Americans Don’t Want to Hear This...

If you actually clicked on this video, good. This is a story that is life or death for millions of Americans, but it's not something most people want to hear. Welcome to China Uncensored, I'm Chris Chappell. There are a lot of things that China does that terrify me. That was actually the working title for the channel for a while. But what makes me even more afraid are the things that people just don't care about. That's right, this episode is me introducing you to new anxieties. Man, we really should be sponsored by Prozac. So today I'm talking to you about electric power grids. Don't click off, you attention-deficited Gen Zers. Sure, power grids aren't sexy, but they're kind of, maybe just a little bit important. See what I mean? You wouldn't be able to watch your TikToks either. Luckily, there is someone who cares. Earlier last week, Trump declared a national emergency to secure the US bulk power system. By banning foreign-produced transformers. Because they're more than meets the eye. Rest in peace, Peter Cullen. The ban also includes inverters, circuit breakers, and other electrical equipment. And by foreign-produced, this is really about China. Because they have the ability to sabotage the US electric grid, either intentionally or because, you know, made in China. This isn't the first time Trump has tried to ban equipment that could be used against the US power grid. Trump issued a similar order back in 2020, though it was never fully implemented because Biden suspended his grid order. I don't blame him, though, when you're that sleepy, you hope someone puts out the lights. But now Trump's back at it, and the timing couldn't be more relevant. Demand for electricity is getting higher than ever, with the rise of AI and data centers. Global conflicts demanding more defense production. And seeing actual gameplay footage of GTA 6, it's real. On top of that, it's important to protect the power grid for everything else we need just to keep life functioning, like health care, manufacturing, even basics like finance, water. And GTA 6, I swear if this gets released and there's a power outage, my wanted level in real life is going to go up. Back in 2019, the then-Deputy Director of Counterintelligence at the US Department of Energy warned there have been over 200 Chinese transformers that have come into the US energy sector in the last 10 years. Things have gotten worse since then. According to Wood Mackenzie, which is a global research firm and not an Irish lumberjack like its name makes it sound, US utilities imported more than 8,000 high-powered transformers from China through October 2025, up from fewer than 1,500 in all of 2022. And when it comes to inverters, according to a report by the research group Strider Technologies—no, not that Strider—by 2024, four of the top five inverter exporters to the US were Chinese companies. 86% of US utilities depend on companies with ties to the Chinese government and military. Oh boy, I mean, things between the US and China aren't great, you know, with China subsidizing fentanyl that kills more Americans every year than the entirety of the Vietnam War. But surely they wouldn't have any nefarious plans with the US power grid. Except, apparently, China has published thousands of research publications studying attacks to or vulnerabilities of power grids. Ahem. Well, at this point you might be thinking, things are pretty bad. Well, let me drop another bomb on you because it gets way worse because that bomb is a digital bomb China is strapping on US civilian infrastructure. China Uncensored, now with even more anxiety. The Chinese state-sponsored group Volt Typhoon, which is a great name for a Mega Man X villain, is pre-positioned for cyber attacks against critical US infrastructure. They were even inside major Massachusetts utility systems undetected for 10 months. Did you hear about this? Seems like kind of a big deal. Let me know in the comments if this was the first time you've heard about it. This kind of thing may not get much public attention, but it's the kind of groundwork that would do far more damage than bullets and missiles. That's why the FBI considers Volt Typhoon the defining threat of our generation. An Air Force cyber leader says they enable China to wage total war. I'm not talking about the games, either. To fight this threat, we need hearts of iron. Because using Chinese tech in America's power grid is a bad idea. For example, in November 2024, a number of solar power inverters installed at US homes were disabled by the Chinese manufacturer Ningbo Deya Technology. And then there's this. China has just unveiled a chilling new weapon, a so-called blackout bomb capable of plunging entire cities into darkness. In this animation from state-run CCTV, we can see how it works. It's a type of weapon called a graphite bomb that, while technically non-lethal, sprays fine filaments of carbon into electrical systems, shorting it out. And then the blackout kills a bunch of people. Not China. It's not just the electric grid that we have to worry about. There are also all the critical devices with backdoors that China's exporting, including internet routers, medical devices, and container cranes. At this point, I don't even trust Rock'em Sock'em robots. China does not care about hurting innocent civilians. They don't even care about hurting innocent civilians inside of China. China is like the serpent in the story of the farmer and the snake. What, were you expecting another video game reference? I also enjoy classic literature. Of course, Chinese state-run media would have you believe that all this worrying about Chinese equipment is just a political show that will actually hurt the US's energy needs. So buy more Chinese equipment, friends. Just ignore the research papers on attacking power grids. Or the blackout bombs. Unfortunately, far too many people don't see the problem. Gen Z especially aren't concerned about China. According to findings by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, most younger Americans don't see China as a critical threat to the United States and favor a policy of friendly cooperation and engagement. TikTok taught them that, so it's gotta be true. They believe this despite everything I just showed you. And honestly, I don't entirely blame Gen Z. If your whole understanding of China comes from an app owned by a company in Beijing, of course you think China's fine. But you are still here. You clicked on a video about transformers, and it didn't even have any actual transformers, and you still watched the entire thing. So congratulations, you now have a brand new anxiety. But here's the problem, though. YouTube does not want this episode. An episode about Chinese inverters and grid transformers does not go viral. And that makes it harder for me to do episodes like this. But you can help me short circuit this loop with our own Volt Typhoon. Become an official member of my China Uncensored 50-cent army. Go to ChinaUncensored.tv and click the big orange button. You'll get exclusive episodes we can't put on YouTube, livestreams with me, Matt, and Shelley, a chat community that is somehow not a complete hellscape, and the chance for me to answer your questions right here on the show. And you get to keep watching, even if YouTube one day decides to take this channel down. Because they decide it's misinformation to suggest that the country building blackout bombs might one day use a blackout bomb. But the real reason is simple. This threat doesn't get fixed by one video going viral. It gets fixed by enough people knowing about it that it can't be ignored anymore. And my 50-cent army helps me spread the word about the CCP. So click here or the link below and join the 50-cent army. And do it soon, because if the grid goes down before GTA 6 releases, I'm going to be genuinely upset. Once again, I'm Chris Chappell. Thanks for... Ah, crap.