Videos: Multiple Protests Pop Up Across China | China in Focus

Welcome to China in Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Our top story. Protesters scuffling with police officers in different parts of China. Those seeking justice range from drivers to online retailers and would-be homeowners. More on what triggered the protests. Flooding continuing to devastate regions across China. Plus, Typhoon Kaimi has made landfall on China's eastern coast. Ukraine's top diplomat visits China. He's seeking Beijing's help to broker a peace deal with Russia. What is Ukraine asking for in the deal? And is Russia ready to accept? And three Chinese students have been arrested in South Korea. That's for taking pictures of an American aircraft carrier with a drone. Welcome to China in Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. A wave of protests breaking out inside China. In southwestern Sichuan, footage shows police officers getting into verbal disputes with protesters. Officers were seen pulling a man in a green shirt towards them, their hands on his neck. A video caption says residents were protesting against a wastewater treatment plant project. The standoff has lasted over two weeks. Another clip shows police officers charging into a crowd to retrieve a metal barricade and pull it back in place. At the scene, a loudspeaker message was broadcast. Anyone who interferes with police officers as they carry out their duties will be briefly arrested and detained. Those who have committed crimes will be held accountable. A separate clip shows dozens of police officers on the street. Moving to China's southern Guangzhou, video clips show hundreds of people gathered at the Guangzhou headquarters of Timu, a popular online shopping platform. The protesters say they are sellers that use the platform, and they have reportedly been fined by Timu for unknown reasons. Security officers were spotted on the scene. NTD reached out to Timu for a comment, but did not hear back before airtime. In Hebei, footage captured a standoff between residents and some security personnel. The protesters that were dragged away reportedly purchased apartment units in buildings nearby, but the buildings have been left unfinished and under construction for seven years. Switching to northeastern Shandong, a group of rideshare drivers took to the streets. One protester was carried away by police officers and forced into a police vehicle. The video caption says the protesters are drivers. It adds that the ridesharing platform they work for refused to release their money, and the company owner is reportedly on the run. Next, here's the latest on the extreme weather pummeling China. On Wednesday, China issued its very first red alert for a typhoon this year. China's authorities sent out the highest level alert to the nation, urging residents to get ready for Typhoon Gaimi's arrival. Gaimi has already been wreaking havoc in Taiwan and the Philippines. In the coming days, forecasters say the typhoon will hit southeastern and central China as well as Beijing. The storm marks the third typhoon to smash into the country this year. Turning to the ongoing flood situation across China. A few days ago, the Shibao River in Baoji was severely flooded. The water from upstream came down along with silt, and cars were swept away. I went there the day before yesterday. Eight cars in the ditch were carried downstream, and 13 people were washed away. Taxis were swept away, and thick trees were also carried away. Last Friday, a highway bridge in the province collapsed, causing at least 25 vehicles to plunge into the rushing river below. The official report says at least 12 people were found dead as of Sunday, and 31 still remain missing. It's worth noting that China has a history of covering up death tolls to protect its reputation. Besides Shanxi, other provinces in central China are also suffering flood damage. A resident from one disaster-hit region echoed the reservoir accusations. She said the surges rushed into rivers and submerged streets. Many cars were submerged or even mangled by debris. Residents from Sichuan also made similar reports. The houses close to the riverbank are all flooded, and there are landslides everywhere. The landslides have washed away those houses, and this is just a small river. We don't dare to go near the big river. It's already flooded up to the bridge, and the bridge is in danger. The southwestern province of Sichuan experienced severe flood conditions on Wednesday, alongside heavy wind and uprooted trees. At least 14 have been found dead in the region. Over two dozen more are still missing. Flood waters also submerged tunnels in Zhengzhou city. We'll keep you updated as the situation develops. Heavy rainfall began drenching northwest China's Shanxi province early last week, but residents there report that something is making the already severe downpour worse. Sudden surges of runoff from local dams and reservoirs. Media reports highlight that the practice is a common one during flood season, where Chinese authorities will order the release of water to keep the infrastructure from overflowing. But locals say officials don't often warn the public ahead of time. That's to avoid being liable for compensating home and business owners for damages tied to the flash floods. Several residents told NTD that the situation is now getting censored inside China. Ukraine's top diplomat said Wednesday that he was open to talks with Russia if Russia was prepared to negotiate in good faith. He added he saw no evidence of that for now. Ukraine's foreign minister is just visiting China, seeking a peace deal with Russia through Beijing. The Kremlin responded that Ukraine's signal on talks appear to be in unison with Russia's own position, but that more details were needed. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been ongoing for two and a half years. Every effort to achieve peace has failed so far. What could the latest attempt look like, and why did Ukraine turn to China for help? We spoke to Andris Kor, publisher of the Journal of Political Risk and Principal at Kor Analytics, for his take. Andris Kor, thank you so much for joining us. Great to have you back on the show. Thank you. Now, Ukraine's foreign minister is seeking an agreement with Russia through China. This is during a visit there. Now, why this change from Ukraine? It may be a change. It may not be. I mean, these may be two diplomatic ships passing in the night. You know, if China accuses Ukraine, for example, of not being willing to negotiate, that could make Ukraine look bad. So the foreign minister visit going there on the heels of Zelensky saying that Russia's not willing to negotiate in good faith is all sort of more of the same, arguably. If you saw Zelensky follow up with a visit to Beijing, I think that would show some kind of real change. How do you read China's role here, given the no limits partnership that China and Russia has? What's in it for China? I think China is trying to prepare the diplomatic and geopolitical situation for its goal, which is to be ready for a military option in Taiwan by 2027 or 2028. That is what people are looking at. By that time, Russia will be able to revive and strengthen its own military, rebuild its military because it's been hollowed out a bit from the war. And also Iran may have a nuclear weapon by that time. So what we're looking at is 2027 as a real focal point. Also, the other big issue, of course, is the Trump presidency. Trump has said he would end the war on day one. We'll see how that works. But he may twist the arm of Zelensky or may twist the arm of Putin, we would see. But I think this is also in play. So Ukraine may be trying to negotiate an agreement now when Biden is in power, as opposed to later when they may have an eroded position under a Trump administration. Speaking of Trump, both Trump and his pick for VP, J.D. Vance, have signaled that their administration would not be as supportive of Ukraine as this current Biden administration. How do you view that potential Trump-Vance administration playing into this move by Ukraine here? A lot of Americans are sick of the war. Of course, Ukrainians are sick of the war, people don't want to pay higher taxes, they don't want to risk getting involved directly in the war. France has already threatened basically to put French troops on the ground in Ukraine, which could pull in American troops. World War I and World War II, these alliances start getting pulled into wars one country at a time. And it's a big risk. So I think that what the Trump-Vance administration would do would be to try to quickly move us out of the war, even if that might mean conceding some territory in Ukraine, Crimea, the Donbass region, which is what Russia has occupied. And that has pluses and minuses. You could see an unraveling essentially of the international system of law, and it could increase global instability, especially leading up to 2027, when China might look at that as something that would add to pave the way for its own invasion of Taiwan. Anders Kor, thank you so much for your time. Thank you. And in South Korea, three Chinese students are under arrest. They were apprehended Tuesday, and Korean police are now investigating whether they violated the country's Military Protection Act. That's after they showed great interest in an American aircraft carrier. The Korea Jungang Daily reported that three Chinese nationals were caught flying a drone toward the naval base in Busan. Local police say they were taking unauthorized photos of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, which was docked at the base. The photographs were taken on June 25, according to the Jungang Daily. That's the same day President Yoon Seok-yol visited the aircraft carrier for an inspection. The Theodore Roosevelt recently arrived in South Korea for the Freedom Edge drills. Those are three-way exercises that also involve Japan. The aim is to address heightened regional threats following a new security pact between North Korea and Russia. The Theodore Roosevelt is the second U.S. carrier to visit the region in the past seven months. The voyage came amid rising tensions there. High-ranking officials from the U.S. and Japan plan to hold security talks this weekend. For the first time, the talks will cover nuclear deterrence and the U.S. commitment to using nuclear forces to protect allies. The talks will also include efforts to deepen cooperation between defense industries, plus coordination at the commander level of both countries. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will hold meetings with Japanese counterparts. In April, Washington and Tokyo announced a historic upgrade to their alliance. That's as they look to deter rising regional threats from China, Russia and North Korea. Worth noting, part of Japan's territory is only around 60 miles away from Taiwan. And Beijing maintains it will take control of Taiwan by force if necessary. More than one-third of U.S. troops stationed overseas are deployed in the region. Japan provides a base for the U.S. to project its military power in Asia. It hosts a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group and hundreds of U.S. aircraft. A grassroots movement is making waves among overseas Chinese. Hundreds of millions of Chinese have renounced the Chinese Communist Party, or CCP. The movement is called Tuidang, translated from Chinese as quit the Chinese Communist Party. It's been gaining ground among Chinese people for two decades. As of this month, more than 433 million Chinese have formally relinquished their ties to the party, with help from the Tuidang website. The online platform is run by the Global Service Center for Quitting the CCP, based in Flushing, New York. Some of them used their real names to quit, while others assumed pseudonyms for their safety, fearing possible retaliation from the Chinese regime. A former CCP member with pseudonym Love Freedom wrote about his decision to quit. He explained that he used tools to bypass China's internet firewall and access information from overseas websites. Through it, he came to learn that the Chinese Communist Party has relied on lies and violence to establish its rule, and that to solidify its power, the party has no qualms about harming Chinese people. He called the party a rare cancer in society. Under the name Li Weilie, another Chinese national shared their experience, saying they first joined the party in order to get promoted at work, but now they, quote, deeply regret the decision. Another person who quit using the name Xiao Liu claims to be one of the many Chinese people who entered the U.S. illegally through the southern border. He explained why he and his friends risked their lives to travel to America. He wrote, quote, the CCP has committed huge crimes and conducted extensive censorship, live organ harvesting under various pretexts, rampant corruption, brutally during the pandemic, and economic decline, adding that they could no longer tolerate it. That's all for today's China In Focus on YouTube. We're now sharing a shortened version of our program here after being demonetized for three years. If you'd like to support us, consider donating. Find us at DonorBox.org slash China-In-Focus, or subscribe to our partner platform, Epic TV, where you can watch our full episodes. Just click the link down below. Here's what to look out for in our second half. A Japanese steel giant distancing itself from China, ending two decades of cooperation. Has Washington played a role in the move? Taiwan's annual simulation drill is entering their third day. The Taiwanese president speaks out. And experts say China is working to export its digital totalitarianism overseas. How should the U.S. counter it? An expert chimes in. More on that after the break, here on China In Focus. Thanks for watching China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. See you tomorrow.