China Is Not As Powerful As You Think

On this episode of China Uncensored, some really anti-China things are being said, by... China? Welcome back to China Uncensored, I’m your host Chris Chappell. What do you think of when you hear “China”? Hopefully—China Uncensored, starring Chris Chappell. But our budget is a long way from what the Chinese Communist Party spends. They’re spending $10 billion dollars a year to make sure that you love China. What are they buying with those 10 billion dollars? Why, all sorts of things! Especially articles and videos that help you focus on all the amazing things China’s glorious leaders have accomplished, because, you know, China gets things done. For example, they have this newspaper section called China Watch that looks like articles, but is actually paid propaganda. And then they pay American newspapers to put them in as advertisements. And combine things like that with operating American TV News channels, and buying influence in Hollywood, and eventually you get American media publishing their own articles praising the China model. But right now, it seems the Communist Party wants you to hold on a sec, because China isn’t really all that great. You see, Americans have been seeing all the propaganda for years, and a lot of them are now really worried that China is some kind of super powerful, existential threat to the world. That it’s flooding the US with spies. Or secretly building up the largest military in the world. Or that China is a strategic competitor of the US. Haha, couldn’t be further from the truth. Really, there’s no way China could be doing all that. I mean, the US is still number one, China can’t compete. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the new message from the Chinese regime’s propaganda machine. This People’s Daily editorial says calling China “the world’s first” or “number one in the world” “could easily make people misunderstand or even misjudge” China. China’s US Ambassador Cui Tiankai said at a recent meeting, “China has no intention to challenge the international standing and interests of any other country or the existing international order and system.” A professor at a top Chinese University said, “The trade war has made China more humble. We should keep a low profile.” And my favorite state-run media the Global Times ran this story. Tsinghua is another top Chinese university. Apparently one professor there had said in a speech, “China has overtaken the US in all respects.” And so then over 500 alumni signed a petition to have him fired. Why? Well, the petition said his view “opposed common sense.” Are you surprised by this new tone? Don’t be. Because as that alumni letter said, the problem with all the “China is number one” talk, is it “raises the vigilance of other countries.” The US has been kind of catching on to the fact the Chinese regime is actively engaged in a variety of tactics to infiltrate and undermine the West. And that’s a problem for the Communist Party because it means the US might start doing things like, oh I don’t know...starting a trade war. So China’s Propaganda Department had switched tactics. At least, externally. Instead of articles like this from the People’s Daily in 2015... Now, we’re seeing articles like this. It’s a strategy more like something former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping once said: “Hide your strength, bide your time.” It’s like, if there’s an arm wrestling contest coming up, you don’t want to start walking around without a shirt if you’re this guy. So depending on what the strategy of the day is, state-run media can do a complete 180 on the image of China. For instance, at the beginning of the year, China said it was battling to become a top economic power. But now, China is still a developing economy… And it “has a long way to go before it becomes a ‘developed economy.’” Wow, what a difference a few months make! You see, the Chinese Communist Party likes to make itself look all powerful. Except when it wants to make itself look weaker than it actually is. Because as the People’s Daily also recently put it, “China has returned to the center of the world stage... Such a large size, such a heavy thing, can’t be hidden by ‘being low key,’ ...just like an elephant can’t hide behind a sapling.” And that’s the message state-run media wants Chinese people to hear. Because while the Chinese Communist Party is starting to downplay its ambitions to the outside world, inside China, it’s actively promoting nationalism in a way that would make Mussolini blush. Like this recent documentary, translated in English as “Amazing China”, but actually is closer to “my country is awesome.” See?! See how awesome?! Endless hours of footage awesome! And it was a smash hit! Brought in 42 million dollars. Biggest documentary in China ever. Partly because people were required to watch it. That is one way to boost ticket sales. Although it didn’t do quite as well as the American documentary about how America is awesome. Which made 52 million dollars. That was a documentary, right? Anyway, besides telling Chinese people how awesome China is, the internal propaganda has another message: If China can’t compete, that’s because “China [has] suffered a century of humiliation at the hands of foreign powers.” But if Chinese state-run media is changing their tone, does that mean that the Chinese leadership is actually changing their strategy? Do they care more now about international cooperation than becoming a top economic power? I’m going to go with no. So what do you think about the Communist Party’s propaganda about-face? Leave your comments below. And before you go, now is the time when we answer questions from fans who support China Uncensored on the crowd funding website Patreon. Largezo asks, “If nothing is done to curtail China’s influence and intellectual property theft will the PRC rule the world come mid-century?” I mean, what gave you the idea that the PRC was looking to become a global superpower? It can’t compete. But if it were, it might start doing things like, make their own computer chips. Or build their own Internet And compete with America’s GPS network. All the core tech components a super power needs that China... didn’t really have a few years ago, but in a very short time, suddenly, they do… Strange. So the People’s Republic of China definitely wants to rule the world by mid century. But will they? Well Largezo, you asked “if nothing is done to curtail China’s influence” and I think what we’re definitely seeing is the beginning of other countries trying to curtail China’s influence. Or at least waking up to it. So I don’t think it’s going to be as easy for the Chinese Communist Party as it has been so far. But whether they will succeed in ruling the world largely depends on how quickly other countries will act. Thanks for you question. And if you’d like to hear me answer your question on the show, become a member of the China Uncensored 50-cent Army by contributing to the show on the crowd funding website Patreon. The link is below, or click the orange button during the end credits. Thanks again for watching this episode of China Uncensored. Once again I’m your host Chris Chappell, see you next time. Why let the Communist Party manipulate what you think about China? Let China Uncensored do it! If you haven’t already, subscribe to this YouTube channel. And be sure to turn that notification bell on so you’re notified when we have new episodes. They come out every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and sometimes even Saturday.

Channel: China Uncensored

Views: 886,450

Rating: 4.7064486 out of 5

Keywords: china, china uncensored, ntdchinauncensored, chris chappell, superpower, weak, deng xiaoping, amazing china, one belt one road, belt and road, xi jinping, propaganda, china watch, made in china 2025, china economy, economy, ccp, us china, chinese military, how powerful is china, china uncensorship, china uncensor, china uncencored, china unscripted, china uncesored, this is china, china unconcerned, living in china, economic crisis, chinese army, china power

Id: Z368WScfjyw

Length: 8min 2sec (482 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 20 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/kingsx95127]

I read somewhere in a report that one U.S. battle wing would eventually defeat China in the event conventional war began.