The China Now special program informs about this country's news, culture and technological advances. In this episode, we take a closer look at the visit of U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to China, the Asian giant's strategies to curve global inflation, the environmental impact of Japan dumping of waste waters from the Fukushima power plant into the ocean and other topics. teleSUR
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00:00 Hello, Telesut English presents a new episode of China Now, a We Media production that showcases
00:14 the culture, technology and politics of the Asian giant.
00:18 In our first segment, co-host Chris Yan goes over the visit of US Secretary of Commerce
00:23 Gina Raimondo to China and the underbelly of her stay in the nation as well as China's
00:28 new economic strategies to cope with global inflation.
00:32 Right, let's see.
00:35 China Current is a weekly news talk show from China to the world.
00:39 We cover viral news about China every week and also give you the newest updates on China's
00:44 cutting edge technologies.
00:46 Let's get started.
00:56 Hi welcome to China Current.
00:57 I'm Chris.
00:59 Last week, on August 27th, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo arrived in Beijing,
01:04 commencing a four-day visit to China.
01:06 She was the fourth senior US government official to visit China since June following Secretary
01:11 of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen and US Special Presidential Envoy
01:16 for Climate John Kerry.
01:19 Her visit includes stops in Beijing and Shanghai where she held discussions with Chinese government
01:24 officials and meeting with American companies operating in China, which, by the way, was
01:28 highlighted by her visit to the Shanghai Disneyland.
01:32 Raimondo is in charge of the economic and trade sectors that are of mutual interest
01:36 to China and the United States.
01:39 Additionally, her portfolio covers the area of technology exports, which is a focal point
01:45 in Sino-American relations due to US exports controls.
01:49 Consequently, Raimondo's visit to China has garnered significant international attention
01:54 with anticipation expressed by media outlets all over the world.
01:58 On August 28th, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo met with China's Minister of Commerce
02:04 Wang Wentao in Beijing.
02:06 Before Raimondo's visit, the US Commerce Department announced it had lifted 27 Chinese entities
02:11 out of the so-called unverified list, which restricts entities to access exports from
02:17 the US.
02:18 China and the US agreed to set up a working group to enable officials and business representatives
02:22 on both sides to find solutions on trade and investment issues and to advance US commercial
02:28 interest in China.
02:30 The group will meet twice a year, starting in early 2024.
02:34 Gina Raimondo said Monday that it is "profoundly important for China and the US to have a stable
02:39 economic relationship."
02:41 China remains America's third-largest export market, buying more than $150 billion of products
02:48 from US farms and businesses.
02:50 Exports to China support more than 80,000 jobs in the United States and benefit small
02:56 as well as large firms.
02:58 Following her meeting with Chinese Minister of Commerce on August 29th, Gina Raimondo
03:02 met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing.
03:06 The meeting aimed to foster enhanced cooperation between the two economic powerhouses.
03:11 Premier Li emphasized the mutually beneficial and win-win nature of China-US economic and
03:15 trade relations.
03:16 He noted that China, as the largest developing country, and the United States, as the largest
03:22 developed country, should focus on strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation.
03:27 He warned against the politicization of these issues and the overstretching of security
03:31 concepts, stating that such actions could adversely affect bilateral relations and even
03:37 have a disastrous impact on the global economy.
03:40 Premier Li also expressed China's willingness to engage in more practical and beneficial
03:44 actions to maintain and develop bilateral relations.
03:49 On the US side, Secretary Raimondo clarified that the US has no intention of containing
03:54 China's development or decoupling from it and expressed the US willingness to maintain
03:59 communication and normal economic and trade relations with China.
04:04 Chinese experts have emphasized that maintaining a stable economic and trade relationship between
04:08 China and the United States is crucial for not only both countries but also the entire
04:14 world.
04:15 The meeting comes at a crucial time when both countries are navigating complex economic
04:19 and geopolitical landscapes, and he signifies the mutual desire to reset and strengthen
04:25 bilateral relations.
04:27 Experts stress the importance of tangible actions to achieve this goal, as a stable
04:32 relationship between the two economic giants has far-reaching implications.
04:37 Most of Chinese netizens and social media welcomed the visit of high-level US officials
04:42 expecting Sino-US cooperation to promote the development of the global economy.
04:47 However, they also consider the US move paradoxical.
04:50 Normally, when you have four high-ranking officials from the United States visiting
04:55 in a three-month span, that means the US is really trying to improve and stabilize the
05:01 bilateral relations.
05:03 That said, what we see is the United States trying its best to contain China in every
05:08 way.
05:09 It's an iron stick, that's what it is.
05:12 Whenever China asks the White House whether it wants to decouple and sabotage the relations,
05:17 the Americans send officials to Beijing and be like, "Dude, take it easy, we'll be
05:21 friends, can you buy more bonds?"
05:23 But as soon as the politicians are back in DC, oh boy, they'll be like animals back
05:27 in the wild forest and starting to spread all those cold, warish, and anti-socialist
05:32 stuff all over again.
05:34 A dumping ground for commodities and a scapegoat, that's what the US wants China to do.
05:39 Economically, the states need China to absorb, in other words, to buy all the stuff it manufactures.
05:45 And politically, politicians and power brokers in DC need China to become the new villain
05:50 so that first, the military-industrial complex can advocate for more budget.
05:55 And second, they can act a lot more American by being aggressive towards China and get
06:00 your vote.
06:02 Next up, let's turn to the Chinese economy.
06:05 According to the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration, the securities
06:09 transaction stamp tax will be reduced by half starting from August 28.
06:14 The purpose of the policy is to invigorate the capital market and boost investor confidence,
06:20 marking the second reduction of securities transaction stamp tax in 15 years.
06:25 The securities transaction stamp tax can be regarded as a significant tool used by regulatory
06:30 authorities to manage the market.
06:33 Currently, the stamp tax rate for stock transactions in China is 0.1 per mil.
06:39 Following this adjustment, the rate will be lowered to 0.05 per mil, maintaining a unidirectional
06:45 imposition.
06:46 Data indicates that there are over 220 million individual investors in the Chinese stock
06:51 market, constituting 99.8% of the entire investor base.
06:57 Experts suggest that in terms of the impact of the tax policy, lowering the securities
07:01 transaction stamp tax rate is beneficial for reducing transaction costs, lightening the
07:07 burden on a vast number of investors, and reflecting a policy direction focused on tax
07:12 reduction, fee reduction, benefits to the public, and people's welfare.
07:17 The move is expected to stimulate trading activity and attract more participation in
07:22 the stock market by making investment more appealing to a wide range of individual investors.
07:28 The decision aligns with broader economic goals of promoting economic growth and stability
07:33 through targeted tax measures.
07:35 Next up, on September 1, several nationwide commercial banks in China lowered their deposit
07:41 benchmark interest rate.
07:42 It's the second reduction in deposit interest rate in less than three months.
07:48 Interest rate for one-year, two-year, and three-year fixed deposit will be lowered by
07:52 0.1%, 0.2%, and 0.25%, accordingly.
07:58 The reduction has been interpreted by many netizens as a policy to stimulate consumption.
08:03 A portion of public sentiment shifted the focus toward the government, believing it
08:07 was pressuring the citizens to exhaust their bank accounts.
08:11 Yet many still maintain an optimistic outlook for the follow-up policies.
08:16 After reduction, existing mortgage rates will be over 2% higher than deposit interest rate,
08:21 only pushing the depositors to repay the existing loans instead of consumption.
08:26 If the government aims to stimulate the economy, this reduction will lead to, correspondingly,
08:31 a mortgage rate drop in the following days, which will be a relief for many borrowers.
08:37 And this was not the only new policy.
08:39 The People's Bank of China also announced on September 1 that to enhance the ability
08:44 of financial institutions to utilize foreign exchanges, it would cut the foreign exchange
08:49 reserve requirement ratio by 2 percentage points, from 6% to 4% starting September 15.
08:57 After the announcement, the offshore exchange rate of the RMB against dollars strengthened,
09:01 reaching 7.2391 before slightly retreating.
09:05 Analysts suggest the policy can help ensure dollar liquidity and ease the downward pressure
09:10 on the yuan, further stabilize the yuan.
09:13 Many Chinese economists also share the opinion.
09:16 The foreign exchange reserve requirement ratio mobilized more than tens of billions of dollars,
09:21 but that holds limited influence to the market, one expert stated.
09:24 But the message is clear.
09:26 PBOC is determined to defend yuan with future policies.
09:30 Some economists predict that since US rate hiking cycle's ending, yuan will be slightly
09:35 appreciated by the end of this year.
09:37 Besides changes in the foreign exchange reserves, PBOC announced a new policy in the real estate
09:44 market as well.
09:46 In a major policy shift, the People's Bank of China and the National Financial Supervision
09:50 Administration Bureau have decided to optimize the differential housing credit policy across
09:56 the country.
09:57 A key aspect of these adjustments is the unification of the minimum down payment ratio policy for
10:02 commercial individual housing loans.
10:05 The policy will no longer differentiate between cities implementing purchasing restrictions
10:10 and those that do not.
10:12 The minimum down payment ratio for first and second commercial individual housing loans
10:16 have been uniformly set to no less than 20% and 30% respectively.
10:22 One might wonder why there is a need to lower the interest rate on existing first home loans.
10:28 According to officials from the Central Bank and the National Financial Supervision Administration
10:31 Bureau, China's real estate market has seen significant changes in supply and demand in
10:37 recent years.
10:38 Both borrowers and banks have expressed a need for orderly adjustment and optimization
10:43 of assets and liabilities.
10:46 The reduction in the interest rate on existing housing loans benefits borrowers by saving
10:50 on interest expenses, thereby promoting expansion in consumption and investment.
10:55 For banks, this can effectively reduce the occurrence of early loan repayments, alleviating
11:00 the impact on bank interest income.
11:02 At the same time, it can also curtail the misuse of business loans and consumer loans
11:08 to replace existing housing loans, reducing potential risks.
11:12 Last but not least, let's take a look at COVID.
11:15 The General Customs Administration of China has announced that starting from August 30th,
11:19 foreign travelers will no longer be required to take COVID-19 testing before entering mainland
11:24 China.
11:25 This decision marks the lifting of the last entry requirement related to the global pandemic.
11:31 In the last eight months, the reopening has had a positive impact on the domestic tourism
11:35 sector, which has rebounded to nearly 90% of its pre-COVID levels.
11:40 Encouragingly, there are also signs of outbound tourism picking up.
11:44 China's National Immigration Administration reported a total of 168 million arrivals and
11:49 departures from mainland in the first half of this year, indicating a gradual recovery
11:54 in travel activities.
11:55 However, despite these positive trends, the South China Morning Post highlights that the
12:00 number still falls short of those recorded in 2019.
12:04 Foreign Ministry analysts attribute this disparity to a key factor, a shortage of international
12:09 flights.
12:11 As of April 2023, international airline seat capacity had only recovered to around 37%
12:17 of pre-COVID levels, as reported by consultancy firm McKinsey.
12:21 Well, that's all for today.
12:22 Thank you for watching this episode of China Currents.
12:25 If you have any thoughts and comments about our show, please reach us at the email address
12:29 below.
12:30 I'm Chris, looking forward to hearing from you, and see you next time.
12:32 We will go for a short break now, but we'll be right back.
12:43 Stay with us.
12:59 Welcome back to China Now.
13:01 In this second segment, third holes Lisa Pan explores the environmental impact of Japan's
13:07 dumping of waste water from the Fukushima power plant into the ocean.
13:11 And in the Thinkers Forum, experts analyze Russia's resources, possible alliances, and
13:16 its role in the current geopolitical scenario.
13:19 Enjoy it.
13:20 Question.
13:21 Which is more harmful to the oceans?
13:30 The United States nuclear tests in the Pacific or Japan's discharge of nuclear contaminant
13:35 water.
13:37 Fukushima nuclear plant.
13:38 Fukushima water.
13:40 Controversial radioactive water.
13:42 Controversial release of treated radioactive water.
13:45 Japan has begun releasing.
13:47 Million tons of waste water from the Fukushima.
13:49 Into the Pacific.
13:51 On August 24th, Japan began releasing tons of radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima
13:58 nuclear plant into the ocean.
14:00 It raised concerns, and China has reacted strongly against Japan's action.
14:05 The plan is safe from a technical and a scientific point of view.
14:09 And there are many equivalent situations that happen around the world.
14:12 It does sound like a bad thing to do, but it's actually very safe.
14:16 Japan's official has compared Fukushima's tritium emission to those from other nuclear
14:21 plants worldwide.
14:22 But are they really the same?
14:25 After all, the Fukushima plant did experience the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl
14:30 in 2011.
14:31 So what is the difference?
14:34 The primary function of a nuclear plant involves circulating water that absorbs heat from the
14:40 nuclear reactor, converting it into steam and drive turbines and generate electricity.
14:46 The resulting vapor is then cooled by seawater in a separate loop, which transforms it back
14:53 into liquid water.
14:54 The wastewater discharged is mainly the seawater used for cooling, which is separate from the
15:00 nuclear material in the reactor.
15:02 However, at the Fukushima plant, the cooling water is mixed with the hypoxic material because
15:09 the reactors are damaged.
15:11 On top of this, there is about 100 tons of groundwater and rainwater which leaks into
15:17 the reactor every day.
15:19 And they are also contaminated.
15:22 So these waters contain not only a large amount of tritium, but also over 60 other radioactive
15:28 subsistence.
15:30 Including carbon-14, which is used for radiocarbon dating, but is also dangerous if ingested
15:35 and can concentrate in the food chain.
15:38 Sazium-137, which causes soft tissue cancer.
15:42 Strontium-90, which causes bone cancer and leukaemia.
15:45 And then there's tritium.
15:48 They can get rid of the vast, vast majority of these other elements, but tritium...
15:54 So how does this process go?
16:00 The Advanced Liquid Processing System is a key facility for treating nuclear contaminated
16:05 water.
16:06 It is like an oversized water filter.
16:08 Ideally, it would be able to treat all radioactive materials except tritium to bring their concentration
16:15 up to standard, like Japan said.
16:18 But there are doubts.
16:19 I think the most useful independent assessment has been conducted by several very well-regarded
16:26 international scientists in a scientific independent expert panel commissioned by the Pacific Islands
16:32 Forum who engaged in detail with the Japanese government, with TEPCO, with the IAEA.
16:38 It's clear that we really don't know exactly what's in all of those tanks.
16:43 It's likely very different in different tanks.
16:47 We really don't know how effectively the ALPS water purification system will work to remove
16:52 those many radionuclides other than tritium.
16:55 Tritium is not only in the water.
17:01 It's a very bad propaganda.
17:03 Some radioactive materials are said to contain only a very small amount of tritium, and some
17:09 are not measured.
17:12 Almost 170 radioactive materials are said to be not included in the water.
17:19 According to reports from Kyodo News, the level of radioactive subsidence excluding tritium
17:25 in the treated water were found to exceed regulatory standards.
17:30 And in 2018, 70% of the tanks also contained levels of other radioactive subsidence that
17:37 are higher than legal limits, with some samples up to 20,000 times the limit.
17:43 Two days after discharge began in August 2022, in an interview, TEPCO's representatives
17:49 stated that 66% of treated water still fails to meet standards.
17:56 TEPCO claims it will conduct a second treatment to further lower radionuclide levels before
18:01 ocean discharge.
18:02 However, no data on the performance and capabilities has been provided.
18:08 While media portrays the IAEA as fully backing or approving Japan's discharge plan, the
18:15 IAEA report itself clarifies that it is not a recommendation or an endorsement.
18:22 And it is important to note that the IAEA review is not an on-site inspection or an
18:27 independent verification of the data.
18:29 Rather, it based its assessment on the data selectively provided by Japan, and they only
18:35 sampled and tested water from three groups of 1,000 storage tanks.
18:40 It just represents 3%.
18:43 Currently, the data is available on their website.
18:46 However, it is limited to tritium levels, and it is still provided by TEPCO.
18:52 Given the company's terrible track record, such as the leakage of 20-40 Tbq of tritium
18:58 from the power plant in the two years following the disaster, coupled with a lack of transparency
19:04 on the residual contamination volumes, many scientists voiced their concerns.
19:09 The U.S. National Association of Marine Laboratories stated their opposition to the dumping of
19:16 contaminated water based on the fact that there is a lack of adequate and accurate scientific
19:21 data supporting Japan's assertion of safety.
19:25 Some experts argue the IAEA downplayed the risk from radionuclide like carbon-14, which
19:31 persists far longer in the environment compared to tritium.
19:35 Robert Richman, a marine biologist from the University of Hawaii, reviewed all the data
19:42 provided by TEPCO and the Japanese government, and also visited the Fukushima site.
19:48 He told the BBC, "We've seen an inadequate radiological/ecological impact assessment.
19:55 That makes us very concerned that Japan would not only be unable to detect what's getting
20:00 into the water, sediments and organisms, but if it does, there's no causes to remove it.
20:08 There's no way to get the genie back in the bottle."
20:12 An article in Nature challenges the concept of dilution as a solution to nuclear pollution.
20:19 New subsistence may be diluted in seawater, but it may also increase the concentration
20:24 through bioaccumulation in the marine food chain. As larger fish eat smaller fish, heavy
20:30 isotopes can accumulate.
20:33 The safety of the water in Fukushima depends on the authenticity of the data and the feasibility
20:39 of implementing theoretical plans, the effectiveness and monitoring of the 30-50 years discharge,
20:46 and whether the Japanese government and TEPCO can deliver on their promises.
20:52 But even the Japanese are sceptical. A survey conducted by the Asahi Shimbun in August revealed
20:58 that only 53% supported the plan, while 41% opposed it. There have been large-scale protests
21:06 in South Korea, and other Pacific countries also do not support the plan.
21:11 Despite the verbal support from the US government for the ocean discharge, they have reduced
21:16 their imports of Japanese agricultural and aquatic products in the first half of this
21:22 year. The reactors have not been fully stopped, and TEPCO currently does not know the whereabouts
21:27 of the melted fuel cores, nor do they have any plans to extract the reactors. This means
21:34 that theoretically there is an infinite amount of nuclear-contaminated water, and this is
21:40 only the beginning.
21:41 And that is all for today's Threshold.
21:43 I think there are three points playing into why the US is choosing to push Russia and
22:05 China together. It's not like they want this to happen, it's just, in their opinion, from
22:12 their view, their best strategic choice. The first thing is, on one hand, Russia has infinite
22:20 resources and all countries want them. Russia is an infinite resource tank. Anything you
22:29 want, Russia probably has it somewhere lying around in its massive territory. So everybody
22:34 wants to trade with Russia. On the other hand, it's also a nuclear power, so you cannot just
22:41 take those resources because you will get nuked. You cannot realistically invade and
22:46 take over parts of Russia. Russia will literally destroy you and everyone on this planet if
22:51 you try. So the only country that does have a realistic choice of ever conquering, invading
22:59 parts of Russia is China itself, another nuclear power that is bordering Russia and could send
23:06 troops right over, take parts of Siberia, whatever. But China is also the most peaceful
23:11 country on earth. So the US knows China would not attack Russia without being attacked by
23:17 Russia first or being forced in any other way by Russia to attack. So the US has, in
23:25 my personal opinion, already acknowledged that they cannot reasonably control or make
23:31 use of Russian resources. They can only stop the flow of Russian resources to other nations.
23:41 And the reality when it comes to stopping those flows to other nations is that they
23:46 can never stop the flows to China because Russia and China share a small land border
23:52 and they can definitely always train and will defend that border against foreign intervention.
23:58 When you look at this, Russia is a big resource basket. What are the options? Either you keep
24:04 friendly terms with China and keep Russia and China apart, but then Russia will do everything
24:11 it can to make peace and sell to Europe. So the better choice from the US perspective
24:19 is actually to choose to continue its vassalisation of Europe, which will force Russia to sell
24:27 to China. The US will never be able to control both sides. Either Russia will sell to Europe
24:33 or Russia will sell to China. These are the options and the US cannot control both sides.
24:39 So the US has decided it will, rather than to try and control everybody, they will focus
24:46 on controlling Europe and split the world into East and West to make sure that the resource
24:51 flows to the West stop and Russia is forced to sell to the East. I think this is just
24:58 the US cutting its strategic losses and saying Russia and China are a better match than Europe
25:06 and Russia because George Friedman predicted all the way, I think in 2007 or so, Europe
25:11 is destined for conflict. And the most important strategic objective of the United States in
25:18 Europe is to split Russia and Germany apart because a unison of German political control
25:24 in Europe, as well as know-how and manufacturing base matched with Russian resources, such
25:34 an alliance would be an even bigger threat to US domination of the world than just the
25:40 rising China. So I believe this is just US cutting its losses, deciding Russia-China
25:46 alliance is preferable over EU-Russia alliance. And I think what plays into this is that Russia
25:55 is a capitalist, highly religious country with highly conservative people that have
26:04 a very strong national identity. On the other hand, you have China, which is a socialist
26:10 country, very atheistic, non-religious, at the very least its government. And of course,
26:18 they are racially, culturally, ethnically different. So the US probably thinks it's
26:26 easier to split Russia and China at a later date apart than it will be to split Europe
26:33 and Russia apart if they ever form an alliance because Europeans are ethnically, racially,
26:40 culturally more aligned with Russia than the Chinese. So I think this is why the US is
26:45 choosing to allow Russia and China to come together.
26:51 I think what we need to do is take a deep breath and really kind of look back in history
26:57 and when this whole conflict unfolded. And we have to even go back further than if we're
27:04 going to discuss about the Ukraine and Russian conflict right now. We have to go back to
27:11 the fall of the Soviet Union to understand how most of these countries got in this situation,
27:18 why most of these countries are still in a conflict today. You see, there's been a lot
27:24 of focus on the Ukraine, its borders, its territory. We hear things like sovereignty,
27:31 Russian sovereignty. What really is that? If it's about sovereignty and it's about Ukraine
27:38 trying to protect its borders, then you have to ask yourself then why in 2014 did its own
27:46 army, its own army fire on its own civilians? Yes, that did happen. That was a fact. And
27:57 that remains a fact today. And this is a narrative that the Western media has ignored because
28:08 it was a failed attempt. Of course, they did remove the sitting president of the Ukraine
28:14 at that time. But today we still do not see back in 2014 and 15 an election that took
28:24 place that brought a new one in because, well, the American government decided Ukraine's
28:31 future for them. So is this conflict with Ukraine and Russia? I'd have to say it's a
28:38 proxy war. If we look and try to understand why these conflicts are going on and why these,
28:45 we'll call it civilians, are rising up against governments, it's for a very clear reason.
28:52 Because when the Soviet Union collapsed, a lot of people were displaced. And to understand
29:00 that, you have to understand the geography. Now, maps will always be rewritten for years.
29:07 Into the future, there will be more territory taken by another nation or another country,
29:12 but that's how conflicts are settled. But if we look into this situation, this is about
29:19 a country that is protecting its citizens or ethnicity of these individuals, even though
29:28 they're on the outside borders of their country. And let me give you some numbers to think
29:33 about. The Baltic states, NATO members, okay. The Baltics have several ethnics, but one
29:43 of them is Russian, 33% in Latvia, 25.4% in, let's say, Lithuania, and over 30%, almost
29:56 900,000 in total in the Baltic states alone are ethnic speaking Russians. I'm going to
30:04 add something onto that. Estonia is a good example of potentially another country that
30:13 could definitely get involved in this situation very quickly. Estonia, to this day, 10% of
30:22 their population are living stateless in their country. You may say, Alex, what does that
30:30 mean? They're Estonian citizens. Actually, they're not. They are Russians that still
30:38 believe that they want to keep their ethnics. They could be a grandmother or an uncle or
30:45 a brother that, let's say, was living in Estonia after the fall of the Soviet Union. Still
30:54 Russian, but according to Estonia, you're not. Because by the laws that have gone down
31:02 in Estonia, which are human rights laws that you should really look into, if you look into
31:10 the details, these people are stateless. In fact, the Estonian government is so polite
31:17 in their humiliation that they've given them gray passports, alien passports on the cover.
31:26 Now, this is an unresolved issue. What does a gray passport mean? That means, well, you
31:34 can stay in Estonia. You can work in Estonia. You can kind of travel around Europe. You
31:43 can't get any of the European Union benefits, but we'll let you stay and we'll humiliate
31:49 you until you give up that Russian passport. What's that mean? It's in the laws in Estonia.
32:00 It's on the books of the laws in Latvia. It's in the laws of Lithuania. No dual nationality.
32:09 So the choice for these ethnic speaking Russians are very clear. Forget about your past. Forget
32:18 about your language. Train yourself to understand a new language. And then, and only then, we
32:28 will make you a citizen. But whatever passport or family that you have that you want to keep
32:34 in touch with, well, we're going to have to sever those ties from my passport or a citizen
32:39 angle and you'll be a proud Estonian. But yet, you won't have that access to the motherland,
32:47 maybe where you were born. And we wonder why people are rising up and fighting for this.
32:56 This modern day, I don't know the right word for it, but I'd have to say it's a cleansing
33:04 of some sort sponsored by the European Union. And we may think that this is just isolated
33:11 in Estonia, but oh no, no, no. This happened in Transnistria. I bet you most of the people
33:18 watching this program today have probably never even heard of Transnistria. This was
33:23 a conflict also that happened in 1990 and lasted for almost two years. Kind of sounds
33:31 familiar, right? Thousands of people have died in Transnistria because they were ethnic Russians
33:38 being forced to become part of the Republic of Moldova. They said no. And to this day,
33:46 to 2023, for over 20 years since the fall, these people have got their own passport,
33:55 their own currency, their own identity, and they refuse to be told to give up their culture,
34:06 their livelihood, their connection to the motherland. And that place borders, get this,
34:15 Ukraine and Moldova, the doorstep to Europe. Where are the diplomats in Europe that want
34:23 this to end? They don't. Does America want this to slow down, wind down? The Americans
34:30 are not in control at this time. The Russians control at this time, and they will decide
34:38 where this ends. If we fast forward to the situation where we're in now, watching this
34:46 conflict myself, watching independent crowdfunded journalists like Patrick Lancaster, who originally
34:53 got me in to this type of content geopolitical stuff, I couldn't find any answers on the
35:02 other side of the Donbas area, except from one man, and that was Patrick Lancaster. And
35:10 at the time, Patrick was the first guy I ever heard of in 2015, where I've ever heard the
35:17 thing, the term called demonetized. I said, what does that mean, Patrick? He says, well,
35:25 Silicon Valley, the big names, they don't want me to put my message out. I thought that
35:31 was a bit strange. Weeks later, he said PayPal has disabled my account. Wow, this is interesting.
35:39 The more I heard, the more that he was being silenced, the more I wanted to go down there
35:43 and meet him. Eventually I did. He was one of the first people, the first I ever donated
35:49 to because I was tired of seeing the narrative on the Western media. My wife is Lithuanian.
35:58 She speaks Russian. Her father was from Belarus. This is a culture, and these people are connected
36:07 in many ways to Russia. Whatever crazy mandate the Americans, these NATO-led countries have
36:16 on trying to cleanse these European countries of Russia, well, judgment day is here. The
36:28 country of Russia that has 6,257 nuclear warheads is going to stand up for itself at any cost.
36:43 They've seen pipelines bombed. Their downtown areas, desperation drone attacks in the center
36:51 of Moscow. How crazy can America get to lead this? We've seen the conflict drag into its
36:59 second year. The Americans have donated 8,500 Javelins, 1,155-millimeter howitzers, 50 howitzers,
37:10 100,000 mortar shells, 38 multiple rocket launcher HIMARS, 109 Bradley infantry fighting
37:18 vehicles. They've trained 15,000 soldiers. The list goes on and on and on. France, 550
37:27 million military aid and growing, training of Ukraine soldiers, anti-tank missiles, two
37:35 LRU-type multi-rocket launchers. Germany, 14 Leopard 2 tanks, Patriot air defense systems,
37:43 500 Stingers. The list goes on. A large number of armored vehicle weapons. Spain, 6.7 million
37:52 rifles and pistols. Incredible list of artillery, killing machine artillery, we call it, or
38:00 as Lindsey Graham says, to the last Ukraine. And you know, there is a question asked earlier
38:07 in this program of how many casualties. When I heard the term, our tank got stuck because
38:18 there were so many casualties, we couldn't drive over them. That is a very sobering thing
38:25 to hear from somebody that is reporting from that area. If America has not learned from
38:32 its failed attempt in the Yugoslavian war that broke up the Yugoslavia in 78 days of
38:40 aerial bombardment of that country, NATO led by the way, my, oh my, these next few months
38:49 are going to be a sobering reminder that the conflicts don't end by pumping more artillery
38:57 into Ukraine. It's done by diplomacy. And that's the only way out of this mess.
39:05 And this was another episode of China Now, a show that opens a window to the present
39:09 and the future of the Asian giant. Hope you enjoy it. See you next time.
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