Canada's top spy warns about China.

Plus, China makes it to Mars.

That and more on this week's China news headlines.

Welcome to China Uncensored,  I'm Chris Chappell. Remember,  

this show relies on viewer support.  For as little as a dollar an episode,  

you can join what I call the China Uncensored 50  Cent Army and earn cool rewards, like having me  

answer your question at the end of episodes. Head  over to Patreon.com/ChinaUncensored to learn more.

After weeks of waiting by the phone,  

Chinese leader Xi Jinping finally got a  phone call from US President Joe Biden.

He was so excited that he was on Cloud Nine!  

At least that's what I gather from the  banner image on state-run Xinhua News.

So what happened on the phone  call? Well, we don't know.  

All we have is the manicured press releases  from each side. And...they don't quite match up.

According to the White House, “President Biden  

affirmed his priorities of protecting the  American people's security, prosperity,  

health, and way of life, and preserving  a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

While according to Xinhua, Xi Jinping emphasized  on the call that China and the US should “uphold  

the spirit of non-conflict, non-confrontation,  mutual respect, and win-win cooperation.”

Yes, non-confrontation always works out well...for  

the Chinese Communist Party. Because it  means you're not allowed to confront them.

Meanwhile, according to the White  House, “President Biden underscored  

his fundamental concerns about Beijing's  coercive and unfair economic practices,  

crackdown in Hong Kong, human  rights abuses in Xinjiang,  

and increasingly assertive actions in  the region, including toward Taiwan.”

While Xi Jinping told Biden that “Taiwan,  Hong Kong, and Xinjiang-related issues  

are China's internal affairs, which are  related to China's sovereignty and territorial  

integrity. The United States should respect  China's core interests and act cautiously.”

So it sounds like both Biden and  Xi spent the entire phone call  

talking past each other.  This'll come up at counseling.

But there is one thing that  both sides agreed happened. 

“[President Biden] shared his greetings  and well wishes with the Chinese people  

on the occasion of Lunar New Year.”

Happy Lunar New Year, everyone!  

Remember to respect China's core  interests and act cautiously. 

Talk is cheap. Unless you're  calling China and you have AT&T. 

But what really matters is what President Biden  will actually *do* when it comes to China.

And while normally Biden is  very sharp on all matters,  

it seems he hasn't quite figured  out his China policy yet.

According to Politico, “The worry,  some former officials say, is that  

Biden is just getting organized  while Xi is seizing the moment:  

ramming through a massive investment deal  with the European Union, for instance.”

“Beijing isn't waiting around...China has waged  an influence campaign, seeking to endear itself  

to U.S. businesses as well as the same American  allies that Biden and his top aides are engaging.”

And this is making a lot of  people worried. Biden has  

been dogged by criticisms that he's soft on China.

Last week, I told you that Senator Ted Cruz  blocked Biden's pick for Commerce Secretary  

over concerns she's soft of Huawei.

Huawei is the Chinese telecom company  

the US has accused of being a national  security threat since the Obama Administration.

And this week, there was this  story: Biden withdraws Trump rule  

on schools disclosing ties to Chinese  state-run Confucius Institutes.

Confucius Institutes are an arm of the Chinese  Communist Party's propaganda department.  

Back in August, the Trump Administration required  the group register as foreign agents in the US.  

In January, Trump pushed a last minute  rule that “would require colleges and  

K-12 schools that are certified to have foreign  exchange programs to disclose any contracts,  

partnerships or financial transactions  from Confucius Institutes or Classrooms.”

So why did Biden withdraw that proposal? According  to a Biden Spokesperson, “On Inauguration Day,  

White House chief of staff Ron Klain released  a memo freezing all regulatory process.”

Basically it was a blanket freeze on any last  minute proposals by the Trump Administration.  

So it's not as if Biden specifically undid  some kind of ban of the Confucius Institute.

It would be nice if the Biden Administration  did take a stance on the Confucius Institute.  

But that might put him in the awkward  situation of agreeing with Trump on an issue. 

And coming up after the break, the Biden  Administration wants to sit at the table  

with China, Cuba and Venezuela...when  it comes to human rights.

Welcome back.

The Biden Administration wants to rejoin  the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Trump had pulled the US out of the council  in June 2018. Countries like China, Cuba,  

and Venezuela are on it. Clearly those  countries got human rights under control.  

Or at least they have their humans under control.

Current Secretary of State Antony Blinken  criticized the pull out, saying Trump's withdrawal  

“did nothing to encourage meaningful change, but  instead created a vacuum of U.S. leadership.”

He did say, “We recognize that the  Human Rights Council is a flawed body,  

in need of reform to its  agenda, membership, and focus.”

But this shows a very different approach from the  Trump Administration. Biden has said he will work  

with American allies and international bodies  to counter China. But he hasn't made it clear  

how that will actually work since China has a  lot of control over international organizations,  

like the Human Rights Council,  and even foreign governments.

Senator Marco Rubio criticized  this approach in a statement,  

saying President Biden “should not give any shred  of credibility [to the human rights council],”  

because it's “become a place for  despotic regimes to come together  

and receive international cover to  continue to commit their horrific abuses.”

Then again, maybe this would give the  US a place to get international cover  

so we can commit some horrific abuses of our own!

Speaking of international cooperation, Biden  has announced a new Pentagon China task force.

It will be focused on how the US and its  allies can deter China in the Pacific. 

Biden said, “It will require  a whole of government efforts,  

bipartisan cooperation in Congress and strong  alliances and partners. That is how we will meet  

the China challenge and ensure the American  people win the competition of the future.”

The task force will be led by Ely Ratner, a  former deputy national security adviser to Biden.

Ratner is the guy who said last August that the  US must forget America First to counter China.

He said, “The China challenge  right now is about us,  

it's not about them, it's  about our own competitiveness.”

So I'm sure, as Biden says, Ratner's  task force will really help,  

“ensure the American people win  the competition of the future.”

The World Health Organization is  once again reminding everyone why we  

hate it. After months of international  pressure, and millions of deaths,  

China finally allowed a WHO team into Wuhan  to investigate the origin of the coronavirus.

Was the WHO mad that it took so long?  

No! “Instead of scorn, the W.H.O. experts on  Tuesday delivered praise for Chinese officials.”

In fact, the WHO experts backed up  Chinese Communist Party propaganda,  

“saying it was possible the virus might have  spread to humans through shipments of frozen food,  

an idea that has gained little traction  with scientists outside China. And the  

experts pledged to investigate reports that  the virus might have been present outside China  

months before the outbreak in Wuhan in late 2019,  a longstanding demand of Chinese officials.”

The head of the WHO investigation team also made  a point to say, “Don't rely too much on US intel;  

increasingly disengaged under Trump  & frankly wrong on many aspects.”

Got it. The CCP claims that the coronavirus  came from pig heads and frozen fish...

And...auto parts packaging.  That's totally reasonable.

But US intelligence, that's unreliable. 

Especially because the US State Department  called into question the transparency of  

the investigation, saying “The jury is still out.”

The WHO gets most of its funding from the US.  So why is the WHO so deep in the CCP's pocket?!

I'm just glad Biden has stopped  the US withdrawing from it.

And after the break, we'll show you what the head  

of Canada's spy agency says  about the threat from China.

Welcome back.

In a rare public appearance,  

the head of Canada's spy agency said China  poses a serious strategic threat to Canada.

Well he didn't actually say it in public. It  was an online forum. No one appears in public  

anymore. Ever since the coronavirus spread from  frozen food in the US THANK YOU VERY MUCH, W.H.O.!

Canada's spy chief said, “The government  of China ... is pursuing a strategy for  

geopolitical advantage on all fronts—economic,  

technological, political, and military—and  using all elements of state power to carry  

out activities that are a direct threat  to our national security and sovereignty.”

How does China do it? Are they masters  of subversion and infiltration?

No, Canada just kind of lets them do it.

And then, I assume, apologizes for it.

You may remember back in August, China  detained Cheng Lei, an Australian journalist  

working for Chinese state-run CCTV. After  months of detention she's finally...been  

officially arrested and charged with spying.

Injustice takes time in China.

50 members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance  on China—including representatives from the UK,  

Canada, Australia, France, Germany  and Switzerland—are calling on HSBC  

to unfreeze the account of a Hong Kong activist.

HSBC has chosen to be the bad guys in Hong Kong.  

The bank has backed the national security  law that destroyed the freedoms of Hong Kong.

The global lawmakers also point out that besides  freezing the funds of the Hong Kong activist,  

and his entire family—for some reason— “HSBC  also froze bank accounts of a Hong Kong charity  

and Christian church that supported  the 2019 democracy movement in Hong  

Kong, as well as the bank accounts of  individual preachers from the same church.”

I know, it's hard to imagine that a bank  

could be on the side of evil, but, it just  goes to show you anything is possible.

Chinese people are starved  for uncensored information  

and connection to people outside China. That was  probably a big part of the success in China of  

Clubhouse, a hip new social media platform  beloved by Kanye West and Elon Musk.

Clubhouse uses audio chatrooms that  disappear when the conversations end.  

And for a short time, it actually connected  Chinese netizens to the outside world. 

“In recent days,  

several Chinese-language chatrooms had  been filled to the 5,000-user capacity.”

Clubhouse is invitation only. And it became  so popular, that a “small black market for  

invitation codes [emerged]...The going price  for one code was up to 300 yuan, or about $46.”

On Clubhouse Chinese netizens could hear stories  from Uyghurs talking about their experiences in  

concentration camps in Xinjiang. They could  hear from Hong Kongers. People in Taiwan. 

And that's why after less than  a week of its rising popularity,  

Chinese censors have finally blocked it in China.

And as I mentioned earlier, it's the Lunar New  Year! Many people celebrate by making dumplings.

The Chinese Communist Party celebrated by  

arresting more than 1,000  Falun Gong practitioners.

The Chinese Communist Party harvests  the organs of Falun Gong practitioners  

on a mass scale. So I'm sure this was just the  Party's way of...making dumplings with them.

And to show how great everything is on  Lunar New Year, China Central Television  

showcased their 39th annual propaganda  bacchanal! The CCTV new year gala. 

Complete with what's now become a  proud CCTV gala tradition: Blackface.

Back in 2018, CCTV aired a  “racist blackface” sketch.

And clearly they've learned their lesson.  

Because this year they've included  a blackface *dance* instead.

Although I don't want to be unfair. It  wasn't just a blackface dance. There was  

cultural appropriation from all around the world!

If you're familiar with the CCTV gala, every  year they do a song about all of China's  

happy ethnic minorities. This was  basically that, but for the entire world.

But enough about the Lunar New  Year. Let's talk about Mars.  

China is now the 6th country in  history to have reached Mars.

If China is the first country to make  contact with the Martians I will be so mad.

And now, as I said at the start of the episode,  

it's time to answer a question from a  member of the China Uncensored 50 cent army!

Leif Hendricksen says, “I think all  the athletes should go to the Olympics,  

then stage a mass protest during the  opening ceremonies. Lets see how well  

China's detention of the athletes  would go over on the world stage.” 

Ah, Leif was responding to my recent  episode about a possible boycott  

of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

So, China has shown it doesn't have a problem  with arresting citizens of another country. So  

definitely, any Olympic athlete who uses  it as a platform to protest genocide,  

could find themselve in serious  trouble. But on the other hand,  

it would be so bad for the Communist Party's image  to go after another country's Olympic athlete,  

that this could actually be a very effective  way to protest, say, genocide in Xinjiang. 

However, that's probably not going to happen.  Because athletes are forbidden from political  

protests during the Olympics. That's according  to the International Olympic Committee.

The IOC president has said that the Olympics  

are not about politics and that  athletes should be politically neutral.

And “Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter bans any  form of political protest during the Games.”

So don't expect any kind of mass protest against  the Chinese Communist Party during the Olympics.  

At least not from the athletes. But there  are opportunities for the rest of the world