0:00:00.160,0:00:05.360
China is crashing towards a childless [br]society, while, surprise surprise,

0:00:05.360,0:00:11.960
the Chinese government is finding ways to make the [br]situation even more dystopian than it already is.

0:00:11.960,0:00:14.160
Welcome to China Uncensored. I’m Chris Chappell.

0:00:14.160,0:00:17.080
Well, it’s time to take a break from [br]fighting YouTube censorship...so we can

0:00:17.080,0:00:20.400
fight Apple’s censorship. I’m not [br]kidding. For the last few months,

0:00:20.400,0:00:23.680
we’ve been building you an [br]exclusive China Uncensored app.

0:00:23.680,0:00:27.920
Or at least, we designed it, programmed [br]it, and submitted it to Apple for review.

0:00:27.920,0:00:32.320
They typically approve or reject an [br]app within 48 hours, a week at most.

0:00:32.320,0:00:38.280
We submitted our app for review more than a [br]month ago, on January 24. After two weeks,

0:00:38.280,0:00:42.040
we hadn’t gotten a response, so [br]we applied to expedite Apple’s

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processing. Still no response. Weird. So [br]we pulled that version and resubmitted it,

0:00:47.720,0:00:55.040
hoping it would land with a new reviewer. Still, [br]no response. Now it’s been more than a month.

0:00:55.040,0:01:00.080
No one from Apple has contacted us, and they [br]won’t approve or even reject our app—which they

0:01:00.080,0:01:05.080
probably won’t do, because they have no [br]legitimate *cause* to reject our app.

0:01:05.080,0:01:08.640
We tried everything we could. And [br]now we’re concerned that Apple is

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actually *censoring* us. But they [br]don’t want to explicitly say so,

0:01:12.280,0:01:16.720
so they’re ghosting us. An Apple [br]a day is keeping *us* away.

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You might ask, But Chris, aren’t [br]you being paranoid? Maybe.

0:01:21.520,0:01:24.760
Except Apple has censored China Uncensored before.

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Back in 2017, we built an app for Apple TV.

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Apple approved it, but then immediately [br]blocked it in mainland China, Hong Kong,

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and *Taiwan*. Their excuse? [br]“Apps must comply with all

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legal requirements in any location [br]where you make them available”.

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Well, our app *did* comply with [br]the laws in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

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But it took 10,000 of you signing [br]this online petition to Apple to

0:01:50.560,0:01:56.960
pressure them to uncensor us. Which was kind of [br]important since Uncensored is our whole thing.

0:01:56.960,0:02:00.960
So here’s what I want you to do now. [br]Sign our new petition calling on Apple

0:02:00.960,0:02:06.272
to NOT CENSOR the China Uncensored [br]App! The link is in the description.

0:02:06.272,0:02:06.343
But hey, maybe it’s all just a big [br]misunderstanding or just a simple

0:02:06.343,0:02:06.428
technical delay. That would be great. In [br]which case, the petition is just expressing

0:02:06.428,0:02:06.520
your enthusiastic support for the coming China [br]Uncensored iOS app. So thank you for signing.

0:02:06.520,0:02:08.520
Now back to the episode.

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Chinese leader Xi Jinping is great with kids.

0:02:11.800,0:02:14.000
He gives them important lessons,[br]

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He shows them how to use a bucket safely,

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and he even tackles them, just for a bit of fun.

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Plus he sometimes sends them and their [br]families off to camps for free. What fun!

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In fact, Xi’s many interactions with

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Chinese children have landed him the [br]nickname “Grandpa Xi” in Chinese state

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media. And that’s the only nickname he [br]has. The rest definitely aren’t censored.

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And Grandpa Xi and his government [br]are so stoked about children that

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they want Chinese people to have more of them.

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To achieve that, in recent years, [br]the Chinese authorities have rolled

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out all sorts of incentives to try [br]to encourage Chinese baby-making,

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from subsidies and tax breaks for families

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to free fertility treatments [br]for couples trying to conceive.

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Some local officials might have gone to the [br]task with a bit too much enthusiasm, though,

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like those calling women to ask [br]whether they are pregnant, and,

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if not, when they’re planning to be.

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Which shouldn’t be a surprise. [br]Given how the CCP treats Taiwan,

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you can tell they don’t respect boundaries.

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Yet, despite all the various [br]attempts, it’s not working.

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China’s birth rate is declining fast,

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resulting in the national population [br]falling three years in a row now,

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and it has set the stage for [br]China to become a severely

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aging society by 2035. And that’s coming [br]from my favorite Chinese state-run media,

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Global Times, and the CCP health authority, [br]so the situation might be even worse!

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Hm, maybe if women get calls by even [br]more strangers from the government

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asking probing questions, that’ll [br]put them in a baby-making mood.

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The situation even appears to be accelerating, [br]as it came out recently that Chinese marriage

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rates took a record-setting plunge in 2024 – [br]dropping by about a fifth compared to 2023.

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That was an even deeper drop than during COVID,

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leaving marriage numbers at their lowest [br]since record-keeping began in 1986.

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And with family life in China centered around [br]the institution of marriage, no weddings means

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no babies.

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But as Chinese society races towards zero births,

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it’s not just the prospect of an [br]aging society that’s raising alarms.

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In fact, China is heading for a geographic [br]and ethnic sea change the likes of which

0:04:30.200,0:04:36.840
Grandpa Xi and his government have never [br]seen. And really really don’t want to see.

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You see, if there’s one thing Xi likes almost as

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much as growing the Chinese family, [br]it’s growing the Chinese countryside.

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Literally. Here he is inspecting a vegetable [br]field in Hubei Province in late 2024 and

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telling farmers how to do stuff. Man, he just [br]loves telling people how to spread their seed.

0:04:55.280,0:05:02.000
But they love him for it in the rural areas, [br]as this very natural clapping scene suggests.

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Such trips to the provinces are [br]part of Xi’s push to breathe new

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life into the Chinese countryside [br]– a central mission of his.

0:05:08.880,0:05:10.800
Chinese development in the cities,

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especially on the country’s east coast, [br]has long outpaced the development

0:05:14.520,0:05:20.680
in the countryside, creating one of the [br]largest rural-urban income gaps in the world.

0:05:20.680,0:05:27.120
At the same time, large parts of rural China are [br]plagued by issues such as soil degradation and

0:05:27.120,0:05:29.120
deindustrialization.

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Do, uh… you have any helpful advice [br]for that, Grandpa Xi? Any at all?

0:05:34.440,0:05:39.480
But the declining birthrate is now putting [br]Xi’s rural development plans under threat.

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It actually used to be that higher birth [br]numbers in rural China compensated for

0:05:43.560,0:05:47.280
the lower birth rates in the Chinese [br]cities, but that is no longer the case.

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Today, births among young people in rural areas

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are dropping more rapidly than [br]among their urban counterparts.

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On top of that, Chinese people continue to [br]migrate from the countryside to the cities,

0:05:58.840,0:06:03.680
contributing to some rural areas [br]becoming severely depopulated – a

0:06:03.680,0:06:08.160
phenomenon referred to in China as [br]“hollowed out” towns and villages.

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And it’s especially bad in some [br]of the regions bordering China’s

0:06:11.680,0:06:17.800
neighboring countries. These towns are [br]more hollow than one of the CCP’s promises.

0:06:17.800,0:06:21.160
Not far from the Chinese border [br]with Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam,

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which is formed by the two [br]southern provinces of Yunnan

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and Guangxi,

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there have been accounts of border towns [br]and villages turning into ghost towns

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after locals either died out or abandoned them [br]for better living elsewhere. Which is bleak,

0:06:35.280,0:06:38.200
but at least not as bleak as back [br]when places became ghost towns

0:06:38.200,0:06:43.000
because all the locals starved [br]to death. Ain’t communism grand?

0:06:43.000,0:06:46.600
In the north, along the Chinese [br]border with Mongolia and Russia,

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the situation is even more dire.

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There, the population of the [br]region of Inner Mongolia fell

0:06:52.600,0:06:59.640
from almost 25 million people in [br]2010 to just 24 million in 2022,

0:06:59.640,0:07:03.000
and the province of Heilongjiang [br]went from more than 38 million

0:07:03.000,0:07:07.720
people in 2010 to less than 32 million in 2020.

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These declines have raised deep [br]concerns among the Chinese authorities,

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with one government adviser [br]saying in November that

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“to bolster national security amid [br]a countrywide demographic slide,

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China should turn its eyes to the declining [br]populations of its towns bordering Central Asia”,

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while the ever glorious Global [br]Times said last year that Inner

0:07:27.560,0:07:33.040
Mongolia is the "northern gateway" and [br]the "moat" of the capital city Beijing

0:07:33.040,0:07:37.040
that shoulders a major political [br]responsibility in safeguarding

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national security and border stability.

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The Global Times also reported that the [br]leader of Inner Mongolia had vowed to

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implement “comprehensive measures to attract [br]more people to settle and live in border areas,

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and ensure human shields- I mean [br]national unity and border security”.

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While the population decline is [br]immense, it isn’t exactly clear,

0:07:58.720,0:08:02.400
though, what sort of immediate national [br]security threats could emerge from it.

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After all, it’s rare to see Mongolian hordes [br]come riding down from the north these days,

0:08:07.280,0:08:11.600
and that’s what the Great Wall proudly [br]rises to protect against, anyway.

0:08:11.600,0:08:16.560
However, the Chinese Communist Party is [br]notoriously obsessed with appearing strong,

0:08:16.560,0:08:23.120
and having large stretches of the northern regions [br]looking like this doesn’t exactly signal strength.

0:08:23.120,0:08:29.920
Certainly not like Grandpa Xi’s super tough rough [br]housing. What a tough guy! And an awesome grandpa!

0:08:29.920,0:08:33.880
China does have some real [br]reasons to want to appear strong.

0:08:33.880,0:08:38.679
For example, in the late 19th century, when [br]China also looked weak on its northern front,

0:08:38.679,0:08:44.360
Russia seized the opportunity to [br]annex vast areas of Chinese territory.

0:08:44.360,0:08:47.560
Given the state of the China-Russia [br]relationship in the 21st century,

0:08:47.560,0:08:51.240
it seems unlikely that the Russians [br]would make a similar move again,

0:08:51.240,0:08:54.800
but then, few thought that Putin would [br]be crazy enough to invade Ukraine,

0:08:54.800,0:08:59.440
so, who knows. His promises are also [br]just as hollow as those ghost towns.

0:09:00.320,0:09:02.120
In China’s southern borderlands,

0:09:02.120,0:09:05.560
though, the potential effects of [br]depopulation are much more immediate.

0:09:05.560,0:09:09.360
In the south, the Chinese government has [br]long struggled to assert and maintain

0:09:09.360,0:09:14.840
control, especially along the nearly [br]1,400-mile-long border with Myanmar.

0:09:14.840,0:09:20.240
Not only is the cross-border area a patchwork [br]of ethnic minorities, the dense jungle and

0:09:20.240,0:09:26.640
mountainous terrain also make large stretches [br]of the region difficult to traverse and monitor.

0:09:26.640,0:09:32.640
This makes the region a hotbed for illicit trade [br]and smuggling – including *people* smuggling,

0:09:32.640,0:09:38.720
in which crime syndicates based in Myanmar have [br]lured Chinese people into the war-torn country,

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where tens of thousands are currently [br]enslaved and forced to work as cyber scammers.

0:09:44.840,0:09:47.600
Of course, this explains why people [br]might want to leave the area,

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but when locals begin rapidly disappearing, [br]either into Chinese cities or into Myanmar

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scam centers, there’s not much left in [br]the towns to maintain a strong border.

0:09:57.720,0:10:03.200
But not to worry – Xi has an excellent way [br]to solve all of China’s rural problems.

0:10:03.200,0:10:09.720
He has called for Chinese youths to make [br]greater contributions to rural revitalization.

0:10:09.720,0:10:14.680
This sentiment was mirrored by an action plan [br]announced in 2023 by the local government in

0:10:14.680,0:10:21.240
Guangdong Province that aims to send 300,000 [br]college students to the countryside by this

0:10:21.240,0:10:26.560
year. Which I’m sure is just what they [br]were hoping to gain from going to college.

0:10:26.560,0:10:31.360
This plan would have the added bonus of getting [br]unemployed youth out of the cities, where they

0:10:31.360,0:10:38.200
might stir up trouble and unrest and start getting [br]crazy ideas about autonomy and freedom of speech.

0:10:38.200,0:10:43.960
The whole thing is also a fun throwback to the [br]Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, when

0:10:43.960,0:10:50.400
millions of Chinese young people were sent to [br]the countryside to educate and be educated. Oh,

0:10:50.400,0:10:53.560
and a whole bunch of people [br]were killed. You know… fun!

0:10:53.560,0:10:59.240
Xi himself has often spoken fondly about the time [br]he himself spent in a rural village back then.

0:10:59.840,0:11:01.800
Those were indeed splendid days,

0:11:01.800,0:11:07.360
with Chinese youths gathering to exercise [br]with hammers on Chinese cultural treasures

0:11:07.360,0:11:13.840
and making oversized necklaces for [br]their friends and loved ones… fun!

0:11:13.840,0:11:16.520
But it’s not just decline and depopulation that

0:11:16.520,0:11:21.080
seem to be spurring desperate moves by the [br]Chinese authorities. It’s the demographic

0:11:21.080,0:11:25.760
shifts that come with it. And I’m not [br]just talking about an aging society.

0:11:25.760,0:11:31.360
Because, while Han Chinese are experiencing [br]massively declining birth rates, it’s a different

0:11:31.360,0:11:37.760
matter for the more than 125 million people [br]that make up China’s 55 ethnic minority groups.

0:11:37.760,0:11:40.160
Regions such as Inner Mongolia,

0:11:40.160,0:11:41.440
Gansu Province,

0:11:41.440,0:11:43.240
and Guizhou Province…

0:11:43.240,0:11:48.240
have all experienced population decline [br]in recent years among Han Chinese,

0:11:48.240,0:11:53.520
but this was partly counterbalanced by [br]higher birth rates among minority groups.

0:11:53.520,0:11:58.640
Across China, 13 percent of all newborns [br]had minority background in 2000, and their

0:11:58.640,0:12:05.880
population as a whole was estimated to make up [br]almost 9 percent of the total population by 2020,

0:12:05.880,0:12:11.880
which is quite a change from the 1960s, [br]when they made up less than 6 percent.

0:12:11.880,0:12:14.840
Of course, Xi is super happy [br]with all minority groups,

0:12:14.840,0:12:22.480
and even sends some of them and their families [br]off to camps for free to thank them… fun!

0:12:22.480,0:12:26.360
Now, we do have to be a bit careful with [br]these numbers. After all, they’re all based

0:12:26.360,0:12:31.720
on official Chinese figures, which, according [br]to researchers, aren’t always the most reliable,

0:12:31.720,0:12:36.800
due to low quality data collection, incentives [br]for local governments to either inflate or deflate

0:12:36.800,0:12:42.080
certain population numbers, and the sensitivity [br]of the issue for the Chinese leadership.

0:12:42.080,0:12:46.920
This means that the actual minority population [br]of China and its growth could be higher than

0:12:46.920,0:12:51.520
what the official data shows, which sounds like [br]a good thing, given that many minority groups

0:12:51.520,0:12:55.620
live in the border regions where Chinese [br]officials are fussing about depopulation.

0:12:55.620,0:12:59.280
But the Chinese authorities don’t [br]seem to be rejoicing about it.

0:12:59.280,0:13:04.120
For example, one of China’s fastest growing [br]minority groups, the Turkic-speaking Uyghurs,

0:13:04.120,0:13:09.280
saw their birth rate almost cut [br]in half between 2017 and 2019,

0:13:09.280,0:13:12.040
according to the government’s own numbers.

0:13:12.040,0:13:17.520
That sudden drop coincided with an [br]intensified crackdown on the Uyghur people,

0:13:17.520,0:13:23.360
with mounting evidence indicating that many Uyghur [br]women have been coerced into taking birth control

0:13:23.360,0:13:28.760
and subjected to forced sterilization. [br]Which — and I’m no scientist or

0:13:28.760,0:13:34.360
anything — doesn’t sound like it’ll help [br]in the whole baby-making whatchamacallit.

0:13:34.360,0:13:37.960
Although few have experienced the same [br]draconian measures as the Uyghurs,

0:13:37.960,0:13:40.520
other Chinese minorities have been targeted, too,

0:13:40.520,0:13:44.840
including the Mongolians, who have [br]had their language banned in schools,

0:13:44.840,0:13:48.320
as well as the Tibetans, whose [br]children are increasingly getting

0:13:48.320,0:13:54.840
sent to Mandarin-dominated boarding schools, [br]while Tibetan educators are disappearing.

0:13:54.840,0:13:59.200
And measures that weaken children’s ties to [br]their parents’ culture don’t sound like a

0:13:59.200,0:14:03.254
strategy you use if you want people to have more [br]kids. That’s about as effective an aphrodisiac as

0:14:03.254,0:14:03.360
the movie Teeth corner box. If you know, you know… [br]and you haven’t been the same since you’ve known.

0:14:03.360,0:14:07.000
It’s become more difficult for us to know [br]the effect of such policies, however, as the

0:14:07.000,0:14:12.000
authorities have stopped publishing statistics [br]on the birth rates of separate non-Han groups.

0:14:12.760,0:14:14.320
For…some reason.

0:14:14.320,0:14:18.880
But there are clearly a lot of signs that the [br]Chinese leadership are looking to restrict

0:14:18.880,0:14:25.640
minorities rather than tap into China’s ethnic [br]mosaic to alleviate the depopulation issue.

0:14:25.640,0:14:30.800
That’s not really a shock, as Xi is less the [br]poster boy for minority empowerment and more

0:14:30.800,0:14:36.400
the kind of guy that stresses Chinese [br]uniformity under the rule of the CCP.

0:14:36.400,0:14:40.520
But such posturing risks dealing a [br]heavy blow to China’s national birth

0:14:40.520,0:14:43.600
rate at a time when it’s already in free fall.

0:14:43.600,0:14:47.440
And with the current generation of young [br]Chinese people being small already as a

0:14:47.440,0:14:51.720
consequence of the one-child policy, [br]it’s unlikely that there are enough

0:14:51.720,0:14:56.840
unemployed youths in the cities to [br]revitalize the countryside and plug

0:14:56.840,0:15:00.560
all the expanding population [br]gaps in the border regions –

0:15:00.560,0:15:03.640
unless robot college graduates count.

0:15:03.640,0:15:07.640
So, despite the Chinese government’s [br]desperate attempts to lift the birthrate,

0:15:07.640,0:15:11.640
the leadership seems to be willing [br]to sacrifice population growth at

0:15:11.640,0:15:15.480
the altar of ethnic dominance for the Han Chinese.

0:15:15.480,0:15:20.360
I guess at least, as China approaches zero [br]births, the CCP is trying to make sure that

0:15:20.360,0:15:25.960
all of China across ethnic groups is [br]heading towards dystopia together.

0:15:25.960,0:15:30.000
While that certainly sounds grand, [br]it’s less “Grandpa Xi” grand

0:15:30.000,0:15:34.040
and more “Grandstanding Xi” grand.

0:15:34.040,0:15:38.200
And before you go, don’t forget to sign [br]my petition. Apple—which just so happens

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to rely on the China market for more [br]than $50 billion in revenue per year,

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could be censoring the China Uncensored App, [br]by refusing to either approve it or reject it.

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So click below and sign this petition to tell [br]Apple to not censor the China Uncensored App!

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I’m Chris Chappell. Click below.

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Once again, I’m Chris Chappell. See you next time.