WTH is Happening with the Chinese Protests? Dan Blumenthal on Backlash Against the CCP's Zero-Covid Policies
What the Hell Is Going On
AEI Podcasts
4.4 • 633 Ratings
🗓️ 7 December 2022
⏱️ 54 minutes
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Summary
Xi Jinping's long-lasting, draconian zero-Covid policy has resulted in the largest protests in China in more than 30 years. Tens of thousands of demonstrators are testing the government’s “perfect” police state by actively calling for an end to Xi’s regime, breaking through China’s firewall to spread protest messaging, and calling into question the very legitimacy of the empire Xi has built. This instability comes in the face of Xi Jinping’s tightening grip on state power; the recent Chinese Military Power Report showcases a military capable of taking Taiwan, and Xi’s ideological push shows that he is willing. In just a few years, the U.S. may very well be wishing that it had taken more risks in its approach to defending Taiwan, to increasing democratic messaging in China, and to hardline policy on Xi’s regime… how will we ensure today that these future mistakes are not made?
Our guest this week is Dan Blumenthal, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Previously, Blumenthal served as senior director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia at the US Department of Defense. He also served as a commissioner on the congressionally mandated US-China Economic and Security Review Commission from 2006-2007, and was vice chairman of the commission in 2007. He also served on the Academic Advisory board of the congressional US-China Working Group. He is the author of The China Nightmare: The Grand Ambitions of a Decaying State.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This podcast is brought to you by the American Enterprise Institute. |
| 0:03.0 | If you like what you hear, please subscribe, rate, review, and share. Thanks for listening. Here's our show. What the hell's going on? What the hell is going on? What the hell is going on? I don't know what the hell he's talking about. You don't have to know what the hell is on it. What hell's the matter with these guys? We don't know what's going on. What hell's going on? |
| 0:01.1 | Who in God's name |
| 0:21.7 | knows what it's all about. Hi, I'm Daniel Pledka. And I'm Mark Tiesin. |
| 0:38.7 | Welcome to our podcast. |
| 0:40.9 | What the hell is going on? |
| 0:44.5 | Other than me having a cold yet again, Mark, what is going on? |
| 0:52.8 | What the hell is going on is the COVID-Zero policies in China have elicited a massive, massive response. |
| 0:56.2 | There are protests all across China, 15 different cities, |
| 1:02.3 | including Beijing. It's not just Americans who are sick of lockdown, apparently. It's the Chinese people, and they are not just protesting the lockdown. Some of these protests have had chance of, |
| 1:07.5 | we need human rights, we need freedom, and down with Xi Jinping. That is a bold |
| 1:12.4 | statement to make in a country like China where we already know what the regime did to protesters |
| 1:17.9 | a few decades ago in Tiananmen Square, where they literally, I mean, not just, not just figuratively, |
| 1:24.0 | but literally mowed people down with armored personnel carriers. This is a |
| 1:28.2 | brutal, brutal regime. And the people, at least out of frustration over COVID, seem to be losing |
| 1:33.0 | their fear of the regime. What do you think is going to happen, Danny? I think the problem for us is |
| 1:37.8 | that there are people who are losing the fear of the regime, but the regime is so large. This is |
| 1:42.8 | a country of 1.4 billion people. I mean, |
| 1:47.4 | it's almost five times larger than the United States. It's hard to even imagine. And I think at |
| 1:53.7 | this moment, at least, these people are being locked down at the point of a gun. And to stand up |
| 1:59.7 | to it is potentially a death sentence. |
| 2:02.2 | No small bit of courage is needed. And it's a testament to how hard they've been driven that |
... |
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