Chinese stocks are falling after Donald Trump wins the US elections.
Vietnam is ramping up artificial island building in the South China Sea.
And a Philippine military drill focuses on liberated occupied islands
in plain view of the Chinese military!
That and more on this week’s China news headlines.
Welcome to China Uncensored, I’m Chris Chappell.
This episode is sponsored by Incogni.
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I’ll explain more at the end.
Donald Trump will be the next President of the United States.
So what does the Chinese Communist Party think about this?
Eh, it doesn’t care.
At least, that’s the official story.
The official response to the election results were formulaic.
Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Mao Ning said “
our policy towards the US is consistent
…we will continue to view and handle China-US relations
in accordance with the principles of mutual respect
peaceful co-existence and win-win cooperation.”
Which makes sense.
I mean, what else are they going to say?
That they wish he lost and that he’s a horrible, terrible meanie?
They’re not MSNBC .
Besides, that would probably end about as well as it ultimately did for the Democrats.
But unofficially, some are telling a different story.
One philosophy professor at the National Taiwan University said
that everyone he was speaking with was talking about the election.
He told Fox News Digital that Trump’s victory
is “a worst-case scenario” for Beijing.
Relations between Washington
and the CCP are already strained,
and Trump has vowed to impose heavier tariffs on China.
Many of the Trump Administration’s policies
towards China remained in place during the
Biden Administration.
Because even “Sleepy Joe” was alert enough to see China’s a threat.
But this time around, the philosophy professor says,
China knows how much such policies will hurt
, and they will come at a time when China’s domestic economy
is not doing well.
That’s…a bit of an understatement
. China’s economy is an absolute dumpster fire on wheels.
And Canada, the US, and many European countries
are already placing tariffs on
Chinese EV imports
and other goods after accusing China of dumping on the market.
But China doesn’t care that Trump won!
Just look at how not-nervous Xi looks.
We’ll just have to wait and see how it all plays out for China…
Or, maybe not!
Because major US-listed Chinese stocks
are already falling after Trump’s win,
with his tariff promises in the spotlight.
Shares of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba fell by as much as 4.5%,
while JD.com fell by 7.7% and Bilibili stock fell by 7.8%.
Call those stocks Tom Petty,
cause they’re free fallin’.
Meanwhile, as the final results of the election started coming in,
the Hong Seng Index dropped 2.2%
and the Shanghai Composite Index fell by 0.1%.
This may have something to do with the 10-20% tariffs
across the board that Trump has suggested imposing
with 60% tariffs on Chinese goods.
A 60% tariff on Chinese goods could reduce
Chinese GDP growth by 2.4 percentage points
, according to Citi analysts.
And given that China’s official GDP growth numbers are already just barely hanging on
with the actual numbers probably far lower –
that could be a serious blow to China.
Of course, those same analysts believe that
threat is going to be used as a bargaining chip
by Trump rather than actually implemented.
Which makes sense. It’s a gamble.
You can take the man out of the casinos,
but you can’t take the casinos out of the man
. Especially when his name is on them.
Of course, the stock market being the stock market
, the panic eased up in the days after the election,
and several of the stocks rebounded.
So I guess we’re back to, “
we’ll have to wait and see how this all plays out.
”A Taiwanese couple has been indicted
for being paid by the CCP
to spread their propaganda and influence elections.
The couple, [a man named Chang Meng-chung and his wife, Hung Wen-ting ] were charged with violating
Taiwan’s Anti-Infiltration Act and election laws
by making radio and digital media propaganda for Beijing
in exchange for $2.32 million, paid out over more than a decade! Chang and Hung
are both members of a small political party on the island called the CUPP–the
China Unification Promotion Party. Which is pretty self-explanatory.
The party only has about 60,000 members.
But the indictment is actually pretty significant because Taipei,
in the past, has struggled to connect Chinese cash payouts to the CUPP.
Which indicates that the 2020 Anti-Infiltration Act has changed things.
The Investigation Bureau of Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice said in its statement Monday that
authorities investigating Chang Meng-chung and his wife searched 24 locations between
December 2023 and July of this year. The bureau said it seized mobile phones,
computers, financial records and other evidence.
According to the prosecutors, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing and its branch office
in Fujian province paid the couple between 2011-23. I guess it’s nice to see given the
state of China’s economy that Beijing is able to offer steady income to somebody.
And what did they do in exchange?
Well, allegedly, they promoted candidates favored by Beijing, disparaged Hong Kong
democracy activists and members of Falun Gong, boasted about China’s military power,
and urged Taiwan’s troops to surrender in the event of a Chinese invasion.
So they were shills. I hope China at least gives them some commemorative swag.
“I sold out my country and all I got was some money,
a prison sentence, and this poorly made T-shirt.”
Prosecutors also allege the couple went to mainland China several
times to provide program summaries and plans for CCP authorities to review.
China hasn’t commented on the arrest, but Chang says “Taiwan says it’s democratic,
but it’s not democratic at all. The CUPP has always been championing cross-strait
reunification, so what I said is the same as what the CUPP has always advocated.”
True, but when you say it for payments to the tune
of $2.3 million, it’s just a little bit different.
And after the break, Vietnam and the Philippines are getting tough on China.
Welcome back.
Vietnam is taking a harsher stance on Chinese aggression by demanding Beijing
return detained Vietnamese fishermen and ramping up island-building.
Vietnam claims that a number of Vietnamese fishermen have
been detained by China near the Paracel Islands for quote unquote illegal fishing,
although they haven’t said when these fishermen were detained or how many were taken.
And last week, the deputy spokesperson for
Vietnam’s Foreign Affairs Ministry called on China to release them.
At a news conference on Halloween, he said, “Vietnam resolutely opposes China’s actions,
and requests China to fully respect Vietnam’s rights over the Paracel Islands,
release all illegally detained Vietnamese fishermen and vessels, compensate for damage,
and stop and not repeat the harassment and illegal capture of Vietnamese vessels and fishermen.”
The disputed Paracel Islands are claimed by Vietnam but
have been occupied by China since 1974.
China, of course, disputes Vietnam’s version of events.
I assume China’s version is, “We — as always — did nothing wrong, quit hating, haters.”
China and Vietnam have a testy relationship historically, going back to a Chinese invasion
of its southern neighbor back in 1979 that didn’t end too well for the CCP.
China had a bad time invading Vietnam? Man, they’ve been copying the US for decades!
But the CCP might find it much more difficult
to bully Vietnamese fishermen now than they did in the past.
Because Vietnam is ramping up construction of artificial islands
in the South China Sea.
Analysts are suggesting that this could lead to a militarization of the area,
with an airfield even being built on the Barque Canada Reef.
Neither country is commenting much on the issue at this time,
and it’s likely going to take much longer before Vietnam’s efforts could
match those of China’s militarized islands in the South China Sea.
But this could eventually allow Vietnam to counter China’s attempts to claim waters in its territory,
especially since the CCP has its hands full dealing with Taiwan and the Philippines.
Man, China is making so many enemies they can’t
keep track of their enemies. They’re spread thinner than
Xi’s skin when he sees this image. Seriously, don’t share it. It makes him real mad.
Philippine forces have retaken an island in mock combat right in front of China’s navy.
This was the first such exercise of its kind and showed off Philippine
military capabilities as Chinese warships nearby watched on.
General Romeo Brawner Jr. observed the drills from a frigate and
underscored how the exercise displayed the readiness of the Philippine forces.
Brawner told a small group of journalists who were invited to see the exercises that, “We are warning
our neighbors or whoever or any external forces that we are capable of defending our islands.”
Brawner has even said that the Chinese ships nearby added realism to the exercise.
As if Filipino ships hadn’t already had enough realistic encounters with Chinese boats.
The Philippines and China have been clashing for
a long time over disputed islands and waters in the South China Sea.
And the US has repeatedly warned the CCP that it is obligated by
treaty to defend the Philippines should tensions escalate into war.
Chinese officials have not commented on this drill,
but, in the past, they’ve opposed war drills entirely in the South China Sea.
Unless, of course, the People’s Liberation Army Navy is the one conducting them!
The head of Myanmar’s military government is
visiting China for the first time since taking power.
This is the first time in over three years that Myanmar’s junta chief has traveled to China,
and he is due to visit the city of Kunming, which is not so far from the Myanmar border,
for a series of talks and summits on regional economic cooperation,
according to a report from state-run TV.
The report said he will also have “meetings with Chinese government officials to discuss ways to
enhance goodwill, economic and various sectors between the two governments and the people.”
Because who would know more about improving economies than China?
Everybody. The answer is everybody.
Myanmar is in a devastating civil war,and the
military junta has recently faced a series of losses.
China’s been backing both sides through different measures, which we’ve covered before on the
show.Some opposition groups in Myanmar have expressed their concern about China hosting
the junta chief , since the junta is sanctioned by many Western nations for human rights abuses.
Not that China would ever listen to concerns about human rights abuses!
Beijing has been concerned about potential spillovers of the violence
from both sides and has failed to broker a ceasefire numerous times.
But now, the CCP wants to make its concerns heard loud and clear,
including by shutting down borders and cutting electricity to Myanmar towns,
among other measures. Wow… so Xi does care.
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And before YouTube’s algorithm sends
you off to some random video, check out this video from my show Deep Thoughts While Gaming, about
Peanut the Squirrel and the second amendment right to bear arms in the game Squirrel with a Gun.
Once again, I’m Chris Chappell. See you next time.