This video was way too short, left me wanting more with a forlorn feeling at the end... I feel so bad for the innocent Chinese people and like puking every time I think about the CCP and their atrocities, please keep it up Matt we will soon either have to fight a war against communism in our country or get taken over
An Australian businessman I know had a similar experience about 3 years ago. In his case, he had gone to China to set up manufacturing facilities to produce for export a biomedical device he had invented and patented (in the west). He was welcomed with open arms by the Chinese authorities and received a lot of help from the local district governor in setting up his factory and hiring a skilled local workforce. Not long after production began he was informed that his business was being compulsorily bought out (for a fraction of the cost of setting it up) by a local politician and he had absolutely no say in the matter; he was told to take the money and leave China quietly, otherwise he'd end up in jail for 10 years on trumped-up charges. He initially decided to stand his ground and fight, however after receiving a tip-off that the police were coming for him he decided to make a run for it in the middle of the night and managed to get out via Hong Kong. Not only did he lose all the money from his investment but also the intellectual property for his invention; it is still being produced in that same factory and evidently sold under a different name & model branding as a unique Chinese product.
Dang you hear stories about that of China all the time. There’s no protection rights and things eventually get stolen. How is he doing now? I hope he manage to invent better things... Sigh
If China is known for something then it's for its joint ventures with the aim to learn foreign technology. It's the whole purpose of such joint ventures. I don't know why non-Chinese companies agree to that.
Or maybe it was procedural. She didn't want to detain him right then and there, but she needed at least the plausible deniablity that he promised her that he would come back.
That's what I was thinking. It was someone on the inside that leaked him the info so I would assume the team assembled to take him in wasn't really eager to do so
Shiiiiiiitttttt man.... so good to know you got your family safe, it's a sad situation but you did the right thing by getting you and your family out of there when you did
As someone who has lived in China for the majority of my life with a German dad, I understand your situation. My dad was also illegally doing stuff on the internet and he did not tell me what but he assured me that it was legal in the West. Anyways, he was once caught doing those stuff again. And the police looked for hin, luckily the police entered the wrong house (that was conveniently my fathers other german friend). He quickly called my father and he packed his most important things and talked with my Chinese mother. My mother understanding the situation, quickly let him leave the house. At that point he traveled all the way to Shanghai and somehow passed by the security, got on to a plane and returned to Germany. A year later my mother and I went to Germany as well. Now I am living in Germany, telling others on how cruel China could be thanks to yours and many others videos!
These kinds of stories are so outworldly. China has been hunting down for people just like the Germans started before going out to war. It is almost like history is repeating itself.
Well that's not true. If this happened in the last 20 years you cannot just get on a plane in China. Because they search you for contraband and you know. . . . Make you pay.
But we have alarm bells going off all over western countries and a significant majority of the population just isn't getting it. That tells me we are all in for a very tough time.
What an absolute legend the person who contacted you is. Taking serious personal risk to protect what is essentially a stranger purely on moral reasons. That person is a hero. Edit: Read some of the replies below for a bunch of conspiracy theories. Some legitimately thought provoking stuff. Plus some nonsense.
Or maybe the security service leaked it to him, to get him to leave without the necessity to launch a legal process? If they wanted to find him and detain him it would have taken them five minutes. They don't even need to have a solid case or investigation to have a conviction. The only logical explanation is that they wanted to get him to leave the low effort way.
@@corndog9482 America is known for being a free country, if it ever gets bumped down to "partly fee", the government (as long as Trump isn't president) will probably do everything they can to get it back to "free" because of how much it hurts the reputation. I don't even live there.
This is what happened to me in 2014. I had to escape within a matter of hours from Yantai University because they said they wanted my Passport because I had problems at the University and confronted them about not paying me. I had to flee Shandong Province the same night and fly straight to Beijing. Then I fled Beijing to Hong Kong the next day. I feel your pain. It was so abrupt, and my gut was like, "Damn I have to get outta there". On the flight out of Yantai, a man told me they were targeting a bunch of foreign teachers that month. Setting them up. I thought for sure they were going to arrest me for trying to get PAID. It happened so fast, and I knew they were following me around town. It was abrupt and so emotionally traumatizing. I still get upset about it, because I also had a life and many students that I adored. Not a lot of people can understand how hard that abrupt exit was.
@@dr4co500 yeah comment doesn't really make sense of course they're going to find you if you don't have a work visa especially in china where rules are stupid strict
Please Remember he can't say how he got out. He had help from other people. If he describes anything about it, and the govt find out who they were, the people who helped him will probably disappear.
@@jessicatriplev9802 Well they have different haircolours and curlynesses and eyecolours. So I guess you can identify certain European phenotypes easier on the basis that there is more variety. Yet identifying faces of ethnic phenotypes you didn't grew up with as a baby is hard work for the brain. So Chinese border guards might legitimately have had problems to find a guy named "Mah" when all blond European guys more or less look the same. I wonder if the TSA or IRS is aware of this facial feature recognition problem and so they choose the best adapted personell to check flights from specific destinations or origins.
@@TremereTT That's a good question. But the brain is very plastic too. I lived in Japan so I can easily tell folks from different parts of Japan apart. Ditto for Koreans or North vs South Chinese.
I remember when HongKong was handed back to China. It felt as if a well behaved lovely dog was being handed over to a person who had been convicted of killing dogs. I cried. I’m so glad you guys got out safely and all the people who managed to flee to the U.K. after the crackdown. You and they are very lucky to be safe now.
The British literally cut out a piece of China for them, it's almost like China was a lamb to the slaughter back then. Thank goodness everything's better now.
Tess W Pro-China isn’t pro-ccp. You may still live in China, making videos of pro-Chinese food, culture, infrastructure. Have nothing to do with the ccp.
@@Sarcasteak I just wanted to live there. I liked the summers, the language, my Chinese friends and relatives. But after this Xi Jing Pooh person, education became brainwashing, visas became privacy issues, crossing the border a risk, and employing foreigners difficult. So I took my family and left. But I hope for the day he is gone, so we can go back.
I visited Hong Kong back in 1996 - the year before control was handed back over to China. I remember a conversation with a friend who was working there at the time. I told him that the CCP would not respect the agreement to allow Hong Kong to remain independently governed. I said that it was just a matter of time before they seized control. It took a few more years than I thought it would, but it did happen. The CCP has never really changed from the days of Tianneman Square. The outside of the CCP is more polished, but inside they are as corrupt and evil as they have ever been. I hope that someday China will be free but that may never happen.
The day will come but it may be when the US military is forced to step in to defend Taiwan. Or it may come about when the west decide to stand together and launch a combined attack to end this regime. I'm not sure how many more crimes they need to commit and how many more millions need to die under the regime before people wake up to who they are!
@@anthonybaggaley8328 Yes there is a difference. Crimes by democracies will always be considered crimes and justice is possible. With communist countries, crimes by those in power are the norm and they are never brought to justice and even publicizing crimes or scandals could land you in jail. What surprises me is that there are so many brave people in China who stand up to the Communist Party's wrong doing.
It will never happen if the West keeps hypocritically supporting the Chinese Communist Part financially and economically. If the Western world actually believed in their principles, they would fully support an actual functioning democratic nation like Taiwan.
I left Hong Kong on January 6th , my heart will always remain in the memories of British Hong Kong. The people, food , classy English flair of Hong Kong will be no more. Today I am crying I'll never go back but will not forget the great times spent there. God bless and I pray for my friends and associates left behind.
@@13Badseed well, remains to be seen, i think the next decade will possibly be the most tumultous in a century. EU is about to collapse, USA is on the brink of civil war, china is making moves, Iran has been making moves too. i can very well see USA go into civil war no matter who wins your next election, Trump wins and the democrats will deny it, biden wins and the republicans will deny it. then once that kicks off, noone guarantees the EU anymore further accelerating it's collapse, perhaps the turks will then try some bullshit again as they've already doen 3 or so border attacks on greece in the past year or two. with america in civil war the chinese will invade taiwan and south korea, possibly southeast asia and india too, the Iranians will invade Iraq and other places, pakistan too will invade india over the same region china has been doing, kashmir. russia, i don't think will act, as long as noone attacks them. and with the world at war, Africa will once more plunge into warlord anarchy.
I spent 10 years in China til 2015 but saw the writing on the wall so came home to Australia. Living in southern China for my last 5 years there I spent a hell of a lot of time in HK myself and absolutely breaks my heart seeing what is happening there now. I was there when the Umbrella Revolution broke in 2014. I know every street corner I see the tear gas being thrown on in news stories. All I can do is pray for those willing to stay and fight- and welcome with open arms that decide to take up Australia's offer for refugee status :( .
@@SuperExodian Mhh, yes.. everything is about to collapse all the time. Life is chaos. Welcome to the universe. Now stop being afraid of everything and be thankful that you can get older than 35. That would have been your maximum life expectancy for pretty much all of human history.
She was trying to make sure that you weren't a flight risk. If you'd said that you were planning to leave, you would have been arrested then and there. Possibly even made to disappear. I'm so glad you kept calm and quiet
lol that 'sfake kid, no escape, just didnt get his visa renewed, this type of English teacher that had white face as sole education were a disgrace for all the rest of the expats
I doubt it was someone wanting to do good. More likely they just wanted to scare the shit out of him and make him leave. The whole thing was crafted by their internal security people I’m almost certain of it. If you are a US citizen, Australian citizen or from another country that is standing up to the CCP they may arbitrarily detain you for political reasons just because you have a passport from one of these nations though so he was wise to bug out. I also know people here who have been grabbed by state security in China when they have arrived by air and interrogated about things they’ve posted online. The whole house of cards there relies on a false narrative and if everyone learned what was really going on the CCP would collapse. It’s why they’re so damn afraid of words or criticism.
@Wrwo James He has more than half a million followers. If he disappeared, it might not cause an international incident per se, but it would definitely make the news.
Do you know what’s ironic? I am from and live in the U.S. I have followed your channel for years. Watching your adventures made me think perhaps I should have taken a different path. I seriously considered chucking in all and giving a foreign nation, quite possibly China, a chance. Your videos were no threat to anyone. I was aware that you self-censored, but that is irrelevant. You showed the world that China could be beautiful and fascinating. You did so much to educate what the country used to be about. You loved the country and that came across in all of your videos. I cannot even begin to understand how you were considered a threat. By treating you like this the government undermined their propaganda. It is ironic for them, sad for most of us, and horrifying for you/your family. I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.
China has really changed I'm American and China can be a beautiful country with amazing culture but it changed the US government is horrible but they would never do something like this unless your a spy but this is just insane sounds like north Korea what happened to China in recent years
@Naikomi um I hope you know American Democrats are the ones that treat Russia as a enemy conservatives and Trump where called out for trying to make peace with Russia oh and Germany literally just cancelled aerial pipeline going to Russia and now they want it back wtf can they make up there mind this is why the EU should not be a a ally to the United States to begin with the USA has other allies like the UK Japan Canada Australia Brazil south Korea Morocco Isreal Saudi Arabia Thailand Vietnam the Philippines Nigeria Liberia poland Italy Hungary etc they should worry about screw the Germany and France biden is a puppet of the EU and China
@@Steve-zc9ht Well, I'm a Chinese and I highly doubt about his story… I hope he is just trying to catch people's eyes after he decided to move to US as a personal choice, or what he says points to a seeming action towards a spy.
@@Steve-zc9ht 100% The EU AND Germany itself as well went behind the US' back and signed the first ever energy, information and transactional exchange deal with China. NZ did as well. They are basically more loyal to China than the America amd other democratic nations
@@Ordoabchao-x9k I am rather optimistic because many many people are waking up to what the American government is doing. They see the corruption and how we are headed toward a police state like China. The difference is over here many many people have guns and lots of people are critical of the government, so it will take a lot to get to that point. I mean look at the protests over the last year, people are not afraid to stand up to the government.
@@sadkfjasdkl4543 if someone was going to do anything, they would have done it already the Hillary emails where it's admitted they worship fucking baal were not enough, pizza gate was not enough, the attempted coup via impeachment was not enough, the midterm fraud was not enough, the sponsored riots were not enough, the great fraud was not enough, they killing unarmed patriots during a protest was not enough, they unpersoning the fucking president like a common criminal was not enough and now that they're purging the armed forces from conservative dissidents is still not enough. Nothing is going to be enough, they might as well give up their weapons like the gauls before Caesar because it's blatantly obvious they're not ever going to use them for their intended purpose.
"Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the 'heat' around the corner." - Neil McCauley (played by Robert De Niro) in movie "Heat"
That’s ridiculous. Canadian Michael didn’t do anything wrong and he’s was charged with espionage and is now facing execution. The CCP is trying to use executing the two innocent Canadian Michaels as a ransom for Canada returning Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou (who is the daughter of a prominent CCP official and facing serious criminal charges). That’s as bad as some of what ISIS did.
An old Russian joke from the Soviet days: How are the US and Soviet Constitutions alike, and how do they differ? They are alike in that they both guarantee you the freedom to speak... They differ in that the US Constitution guarantees your freedom *AFTER* you speak...
As a Hong Konger , seeing this situation gets worsened everyday really breaks my heart. Before I thought Hong Kong my home is the best place in the world. The culture, the freedom, the openness, and also safe. I was wrong, it's not what I imagined. It's dark, violent, unfair and brutal. Before I don't hate China, but after these years, I finally understand.
I had a friend back in high school and university who was from China. She was originally very pro-China and would vehemently argue with us when we spoke ill of her home. Then she went back to visit for a year. She came back and had nothing good to say. She was suddenly the nation's greatest critic, though she was evasive when we asked her why. Over time, we stopped asking and forgot. Years later, she abruptly vanished with messages stating she was going back for a family emergency. All contact with her ceased after that. It's been close to a decade now and nothing... I can't help but wonder what happened to her.
@@diasporityofconstruct Social credit score is only experimental in one chinese region because even the government find it to extreme. In almost whole china there is no social credit system.
Will be interesting to see how many western nations will be willing to take in political refugees from Hong-Kong,and how difficult the CCP can make it.
It's like living in nice golden cage. We have problems in Kenya. Life is tough but we learnt from living in a dictatorship that there's nothing more precious than simple freedoms. I wouldn't trade that for a golden cage.
This is what I'm grateful for in America. We're able to openly criticize the government and troll Trump on Twitter without fear of getting into legal trouble.
My best friend's son lives in Hong Kong with his wife. The wife is from a wealthy family, but they are all terrified and making escape plans for themselves and their assets.
Begin Transformation yes but... don’t down the will of the people. It’s okay to claim and support this. Fuels the fire within them. Don’t deny their will. Please. They need the voices of the world to support their actions. Don’t you need that, good JOB keep GOING at times. Doesn’t a voice of support fuel you to try harder, no matter what? Come now. Writing this sentence doesn’t take away from America. In that mindset all the rhetoric crap that the left says they would be winning and I highly doubt that they are that’s why they’re fighting so very hard. And just to let you know we are going to have to fight for our freedom‘s we will see Civil War on our land. We just can’t act right now. We have to allow them to come to us directly just like our forefathers did they were not antagonist. But they put a stop to everything. Which we will too. We are waiting in the shadows we are waiting for the (call) and when it comes it’s on.
This finally convinced me never to travel to China. Which really saddens me because it’s something I’ve been wanting to do for almost twenty years now. But I won’t. I don’t think the China that I wanted to go to exists anymore. Thank you for this video. I knew it was bad, but I didn’t know it was this bad now.
Dude I live here and its fine. This channel plays up a lot of flaws in the Chinese system simply for views. As strange as it sounds people want to see China as being a shitty country. Please do not base your entire take on a country off of youtube videos but through your own experience. It's incredibly stupid and most of these comments are extremely ignorant. I don't mean to be rude but please use some critical thinking.
@@yourtypicaldegenerate6938 What happens if an average person suddenly slips up and says "Taiwan is a country" or plays online games on days they're not allowed to play? I'm not trying to pick fights here, I'm just really curious about these kind of things.
I’d like to think the border guard and policewoman let him go, from what he said the way she spoke was odd and trying not to seem obviously letting him go.
Yeah I think she replied "good [that you lied to me properly so I won't have to lie and compromise myself when I report why I let you go]" She did the right thing.
@@slz1119 honest seems extreme but then you see the idiots in Hong Kong, they have lost touch of their culture and reality. This is what it needs. The ones that are serious can keep fighting the little 13 year old boys can be told off and scared alittle so they stop burning down Hong Kong children need boundaries and punishment to scare them straight. Otherwise the rioters of today are the murderers of tomorrow. Wait yo late they have already murdered and lots of attempts at murder
Seeing the clips of friendly local people at the end really fucking breaks my heart, because in my heart I know the majority of my people is this friendly but because of the government, the image of us is completely destroyed to the rest of the world. This is really late but I'm glad that you are safe!
We don't think badly of the Chinese people. Most of the world sees and understands that the majority of Chinese are people are kind, decent people and that it is just a small minority of people that are a bad example. I have this in my country... where there are some loud and rude people that say horrible things... and that they do not represent most of the country.
To be fair there are still a lot of people in the world dumb enough to stereotype everyone. But anyone with an ounce of intelligence knows you can't judge an entire country by its government's actions.
As a Chinese in china we're happy not because of the government, but we are happy bc of family, prosperity and money, the government doesn't allow us to use western internet, to protest, to critic CCP, but that's all, we just have to not do those things and we're safe and happy
Fuck...when you're a Hongkonger being depressed due to all the political persecution happening, wanted to just chill on UA-cam, then accidentally coming across this video is just heartbreaking. Several months late, but thank you for giving such accurate and fair explanations on China's situation Edit: user “X51” commented below “Reported to the proper officials you know the new laws in HK about speaking in that way about China”, just wish to highlight this as proof of white terror they try to impose on us. Update: X51 just made an actual threat 🤔🤔So...guess that exemplifies how the gov treats ppl who has opinions huh?
@@MacMyKitty Sigh...if we had a choice, pretty sure none of us would want to leave HK :( I truly love the city, but well, I guess now it's easier to think "HK is where ever HKers are" haha
@@zer0rez_ We all need care more about our personal lives,instead of careing about the govs of countries in the world.Every GOV has their way to operate their country, and lie to their people. U and me,can not get enough true infomation from gov, so just enjoy the life, be generous.
@@cameronchiang2735 Well I live in Hong Kong too and can tell you that this government is shit and does not carry the best interests of the people at heart, only preservation of the party. So don't tell people to focus less on Hong Kong and China, because we are being silenced, so if they stop speaking for us when we are no longer heard, no one will. 5 Demands, not one less. Free Hong Kong, Free China!
I'm from the Philippines. Something similar is starting to happen over here. Congress just passed a law similar to China's National Security Law called the Anti-Terror Law. You can be arrested without warrant for criticizing the government. Dark times we live in.
Man, it's simply amazing how quickly things change. I remember watching you and Winston riding your motorcycles all over China and just winging it. The two of you looked like you were having sooo much fun! I was jealous AF because I had been living in Guangzhou since 2004 and never even thought of having such an adventure. Then I lost track of you guys and only recently discovered why. Sorry about all the shit you went through and still continue to put up with. It looks like it's kinda better now. I'm still in GZ and things are going relatively well under the circumstances. Cheers!
This makes me cherish our western political freedoms so much... i understand that you can survive in China as long as you keep your head down, follow all the laws, and don't criticize the gov't but to me freedom of expression is a fundamental part of life.
@@ImmortalTatewari but atleast here in the west we don't a bona fide Gestapo checking our every move, and we can still talk openly on how our governments are shit and our politicians are corrupt without fearing we would be taken one night to pick rice for the rest of our lives
Western political freedoms? Well, its 2022 and Those days are gone. We have people sitting in solitary confinement for almost a year an half held by our government for misdemeanor trespassing charges because they have alternate political views. Oh and don't tell me they were "insurrectionists" cause that's garbage. You're blind or just don't want to see it or you're a Democrat and the censorship and attacks don't affect you. I've beem kicked off Twitter, I've had 3 YT channels shut down because of my political views but you keep believing in that western political freedom. God bless America 🇺🇸, cause we need it.
@@ImmortalTatewarino we are not wtf are you talking about. If you talk about Covid restrictions those were decided by elected representatives of the people, not some all powerful party. You don't like the people that decided for that vote them out. Americans are the most ungrateful and paranoid, you are creating a conspiracy theory while your country is working as it is supposed to be with separate branches of power. Just because you don't like a particular regulation you are not losing your freedom, suck it up.
we're so close to having the same level of authoritarianism it's not even funny. I'm shocked that the authorities were having trouble finding these guys and had to go around asking people.
It angers me most of Europe is silent on China’s opression of Hong Kong. Now China starts incursions into India... What stops them from invading Taiwan and other neighboring countries?
Britain at least is allowing millions of Hong Kong citizens entrance into Britain for the chance to emigrate into the U.K since China breached the bilateral treaty. America has been hitting China hard since the Trump administration and now with this recent breach of the bilateral treaty, Trump administration is going to be hitting even harder. Hopefully, the rest of the world will follow suit.
My wife is from Philippines and whenever we would go there to visit her family we would fly Cathay Pacific and stopover in Hong Kong. I loved that city and we often had enough time between flights to go out and sightsee. In 2007, we stayed there for three nights. Our last time there was 2015. The next time we go to Philippines I don't feel safe visiting Hong Kong because my social media criticism of the CCP might get me arrested. A damned shame.
@@ueks69 I don't know about Seoul, but in Tokyo you would need two weeks of quarantine to leave the airport. It's the same in a lot of Asian countries at the moment.
The two of you will never know the full extent of your impact on the world through this medium. I can't tell you what you've both meant to an individual like me, and I can't fathom the depth of your impact on the rest of us. Thank God you got out when you did. I am so glad to see you here. I hope this is not only a move that buys you a little more time, but is a continuance of your goals. Our window into the Chinese experience has closed and the drapes have been drawn. I am sad that we have lost this insight, but grateful that the two of you and your families are on this side of it with us.
I was detained and deported from China month ago it was nightmare! no body knew where i was and what happened to me, all my rights of making a phone call or asking for lawyer were refused and that goes for almost all the foreigners! they even lied to council when she finally found me and constantly called the prison, they told her that i was detained for 1 day, when it was actually almost 4 weeks already!there are foreigners.who are more than 8 months and no one knows they are there. i helped few guy to get out by calling their embassies and families but there are stil soo many of them and most important for no reason! the whole thing which happened the night i got detained and other foreigners was a pure raid on foreigners.i contributed 15 years to.China i do export business never been involved in any crime or shady things, but got treated as a top criminal!. now im coping with new life trying to move forward i.think i.have more opportunities now. i do love China but after all not feeling to go back.
@@toddventura7191 there is no reason when they detain you. They make examples of westerners and people that they want to make out as enemies of the state
@@icet6665 Well, since China blocks this site among many others, I’m not hearing “their” side. Unless you’re gonna admit being a China propagandist or doing something illegal.
I met a Uighur in the U.S that said he overstayed his student visa to escape. His whole family was taken and that was two years ago so he hasn't heard from them in 4 years. Sad reality.
He should honestly go into investigate journalism for real and start peeling away China on the world stage. It's absolutely necessary for the years to come. Were going to have a massive issue with China and the only way we can beat them is by policy and policy is influenced by public opinion and that is influenced by truth through journalism.
Thank you for sharing your story. This is so scary. I married my Chinese husband in America 4 years ago. He now holds a green card and works in the US. But at the beginning of our relationship, while he was finishing up his doctorates, he suggested me and my son move back to China with him. I considered it, not knowing how controlling the Chinese government is. Due to certain circumstances, we stayed in the States & I slowly began to learn about the difficulties of Hong Kong and Chinese government. I am beyond grateful I never moved there. I am a Latina, I naturally speak my mind about things I don't approve of & now I realize that had I gone to China my own personality could have put me in jail. I told my husband that if he had to ever move back to China, I would not go and neither would our children. The American government has sooooo many flaws, but at least I don't live in fear of going to jail for speaking my mind or being an activist in this country. I really hope you, your wife, and child are safe and stay safe from here on out!
I feel for your husband. It must be sad for him to see all this stuff going down. I am thankful for all the videos these two have put out, I learned of the beauty of china and the uniqueness of their people but also of the hidden horrors going on because of the CCP. I wanted to see the great wall of china, the old temples and the "old" china that is fast disappearing but alas, will stick to videos. You couldn't pay me to go there now, especially with the increasing animosity towards foreigners. Best wishes!
The current situation in Hong Kong is literally insane, I feel like the Chinese government has always done stuff like this, but under such a light smoke screen?
@@jamesfry8983 It's at least in part because things are so bad with the economy in China that the Party is weak, and the ruling faction has to show the other factions how "strong" they are. It's also a sop to the jealousy of the Shanghai faction, who resent HK's financial success... not being willing to admit that HK was so successful precisely because it was not governed by pure PRC "law" which make it impossible to be a world class financial center.
China always use a facade to show the world a different image of CCP. Just look at all the "donation" of mask they show, or the "achievement" they made. The very fact that this Pandemic change everything. CCP no longer need to put on their masks, they screw up and they knew it, that's why they just throw away the mask and show their true face. To understand more, watch Xu Xiaodong, the Chinese MMA who exposed Fake Kungfu Masters and the prices he paid. That's why you no longer see how "great Chinese Kung fu" and craps since 2017.
That's how the Nazis started their expansionism. First they try the waters by trying to take on & annex smaller or politically less significant areas. Then if the World doesn't pay significant heed to it, they get more and more aggressive every time.
I feel like people aren’t giving the right importance of what is happening in Hong Kong, the life as they knew it for million of its citizens just ended and many will have to emigrate, I just can’t believe how people can’t ignore that. But after all they didn’t take much time to forget the “re-education camps” in China... I’m just so sad...
We didn't forget. Just... what do you do about an atrocity like that taking place WELL inside the borders of a country with a functioning military? Economic pressure from boycotting goods is still the most effective and fastest way to change that. (Still an agonizingly slow process for us outside observers tho)
@Arbiter Lite The UK ran Hong Kong, so there is a lot that is similar. At least to me, being from another country. They will be ok with the differences.
@@kin2naruto China completely depends on exports for its wealth. It could be destroyed if everyone stops buying Chinese made goods. Factories are moving out. Unemployment could see the CCP toppled. More likely, a change of leadership.
I've been binge watching your and adv media's content for the past few weeks. From one American to another, welcome back home! I escaped from China 8 years ago and was naturalized last year. I really appreciate what you and Winston are doing, you guys are real inspirations. There is never a more important time for people to wake up to see the dangous of CCP and Chinese establishment.
It's a beautiful country. Yeah the goverment is one thing but it doesn't reflect it's people and it's not like you're gonna end up like laowhy having to flee the country cause as a normal foreigner living there the government is not out there to get you lol
@@JustLIkerapunzel I agree with that. I never spoke to Chinese people about politics, and overall I wouldn't now either. Generally I'm sure people just want to get on with their lives, be peaceful, be with their families. But it's true, I think for most foreigners you're pretty safe in China. But I was constantly aware that I was probably being watched/listened to to some degree. Also, any foreigner going to China should be aware of the situation and what they're getting themselves into by going there. Abide by the local laws and you'll be fine.
Ruth Fletcher well the Chinese government is pretty alert by so-called “foreign forces” trying to infiltrate their country(as they imagine). So if you really have to be in mainland China, you gotta be really really careful coz they can take you to jail with any nonsense reason.
It's a darned good thing that the Hong Kong Security Law hadn't passed before you had escaped, otherwise you would have *STILL* gotten busted. So how *did* you finally get your wife and baby out?
From one western dude who's life has ended up revolving around China and feels like he stands on the frontlines of the battle between the CCP and the rest of the world, to another, you have my admiration and wishes for a shit load of luck.
You guys are classic, there will never be any documentary about China like yours. Loved every episode and also the truth that was shared. You are epic!
Sorry to hear that Bro. They really are paranoid of foreigners. Especially given all the pushback from foreign countries as of late. How come they couldn't find your address in Govt databases? You had to register yourself...
They wanted him to leave rather than arrest him. So they scared the ever-loving spit out of him to ensure that he would in the hope that he would stop making videos. Arresting a foreign filmmaker is much more likely to create problems for China than someone who voluntarily leaves and perhaps goes silent.
Not to mention that if he ever does make a video about it (like this) it is also a kind of propaganda for the might of the CCP and its abilities to find you and hunt you down.
@@JaffarTube They had an OLD address. He had not reported moving, and the place where he lived was not in his name, but his wife's. If they had put 2 and 2 together, they might have figured it out, but I don't know if they track their OWN citizens' residences as rigorously as they track those of foreigners.
Security: basically saying are you trying to escape to this place where there is a very high chance you might try to flee the mainland laowhy86:nO Security: Understandable, Have a nice day
Maybe the policewoman just wanted to give him a chance to escape, but needed to ask him just so she could say she did. China's government may be cruel, but that doesn't mean every single person working for them is completely heartless. Maybe our man just got lucky.
that woman was 100% telling you not to return by _making sure you returned._ I know that's hard to explain to half of people but that's how everything works. I actually found it elucidating to how WASPy snobberinos in my own culture behave. Classic: _I Love You = You Better Not Disappoint Me_
as person who lived under communism in europe(well briefly , not that old but herd various real life stories) i also think so , maybe she even watched his content (she knew his name so ether she knew him or knew he is wanted or knew his YT) , i could be wrong as we never will know true motivvaction and what happened but its plausible.
Hi C-Milk, pardon me for my insinuation but I always thought that Winston would be targeted by CCCP before you. But, then I realised your US passport and the deteriorating political situation made you target one. You are a very professional presenter but I believe I can detect your pain, anger, fear but mostly sadness for you and your family's (maybe more fear for extended family) predicament. I wish I could mouth reassuring platitudes that things will work out for the good as in movies but I feel corruption and lies and self-deception are seemingly growing at this time worldwide (yes, I'm not a fan of both China and US leadership). I hope people will see the light but cynical about the future. I wish you and ALL your family wel now and in the future.
@Justine Carrington Funny, China prefers Trump over Biden. US relations are likely to deteriorate no matter who wins later this year, but with Trump, China will be facing a less competent America who has worse relations with America's allies, while Biden will be the opposite. Biden has also said in a debate that China has concentration camps for Uyghurs. I'm sure China would not want the next president of America to be someone who has publicly said that.
@@cinemapigeon4898 bidens son works with Chinese Companies. He went their after the rubbish he did in the Ukraine. Biden took his son to China and introduced him to the companies.... The dems are involved a lot with CCP based companies..
@Trista Fravel Not really the same. The company who will hire you wants you to be educated in journalism, therefor you have to educate your self. Just like if you want to be a teacher, the school wants you to have a degree in education, so they know you can deliver quality to your students.. Just like any job really. You dont have to overthink it.
@Trista Fravel Meanwhile in reality, you're totally wrong. To even compare the 2 as functionally the same in effect is so beyond idiotic, there's not even a word for it.
My parents went to visit China for a week, and the whole time, I was freaking out, worried the CCP was gonna snatch them up, especially my stepdad, who's super outwardly critical about the CCP. I mean, my entire family is, especially me, but he's the kind of guy who just can't shut up sometimes.
I'm sorry but the ccp wouldnt do that. My grandparents and family went to China and they didn't worry because when you go to other countries you need to abide by there laws. Same if people come to my country. If you come here you must abide by my laws too. You cannot visit countries thinking you can do whatever you want.
he pulled it off!!! is all that matters he must NOT "devulge" too much info as it could compromise any help he had from.anybody on the way out !!! :this is called an " "UNDERGROUND RAILWAY " and in order for it to continue funtioning effectively it HAS to remain hidden and secret!!!! DONT ASK DONT TELL LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS jic fyi THIS IS WARFARE !!!!!! wake up !!!!
there's a popular German song which main line is " Freiheit, Freiheit, ist das Einzige, was zählt." , it translates to " freedom , freedom, is the only thing that counts"
It's not funny. It's sad. She let him go? That one individual's mind is now …? a governmental liability? That female governmental employee is now in danger for abuse by her superiors. Whoa.
You know... we joke about them being re-educated or organ harvested. And I get it - I probably would have joked about it at one time too. But after seeing how brutally the CCP treated their supposed enemies, I shudder at the thought of the reality these people who are still stuck in that situation have to live with. Maybe they purposely let him go because they didn't want to live with themselves for being involved in a crime that destroyed someone else's life. Or perhaps it was an oversight because the government is tracking so many people, and after a 12 hour shift they just couldn't focus or give a damn. I just hope and pray that the Chinese people can somehow find their way through this mess and finally be free.
@@omegajoe7014 A surprising amount of people are willing to risk their livelihoods to do something good. At Tiananmen, many army officers like Xu Qinxian refused to massacre the civilians.
Thats literally one of my worst fears: to be wrongfully imprisoned in another country, especially not a western country. Reminds me of Brokedown Palace ☠
Careful man, I already encountered some members of the 50cent army, who threatened to report me to CCP, cause I recommended HK protesters to take up arms :D Can't recall how he called it, But it was along the lines of causing civil armed unrest and danger to the independent HK government (That statement made me laugh) But yeah, It's too late to arm them anyway, that's it, part of article 23 is that PLA can patrol in Hong Kong...
@@Rfhdvcgf They are there, just not at the proactive capacity, CIA stand for central INTELLIGENCE agency, so they're mostly collecting information on what's going on, PLA movements and so on.
What blows me away is how long it took for this to happen. I remember watching content years ago from you and your partner, and feeling anxious even then. I guess it took your actively being pursued by the government for you to wake up. All I can say is you are incredibly lucky that whistleblower had your back. *You owe that person your life!* Honestly you were foolish to be a foreign youtuber in China in the first place. Without the whistleblower, your story would have ended exactly the way I had expected when I first found your channel: another disappearance at the hands of the CCP.
I'm shocked that this hasn't happened to you earlier. I've been watching you for a few years now and I've just been waiting for the day that this would go down. I hate that this is happening to you, but I'm shocked that it hadn't happened sooner. So I feel like you and Winston are incredibly lucky on one hand and terribly unlucky on the other. In reality though, the CCP just does what they want and luck really has nothing to do with it. I hope you guys find safe sanctuary and settle down in a great place. My heart goes out to you, Winston, your family, and his family. Come back home and help us make sure that what happens in China can't ever happen here.
Machelle Perham No need to care. All you need is strong army and strong FBI, CIA and strong dark projects that work for the US. So people can focus on the US only. No need to think of foreign countries. Thnx
You got were lucky at the border Matt. They were waiting for you but weren't as prepared as they could have been. Had you answered their questions any different, you would have been detained for questioning. Quick thinking on you part to give them the answers they needed to hear, and keeping it short. The border guard and the policewoman were probably in some "hot water" after you crossed for not doing their due diligence per given instructions. I am certain that they were waiting for you to cross back to make your way back from Hong Kong, and you would have been sacked and not seen again. I am so glad you made it, and now are safe to shared with us this delicate and personal story. I think I speak for thousands of others who follow you, almost at a level of a friend, that this feels like a huge win for the home side. One day when you write a movie script for this escape, and you cast Winston as your "Transporter" in his black suit and tie, we will all pay gladly to see it. Cheers on reuniting with your beautiful family and all the best to you all. Hope we hear about a new addition to the family real soon. Spread your wings, fill your boots, and breath easy. Welcome home, we're glad to have you back.
I'm not sure what I think about how Matt slipped through. Some say that they wanted him out, and he saved them lots of money by getting the hell out at his own expense. Some say if the long arm of CCP wanted to nab him, they would have. Surveillance is a pretty thick dragnet, esp. in communist China, w/out all those pesky human rights laws in the way. Still, I'm sure there's plenty of ineptitude, it's a massive country and he wouldn't be top priority. Like yourself, I'm glad he got out safely and w/ his whole family w/ him. Vincent and his family too. In the end, I lean towards they messed up and both V and M slipped through. They had to know, as outspoken as these two already were, that if they did get out, and their naivety and goodwill to China morphed, that they would dish and dish hard. The gloves sure came off once they were in the free west again. I've thoroughly enjoyed watching it and finding out how it really Really is there.
Hi 👋 you and Mr Serpentza are awesome 👏👏👏 I gotta say how immensely proud I am just to know off the two of you and the good you are able to bring the table vis-à-vis this world of ours! My heartfelt gratitude for yours and Winston’s dedication to enlighten us all with your knowledge 🙏 Respectfully, Grace 🩰
It was protected until Richard Nixon decided to recognise the PRC instead of the ROC for no f*cking reason other than ‘these communists are not as bad as the other communists’. Make stupid decisions, get stupid results.
@icecool1616 dude, that's nothing to be impressed about. Dictatorships always result in faster development of a country. Remember how Germany re-armed themselves in a few decades after they were devastated by WW1?
As a Taiwanese I wanted to say there is a saying is called 危邦不入， it means don’t enter dangerous country . So I’m always very careful about it never been to China in my entire life and I won’t either .... take care best wishes to you and your family...
@@banq2878 biased? you joking right? it is his opinion and he's free to criticize, and what you're doing just now shows how much of his opinion is true.
This is so scary and disturbing. It took a lot of courage to post this. When I was in college, my roommate for 2 yrs was from China, and she returned there after she got her degree. She was an amazing person but her stories were so disturbing. 🇺🇸❤️
@@cwt2266 i hope you're not talking smack about china on wechat. That can get your friend in trouble, seriously. At my previous work, i was trying to schedule a meeting via email with my colleagues in China and Korea. For some reason, the emails I sent were reaching Korea but not China. I had a hunch for why this was happening and I googled the date of the planned meeting and my hunch proved correct. The date of the meeting I proposed in my emails coincided with the anniversary of the tiananmen square massacre. I am confident that is the reason because all other emails sent before and after went through fine. Using certain key words in your digital messages to China can get you censored and I imagine, worse yet, potentially land you or the person you are communicating with on their "spy" list.
@@akikozu7444 Tiananmen square massacre never happened. Please watch the film “Ask No Questions”, it details all of the misinformation and lies the ccp released about Falun Gong at the time
@@izzy031096 Sure. I'll believe it when the country stops trying to censor any information that it finds inconvenient. My friends in HK and Taiwan can tell you all about censorship and how real it is.
I 1000% agree that you and Serpentza gave a positive view of China. Your interactions with the people there have been amazing to watch. I always felt the two of you did a great job with balancing Chinese social restrictions with showing the truth by focusing more on your authentic interactions with people. Your advice about Chinese kitchens is gold. You made me want to visit. Sad to see such a crackdown on freedom. Much love. (Don’t know how I’m just now watching this. Been subscribed for years and seen plenty of vids of you back in the US. Weird.)
How did Winston escape considering you were practically joined at the hip doing the same thing. There must be an accompanying Winston escape story somewhere.
I get it guys. But I’m just saying from a standpoint of we can’t be Locked up by our govt if we speak out against our president or some idiot in congress/the house etc. We wouldn’t have the army chasing us if we posted a UA-cam video about American govt being shit. That doesn’t protect us against the opinions of others whose voices maybe louder than our own tho of course. And yes unfortunately sometimes your opinion might get you in trouble but not legally (except something like slander yes yes there is always some exception someone can point out in the comment sections lol)
any british n american just explains this to me if any guy who even isnt ur countires citizen does he really have the right to split ur states as different parts? like making US to be 50 different countires n UK as 4 independent states? i know Britain is different, but Scottish, u really want forienger ppl to interfere in ur own matter? n aftermath countrol ur petroleum resources？
this is sad AF, just last year befor the Huawei thing in canada i was like man i need go visit china (cause of you guys content) and now this almost at war with china
Apocalix You can still go to China. You won’t be randomly arrested. Huawei’s Meng arrest in Canada had a lot of hidden context than it seems. As long as you don’t talk about Chinese politics, China is very safe to visit.
@@AthenaCannon Till they decide to make an example out of you and or turn you into propaganda. You could do literally nothing and they could arrest you and say you are spying or doing god knows what and no one in that country would bat an eye.
Thanks for your courage and reports about China. So happy that you and your family made a way out safely. I totally understand the danger as an former expatriate myself.
My brother , a foreigner, was detained and we haven't heard from him since. Been 3 years now.
Sorry to hear that mate
I’m sorry about that. Really hope you are okay :(
holy shit i'm so sorry
Holy shit. The CCP is a monster that deserves to end. Hope 1984 isn't inevitable
@@freddy4603 What is a CCP??
"If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so."
Aye, many people who are now imprisoned thought that . Choose your battles wisely .
Although in this case, he was wise to employ strategy #36: 三十六计，走为上计 (i.e. GTFO)
You don't read the original of the law，how could you say the law is not justified？
This video was way too short, left me wanting more with a forlorn feeling at the end... I feel so bad for the innocent Chinese people and like puking every time I think about the CCP and their atrocities, please keep it up Matt we will soon either have to fight a war against communism in our country or get taken over
Your reality is not his reality and that would be quite foolish.
Shoutout to everyone in Mainland China watching this with a VPN
Caliado lol
more like Tor
Know him when he's “IN” China,Makeing Vid's In Bilibili,Wonder Where His Been,Now I'm So Glad He's Still Around,Keep it up Son.
here here
Yooo thanks bro
An Australian businessman I know had a similar experience about 3 years ago. In his case, he had gone to China to set up manufacturing facilities to produce for export a biomedical device he had invented and patented (in the west). He was welcomed with open arms by the Chinese authorities and received a lot of help from the local district governor in setting up his factory and hiring a skilled local workforce. Not long after production began he was informed that his business was being compulsorily bought out (for a fraction of the cost of setting it up) by a local politician and he had absolutely no say in the matter; he was told to take the money and leave China quietly, otherwise he'd end up in jail for 10 years on trumped-up charges. He initially decided to stand his ground and fight, however after receiving a tip-off that the police were coming for him he decided to make a run for it in the middle of the night and managed to get out via Hong Kong. Not only did he lose all the money from his investment but also the intellectual property for his invention; it is still being produced in that same factory and evidently sold under a different name & model branding as a unique Chinese product.
Dang you hear stories about that of China all the time. There’s no protection rights and things eventually get stolen. How is he doing now? I hope he manage to invent better things... Sigh
If China is known for something then it's for its joint ventures with the aim to learn foreign technology. It's the whole purpose of such joint ventures. I don't know why non-Chinese companies agree to that.
Yes! Chinese Government STEALS.
Chinese government LIES too!
straight up swindling is what it is !!
Honestly sounds like that lady at the border was really hinting that you shouldn’t come back with that interaction
Yeah I thought I was reaching but it seemed like she was warning him.
Or maybe it was procedural. She didn't want to detain him right then and there, but she needed at least the plausible deniablity that he promised her that he would come back.
That's what I was thinking. It was someone on the inside that leaked him the info so I would assume the team assembled to take him in wasn't really eager to do so
I think she was hoping you were going to stay to help expose the party some more
@@thiagolucas893 most people in China have let things slide because they don’t want them to be the same as them.
Shiiiiiiitttttt man.... so good to know you got your family safe, it's a sad situation but you did the right thing by getting you and your family out of there when you did
Free Taiwan
QiN wumao
Jaffar Taiwan is free, China just refuses to accept it
QiN You’re delusional
@QiN cao ni ma
As someone who has lived in China for the majority of my life with a German dad, I understand your situation. My dad was also illegally doing stuff on the internet and he did not tell me what but he assured me that it was legal in the West. Anyways, he was once caught doing those stuff again. And the police looked for hin, luckily the police entered the wrong house (that was conveniently my fathers other german friend). He quickly called my father and he packed his most important things and talked with my Chinese mother. My mother understanding the situation, quickly let him leave the house. At that point he traveled all the way to Shanghai and somehow passed by the security, got on to a plane and returned to Germany. A year later my mother and I went to Germany as well. Now I am living in Germany, telling others on how cruel China could be thanks to yours and many others videos!
Glad your family is safe.
These kinds of stories are so outworldly. China has been hunting down for people just like the Germans started before going out to war. It is almost like history is repeating itself.
So happy you escaped!
Well that's not true. If this happened in the last 20 years you cannot just get on a plane in China. Because they search you for contraband and you know. . . . Make you pay.
Make some German language videos
To the kind people who warned him, thank you. Thank you very much for your kindness.
But we have alarm bells going off all over western countries and a significant majority of the population just isn't getting it. That tells me we are all in for a very tough time.
Makes me happy.
😊🩷🩵
I love those people who wanted to protect and warn him about the danger.
It's not just kind. It's smart and brave. This BS shouldn't exist anywhere on Earth.
“I’m safe here”
I wouldn’t be so sure. People have been “disappeared” from Hong Kong for years.
yes a friend of mine aswell
He's in the US now
@@HippasosofMetapontum sorry to hear that
@@ahmedessa1364 sorry to hear that
i heard about some book sellers abducted and then appeared on television apologizing to the CCP.
What an absolute legend the person who contacted you is. Taking serious personal risk to protect what is essentially a stranger purely on moral reasons. That person is a hero.
Edit: Read some of the replies below for a bunch of conspiracy theories. Some legitimately thought provoking stuff. Plus some nonsense.
@@cpnstbn1266 Yeah that was kinda weird.. Idk why he did that...
@@cpnstbn1266 dont he gave out names though
@@cpnstbn1266 This guy has no worries, because it doesn't exist...it's that simple.
Or maybe the security service leaked it to him, to get him to leave without the necessity to launch a legal process? If they wanted to find him and detain him it would have taken them five minutes. They don't even need to have a solid case or investigation to have a conviction. The only logical explanation is that they wanted to get him to leave the low effort way.
@@vostok2717 nah, if he hadn't. he would be like the canadians that were detained for whatever reasons and sentenced to death.
As I heard someone say years ago, they weren’t so surprised that we had freedom of speech, but that we had freedom after the speech.
Classic.
The way we're headed, not for long!
@@corndog9482 America is known for being a free country, if it ever gets bumped down to "partly fee", the government (as long as Trump isn't president) will probably do everything they can to get it back to "free" because of how much it hurts the reputation. I don't even live there.
This is what happened to me in 2014. I had to escape within a matter of hours from Yantai University because they said they wanted my Passport because I had problems at the University and confronted them about not paying me. I had to flee Shandong Province the same night and fly straight to Beijing. Then I fled Beijing to Hong Kong the next day. I feel your pain. It was so abrupt, and my gut was like, "Damn I have to get outta there". On the flight out of Yantai, a man told me they were targeting a bunch of foreign teachers that month. Setting them up. I thought for sure they were going to arrest me for trying to get PAID. It happened so fast, and I knew they were following me around town. It was abrupt and so emotionally traumatizing. I still get upset about it, because I also had a life and many students that I adored. Not a lot of people can understand how hard that abrupt exit was.
Foreigners are not being treated nicely in China
Dang you knew how to handle yourself
Thank you for sharing your story
So you were teaching illegally without a work visa ? I'm not sure I understand.
@@dr4co500 yeah comment doesn't really make sense of course they're going to find you if you don't have a work visa especially in china where rules are stupid strict
Please Remember he can't say how he got out. He had help from other people. If he describes anything about it, and the govt find out who they were, the people who helped him will probably disappear.
one of them already has disappeared!
Jesus dude... smh
@@Pateram Hoping that person GOT AWAY...
Thanks, now I don't have 2 watch the entire video.
Did I miss something? Did his wife and child accompany him? He mentioned her passport being held at the embassy.
That border police was like ‘nah, can’t be the guy we looking for, all white guys look the same’
Do they not all look the same?
@@jessicatriplev9802 Well they have different haircolours and curlynesses and eyecolours. So I guess you can identify certain European phenotypes easier on the basis that there is more variety. Yet identifying faces of ethnic phenotypes you didn't grew up with as a baby is hard work for the brain. So Chinese border guards might legitimately have had problems to find a guy named "Mah" when all blond European guys more or less look the same.
I wonder if the TSA or IRS is aware of this facial feature recognition problem and so they choose the best adapted personell to check flights from specific destinations or origins.
@@TremereTT To me all "nordic" types of white dudes, like this guy, look the same.
@@TremereTT That's a good question. But the brain is very plastic too. I lived in Japan so I can easily tell folks from different parts of Japan apart. Ditto for Koreans or North vs South Chinese.
Oh, and I'm visibly "white" (Italian & Norwegian).
God bless those honest Chinese people who retain critical thought and warn people at their own risk.
Vaporized
I imagine there are a majority of them They will doom the CCP.
@@machtschnell7452 i'm right here
I think they might have staged the anonymous message to drive him out of the country , with tensions mounting between China and USA .
@@user-mi9cy6ed8c agreed.
I remember when HongKong was handed back to China. It felt as if a well behaved lovely dog was being handed over to a person who had been convicted of killing dogs. I cried. I’m so glad you guys got out safely and all the people who managed to flee to the U.K. after the crackdown. You and they are very lucky to be safe now.
You ignoramus. Unbelievable! I was living in HK at that time too. You are talking total bullshit
R@cist. Hong Kong was a part of China back in the Qin Dynasty. How dare you insult our nation!
The British literally cut out a piece of China for them, it's almost like China was a lamb to the slaughter back then. Thank goodness everything's better now.
Sheds a lot of light on why foreigners make only pro-China videos. If I was in that situation, I'd rather make none at all than to praise the CCP.
Tess W Pro-China isn’t pro-ccp. You may still live in China, making videos of pro-Chinese food, culture, infrastructure. Have nothing to do with the ccp.
@@AthenaCannon
Well obviously you knew I meant pro CCP, judging by your comment. But thanks for the correction.
Many are on the CCP's payroll like a certain baldy or are coerced into doing it
It's called, going along to get along.
@@Sarcasteak I just wanted to live there. I liked the summers, the language, my Chinese friends and relatives. But after this Xi Jing Pooh person, education became brainwashing, visas became privacy issues, crossing the border a risk, and employing foreigners difficult. So I took my family and left. But I hope for the day he is gone, so we can go back.
I visited Hong Kong back in 1996 - the year before control was handed back over to China. I remember a conversation with a friend who was working there at the time. I told him that the CCP would not respect the agreement to allow Hong Kong to remain independently governed. I said that it was just a matter of time before they seized control. It took a few more years than I thought it would, but it did happen. The CCP has never really changed from the days of Tianneman Square. The outside of the CCP is more polished, but inside they are as corrupt and evil as they have ever been. I hope that someday China will be free but that may never happen.
I hope I will live to see a democratic China, where the rule of law prevails.
The day will come but it may be when the US military is forced to step in to defend Taiwan. Or it may come about when the west decide to stand together and launch a combined attack to end this regime. I'm not sure how many more crimes they need to commit and how many more millions need to die under the regime before people wake up to who they are!
@Event Horizons It's not like the USA or the UK, for example, are any different.
@@anthonybaggaley8328 Yes there is a difference. Crimes by democracies will always be considered crimes and justice is possible. With communist countries, crimes by those in power are the norm and they are never brought to justice and even publicizing crimes or scandals could land you in jail.
What surprises me is that there are so many brave people in China who stand up to the Communist Party's wrong doing.
It will never happen if the West keeps hypocritically supporting the Chinese Communist Part financially and economically.
If the Western world actually believed in their principles, they would fully support an actual functioning democratic nation like Taiwan.
I left Hong Kong on January 6th , my heart will always remain in the memories of British Hong Kong.
The people, food , classy English flair of Hong Kong will be no more.
Today I am crying I'll never go back but will not forget the great times spent there.
God bless and I pray for my friends and associates left behind.
Even when the CCP falls, and HK becomes free once more, thing will never be the same again...
5 demands, Not 1 less. Hong Kong is our Dunkirk for now, but France is free today. Light will return to Hong Kong
@@13Badseed well, remains to be seen, i think the next decade will possibly be the most tumultous in a century.
EU is about to collapse, USA is on the brink of civil war, china is making moves, Iran has been making moves too.
i can very well see USA go into civil war no matter who wins your next election, Trump wins and the democrats will deny it, biden wins and the republicans will deny it.
then once that kicks off, noone guarantees the EU anymore further accelerating it's collapse, perhaps the turks will then try some bullshit again as they've already doen 3 or so border attacks on greece in the past year or two.
with america in civil war the chinese will invade taiwan and south korea, possibly southeast asia and india too, the Iranians will invade Iraq and other places, pakistan too will invade india over the same region china has been doing, kashmir.
russia, i don't think will act, as long as noone attacks them.
and with the world at war, Africa will once more plunge into warlord anarchy.
I spent 10 years in China til 2015 but saw the writing on the wall so came home to Australia. Living in southern China for my last 5 years there I spent a hell of a lot of time in HK myself and absolutely breaks my heart seeing what is happening there now. I was there when the Umbrella Revolution broke in 2014. I know every street corner I see the tear gas being thrown on in news stories. All I can do is pray for those willing to stay and fight- and welcome with open arms that decide to take up Australia's offer for refugee status :( .
@@SuperExodian Mhh, yes.. everything is about to collapse all the time. Life is chaos. Welcome to the universe.
Now stop being afraid of everything and be thankful that you can get older than 35. That would have been your maximum life expectancy for pretty much all of human history.
She was trying to make sure that you weren't a flight risk. If you'd said that you were planning to leave, you would have been arrested then and there. Possibly even made to disappear. I'm so glad you kept calm and quiet
Props to that police guy that went out of his way risking himself to warn him to get out. Without him doing that, laowon'tbeanymore.
lol that 'sfake kid, no escape, just didnt get his visa renewed, this type of English teacher that had white face as sole education were a disgrace for all the rest of the expats
@@bobymartis4317 found the wumao
@@bobymartis4317 wumao!
I doubt it was someone wanting to do good. More likely they just wanted to scare the shit out of him and make him leave. The whole thing was crafted by their internal security people I’m almost certain of it. If you are a US citizen, Australian citizen or from another country that is standing up to the CCP they may arbitrarily detain you for political reasons just because you have a passport from one of these nations though so he was wise to bug out. I also know people here who have been grabbed by state security in China when they have arrived by air and interrogated about things they’ve posted online. The whole house of cards there relies on a false narrative and if everyone learned what was really going on the CCP would collapse. It’s why they’re so damn afraid of words or criticism.
@Wrwo James He has more than half a million followers. If he disappeared, it might not cause an international incident per se, but it would definitely make the news.
Do you know what’s ironic?
I am from and live in the U.S. I have followed your channel for years. Watching your adventures made me think perhaps I should have taken a different path. I seriously considered chucking in all and giving a foreign nation, quite possibly China, a chance.
Your videos were no threat to anyone. I was aware that you self-censored, but that is irrelevant. You showed the world that China could be beautiful and fascinating. You did so much to educate what the country used to be about. You loved the country and that came across in all of your videos.
I cannot even begin to understand how you were considered a threat. By treating you like this the government undermined their propaganda. It is ironic for them, sad for most of us, and horrifying for you/your family.
I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.
China has really changed I'm American and China can be a beautiful country with amazing culture but it changed the US government is horrible but they would never do something like this unless your a spy but this is just insane sounds like north Korea what happened to China in recent years
@Naikomi um I hope you know American Democrats are the ones that treat Russia as a enemy conservatives and Trump where called out for trying to make peace with Russia oh and Germany literally just cancelled aerial pipeline going to Russia and now they want it back wtf can they make up there mind this is why the EU should not be a a ally to the United States to begin with the USA has other allies like the UK Japan Canada Australia Brazil south Korea Morocco Isreal Saudi Arabia Thailand Vietnam the Philippines Nigeria Liberia poland Italy Hungary etc they should worry about screw the Germany and France biden is a puppet of the EU and China
@@Steve-zc9ht Well, I'm a Chinese and I highly doubt about his story… I hope he is just trying to catch people's eyes after he decided to move to US as a personal choice, or what he says points to a seeming action towards a spy.
@@Steve-zc9ht 100% The EU AND Germany itself as well went behind the US' back and signed the first ever energy, information and transactional exchange deal with China. NZ did as well. They are basically more loyal to China than the America amd other democratic nations
His story doesnt make much sense.
8:10 they already had his information why where they asking where he lives if they already know 10:15?
"Take me in for questioning" is a funny way of saying "Getting disappeared and unpersoned".
soon coming to America under the "truth and reconciliation" tribunals
@@Ordoabchao-x9k I am rather optimistic because many many people are waking up to what the American government is doing. They see the corruption and how we are headed toward a police state like China. The difference is over here many many people have guns and lots of people are critical of the government, so it will take a lot to get to that point. I mean look at the protests over the last year, people are not afraid to stand up to the government.
@@sadkfjasdkl4543 if someone was going to do anything, they would have done it already
the Hillary emails where it's admitted they worship fucking baal were not enough, pizza gate was not enough, the attempted coup via impeachment was not enough, the midterm fraud was not enough, the sponsored riots were not enough, the great fraud was not enough, they killing unarmed patriots during a protest was not enough, they unpersoning the fucking president like a common criminal was not enough and now that they're purging the armed forces from conservative dissidents is still not enough.
Nothing is going to be enough, they might as well give up their weapons like the gauls before Caesar because it's blatantly obvious they're not ever going to use them for their intended purpose.
Getting disappeared and unpersoned is a weird way to say kidnapped and killed by a tyrannical government
Or, as Democrats call it; being suicided.
"Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the 'heat' around the corner." - Neil McCauley (played by Robert De Niro) in movie "Heat"
I can understand the fear of, "They're looking for you" in a dictatorship. You don't have to do anything wrong if they don't want you around.
That’s ridiculous. Canadian Michael didn’t do anything wrong and he’s was charged with espionage and is now facing execution.
The CCP is trying to use executing the two innocent Canadian Michaels as a ransom for Canada returning Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou (who is the daughter of a prominent CCP official and facing serious criminal charges). That’s as bad as some of what ISIS did.
@@brianjamds6617 Brace yourself, 2 more canadian YT are on the list. So the list might grow some.
I had a similar situation in Vietnam
@@edwinholcombe2741 really? When and how did you got into that situation?
Edwin Holcombe is the Vietnamese government as sinister as the CCP?
An old Russian joke from the Soviet days:
How are the US and Soviet Constitutions alike, and how do they differ?
They are alike in that they both guarantee you the freedom to speak...
They differ in that the US Constitution guarantees your freedom *AFTER* you speak...
Tell that to Fred Hampton
The US absolutely does not do that.
@Vladimir Putin Yes, Chinese constitution states there is freedom of speech but not stated whether there is AFTER. 😉
@@RedHair651 Please enlighten us! What does the US do than after you speak?
chemech ha...ha...ha...ho...ho...ho...
This is totally insane, man. I did not realize how bad China is.
It’s a shame. A beautiful country and culture, but the government is insane.
@@warrior9326 yea
@@warrior9326 It won't be as prosperous as todays economy, I mean think about it.
As a Hong Konger , seeing this situation gets worsened everyday really breaks my heart. Before I thought Hong Kong my home is the best place in the world. The culture, the freedom, the openness, and also safe.
I was wrong, it's not what I imagined. It's dark, violent, unfair and brutal. Before I don't hate China, but after these years, I finally understand.
@@warrior9326The ones who are awakened will pretend to be asleep while the ones asleep will stay asleep.
I had a friend back in high school and university who was from China. She was originally very pro-China and would vehemently argue with us when we spoke ill of her home. Then she went back to visit for a year. She came back and had nothing good to say. She was suddenly the nation's greatest critic, though she was evasive when we asked her why. Over time, we stopped asking and forgot. Years later, she abruptly vanished with messages stating she was going back for a family emergency. All contact with her ceased after that. It's been close to a decade now and nothing... I can't help but wonder what happened to her.
What da F
Her social credit score went down tp 0 💀💀💀
she definitely was taken for something. She might be dead, enslaved, organ trade, anything really. Or maybe brainwashed back into society probably
ㅠㅠ
@@diasporityofconstruct Social credit score is only experimental in one chinese region because even the government find it to extreme. In almost whole china there is no social credit system.
Glad you made it out with all of your organs.
That's deep, dark but also funny lol
should not have laughed
bruhhhhh
No dude we don’t dig out other people’s organs lol
Jk
Will be interesting to see how many western nations will be willing to take in political refugees from Hong-Kong,and how difficult the CCP can make it.
@@jakarta5080 I think I saw 3 million as the number??
The UK is allowing all BNO HK passport holders immediate citizenship, and a 5 year residence to HK citizens where they can apply for citizenship after
and how many will be spies?
citizen321654 a lot
Perhaps we can make it difficult for the CCP to get involved...
It's like living in nice golden cage. We have problems in Kenya. Life is tough but we learnt from living in a dictatorship that there's nothing more precious than simple freedoms. I wouldn't trade that for a golden cage.
This is what I'm grateful for in America. We're able to openly criticize the government and troll Trump on Twitter without fear of getting into legal trouble.
@@noname8354 For now...
not anymore, they have banned ALL foriegners from ENTERING....can you imagine if the US or Spain did this? it would be the biggest news ever. peace.
Can you please tell Americans what you said?
Wise words!
Well I wasn't expecting that anxiety attack today. Won't need coffee now. I had no idea. So glad you're out!
My best friend's son lives in Hong Kong with his wife. The wife is from a wealthy family, but they are all terrified and making escape plans for themselves and their assets.
I don't get it, they could see the crack down happening. They should of made these escape plans LONG ago.
I suppose it was all well and good taking rent off those in poverty when house prices went sky high there.
@500Million IsTheAnswer well its pretty obvious what was going to happen, i don't think he's blown anyone's plans without the Chinese already knowing
It's Time that’s good and I think people who feel scared or threatened should go.
Good luck
Free Hong Kong 🇭🇰
Begin Transformation yes but... don’t down the will of the people. It’s okay to claim and support this. Fuels the fire within them. Don’t deny their will. Please. They need the voices of the world to support their actions. Don’t you need that, good JOB keep GOING at times. Doesn’t a voice of support fuel you to try harder, no matter what?
Come now. Writing this sentence doesn’t take away from America. In that mindset all the rhetoric crap that the left says they would be winning and I highly doubt that they are that’s why they’re fighting so very hard. And just to let you know we are going to have to fight for our freedom‘s we will see Civil War on our land. We just can’t act right now. We have to allow them to come to us directly just like our forefathers did they were not antagonist. But they put a stop to everything. Which we will too. We are waiting in the shadows we are waiting for the (call) and when it comes it’s on.
Should had given HK to Taiwan, the legitimate government of China the UK made the deal with.
Why, Jeremiah Stevens? Ancient history? It has been separate from China for hundreds of years...
Yes free the people free the people
@@이제현-d1m personally I believe that China should have honored their agreement with Hong Kong. Next stop Taiwan.
Welcome to totalitarianism. A hard lesson why free uncensored speech is a must have
This is why college kids calling to end free speech should frighten people.
@@brendancoulter5761 the college kids in the USA today are like red guards during the Chinese revolution destroying the four olds
But the west is heading in a similar situation unfortunately.
@@sirdank2899 Let's have this conversation again after November.
Brendan Coulter idk man the people who take heart to other’s criticism of the country tend to be the biggest totalitarians to me lol
This finally convinced me never to travel to China. Which really saddens me because it’s something I’ve been wanting to do for almost twenty years now.
But I won’t. I don’t think the China that I wanted to go to exists anymore. Thank you for this video. I knew it was bad, but I didn’t know it was this bad now.
Dude I live here and its fine. This channel plays up a lot of flaws in the Chinese system simply for views. As strange as it sounds people want to see China as being a shitty country. Please do not base your entire take on a country off of youtube videos but through your own experience. It's incredibly stupid and most of these comments are extremely ignorant. I don't mean to be rude but please use some critical thinking.
You can still go to China! Some people call it "Taiwan" for some reason but it's there!
@@yourtypicaldegenerate6938 How do you have acess to youtube while living in China? Are you using an vpn?
@@mike-hq1hp yeah vpn
@@yourtypicaldegenerate6938 What happens if an average person suddenly slips up and says "Taiwan is a country" or plays online games on days they're not allowed to play?
I'm not trying to pick fights here, I'm just really curious about these kind of things.
That police lady def knew and let you go dude, glad you got somewhere safe!
They let him go cuz of his Wife
@@korbin4510 Oof, that’s a minus 10 points for letting a person with truth out, but she has a heart tho.
I’d like to think the border guard and policewoman let him go, from what he said the way she spoke was odd and trying not to seem obviously letting him go.
Yeah I think she replied "good [that you lied to me properly so I won't have to lie and compromise myself when I report why I let you go]"
She did the right thing.
This is 'Papers Please' type of game omfg
I understand that the new HK security law even covers non residents, practically globally.
My thoughts exactly . All in the fine print !
Guess NED aka smug America can now stop funding terrorists in China. Good work how many millions have had their lives destroyed by America. Save china
Yes. If you speak bad words about CCP in your country，you'll violate the NSL
@@slz1119 honest seems extreme but then you see the idiots in Hong Kong, they have lost touch of their culture and reality. This is what it needs. The ones that are serious can keep fighting the little 13 year old boys can be told off and scared alittle so they stop burning down Hong Kong children need boundaries and punishment to scare them straight. Otherwise the rioters of today are the murderers of tomorrow. Wait yo late they have already murdered and lots of attempts at murder
@@jetaku17 Yeah but nothing like the murderous CCP regime and the horrors they inflicted on the people and country during the Cultural Revolution.
[DELETED BY CHINESE GOVERNMENT]
I agree, but only on a Tuesday.
Lol
Oh yeah true
Delete the Chinese Government's power!
I sao honi
Seeing the clips of friendly local people at the end really fucking breaks my heart, because in my heart I know the majority of my people is this friendly but because of the government, the image of us is completely destroyed to the rest of the world. This is really late but I'm glad that you are safe!
We don't think badly of the Chinese people. Most of the world sees and understands that the majority of Chinese are people are kind, decent people and that it is just a small minority of people that are a bad example. I have this in my country... where there are some loud and rude people that say horrible things... and that they do not represent most of the country.
To be fair there are still a lot of people in the world dumb enough to stereotype everyone. But anyone with an ounce of intelligence knows you can't judge an entire country by its government's actions.
As a Chinese in china we're happy not because of the government, but we are happy bc of family, prosperity and money, the government doesn't allow us to use western internet, to protest, to critic CCP, but that's all, we just have to not do those things and we're safe and happy
Fuck...when you're a Hongkonger being depressed due to all the political persecution happening, wanted to just chill on UA-cam, then accidentally coming across this video is just heartbreaking. Several months late, but thank you for giving such accurate and fair explanations on China's situation
Edit: user “X51” commented below “Reported to the proper officials you know the new laws in HK about speaking in that way about China”, just wish to highlight this as proof of white terror they try to impose on us.
Update: X51 just made an actual threat 🤔🤔So...guess that exemplifies how the gov treats ppl who has opinions huh?
Same :(
天滅中共
Anti-CCP sentiment is spreading here in Australia, stay strong brother much love
Flee to Britain while you can!!
@@MacMyKitty Sigh...if we had a choice, pretty sure none of us would want to leave HK :( I truly love the city, but well, I guess now it's easier to think "HK is where ever HKers are" haha
I went to Hong Kong last year amidst the protests. It was beautiful. They may have lost, but they will go down in history for their bravery. RIP HK.
Hong Kong may have fell into tyranny but the world is awakening and witness the CCP's evil nature
@@zer0rez_ We all need care more about our personal lives,instead of careing about the govs of countries in the world.Every GOV has their way to operate their country, and lie to their people. U and me,can not get enough true infomation from gov, so just enjoy the life, be generous.
@@cameronchiang2735 You are preaching cowardice and selfishness.
@@cameronchiang2735 Well I live in Hong Kong too and can tell you that this government is shit and does not carry the best interests of the people at heart, only preservation of the party. So don't tell people to focus less on Hong Kong and China, because we are being silenced, so if they stop speaking for us when we are no longer heard, no one will. 5 Demands, not one less. Free Hong Kong, Free China!
Cameron Chiang you’re literally a paid chinese bot, gtfo
I'm from the Philippines. Something similar is starting to happen over here. Congress just passed a law similar to China's National Security Law called the Anti-Terror Law. You can be arrested without warrant for criticizing the government. Dark times we live in.
I hope our worries get more traction worldwide
Praying safety for you, that’s horrible 😞
Too bad you can not throw your president out ...
@@AlexM-jd2ro yeah. The people here actually love him though. Some things I will never understand.
@Taiwan92Abarth Duterte's government. Yeah they do whatever they want now.
Man, it's simply amazing how quickly things change. I remember watching you and Winston riding your motorcycles all over China and just winging it. The two of you looked like you were having sooo much fun! I was jealous AF because I had been living in Guangzhou since 2004 and never even thought of having such an adventure. Then I lost track of you guys and only recently discovered why. Sorry about all the shit you went through and still continue to put up with. It looks like it's kinda better now. I'm still in GZ and things are going relatively well under the circumstances. Cheers!
This makes me cherish our western political freedoms so much... i understand that you can survive in China as long as you keep your head down, follow all the laws, and don't criticize the gov't but to me freedom of expression is a fundamental part of life.
we are loosing it here even. under the disguise of a disease. sadly...its deterioating quick
@@ImmortalTatewari but atleast here in the west we don't a bona fide Gestapo checking our every move, and we can still talk openly on how our governments are shit and our politicians are corrupt without fearing we would be taken one night to pick rice for the rest of our lives
Western political freedoms? Well, its 2022 and Those days are gone. We have people sitting in solitary confinement for almost a year an half held by our government for misdemeanor trespassing charges because they have alternate political views. Oh and don't tell me they were "insurrectionists" cause that's garbage. You're blind or just don't want to see it or you're a Democrat and the censorship and attacks don't affect you. I've beem kicked off Twitter, I've had 3 YT channels shut down because of my political views but you keep believing in that western political freedom. God bless America 🇺🇸, cause we need it.
@@ImmortalTatewarino we are not wtf are you talking about. If you talk about Covid restrictions those were decided by elected representatives of the people, not some all powerful party. You don't like the people that decided for that vote them out. Americans are the most ungrateful and paranoid, you are creating a conspiracy theory while your country is working as it is supposed to be with separate branches of power. Just because you don't like a particular regulation you are not losing your freedom, suck it up.
we're so close to having the same level of authoritarianism it's not even funny. I'm shocked that the authorities were having trouble finding these guys and had to go around asking people.
I'm glad you, Serpentza and your families escaped! Stay safe C
It angers me most of Europe is silent on China’s opression of Hong Kong. Now China starts incursions into India... What stops them from invading Taiwan and other neighboring countries?
plutonium 239, deuterium and tritium
Taiwan had US support as far as i know. Im from EU haha
@@MaGiCMushroomClouds lmfao
Britain at least is allowing millions of Hong Kong citizens entrance into Britain for the chance to emigrate into the U.K since China breached the bilateral treaty.
America has been hitting China hard since the Trump administration and now with this recent breach of the bilateral treaty, Trump administration is going to be hitting even harder.
Hopefully, the rest of the world will follow suit.
United Nations recognition is the difference between Free China, Hong Kong, Macau, and with India.
Thank you for this documentary.
My wife is from Philippines and whenever we would go there to visit her family we would fly Cathay Pacific and stopover in Hong Kong. I loved that city and we often had enough time between flights to go out and sightsee. In 2007, we stayed there for three nights. Our last time there was 2015. The next time we go to Philippines I don't feel safe visiting Hong Kong because my social media criticism of the CCP might get me arrested. A damned shame.
If you are from US, i can recommend Seoul or Tokyo, if you are from Europa, i can recommend Bangkok, Singapore or Kuala Lumpury.
@@ueks69 I don't know about Seoul, but in Tokyo you would need two weeks of quarantine to leave the airport. It's the same in a lot of Asian countries at the moment.
jesus get a grip
The two of you will never know the full extent of your impact on the world through this medium. I can't tell you what you've both meant to an individual like me, and I can't fathom the depth of your impact on the rest of us. Thank God you got out when you did. I am so glad to see you here. I hope this is not only a move that buys you a little more time, but is a continuance of your goals.
Our window into the Chinese experience has closed and the drapes have been drawn. I am sad that we have lost this insight, but grateful that the two of you and your families are on this side of it with us.
As someone who has a Chinese girlfriend and was planning to go and stay in there this kind of videos def changed my mind
I was detained and deported from China month ago it was nightmare! no body knew where i was and what happened to me, all my rights of making a phone call or asking for lawyer were refused and that goes for almost all the foreigners! they even lied to council when she finally found me and constantly called the prison, they told her that i was detained for 1 day, when it was actually almost 4 weeks already!there are foreigners.who are more than 8 months and no one knows they are there. i helped few guy to get out by calling their embassies and families but there are stil soo many of them and most important for no reason! the whole thing which happened the night i got detained and other foreigners was a pure raid on foreigners.i contributed 15 years to.China i do export business never been involved in any crime or shady things, but got treated as a top criminal!. now im coping with new life trying to move forward i.think i.have more opportunities now. i do love China but after all not feeling to go back.
Mind my asking why they detained you?
@@toddventura7191 there is no reason when they detain you. They make examples of westerners and people that they want to make out as enemies of the state
@@icet6665 Did you mot read? He wrote, “i do export business never been involved in any crime or shady things, but got treated as a top criminal”
@@icet6665 Well, since China blocks this site among many others, I’m not hearing “their” side. Unless you’re gonna admit being a China propagandist or doing something illegal.
@@icet6665 NO NEED TO SHOUT.
I met a Uighur in the U.S that said he overstayed his student visa to escape. His whole family was taken and that was two years ago so he hasn't heard from them in 4 years. Sad reality.
"I'm just a UA-camr"
Pretty sure you're an investigative journalist. Should get an award.
Amen!!!! Seriously 😳 HUGE AWARD...
He should honestly go into investigate journalism for real and start peeling away China on the world stage. It's absolutely necessary for the years to come. Were going to have a massive issue with China and the only way we can beat them is by policy and policy is influenced by public opinion and that is influenced by truth through journalism.
Pretty sure he spread "Chinese built it in a lab" propaganda.
@@TheBigGSN5 he has a video, and no, he doesn't say that 🤨🙄
That's exactly why police was looking for him. Unlicensed journalism.
Thank you for sharing your story. This is so scary. I married my Chinese husband in America 4 years ago. He now holds a green card and works in the US. But at the beginning of our relationship, while he was finishing up his doctorates, he suggested me and my son move back to China with him. I considered it, not knowing how controlling the Chinese government is. Due to certain circumstances, we stayed in the States & I slowly began to learn about the difficulties of Hong Kong and Chinese government. I am beyond grateful I never moved there. I am a Latina, I naturally speak my mind about things I don't approve of & now I realize that had I gone to China my own personality could have put me in jail.
I told my husband that if he had to ever move back to China, I would not go and neither would our children. The American government has sooooo many flaws, but at least I don't live in fear of going to jail for speaking my mind or being an activist in this country.
I really hope you, your wife, and child are safe and stay safe from here on out!
I feel for your husband. It must be sad for him to see all this stuff going down. I am thankful for all the videos these two have put out, I learned of the beauty of china and the uniqueness of their people but also of the hidden horrors going on because of the CCP. I wanted to see the great wall of china, the old temples and the "old" china that is fast disappearing but alas, will stick to videos. You couldn't pay me to go there now, especially with the increasing animosity towards foreigners. Best wishes!
no, in america u dont get put in jail for speaking out, u get kicked to the ground and shot by police dressed in full military gear
@@deathgamer8086 chill out, kid
@@deathgamer8086 Yes, I agree. This is why I dislike America too. Innocent lives are lost here. And this is why I, we, protest.
I am a Chinese American I support President Trump ! White Lives matters and I hate those Black Riots! And I hate CCP!
The current situation in Hong Kong is literally insane, I feel like the Chinese government has always done stuff like this, but under such a light smoke screen?
Its because they no longer fear what the rest of the world will think or do
@@jamesfry8983 It's at least in part because things are so bad with the economy in China that the Party is weak, and the ruling faction has to show the other factions how "strong" they are.
It's also a sop to the jealousy of the Shanghai faction, who resent HK's financial success... not being willing to admit that HK was so successful precisely because it was not governed by pure PRC "law" which make it impossible to be a world class financial center.
China always use a facade to show the world a different image of CCP. Just look at all the "donation" of mask they show, or the "achievement" they made. The very fact that this Pandemic change everything. CCP no longer need to put on their masks, they screw up and they knew it, that's why they just throw away the mask and show their true face.
To understand more, watch Xu Xiaodong, the Chinese MMA who exposed Fake Kungfu Masters and the prices he paid. That's why you no longer see how "great Chinese Kung fu" and craps since 2017.
That's how the Nazis started their expansionism. First they try the waters by trying to take on & annex smaller or politically less significant areas. Then if the World doesn't pay significant heed to it, they get more and more aggressive every time.
@@jamesfry8983 Spot on, all foreigners in China need to smile BIG and be VERY polite and courteous and gtfo ASAP
Dude I f'n LOVE your channel and I love hearing yours and Winston's stories.
I feel like people aren’t giving the right importance of what is happening in Hong Kong, the life as they knew it for million of its citizens just ended and many will have to emigrate, I just can’t believe how people can’t ignore that.
But after all they didn’t take much time to forget the “re-education camps” in China...
I’m just so sad...
Everybody knew what would happen back in 1997, everybody just hoped for it not to be so soon. Hope it doesn't get too bad.
We didn't forget. Just... what do you do about an atrocity like that taking place WELL inside the borders of a country with a functioning military? Economic pressure from boycotting goods is still the most effective and fastest way to change that. (Still an agonizingly slow process for us outside observers tho)
@Arbiter Lite
The UK ran Hong Kong, so there is a lot that is similar. At least to me, being from another country.
They will be ok with the differences.
@@kin2naruto
China completely depends on exports for its wealth. It could be destroyed if everyone stops buying Chinese made goods. Factories are moving out.
Unemployment could see the CCP toppled. More likely, a change of leadership.
What makes you think we ignore it?
I often joke around in your comments, but wow man this is so raw! Been watching your channel from way back!
I've been binge watching your and adv media's content for the past few weeks. From one American to another, welcome back home! I escaped from China 8 years ago and was naturalized last year. I really appreciate what you and Winston are doing, you guys are real inspirations. There is never a more important time for people to wake up to see the dangous of CCP and Chinese establishment.
@ Has it been that long ? Damn i've been watching this channel for like 6 years now.
@Jinlin Are you wanted by CCP?
@ Dennis, who said otherwise?
Welcome to America even if it is a little late.
You are so important man. Your point of view is extremely valuable.
Wow China looks so beautiful and their culture and and everything would seems really cool but that government makes me never want to visit that place
I want escape from the hell too. But it's hard to do so because it needs a lot of money to apply for a visa
I wanted to travel to China and Hong Kong. Not now.
It's a beautiful country. Yeah the goverment is one thing but it doesn't reflect it's people and it's not like you're gonna end up like laowhy having to flee the country cause as a normal foreigner living there the government is not out there to get you lol
@@JustLIkerapunzel I agree with that. I never spoke to Chinese people about politics, and overall I wouldn't now either. Generally I'm sure people just want to get on with their lives, be peaceful, be with their families. But it's true, I think for most foreigners you're pretty safe in China. But I was constantly aware that I was probably being watched/listened to to some degree. Also, any foreigner going to China should be aware of the situation and what they're getting themselves into by going there. Abide by the local laws and you'll be fine.
Ruth Fletcher well the Chinese government is pretty alert by so-called “foreign forces” trying to infiltrate their country(as they imagine). So if you really have to be in mainland China, you gotta be really really careful coz they can take you to jail with any nonsense reason.
It's a darned good thing that the Hong Kong Security Law hadn't passed before you had escaped, otherwise you would have *STILL* gotten busted.
So how *did* you finally get your wife and baby out?
The security law can't be applied retroactively so that can't use it go after people that did things in the past.
@@aminboumerdassi2334 hahahahaha, it's china we're talking about
@@aminboumerdassi2334 CCP has a history of retroactively persecuting for things they don't like. Law has zero meaning to them.
@@holyomega3093 Also history of disappearing people wherever they reside in the world
@@aminboumerdassi2334 I actually heard in the news that the law is retroactive
From one western dude who's life has ended up revolving around China and feels like he stands on the frontlines of the battle between the CCP and the rest of the world, to another, you have my admiration and wishes for a shit load of luck.
He went to China for money
Alert! 50 Cent Army Incoming!
@@HentaiSenseiLCP lol, I was today years old when I learned of 50 cent army.
@R Lee U He's saying as if he is in the frontline and blablala
Agree,I remember my grandmother barely escaped China after 1949 to Hong Kong.
But now I have to escape Hong Kong to Canada
You guys are classic, there will never be any documentary about China like yours.
Loved every episode and also the truth that was shared. You are epic!
Hurry folks. Downloads their vids. They may soon be gone.
I remember leaving you a message a while back on Patreon telling you to get out of China soon! I’m glad you got out when you could! 👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Sorry to hear that Bro. They really are paranoid of foreigners. Especially given all the pushback from foreign countries as of late. How come they couldn't find your address in Govt databases? You had to register yourself...
Lol maybe he gave them a fake address 😂
@@Wingzero90939 hmm ok. I know sometimes it can be haters registering baseless Police reports too
They wanted him to leave rather than arrest him. So they scared the ever-loving spit out of him to ensure that he would in the hope that he would stop making videos. Arresting a foreign filmmaker is much more likely to create problems for China than someone who voluntarily leaves and perhaps goes silent.
Not to mention that if he ever does make a video about it (like this) it is also a kind of propaganda for the might of the CCP and its abilities to find you and hunt you down.
@@JaffarTube They had an OLD address. He had not reported moving, and the place where he lived was not in his name, but his wife's. If they had put 2 and 2 together, they might have figured it out, but I don't know if they track their OWN citizens' residences as rigorously as they track those of foreigners.
The man shouting was enjoying his freedoms for the last time
Why for the last time?
Security: basically saying are you trying to escape to this place where there is a very high chance you might try to flee the mainland
laowhy86:nO
Security: Understandable, Have a nice day
Needed this funny comment in this bleak situation.
@@e.n.strowd1949 I feel you, this video has my stomach doing flips >_
you would be surprised. Have you not noticed the sudden lack of options and requirements just to find work in the U.S. regarding smart homes.
Maybe the policewoman just wanted to give him a chance to escape, but needed to ask him just so she could say she did. China's government may be cruel, but that doesn't mean every single person working for them is completely heartless. Maybe our man just got lucky.
@@chasingsunsets87 Yeah I have noticed about that, the pandemic hit us all hard man. But there are organizations doing something about it thankfully.
Even if you'r out of China, make sure to watch your back.
that woman was 100% telling you not to return by _making sure you returned._ I know that's hard to explain to half of people but that's how everything works. I actually found it elucidating to how WASPy snobberinos in my own culture behave. Classic: _I Love You = You Better Not Disappoint Me_
She was the true hero of his story
Have you considered that YOUR name should be snoberino??
@@solomonreal1977 _oooo, good one. I haven't heard a fresh idea like that since recess. Got me, well done_
as person who lived under communism in europe(well briefly , not that old but herd various real life stories) i also think so , maybe she even watched his content (she knew his name so ether she knew him or knew he is wanted or knew his YT) , i could be wrong as we never will know true motivvaction and what happened but its plausible.
@@JayLeePoe no one cares about you italicized text
You guys are amazing and apparently fearless. Your voice speaks for many who dont have one. i appreciate what you have done and do. Hats off to you!
Hi C-Milk, pardon me for my insinuation but I always thought that Winston would be targeted by CCCP before you. But, then I realised your US passport and the deteriorating political situation made you target one. You are a very professional presenter but I believe I can detect your pain, anger, fear but mostly sadness for you and your family's (maybe more fear for extended family) predicament. I wish I could mouth reassuring platitudes that things will work out for the good as in movies but I feel corruption and lies and self-deception are seemingly growing at this time worldwide (yes, I'm not a fan of both China and US leadership). I hope people will see the light but cynical about the future. I wish you and ALL your family wel now and in the future.
He has his family safely in the US now.
@Justine Carrington Funny, China prefers Trump over Biden. US relations are likely to deteriorate no matter who wins later this year, but with Trump, China will be facing a less competent America who has worse relations with America's allies, while Biden will be the opposite. Biden has also said in a debate that China has concentration camps for Uyghurs. I'm sure China would not want the next president of America to be someone who has publicly said that.
China doesn't want problems with Africa which might have protected him a bit...
Also he has allways been far more cautious when making his videos..
@@cinemapigeon4898 bidens son works with Chinese Companies.
He went their after the rubbish he did in the Ukraine.
Biden took his son to China and introduced him to the companies....
The dems are involved a lot with CCP based companies..
Moral relativism is cancer. The US is a literal freedom utopia paradise relative to China 🖕🏼
Requiring a journalist license is all you need to know about the CCP.
@Trista Fravel Not really the same. The company who will hire you wants you to be educated in journalism, therefor you have to educate your self. Just like if you want to be a teacher, the school wants you to have a degree in education, so they know you can deliver quality to your students.. Just like any job really. You dont have to overthink it.
@Trista Fravel Meanwhile in reality, you're totally wrong. To even compare the 2 as functionally the same in effect is so beyond idiotic, there's not even a word for it.
@@corey2232 seemed to be a trigger there.
@Trista Fravel You overthink it too much.
My parents went to visit China for a week, and the whole time, I was freaking out, worried the CCP was gonna snatch them up, especially my stepdad, who's super outwardly critical about the CCP. I mean, my entire family is, especially me, but he's the kind of guy who just can't shut up sometimes.
Hope there safe still!
I'm sorry but the ccp wouldnt do that. My grandparents and family went to China and they didn't worry because when you go to other countries you need to abide by there laws. Same if people come to my country. If you come here you must abide by my laws too. You cannot visit countries thinking you can do whatever you want.
And did anything happen to them?? I guess not, so what does that tell you??
@@ruprechtmudorc2115 they didn’t notice him.
@@dlp-2k you just contradicted yourself
Western college students shilling for CCP: "Yeah well, China is still a paradise"
Take a trip on a fishing boat to Taiwan, don't tell anyone your intentions then pop-up in the US 3 weeks later.
Taiwan is the real China.
@@orangutank626 get all the culture without the communism.
But what about his wife and Child?
he pulled it off!!! is all that matters he must NOT "devulge" too much info as it could compromise any help he had from.anybody on the way out !!! :this is called an "
"UNDERGROUND RAILWAY " and in order for it to continue funtioning effectively it HAS to remain hidden and secret!!!! DONT ASK DONT TELL LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS jic fyi THIS IS WARFARE !!!!!! wake up !!!!
@@whirledpeaz5758 They're all in the US.
This needs to be on trending. Now. It highlights the dangers of allowing anybody: a corporation, government or culture to crush free speech is scary
Ur stupidity fears me most
I'm confused. Should we be turning him in to the Chinese government?
there's a popular German song which main line is " Freiheit, Freiheit, ist das Einzige, was zählt." , it translates to " freedom , freedom, is the only thing that counts"
China doesn't approve
@@sd-wc9ep -10 points for saying that.
@@thanosmom9118 +10 points for reporting an enemy of the state
@Ip zen I know plenty who would willingly starve to be a martyr of freedom
@Ip zen Ive done that, it's not to bad as long as you have water. Whats really scary is is when you don't know when you will eat again
Keep up the great work Laowhy and thank you for all that you do. 👍
The police officer that let you go is being “reeducated” now.
more like organ harvested
Instead of the usual free monthly "Playboy Channel" and a combo of all "The Walking Dead" tv series
It's not funny. It's sad. She let him go? That one individual's mind is now …? a governmental liability? That female governmental employee is now in danger for abuse by her superiors. Whoa.
You know... we joke about them being re-educated or organ harvested. And I get it - I probably would have joked about it at one time too. But after seeing how brutally the CCP treated their supposed enemies, I shudder at the thought of the reality these people who are still stuck in that situation have to live with. Maybe they purposely let him go because they didn't want to live with themselves for being involved in a crime that destroyed someone else's life. Or perhaps it was an oversight because the government is tracking so many people, and after a 12 hour shift they just couldn't focus or give a damn. I just hope and pray that the Chinese people can somehow find their way through this mess and finally be free.
@@omegajoe7014 A surprising amount of people are willing to risk their livelihoods to do something good. At Tiananmen, many army officers like Xu Qinxian refused to massacre the civilians.
Thats literally one of my worst fears: to be wrongfully imprisoned in another country, especially not a western country. Reminds me of Brokedown Palace ☠
Why wrongfully ? He said that he broke the state law. He is not a licensed reporter and has been interviewing citizens.
@Katrina Morningstar lol that is a dumb question
Lord Farquaad what kind of question?
Although I agree with you, there are several western countries where I do not want to end up in jail, especially the US
Katrina Morningstar why should people be licensed to do any work? Say a licensed painter, esthetician, or prostitute.
The brave people of Hong Kong deserve the tools to defend their freedoms
Where is the cia when u really need them wtf these idiots even supplied terrorists with wepons and it back fired
mavric 101 CIA is an American organization. They have no authority outside the US
@@brianisme6498 that didn't stop them in the past to support all kind of groups and organisations outside the USA. Learn history
Careful man, I already encountered some members of the 50cent army, who threatened to report me to CCP, cause I recommended HK protesters to take up arms :D Can't recall how he called it, But it was along the lines of causing civil armed unrest and danger to the independent HK government (That statement made me laugh) But yeah, It's too late to arm them anyway, that's it, part of article 23 is that PLA can patrol in Hong Kong...
@@Rfhdvcgf They are there, just not at the proactive capacity, CIA stand for central INTELLIGENCE agency, so they're mostly collecting information on what's going on, PLA movements and so on.
What blows me away is how long it took for this to happen. I remember watching content years ago from you and your partner, and feeling anxious even then. I guess it took your actively being pursued by the government for you to wake up. All I can say is you are incredibly lucky that whistleblower had your back. *You owe that person your life!*
Honestly you were foolish to be a foreign youtuber in China in the first place. Without the whistleblower, your story would have ended exactly the way I had expected when I first found your channel: another disappearance at the hands of the CCP.
I feel I can never go back myself it just doesn’t feel safe anymore. Glad you and your family were able to escape China. God bless
I'm shocked that this hasn't happened to you earlier. I've been watching you for a few years now and I've just been waiting for the day that this would go down. I hate that this is happening to you, but I'm shocked that it hadn't happened sooner. So I feel like you and Winston are incredibly lucky on one hand and terribly unlucky on the other. In reality though, the CCP just does what they want and luck really has nothing to do with it. I hope you guys find safe sanctuary and settle down in a great place. My heart goes out to you, Winston, your family, and his family. Come back home and help us make sure that what happens in China can't ever happen here.
Maybe the ccp should do what most people say they do instead of let these idiots walk around, 🚔🔪
This should be watched by every American and beyond. I’ve waited a long long time to hear this story
J C this would be wasted on your US population as too focused on what's happening in US sadly
Machelle Perham No need to care. All you need is strong army and strong FBI, CIA and strong dark projects that work for the US. So people can focus on the US only. No need to think of foreign countries. Thnx
DI MI fair call, I agree with you entirely
Smart of you to record/document everything
So heartbreaking. I went to China in 2008. My husband and kids are part Chinese. I love Chinese culture... The CCP is so evil
9:29 "Everyone has a cellphone on their camera" is actually technically correct.
It was a cell phone before it had a camera
@@krazyshady902 As far as consumers go, cameras existed well before cellphones.
dw i will make America into another China.
You got were lucky at the border Matt. They were waiting for you but weren't as prepared as they could have been. Had you answered their questions any different, you would have been detained for questioning. Quick thinking on you part to give them the answers they needed to hear, and keeping it short. The border guard and the policewoman were probably in some "hot water" after you crossed for not doing their due diligence per given instructions. I am certain that they were waiting for you to cross back to make your way back from Hong Kong, and you would have been sacked and not seen again. I am so glad you made it, and now are safe to shared with us this delicate and personal story. I think I speak for thousands of others who follow you, almost at a level of a friend, that this feels like a huge win for the home side. One day when you write a movie script for this escape, and you cast Winston as your "Transporter" in his black suit and tie, we will all pay gladly to see it. Cheers on reuniting with your beautiful family and all the best to you all. Hope we hear about a new addition to the family real soon. Spread your wings, fill your boots, and breath easy. Welcome home, we're glad to have you back.
I'm not sure what I think about how Matt slipped through. Some say that they wanted him out, and he saved them lots of money by getting the hell out at his own expense. Some say if the long arm of CCP wanted to nab him, they would have. Surveillance is a pretty thick dragnet, esp. in communist China, w/out all those pesky human rights laws in the way. Still, I'm sure there's plenty of ineptitude, it's a massive country and he wouldn't be top priority. Like yourself, I'm glad he got out safely and w/ his whole family w/ him. Vincent and his family too.
In the end, I lean towards they messed up and both V and M slipped through. They had to know, as outspoken as these two already were, that if they did get out, and their naivety and goodwill to China morphed, that they would dish and dish hard. The gloves sure came off once they were in the free west again. I've thoroughly enjoyed watching it and finding out how it really Really is there.
Hi 👋 you and Mr Serpentza are awesome 👏👏👏 I gotta say how immensely proud I am just to know off the two of you and the good you are able to bring the table vis-à-vis this world of ours!
My heartfelt gratitude for yours and Winston’s dedication to enlighten us all with your knowledge 🙏
Respectfully, Grace 🩰
Now let's protect Taiwan from China.
How? I guess Taiwan will be the next Hongkong! :-(
It was protected until Richard Nixon decided to recognise the PRC instead of the ROC for no f*cking reason other than ‘these communists are not as bad as the other communists’. Make stupid decisions, get stupid results.
RPC is the biggest manufacturer in the world they need the factories not saying that RPC is good but they had to do it.
@icecool1616 dude, that's nothing to be impressed about. Dictatorships always result in faster development of a country. Remember how Germany re-armed themselves in a few decades after they were devastated by WW1?
@@hyperion3704 It is mostly about education and technologies they got from the west
As a Taiwanese I wanted to say there is a saying is called 危邦不入， it means don’t enter dangerous country . So I’m always very careful about it never been to China in my entire life and I won’t either .... take care best wishes to you and your family...
as a mainland Chinese, I would like to quote "纸上得来终觉浅，绝知此事要躬行", hope you can visit different places in mainland, not heard by youtube biased blogger.
@@banq2878 biased? you joking right? it is his opinion and he's free to criticize, and what you're doing just now shows how much of his opinion is true.
@@banq2878 nice CCP bot
@@banq2878 here's an idea. How about you stop listening to the CCP, and listen to the rest of the world. Paid douche bag.
@@banq2878 10 yuan has been deposited in to your account.
This is so scary and disturbing. It took a lot of courage to post this. When I was in college, my roommate for 2 yrs was from China, and she returned there after she got her degree. She was an amazing person but her stories were so disturbing. 🇺🇸❤️
so what's her stories?
@@jessica-tv6ep let’s just say I never want to go there lol she and I still keep in touch over WeChat
@@cwt2266 i hope you're not talking smack about china on wechat. That can get your friend in trouble, seriously.
At my previous work, i was trying to schedule a meeting via email with my colleagues in China and Korea. For some reason, the emails I sent were reaching Korea but not China. I had a hunch for why this was happening and I googled the date of the planned meeting and my hunch proved correct. The date of the meeting I proposed in my emails coincided with the anniversary of the tiananmen square massacre. I am confident that is the reason because all other emails sent before and after went through fine. Using certain key words in your digital messages to China can get you censored and I imagine, worse yet, potentially land you or the person you are communicating with on their "spy" list.
@@akikozu7444 Tiananmen square massacre never happened. Please watch the film “Ask No Questions”, it details all of the misinformation and lies the ccp released about Falun Gong at the time
@@izzy031096 Sure. I'll believe it when the country stops trying to censor any information that it finds inconvenient. My friends in HK and Taiwan can tell you all about censorship and how real it is.
I 1000% agree that you and Serpentza gave a positive view of China. Your interactions with the people there have been amazing to watch. I always felt the two of you did a great job with balancing Chinese social restrictions with showing the truth by focusing more on your authentic interactions with people. Your advice about Chinese kitchens is gold. You made me want to visit. Sad to see such a crackdown on freedom. Much love. (Don’t know how I’m just now watching this. Been subscribed for years and seen plenty of vids of you back in the US. Weird.)
WHAT😳 Jeezus
How did Winston escape considering you were practically joined at the hip doing the same thing. There must be an accompanying Winston escape story somewhere.
C-Milk's pinned top comment said that story is the topic of Winston's Friday video.
@@johnhoog8279 Hopefully he tells it i would love to hear it.
@@johnhoog8279 I don't see a video on that topic on his channel :/ .... Is it the 4 types of foreigners video?
@@AlvinBrinson no, I saw that video. It must be a new one coming this Friday. Should be very interesting!
Alvin Brinson This Friday coming so tommorow
This is terrifying. America isn’t perfect but I’d much prefer to be here than somewhere where freedom of speech isn’t an actual protected “law”.
Go out and tell that you are against or for BLM. Say it loud. So at least 20 people can hear you. They will demonstrate on you freedom of speech... 🤣
American is literally the only country where freedom of speech is a right and not a privilege.
@@davesomeone4059 on a paper. In practice??? Try it beside keyboard. Try it in person. Go and speak...... 🤣
I get it guys. But I’m just saying from a standpoint of we can’t be Locked up by our govt if we speak out against our president or some idiot in congress/the house etc. We wouldn’t have the army chasing us if we posted a UA-cam video about American govt being shit. That doesn’t protect us against the opinions of others whose voices maybe louder than our own tho of course. And yes unfortunately sometimes your opinion might get you in trouble but not legally (except something like slander yes yes there is always some exception someone can point out in the comment sections lol)
any british n american just explains this to me if any guy who even isnt ur countires citizen does he really have the right to split ur states as different parts? like making US to be 50 different countires n UK as 4 independent states? i know Britain is different, but Scottish, u really want forienger ppl to interfere in ur own matter? n aftermath countrol ur petroleum resources？
this is sad AF, just last year befor the Huawei thing in canada i was like man i need go visit china (cause of you guys content) and now this almost at war with china
Apocalix You can still go to China. You won’t be randomly arrested. Huawei’s Meng arrest in Canada had a lot of hidden context than it seems. As long as you don’t talk about Chinese politics, China is very safe to visit.
AthenaCannon I wouldn’t advise going there. Geopolitics heating up too much.
@@AthenaCannon that's simply not true...
@Steve Slade it's not going to to that escalate
@@AthenaCannon Till they decide to make an example out of you and or turn you into propaganda. You could do literally nothing and they could arrest you and say you are spying or doing god knows what and no one in that country would bat an eye.
Thanks for your courage and reports about China. So happy that you and your family made a way out safely. I totally understand the danger as an former expatriate myself.