy.
America's determination to preserve democracy here in Taiwan and around the world remains
ironclad.”
“And now more than ever, America’s solidarity with Taiwan is crucial, and that is the message
we are bringing here today.”
This is part of a growing international wave of support for Taiwan.
Taiwan is a thriving democracy, and also a pretty important economic player.
Most of the world’s advanced semiconductors are made there.
For decades the Chinese Communist Party has threatened to invade.
And Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has made a lot of people think, you know what, maybe
we should support Taiwan now, instead of waiting for a Chinese invasion and then hanging up
Taiwanese flags on our porches.
Mainly because there’s a pretty good chance those Taiwanese flags will be made in China,
so you’d just be helping them.
Speaking of,
Number 7 Biden Unveils His China Policy
After a year and half, President Biden finally released his China policy.
And it’s pretty confusing.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken unveiled that policy in May.
And there were strong points.
Blinken called out China’s human rights violations and even said the Chinese regime
was committing genocide.
The United States stands with countries and people around the world against the genocide
and crimes against humanity happening in the Xinjiang region, where more than a million
people have been placed in detention camps because of their ethnic and religious identity.
So what is the US going to do about that?
We’ll continue to raise these issues and call for change – not to stand against China,
but to stand up for peace, security, and human dignity.
Oh ok, call for change, that will help.
This would be like a cop witnessing a murder spree, and saying, “Hey!
If you don’t knock that off, I’m gonna ask you a little less politely next time!”
The Chinese Communist Party is a regime that uses rape as a form of torture.
I don’t think telling them that’s wrong is really going to work.
But the Biden Administration’s China policy is very clear about one thing: It doesn’t
want conflict with China.
There’s no reason why our great nations cannot coexist peacefully, and share in and
contribute to human progress together.
Oh I think there is a reason, and that reason is...the Chinese Communist Party!
You know, it’s not a great negotiating tactic to let someone know there are no consequences
to what they’re doing.
That’s like a parent telling their child, “If you don’t stop putting centipedes
in your sister’s hair, I’m still gonna buy you ice cream!”
But even though Blinken’s speech came off as a little…optimistic…about the Chinese
Communist Party, the Biden administration has also done some historically tough things
to counter China this year.
Like choking off China’s access to critical semiconductor technology.
This was huge.
So I’m not saying Biden’s China policy has been all bad.
But what I’m worried about is this: There are always going to be US officials and influential
business people trying to push the US government to appease the Chinese Communist Party.
They won’t call it that.
They’ll call it “working together” with China, or “engaging” with China.
Because surely the US can make the Chinese Communist Party see reason if they just give
in to them a little more.
Just think of all the money US businesses can make in China!
Yeah, that’s worked out horribly for the last 20-plus years.
But people are still going to push for it.
Let’s just ignore that China considers America its number one enemy.
That might not matter though, because big changes are happening inside China—no matter
how much Wall Street wants to invest in a genocidal regime.
And that brings us to
Number 6 Mortgage Protests
It’s been a big year for protests in China.
Over the summer, homeowners started to boycott their mortgage payments.
You see, real estate is one of the only investments you can make in China.
Which is a shame, because if you could invest in the odds of the Communist Party lying and
committing atrocities, you’d make enough money to offset losing that bet about 2012
being the end of the world.
But you can’t.
So the real estate sector is huge.
So huge, it makes up 30% of China's GDP.
During the real estate boom, people bought homes while they were still under construction—mostly
apartments in big complexes like this.
90% of new homes in China are pre-sold. 90%!
The problem is big real estate developers, like Evergrande, ran out of money and never
finished construction.
That’s like paying for a hamburger, and they can’t get it to you because the cow
is still on the loose somewhere.
But the people who bought those unfinished homes still had to pay off their mortgages.
That’s right, they were paying for homes that didn’t exist.
Until they started holding protests and boycotting their mortgage payments.
The Chinese Communist Party is trying to solve this debt crisis... by issuing even more debt.
It’s kind of like fighting fire with fire… but in a gas station.
China’s central bank is mobilizing $148 billion to bail out these real estate projects.
And this is putting a major strain on an already strained economy.
And coming up after the break, the top 5 biggest stories of the year.
Welcome back.
Let’s carry on with the absolute biggest China stories of the year.
Starting with
Number 5 The Death of Jiang Zemin
The death of Jiang Zemin was a long time coming.
The guy was 96 years old.
Which just goes to show: Only the good die young.
He died of leukemia and multiple organ failure.
Ironic for the guy who set up China’s system of forced organ harvesting from prisoners
of conscience.
Jiang Zemin became the leader of the Chinese Communist Party following the Tiananmen Square
Massacre.
Which really was the perfect overture for a guy who would go on to commit even more
crimes against humanity.
Though many Western media remembered him as a reformer.
Why?
Because he allowed foreign investment in China.
So after coming to power for supporting a massacre the entire world saw, and then implementing
even more genocidal practices, Jiang Zemin thought, “Now is the time to invite Westerners
to join us!”
That’s one of the craziest business moves I’ve ever seen.
Crazier still…
It worked!
Quick!
Triple your investment in a genocidal regime!
But Jiang Zemin was also the head of a political faction that was at war with current Chinese
leader Xi Jinping.
And that’s not just something we’ve covered in a single episode or two.
We have a whole playlist devoted to this power struggle, what I’ve been calling the People’s
Favorite Communist Soap Opera, General Hostility.
And since this was such a giant soap opera, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Jiang
faked his own death, or it was actually his twin brother.
Find out on future episodes of General Hostility.
Remember, links to all of these episodes are in the description below.
Moving on to
Number 4 Presitator for Life
This year, Communist Party leader Xi Jinping essentially declared himself leader for life.
Not quite a president, not quite a dictator, what I call, a presitator.
In October, a meeting of top Communist Party leaders happened, like it does every five
years.
This time, it was the 20th National Party Congress.
And Xi Jinping officially got another 5-year term in power.
Although the Party puts on a show of this being a vote, the reality is the outcome of
the Party Congress is determined through years of power struggle.
And despite some media saying this was norm breaking, Xi Jinping is really just following
a proud Communist Party tradition.
Mao Zedong was leader for life.
After he died, his successor Deng Xiaoping ruled for the rest of his life.
Jiang Zemin took power after the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre.
And even though he officially stepped down in 2002, he still wielded tremendous power
behind the scenes for years after that.
Including holding onto control over the military.
Hu Jintao was the only person to be limited to two five year terms, largely because Jiang
Zemin was really in charge.
Until Xi Jinping came to power in 2012 and began his war against Jiang.
But just because he’s prestitaor for life, doesn’t mean it’s going to be all smooth
sailing.
Because Xi’s rise was overshadowed by some other major events.
Like
Number 3 Hu Jintao Got Purged?
I’m sure Xi Jinping would have preferred his rise to be the main story of the 20th
Party Congress, but what actually captured everyone’s attention was this: Former leader
Hu Jintao seemingly being unceremoniously hauled out of the room.
It’s kind of like bridezillas screaming at their drunk uncles for ruining their special
moment.
The world basically went nuts over that footage.
Many viewed it as a Stalinist purge.
And Xi Jinping has definitely been purging his political opponents over the years.
But usually much more quietly, and behind closed doors.
That’s why I think there was something else going on here.
The details are really too much to go into here, so I recommend checking out the full
episode we did.
Again, I’ll put a link in the description below.
And now
Number 2 Shanghai Locked Down
China enforced a harsh Zero Covid policy for most of the pandemic.
And this past April, Shanghai, one of the largest, most prosperous cities in China,
went into full lockdown as part of Zero Covid.
Earlier, Party officials had promised Shanghai would not go into full lockdown.
Buuuut...then they locked down Shanghai for two months.
Hm.
I’m starting to think the government that told everyone not to worry, and that Russia
definitely wouldn’t invade Ukraine isn’t the most trustworthy.
I’m using what happened in Shanghai as a microcosm of all the horror of China’s Zero
Covid policy.
There were cover ups of cases and deaths.
Food shortages
And people being dragged away to quarantine camps.
: This was the pattern that emerged in dozens
of Chinese cities over the past few years.
And Zero Covid created economic havoc, as large parts of the Chinese economy were shut
down.
Wow.
It turns out all those investors trying to triple their profits by doing business with
a genocidal regime might not have thought this out that well.
Some said the Zero Covid policy could have a greater impact on the global economy than
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
And all these lockdowns were creating tremendous unrest.
Which brings us the biggest China story of the year,
Number 1: Lockdown Protests
In November, an apartment fire killed at least 10 people in Xinjiang, but probably much more.
The death toll was so high at least partly because Zero Covid rules kept firefighters
from being able to respond in time.
People in China saw what happened in Xinjiang, and knew that could happen to them, too.
And so massive protests erupted around China.
Years of Zero Covid had been a pressure cooker and it finally erupted.
These were the biggest protests in China since 1989.
Now protests actually happen pretty frequently in China.
It turns out living under an authoritarian, genocidal regime gives people a few things
to nitpick over.
But these Zero Covid protests were unprecedented.
Because of what protesters were calling for.
Here you can see people shouting we want freedom.
Here people are saying, “CCP, Step down!”
And here’s another clip of protesters saying, “CCP, step down, Xi Jinping, step down!”
And protests weren’t limited to China.
Protesters in front of the Chinese embassy in London also called for Xi Jinping to step
down.
There were also protests in Canada, the US, and Australia.
Even some brave souls in Hong Kong.
After years of isolation, Chinese people around the world finally saw that it wasn’t just
them, there is widespread dissatisfaction with the Chinese Communist Party.
And that’s going to be the biggest challenge the Party faces in the new year.
So those were the top China stories of 2022.
Remember, if you want to learn more about any of the stories we’ve covered, I’ve
included links in the description below.
And I just want to end the year by thanking each and every one one of you for watching
and making China Uncensored possible.
Once again I’m Chris Chappell.
See you in 2023.