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00:00Hello, Tell Us Your English presents a new episode of China Now, a Wave Media's production
00:14that showcases the culture, technology and politics of the Asian giant.
00:18In this first segment, China Currents dives into the top stories of the week, including
00:22US TikTok ban and its unexpected consequences, and China's recent breakthrough in lithium
00:28exploration, among other topics.
00:30Let's see.
00:37China Currents is a weekly news talk show from China to the world.
00:41We cover viral news about China every week and also give you the newest updates on China's
00:46cutting-edge technologies.
00:48Let's get started.
00:49Welcome to China Currents, your weekly news report on the latest developments in China.
01:02I'm Derek, and in this episode, we'll cover
01:06The US TikTok ban is creating cyber-refugees on Chinese social media platforms
01:10A powerful earthquake in Tibet's Autonomous Region
01:14China's significant breakthrough in lithium exploration
01:17First, let's dive into the effects of the US TikTok ban.
01:21The TikTok ban is taking down.
01:23By 19th of this month, 170 million Americans will lose access to their beloved, and in
01:29many cases, life-sustaining TikTok accounts.
01:32The most immediate consequence of the TikTok ban is the economic loss.
01:37Nico Turner-Lee, the director of the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings
01:41Institution, pointed out that the global economic value generated by TikTok creators
01:47reaches US$215 billion.
01:50Shutting down TikTok will cost American small businesses and creators an estimated US$1.3
01:57billion monthly.
01:59Moreover, females will become the largest victims of the TikTok ban.
02:03According to NPR, 84% of influencers on platforms are women.
02:08Last October, Cora Leakey quit her six-figure job in talent acquisition and project management
02:15after realizing that running a TikTok account could earn her even more and potentially help
02:21her pay off her student loan debts.
02:23However, the Biden administration is determined to destroy her new livelihood before leaving
02:29office, forcing her to learn Chinese in order to develop her presence on Douyin, the Chinese
02:35version of TikTok.
02:37Many TikTokers from the US have also sparked a TikTok refugee hashtag on Chinese social
02:42media, where their unemployment stories have gained widespread sympathy from Chinese netizens.
02:50An Oxford University report showed that, like Cora Leakey, 7 million US small businesses
02:56rely on TikTok for their livelihood.
02:59And around 70% of small businesses say TikTok has led to increased sales in the past year.
03:05And 39 claim that access to TikTok is critical for their survival.
03:10For example, Deleane Barrows, a 41-year-old lady who built a financial consulting company
03:16from scratch on TikTok, said that a TikTok ban would wipe out 30% of her business overnight.
03:23Now living in Portugal, she told Business Insider, I'm happier now that I've left the
03:28American dream behind.
03:31On the other hand, the damage to the US democratic system could be even more severe.
03:36There are 170 million TikTok users in the US, which is 100 million more than the number
03:42of popular votes Trump received in the 2024 election, and 90 million more than Biden's
03:48in 2020.
03:49In other words, TikTok is even more popular in America than the president of the United
03:55States.
03:56This makes the Biden administration's claims of national security as the reason for banning
04:01it all the more perplexing to the Chinese public.
04:05If the US is truly a democratic country, isn't it the Biden government which challenges the
04:11will of more than half of the American people that should be considered the biggest threat
04:16to national security?
04:18This paradox was addressed by conservative justice Brett Kavanaugh.
04:22During the last hearing, he criticized TikTok as potentially using the information to hurt
04:28people.
04:29According to The Intercept, the US government's fixation on TikTok's influence on the discourse
04:33surrounding the Gaza War is the key concern.
04:37The Jerusalem Post notes that the Free Palestine hashtag has appeared in 35 million TikTok
04:43videos, about 28 times more than Stand with Israel, making it more likely for young Americans
04:49to sympathize with the Palestinians.
04:52However, The Washington Post pointed out that a similar trend appears on Facebook and Instagram.
04:58On Facebook, the Free Palestine appears in more than 11 million posts, 39 times more
05:04than those with Stand with Israel.
05:06On Instagram, the Pro-Palestine hashtag appears in 6 million posts, 26 times more than the
05:12Pro-Israel hashtag.
05:14The consistency of pro-Palestine content across social networks, whether Chinese or American-owned,
05:21undermines the argument central to the anti-TikTok campaign.
05:25On the final day of its term, the Biden administration is attempting to destroy a social media platform
05:31that is beloved by Americans more than himself, and forcing 7 million small businesses into
05:37financial crisis.
05:38This may represent the most significant crisis the US Constitution's First Amendment has
05:43ever faced, and it is perhaps a moment when the people most fully appreciate the necessity
05:49of the Second Amendment.
05:51Next up, another bad news from China's Tibet province.
05:54On 7th January, a powerful 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck Dingyuan County in China's Tibet province,
06:01resulting in 126 fatalities.
06:05Dingyuan County is located at an altitude of 4,300 meters, covering an area of more
06:12than 30,000 square kilometers, roughly twice the size of Shanghai.
06:17The nighttime temperature compounds to around minus 50 degrees Celsius.
06:21In these extreme conditions, over 61,000 residents are left in urgent need of shelter.
06:28According to Chinese state media, military aircraft will depart to assess the situation
06:33just 10 minutes after the earthquake struck.
06:37Within 30 minutes, rescue teams reached the epicenter and began their operations.
06:42Within six hours, the Chinese military deployed drones, helicopters, and Y-20 transport aircraft
06:48to deliver supplies to the disaster zone.
06:52Within a single day, power and communication services were restored across the region.
06:57By the following day, temporary shelters were set up for the displaced population, and local
07:02authorities announced that disaster relief supplies were fully stocked, clarifying that
07:07no additional donations were necessary.
07:10As of now, over 220 resettlement sites have been established, providing shelter to 47,000
07:17displaced residents.
07:18According to Xinhua News Agency, these shelters are designed for quick assembling, with each
07:24unit capable of being set up in as little as 8 minutes.
07:28Each shelter can accommodate 4 to 5 people and is equipped with heating facilities and,
07:34in some areas, even Wi-Fi access.
07:37The local government has announced that rescue operations will transition to resettlement
07:43and post-disaster reconstruction in the coming week.
07:46More than 40,000 personnel, including soldiers, police officers, firefighters, medical teams,
07:52and volunteers have contributed to the rescue efforts.
07:56The Chinese people expressed their appreciation for their performance but were not surprised.
08:02This is because, since 2002, disaster relief operations have been incorporated into Chinese
08:08People's Liberation Army's military training and evaluation programs.
08:13In 2005, China introduced the Regulations on the Army's Participation in Emergency
08:18Rescue and Disaster Relief, formalizing the military's role in rescue operations, material
08:25transport, and post-disaster reconstruction.
08:28Next up, let's take a sip of some good news.
08:31On 8th of January, China made a significant leap in its lithium exploration efforts, increasing
08:37its lithium reserves from 6% to 70.5% of the global supply.
08:44This advancement has moved China from the sixth-largest holder of lithium reserves to
08:49second place globally, behind only Chile and surpassing Australia.
08:53In the Pamir Plateau, China has uncovered a massive lithium deposit, a 2,800-kilometer-long
09:00methanogenic belt with proven reserves of over 6.8 million tons and potential resources
09:07exceeding 30 million tons.
09:10As the world's largest producer and consumer of lithium batteries, China's push to tap
09:15into these domestic resources is crucial for reducing reliance on foreign suppliers and
09:21bolstering its position in the global electrical vehicle market.
09:25This breakthrough is also largely driven by advances in lithium extraction technology,
09:30especially a new method for extracting lithium from salt lakes.
09:35The process, inspired by how certain plants naturally observe and release salts, has been
09:40adapted for lithium extraction.
09:43This new technique is considered a game-changer because it enables more efficient lithium
09:48recovery with far less environmental impact compared to traditional methods, which often
09:54generate harmful waste water and waste.
09:57China's salt lake lithium reserves alone are now estimated to exceed 40 million tons,
10:03positioning the country as the third-largest global holder of salt lake lithium, behind
10:07South America's lithium triangle and the western U.S.
10:12While lithium prices are stable for now and unlikely to be affected in the short term,
10:17this technology is expected to help Chinese companies strengthen their competitive edge
10:22in the long run.
10:23That's all for today.
10:24Thank you for watching this episode of China Currents.
10:27If you have any thoughts or comments, please reach us at the email address below.
10:31We look forward to hearing from you.
10:33See you next time.
10:55And now we have a short break coming up, but we'll be right back.
10:57Stay with us.
11:11Welcome back to China Now.
11:13Global Arena welcomes founder of Democracy at Work, Richard DeWolf, and Thinkers Forum
11:18hosts former Greek finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, discussing current global challenges.
11:23Let's have a look.
11:33The problem of the United States and its manufacturing sector is much larger than this relationship
11:40between the United States and China.
11:43It is probably more accurate to say that China has become the scapegoat, the way for the
11:52leadership here in the United States to focus the upset of the American people about the
12:01loss of manufacturing on one particular country.
12:05But that is a strange argument.
12:08The decision to move manufacturing industry out of the United States, particularly over
12:17the last 30 to 40 years, was made by the corporate leadership of American industry.
12:26And one of the places that both U.S. and foreign capitalists moved their manufacturing was
12:35to the People's Republic of China.
12:38The reasons were very simple.
12:41Number one, the wage level in China was much lower than the wage level in the United States
12:50or Western Europe or Japan.
12:53And number two, China, with its huge population and its rapid economic growth of the last
13:0230 years, was the world's largest, fastest-growing market.
13:09The same is true in Vietnam.
13:12The same is true in Brazil.
13:15The same is true, to more or lesser degree, in many other countries.
13:21This is the normal, market-driven, profit-maximizing behavior of capitalists.
13:31To blame it on China is bizarre.
13:35Every president out of the last 10 has campaigned on reviving manufacturing.
13:44Bush did it, Clinton did it, Obama did it, Biden did it.
13:49They all promise it, and none of them has achieved it.
13:53So it has become a kind of empty promise of American politics, Republican, Democrat alike.
14:02This is what they must say, so they say it.
14:06But what they can do is very little, because the position is determined by conditions over
14:13which American leaders do not have control.
14:17They do not control the wages around the world, they do not control the growth of markets
14:23around the world.
14:24By the way, you can see it also in that many presidents, Republican and Democrat alike,
14:30will tell you, over my presidency, we added 6 million manufacturing jobs.
14:39Technically, it's true.
14:41What it leaves out is you lost 8 million, and that's been the history that we've actually
14:48seen.
14:49And I would argue further that I don't see much prospect for manufacturing to come back
14:58to the United States.
15:01Even the turn towards economic nationalism that we are seeing in the United States and
15:08in other countries, even that is partly a process that will take a long time.
15:18In order for the United States to once again become a manufacturing economy, it would have
15:27to compete with the rest of the world, above all, at the level of wages and the benefits
15:35workers get in this country.
15:38And that's going to take a long time, because the wages in the United States are still significantly
15:46higher than in most of the rest of the world, less so than in the past.
15:52The direction is it, but it'll take time.
15:56If Mr. Trump resumes his program from his first period as president, namely to apply
16:06high tariffs to Chinese exports to the United States, if he does that, it will of course
16:17raise prices inside the United States, because Americans buying Chinese goods will have to
16:26pay the price China charges, plus, in addition, the tariff implied by Washington that goes
16:34to Washington, and that means prices will go up.
16:38Well, that's not good for the inflation.
16:42The United States has a problem with inflation.
16:46Mr. Trump campaigned for president on a program of fighting inflation.
16:54If he's going to fight inflation, he can't apply tariffs to China, and if he's going
17:00to apply tariffs to China, it's going to make the inflation worse, not better.
17:06We have no idea how this contradiction is going to be handled at this point.
17:13Mr. Trump renegotiated the legal agreements between Canada, Mexico, and the United States
17:22that he would tariff against Canada and against Mexico.
17:27If Mr. Trump goes ahead with his plans, it will do major damage to Mexico and to Canada.
17:40What will be the result?
17:44One of the things they're for sure thinking about, and maybe already doing, they're going
17:49to revisit their relationship to the People's Republic of China, because they're going to
17:56offset the damage done by the United States by becoming closer economically with China,
18:06which is not what the United States wants.
18:10That's the contradiction of United States policy.
18:15Over the last 30 to 40 years, American capitalists have invested huge amounts of money in the
18:24People's Republic of China, and they did so with the intention and the plan of producing
18:33not only for the Chinese market, but for the global market.
18:38They are not interested in economic nationalism.
18:44They are opposed to it.
18:47On the other hand, you have those American industries that are threatened by the competition
18:55from China.
18:56They want the government to be more nationalist, to protect them against Chinese, and not just
19:06Chinese, but global competition.
19:09There is a conflict inside the United States, which reaches all the way up to the Trump
19:17administration and exists in both parties, the Republican and the Democrat, in which
19:24there's an ongoing struggle between those who want a good economic relationship with
19:33China and those who do not.
19:37And that is being fought out every day, usually not in the public view, quietly in conferences,
19:45in think tanks, in books and articles written and circulated.
19:51And one day, and it may be soon, these will explode into the open, and then everybody
19:58will see it.
20:03The weather doesn't care about meteorologists' predictions.
20:07Meteorologists simply try to forecast the weather.
20:10They don't make the weather.
20:12But you and me, we make history.
20:18Hello, this is Yannis Varoufakis with a review of 2024, with a potpourri of different topics,
20:27which offer us an interesting perspective, I believe, from which to reassess the year
20:34which is ending, 2024.
20:37Let's begin with the one word that encapsulates 2024.
20:43I'm afraid it's not a pleasant one.
20:46The word I'm choosing for 2024 is the word genocide.
20:50As for the event that connects with it, it is of course the genocide of the Palestinians
20:55in Gaza, a people that have been placed on death row by the Israeli army, the IDF, a
21:03people that are being ethnically cleansed by the same state and the settlers in the
21:10West Bank and in East Jerusalem, a people that have been constantly, constantly denied
21:18the right to exist since 1948.
21:22That's the one event which is essentially a culmination of what has been happening now
21:26for decades upon decades.
21:29As for the person that will be remembered by the historians of the future as the most
21:36influential, unfortunately, his name is Donald Trump.
21:41I'm going to concentrate on what I consider to be the great conundrum that he's facing.
21:45Allow me to put it briefly.
21:46If he succeeds using his gigantic tariffs to redress and eliminate the trade deficit
21:55of the United States, which is his stated objective, then he will have failed his own
22:01tribe.
22:02Which tribe?
22:03What is the tribe of Donald Trump?
22:05The people that he feels closest to.
22:08Real estate agents and financiers in Wall Street.
22:11And why will he have betrayed them if his tariffs succeed in eliminating the U.S. trade
22:18deficit?
22:19Because it's the U.S. trade deficit which is driving the factories of Japan, of Germany,
22:26indeed of China, producing profits for these companies outside the United States, which
22:33to a very large extent return to the United States because they are in dollars.
22:38They go to Wall Street where they finance, what, real estate and the stock exchange as
22:42well as the American government.
22:45So if Trump succeeds to eliminate the U.S. trade deficit, he will have eliminated the
22:49tsunami of dollars that goes into Wall Street, effectively lifting all the boats of his own
22:56tribe, the financiers and the realtors.
22:59So either he's going to betray his own tribe by fulfilling his promise to the majority
23:07of the Americans, especially the American working class, or he's going to betray the
23:11American working class in favor of his own tribe.
23:14Guess which choice I think he's going to make.
23:18Let us now focus on Germany.
23:20The reason why Germany was such a great success story after the Second World War is three
23:25words.
23:26United States of America.
23:28Because it was the United States of America that did a number of things that made the
23:32German industrial miracle possible.
23:34Firstly, they eliminated their debt.
23:37Secondly, they forgave them their debt to the Americans and to the rest of Europe as
23:40well.
23:41That was in a conference in London in the early 1950s.
23:44Secondly, they fixed the exchange rates such that the German currency would be undervalued,
23:50therefore assisting German net exports to the rest of the European periphery initially
23:55and to the rest of the world, including the United States and China later.
23:58Thirdly, the United States made sure that the macroeconomy of the capitalist world,
24:04indeed the whole world, was amenable to whatever it is that the German factories were producing
24:11in large quantities and in high quality, especially mechanical and electrical engineering, as
24:16well as the chemical industry.
24:18In other words, the government of the Federal Republic of Germany never had to worry about
24:21managing the macroeconomy because the Americans were doing it for them, until they stopped
24:25doing it in 1971.
24:26But then after that, the European Union created its own fixed exchange rate regime, and later
24:32the Euro, which was always much lower in value than the Deutsche Mark would have been, therefore
24:37assisting German exports.
24:40So effectively the American and European world was providing a cocoon for German industry,
24:50the traditional heavy goods industry, to grow and become a great success story.
24:56And of course, it is important to note the very cheap energy that Germany was getting
25:00from Russia.
25:03Then after the 2008 near collapse of world capitalism, at least North Atlantic capitalism,
25:10we had the bankruptcy of the European periphery.
25:14But China rose up and picked up the slack, so the net exports of Germany that were going
25:20to Italy, to Greece, to Portugal, to Ireland and so on, went to China.
25:24Until more recently, something tragic happened for Germany.
25:29It was after the 2008 crisis.
25:33The German government insisted, inanely, allow me to say idiotically, on massive austerity
25:41across Europe, not just in Greece and in Ireland and in Italy, but also in Germany itself.
25:47That is a class war against the working class of Europe, while at the same time, the European
25:52Central Bank was printing rivers of cash for their financiers.
25:58What happened was, when you have big business receiving a lot of money, but they look out
26:02of the window and they see the masses in pecunias, too poor to buy expensive goods, they don't
26:09invest these big businesses.
26:10They take the money that the central bank produces and they buy back their own shares,
26:14but that's not investment.
26:15So for 15 years now, at least 15 years, German industry has not invested in its own technologies.
26:22So they missed out on an important technological revolution, unlike the Chinese and unlike
26:28the Americans.
26:29That is why now, the German industrial model is kaput.
26:34It's finished.
26:35And along with it, you have the political system, which you can see what's happening
26:40in Germany.
26:41There's no government.
26:42And even when they do have a government, Friedrich Merz will probably be elected in January with
26:46a new year.
26:47But again, the whole of the political class is utterly bereft of ideas of how to manage
26:55a macroeconomy which, since the Second World War, was managed by other forces, by the Americans
27:02and the European Union.
27:03Now the Americans don't care, especially with Donald Trump, and the European Union is too
27:09fragmented to provide that amazing service for Germany.
27:13Recently, Angela Merkel published a very long memoir.
27:19What is absolutely remarkable is how unremarkable it is.
27:23It is a reminder of the very low level of understanding, of grasp, that European politicians,
27:32more generally, and German politicians in particular, have over the circumstances that
27:39Germany is facing today.
27:41And in the case of Angela Merkel, she has missed out, with this memoir, a brilliant
27:46opportunity to self-reflect, to be self-critical.
27:51It is astonishing.
27:52Never before have I seen a smart person, and there is no doubt that Angela Merkel is a
27:56smart person, successfully miss every opportunity to reassess an era that she helped shape fashion
28:07from something resembling an objective point of view.
28:12The reason why I am being so critical of Merkel is exactly the same as the reason for which
28:16I think the historian of the future is going to be very harsh in her or his judgment of
28:23the former Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.
28:26She was neither very good nor very bad, she was rather indifferent.
28:30But where I do believe that she has a massive amount of responsibility for the state, very
28:35solid state of Europe, and in particular this collapse of the German industrial model and
28:41of the Federal Republic of Germany's prospects, is that around 2009, 2010, immediately after
28:49the Wall Street collapse, which meant, very very soon after that, that all the banks in
28:54Germany went bankrupt, along with the French ones and the rest of the European banks, nevertheless,
29:00because she was a very skilled politician in terms of playing the political game in
29:03the cabinets, in the European Union councils, she was remarkable at getting her way.
29:10But what was the purpose that she was serving?
29:14What was her objective?
29:15To make sure that business continues as usual, in a period when business could not continue
29:22as usual.
29:23So, this is my criticism.
29:25She had immense political capital because she was so skilled and she had managed to
29:29eliminate all her political opponents, not only in Germany but across Europe.
29:33She had a lot of gravitas.
29:37She could sway public opinion, not just in Germany but across Europe.
29:42And she wasted, spectacularly, momentously, stupendously, she wasted that potential.
29:49She could have been a force for consolidating the European Union.
29:55And she always said nine, nine, und nine to that.
30:00That is why this memoir that she just published is going to remain unread and a testimony
30:09to perhaps the most successful German politicians of the last 50 years' incapacity to grasp
30:17her own failure and wasted opportunities.
30:21A few words about France.
30:23Do you remember when Emmanuel Macron was first elected President of France?
30:28He was hailed as the great white hope of the liberal establishment, not only in France
30:34but in Europe and beyond Europe.
30:37He was celebrated as a young man with fresh ideas, a fresh look, smart and energetic.
30:46The young politician, the youngest President of the French Republic ever, who was going
30:55to slay the dragon of the populist, ultra-right, xenophobic National Front.
31:01And how did he end up?
31:03He will be remembered in history as the greatest enabler of the racist, xenophobic, National
31:10Front, ultra-rightist party which is now the largest party in France as a result of Mr.
31:18Macron's choices.
31:19Because Mr. Macron, being a radical centrist, in the end, not just in the end, but from
31:25the very first day when he entered the Elysee Palace, he practiced the usual radical centrist
31:32policy of massive austerity for the many and one tax cut after the other for the oligarchs.
31:41This combination of generosity to the very, very few and harshness, a kind of punishment
31:50for the majority, created a lot of discontent.
31:53And guess who harvested this discontent?
31:59It was Le Pen and the ultra-right, xenophobic, racist National Front.
32:05In the state of panic, resembling a man who has fallen into a sandpit and he's trying
32:11to get out of it, but the more he struggles to get out, the deeper he goes into that sinkhole,
32:18Emmanuel Macron tried some desperate measures, like hoping for an electoral miracle, he dissolved
32:25the French National Assembly.
32:27And what happened was his party bottomed out, Le Pen did magnificently well, and the result
32:33was no government under the presidency of Mr Macron.
32:39Every move he's making is strengthening the ultra-right that he was supposed to slay like
32:47the dragon that the centre, the radical centre loathes.
32:51So that's how 2024 and history from now on is going to judge him as a young man who offered
32:59most promise to the establishment but ended up being its gravedigger.
33:03A few words about South Korea, where, you remember, very recently, the president of
33:09South Korea attempted to stage a coup d'etat, essentially to disband parliament and to establish
33:17martial law.
33:18A country that had many such coup d'etats in the past but which managed, as a result
33:24of tremendous struggles by trade unionists, by progressives, by democrats, to put this
33:33behind them.
33:34But now it came back, of course as a farce more than as a tragedy, because the whole
33:39attempt collapsed very soon.
33:42Nevertheless, I think that that farcical coup d'etat attempt at a coup d'etat in South Korea,
33:49it contains lessons for us.
33:50In that ludicrous television address by the president of South Korea, the excuse he gave
33:58was that parliament was becoming very cosy, very friendly with Beijing, with China.
34:04And even though that was absolutely ludicrous, it does speak to the kind of toxicity that
34:14emanates from Washington DC, from the new cold warriors in the United States that have
34:20over the last few years made it their business to poison the soul of political forces of
34:29the public in Europe, including in South Korea.
34:33China is somehow not only a foe that needs to be defeated and contained, but also a good
34:41excuse for all sorts of criminal acts, including the attempted coup d'etat by the South Korean
34:47president.
34:48It's essential that we in the West in particular counter this massive attempt to create a kind
34:58of not just cold war, but a warmongering atmosphere in which all sorts of criminalities, all sorts
35:07of poisons, toxic political forces are justified to do anything they feel like simply by mentioning
35:15the word China in the same way that parents used to, at least when I was growing up in
35:20Greece as a child, to mention some kind of monster that would come out of the closet
35:25in the middle of the night and eat you up as a child if you didn't eat your food.
35:29Syria.
35:31The fall of Assad, which I'm not going to comment now in a journalistic way, I'm going
35:37to comment about what happened the day Assad fell from a very private perspective.
35:43It reminded me of the difficulty that I have been facing, and again, forgive me for speaking
35:50personally over a number of years, with the inability of both political adversaries, who
35:58are always on the side of American imperialism, as well as many comrades who are on my side
36:05opposing American imperialism.
36:08The difficulty that both these camps have in taking a moral position, a moral ethical
36:15stance against dictators.
36:16I remember once upon a time when Saddam Hussein was the greatest friend of the West in the
36:22Middle East.
36:23I remember the United States and Europe and the United Kingdom loved Saddam Hussein.
36:29They were arming him, making him wage war against Iran.
36:34He was their boy, their blue-eyed boy, I would say, in the Middle East.
36:42People like me, we were on the barricades outside the Iraqi embassy in London, for instance,
36:50but other capitals in Europe as well, demonstrating against the monster.
36:53Because that monster, Saddam Hussein, had converted the Ba'ath Socialist Party from
36:59being an Arab nationalist party into his own instrument of suppressing the Iraqi people
37:06and of effectively fleecing the country.
37:09Back then, the West was treating people like me as fools, as eccentrics, for opposing Saddam
37:14Hussein.
37:15Then, they fell out with him, or they decided it was in their interest to invade his country,
37:20and they invaded.
37:23And people like me, who were always opposing Saddam Hussein, immediately sprung to the
37:28defense of the Iraqi people and opposed the US invasion.
37:32Similarly with, who remembers Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia?
37:36Another monster.
37:37But nevertheless, NATO was even more monstrous by bombarding Serbia, using Milosevic as an
37:42excuse.
37:43So, people like me, we were simultaneously opposing Milosevic and the American bombardments
37:50of Yugoslavia.
37:52Then the same thing with Libya, and now with Assad.
37:56Exactly the same situation.
37:57It is clear that Assad fell because of a United States and Israel inspired onslaught
38:09by formerly Al-Qaeda terrorists, who now the West is treating like freedom fighters.
38:16This is the hypocrisy of the West.
38:19But at the same time, I have to say, friends and comrades, that the moment Assad fell,
38:26and his awful middle-age-like prisons, their doors flung out, and all these tortured people
38:34came out, and their relatives and citizens were celebrating on the street.
38:39I felt joy, and I declared it, because every time a tyrant falls, we have a duty as progressives
38:47to feel, just for one moment, joy, even if we know that the people who actually overthrew
38:52them are probably worse.
38:54And the result will be like in Iraq or Libya, maybe the future will be darker for the people
39:00of Syria.
39:01But why can't we refuse to take sides, either with US imperialism, or with the tyrant that
39:09US imperialism has targeted, when at some point that dictator, that tyrant, no longer
39:16fitted to the plans of US imperialists.
39:19I think it's important.
39:20It's important to care about people, to have minimum, minimal ethical standards in the
39:25way that we approach other people's lives, other people's concerns and anxieties.
39:32Now it's customary at the end of every year for people to try to prognosticate, to forecast,
39:39to predict what will be in store in the next year, in 2025.
39:44I refuse to do this steadfastly, and I refuse to do this from an ideological perspective.
39:50It is a political stance, it is a political choice, it's an activist choice to refuse
39:55to prognosticate.
39:56And let me explain why.
39:57If you are a meteorologist, your job is to predict the weather.
40:01That is what you are being paid to do.
40:03And the reason why you can do it in a scientific way is because the weather doesn't care about
40:09meteorologists' predictions.
40:11Meteorologists simply try to forecast the weather.
40:14They don't make the weather.
40:16But you and me, we make history.
40:19All of us, humans, together make our own story.
40:24So we have no right to sit back on our armchair and indulge in forecasts.
40:33We better get out of our chairs and make the world a better place for humanity and indeed
40:39for nature.
40:40With these thoughts on some of the issues and the places and the characters that mark
40:472024, I bid you farewell and I wish you a prosperous 2025.
40:52And let's make history happen, not the way that it is happening, but in a manner which
40:56reflects our better instincts.
41:09And this was another episode of China Now, a show that opens a window to the present
41:13and future of the Asian giant.
41:16We hope you enjoyed it.
41:17See you next time.