1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,600 Hey everyone this is Chris welcome back to the channel we're talking about the lockdo... 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:07,600 the protests in China. I just want to jump right in this is actually a really big story. 3 00:00:08,240 --> 00:00:12,720 You can read the headlines here China Covid unrest boils over as citizens defy lockdown 4 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:17,679 efforts and if you've been following all along you know that many countries are... 5 00:00:17,679 --> 00:00:22,719 out of Covid lockdowns and you know out of Covid restrictions whereas in China actual... 6 00:00:22,719 --> 00:00:27,679 infections keep getting worse and the government has actually been locking down... 7 00:00:27,679 --> 00:00:33,359 restricting movement of people. In fact there was a fire in a building an apartment... 8 00:00:33,359 --> 00:00:38,079 and this is a picture of it there and the basic gist of it that's been sort of flyin... 9 00:00:38,079 --> 00:00:44,480 social media is that the building was difficult to for the firefighters to get... 10 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:49,200 we don't know all the exact details because it's you know things can get out of hand s... 11 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:54,000 want to just like say definitively what you know what the barriers were but I'll just ... 12 00:00:54,799 --> 00:00:59,679 it was difficult and 10 people died in the situation and sort of what's going on right 13 00:00:59,679 --> 00:01:07,680 now in the country is people feel like that these lockdowns are detrimental to their o... 14 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:13,359 health and this is sort of where really hits home for many people they're just getting... 15 00:01:13,359 --> 00:01:19,599 irritated with this which I totally understand and I personally didn't realize... 16 00:01:19,599 --> 00:01:26,000 be this big in terms of massive protesting that usually in China you do not do these... 17 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:31,679 things the main reason is because you can be reported essentially and it could be have a 18 00:01:31,679 --> 00:01:37,679 serious detrimental to your career to your life the freedom of speech from expression... 19 00:01:37,679 --> 00:01:41,919 normal thing in China especially when you're criticizing the government basically sayin... 20 00:01:41,919 --> 00:01:46,079 you're locking us down and you just you know cost people their lives because people cou... 21 00:01:46,159 --> 00:01:50,000 firefighters couldn't get to them and one of the things that I want to mention when you... 22 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:54,159 a picture like this where people are you know mourning the people in the apartment building 23 00:01:54,159 --> 00:01:57,759 is when I used to teach at Tsinghua University and I mention this all the time... 24 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:03,359 is important to understand that this is the top university in the country and both the... 25 00:02:03,359 --> 00:02:07,359 president the foreign president went to school there and many of these students... 26 00:02:07,359 --> 00:02:12,800 know are going to end up ruling the country and at that time when I was there this wou... 27 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:20,880 back in around 2007 2008 there was an earthquake and I think it was like a schoo... 28 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:25,520 there was a lot of students that died and it was interesting because in the western med... 29 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:29,600 time they were reporting that you know there's faulty construction and these kind... 30 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:35,360 those kind of things would just not be reported in China the regular people of... 31 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:39,920 do care about school children and do care about just regular people and this is... 32 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:43,679 don't know if we would do it in America but I'm just sharing with what they did in Chi... 33 00:02:43,679 --> 00:02:49,359 it like a moment of silence and the way that it worked was like everybody was silent an... 34 00:02:49,359 --> 00:02:54,719 everybody and in fact there were reports that cars would just be stopping in the middle ... 35 00:02:55,519 --> 00:02:59,439 and just would get outside their car and stand a moment of silence for like two... 36 00:02:59,439 --> 00:03:03,359 I was saying I don't know if Americans are said to do that like we certainly have... 37 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:11,440 but the idea I want you to understand is that if this sort of thing becomes well known... 38 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:15,280 story of people in the apartment building and everyone's like oh my god I identify with... 39 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:22,400 and I feel for my brothers and sisters right in my in my nation in my country this can... 40 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:27,280 become a really really big problem for the for the Chinese government as more and mor... 41 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:32,960 start calling for essentially like she to step down or freedom of expression I have... 42 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:39,439 and this is just unreal you know students at Tsinghua where he's a teacher also at Beid... 43 00:03:39,439 --> 00:03:44,560 or Peking University another way you call it and again this is essentially what it is i... 44 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:51,520 to Harvard and MIT in China they are coming out and saying you know rule of law democr... 45 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:55,439 kind of things and you know they I was looking at this this is sort of like this ... 46 00:03:55,439 --> 00:03:58,879 at Tsinghua there is a essentially security guard doesn't want people to take photos 47 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:05,519 but some photos are getting out because in you know this day and age everybody has a... 48 00:04:05,519 --> 00:04:10,000 everybody has you know capability of taking a photo I mean everyone's got their photos out 49 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:15,680 and kind of what the this is at Tsinghua I think and kind of what's going on is is fo... 50 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:20,159 protest they're just holding a blank sheets of paper which basically kind of mean that... 51 00:04:20,159 --> 00:04:26,639 being silenced and the students are shouting democracy and freedom it's you know right ... 52 00:04:26,959 --> 00:04:30,479 compose right now but you know for the last hour or so I was reading through this stuf... 53 00:04:30,479 --> 00:04:37,120 telling you guys I've been in tears it's just it's um the best way to describe it is you... 54 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:42,000 think about when in your life you know wherever you live now and you think about... 55 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:47,680 so much people and say in your hometown or school that you went to or a place you use... 56 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:52,159 you see people that you feel like that you would know and they're going through this... 57 00:04:52,159 --> 00:04:56,319 and you just want to support them right and that's the best way to describe it so you... 58 00:04:56,319 --> 00:04:59,599 when I see these images I'm just expressing with you guys how I feel and it's like oh ... 59 00:04:59,599 --> 00:05:05,120 are like my students essentially people you know that age and this sort of thing and... 60 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:10,000 you know shouting for democracy shouting for freedom really and it's really really... 61 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:16,879 to see and um I hope sincerely hope there is there is change in China um it is just a... 62 00:05:16,879 --> 00:05:22,319 if we can have that now at the time and I'm trying to explain to you guys it would sor... 63 00:05:22,319 --> 00:05:26,560 why say isn't there freedom or democracy in places like China it's a complicated issue 64 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:33,519 and at the at the time when I was at Tsinghua the the this is leading up to the um Beiji... 65 00:05:33,519 --> 00:05:37,680 the economy was going good people were making money there was a lot of hope and stuff li... 66 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:43,839 and so you kind of ignore um say the lack of human rights essentially is the best way t... 67 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:50,879 as you know this lockdowns in China continue on the economy starts to slow and then now... 68 00:05:50,879 --> 00:05:56,079 people in the apartment fire um essentially get killed due to government policy which... 69 00:05:56,079 --> 00:06:00,879 could be the case like I said I can't verify exactly what the situation was but it... 70 00:06:00,879 --> 00:06:04,959 looks like from social media that like I said the fire trucks couldn't get inside the... 71 00:06:04,959 --> 00:06:10,079 because of essentially the the policy of the government to lock down buildings and um y... 72 00:06:10,079 --> 00:06:16,000 I I think there could actually be real change this time um there there's one thing that ... 73 00:06:16,079 --> 00:06:21,600 or may not know about China that there's always sort of this under the surface how ... 74 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:28,000 I guess you could call it resentment or anger among lower classes uh towards the system and 75 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:32,000 and the way the the way that when I was at Tsinghua the way the students would talk 76 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:35,839 remember these are people who benefit from the system meaning that they were able to... 77 00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:40,160 highest levels they always say well you know the country is developing and we can't hav... 78 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:44,639 complaining because there'd be too many complaining voices and we all need to go i... 79 00:06:44,639 --> 00:06:51,039 do the same thing but in that system right not everyone benefits from it and so when... 80 00:06:51,039 --> 00:06:57,279 like say the system is clearly hurting people like with the apartment fire um it sort of... 81 00:06:57,279 --> 00:07:00,800 the voices of people who are dissenting and this is something I just want to emphasize... 82 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:05,759 guys there's always been dissent in China there's always been people who are upset w... 83 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:12,639 but usually it can be how can I say like it can be quelled or silenced right because y... 84 00:07:12,639 --> 00:07:17,039 delete stuff from from um you know all your twitters and facebook and this kind of thing 85 00:07:17,039 --> 00:07:21,680 and the government can try to suppress as much as it can but in this day and age and... 86 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:25,919 kind of just running through different photos with you guys uh it is a very different world 87 00:07:25,919 --> 00:07:32,319 right everyone has a camera now and it is it is hard to limit people's freedom of... 88 00:07:32,319 --> 00:07:38,000 I I was looking at this as well like this is a picture of um I guess people are even... 89 00:07:38,319 --> 00:07:43,360 banners on bridges you know calling for democracy and these kind of things like yo... 90 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:46,879 this kind of stuff in China and it's it's really because it's really difficult to... 91 00:07:46,879 --> 00:07:52,800 people who haven't been there how that how there's certain lack of freedoms um and I... 92 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:58,240 way to think about it is um and I and I get it guys in in USA people complain about... 93 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:02,720 speech on twitter and stuff like that and I always laugh because like true censorship ... 94 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:08,480 idea just for example if you want to run out in the street like right today in USA and ... 95 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:12,320 hate Joe Biden I absolutely hate Joe Biden I'm not going to vote for him I hate him... 96 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:17,040 okay great like that's your total your opinion and you can run around and say tha... 97 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:21,120 right no one no one's going to stop you from saying that um where I'm just telling you ... 98 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:24,800 place like China I can't just run around and say I hate President Xi I hate President X... 99 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:30,480 in this day and age um like I said normally you can't do that but like there's just so... 100 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:35,680 doing these kind of things right now and this has been the last couple of days and I thi... 101 00:08:35,680 --> 00:08:43,200 ends up happening is you get more and poor people who aren't afraid anymore and the... 102 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:47,440 so big right where you have like it's not like the police can arrest the whole... 103 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:52,480 everyone's doing it now there's still going to be people that um are are afraid right... 104 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:56,560 see any reason that they'll the kind of the thinking is is like why should I protest it's 105 00:08:56,559 --> 00:09:00,159 not going to change anything and you'll hear people say that kind of stuff um like uh for 106 00:09:00,159 --> 00:09:05,119 example when I was in class I used to teach people uh students kind of basically you k... 107 00:09:05,119 --> 00:09:08,399 point of freedom of speech what's the point of democracy you know these essentially ho... 108 00:09:08,399 --> 00:09:12,879 American system works and um sometimes students would say well why should you eve... 109 00:09:12,879 --> 00:09:18,000 this we can't change anything anyway and that kind of thinking right just think about th... 110 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:22,239 of like people and have this in USA as well they say well why should I vote for politi... 111 00:09:22,239 --> 00:09:25,599 should I vote for either politician I don't like either why should I vote we can't cha... 112 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:30,240 anyway right so I don't I don't want you to think that that sort of thinking of passiv... 113 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:33,680 in China doesn't exist in USA it does right you you guys probably know people that say... 114 00:09:33,680 --> 00:09:37,920 don't need to vote we can't change anything anyway but I completely reject that kind o... 115 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:42,639 completely reject that and I always talk to my students this is you know years ago abo... 116 00:09:42,639 --> 00:09:46,879 reason why we talk about these things and sort of why I even do things on on YouTube... 117 00:09:46,879 --> 00:09:51,519 to understand the world and understand yes you do have a choice and yes you can tell... 118 00:09:51,519 --> 00:09:56,559 about you know choices and these sort of things and yes you have a right in my opin... 119 00:09:56,559 --> 00:10:02,000 whatever you think whatever you want you have a right to right and um I I just think thi... 120 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:08,159 something that is very very difficult for governments to do forever it is to hold down 121 00:10:08,159 --> 00:10:14,079 human expression human thought right this sort of stuff and and uh I I just think um... 122 00:10:14,079 --> 00:10:18,879 actually see some real change in China I think there is a possibility and the the... 123 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:25,679 you know why now um you know you lock down people for so long and people have TVs and... 124 00:10:25,679 --> 00:10:28,960 days they can see other countries are open they can literally see the World Cup and b... 125 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:33,840 all these people free like why aren't we free right and um it reminds me and this is we... 126 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:38,799 make this very very clear this is a Korean movie this is a Korean movie this is not a... 127 00:10:38,799 --> 00:10:44,639 this is a Korean movie mostly because the the the similar revolution hasn't happened in... 128 00:10:44,639 --> 00:10:48,319 that's why there is no equivalent movie right there's still essentially no freedom of... 129 00:10:48,319 --> 00:10:52,639 in China um whereas you look at this movie this is a Korean movie I want to emphasize... 130 00:10:52,639 --> 00:10:58,080 and over again um I recommend watching this one it's called 1987 when the day comes an... 131 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:05,279 really about sort of how uh Korean revolution started based on what happened to a student 132 00:11:05,279 --> 00:11:09,279 right a student died I don't want to have the whole story but it's very similar to say like 133 00:11:09,279 --> 00:11:12,960 in China's happening where people in an apartment you know die and it's sort of ho... 134 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:17,360 everyone to rise up and say oh my god you know this has got to be such a bad thing t... 135 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:22,480 you know people are getting killed over this and it's very similar to events that happe... 136 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:26,960 you know people tolerate I mean they don't like things but they they kind of tolerate... 137 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:31,440 things are and tell us you know just unfortunately how it happens someone gets... 138 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:35,120 we got to change something about our society and I just feel like that's sort of what's... 139 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:39,759 China so um I recommend this movie for the Korean one just because it just captures s... 140 00:11:40,639 --> 00:11:45,519 how a regular person you know you sitting at home or or you know someone whatever count... 141 00:11:45,519 --> 00:11:49,360 you're in and you kind of see stuff on tv and you're kind of passive about it you're lik... 142 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:53,679 that's just the way that it is it'll change it'll go away soon right things will get... 143 00:11:53,679 --> 00:11:58,879 when someone gets killed and you start to feel like wow that could be me and this is... 144 00:11:58,879 --> 00:12:03,279 people behave that well that could be me this isn't right I don't I want to protect me m... 145 00:12:03,279 --> 00:12:09,919 children you know it's it's a very very complicated issue because you know why 146 00:12:09,919 --> 00:12:13,360 are some countries have democracy and freedom when why some countries don't it's a very... 147 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:17,039 complicated issue um but I just want to just like I said point out this movie because I... 148 00:12:17,039 --> 00:12:20,480 really gives a good inside look of sort of the choices that people make and how these... 149 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:25,199 things happen um and I think that you know whether or not we see massive change in Ch... 150 00:12:25,199 --> 00:12:30,319 this fire you know I can't predict your 100 but this seems like that kind of event to... 151 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:35,520 really rallying citizens to come to that and I can't express enough to when you see the... 152 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:41,680 at Tsinghua and and Beida you know like openly in public middle of campus shouting... 153 00:12:41,680 --> 00:12:48,560 and democracy it is something that I that I would not have expected to have seen um to... 154 00:12:48,560 --> 00:12:52,320 looks like things may be really changing so we'll see we'll keep track of this um hope... 155 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:56,080 understand everything and love to hear your thoughts on this as well um and I do... 156 00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:57,600 you watching and catch you next video