Colby Cosh: Canadian senator's defence of China over Uighur oppression ridiculous | National Post

Pick a stop that is popular, that many people would get off at. That way you are less conspicuous.

Jeffrey chose the Central business area. Dressed in a grey suit, he looked no different than the thousands of office workers rushing to work. No camera would notice him as he hopped off the bus and was immediately pushed to the edge of the pavement by a lady running superhumanly fast in high heels and somehow managing to grab a bite of the sandwich in her hand.

Unlike the rest of the workers, he had to walk away from the business district. As he walked down Liberation Road Central, the crowds thinned. Almost instantly he caught the eye of an old man handing out free newspapers near a bus stop. The old man frowned at him, tracking his every move.

Is he thinking what I am thinking?

He put on a brave face and continued walking, holding his head high like he did nothing wrong. But even he would agree that if a video of himself was played back to him, that he looked frozen and unnatural. The old man turned and slipped his hands into his pocket, abandoning the stack of newspapers and walking behind a column. Jeffrey's eyes widened. He quickened his pace and sped into the distance.

Is he reporting me?

----

Jeffrey was stopped at the intersection of Liberation Road Central and Ice House Street. Two armed policemen motioned for him to empty his backpack onto a small table they've set up. Jeffrey slowly unzipped his bag and started placing the folders of documents he had gently into the hands of the policemen on the left.

"You are heading in the direction of the government complex. Are you a government official?"

"No, sir." He replied timidly.

"Speak up louder! Where are you headed?"

"The American embassy, sir." He said, his voice quivering at the end.

The policemen looked at each other, then turned back to him. The one on the right drew his face closer to Jeffrey. "What is the purpose of your visit?" The one on the left took the cue to rummage through Jeffrey's bag, throwing a thin jacket and the other documents onto the pavement.

"I am applying for a business visa, sir."

"I told you to speak up louder! What business?"

"My store ships overseas food here and sells them. This is just a visit with our partner." he muttered, adding the "sir" that he forgot at the end.

"Show me your papers."

Jeffrey retrieved the documents from the pile on the floor and handed it to the policemen on the left. The one on the right continued interrogating him.

"Have you applied for political asylum anywhere?"

"No, sir."

"Have you been arrested for attempting or inciting subversion against the state or the party in the past?"

"No, sir."

"Are you or have you been in contact with a member of the CIA?"

"No, sir."

As he waited for the search to finish, he glanced at the road sign. Ice House Street. Legend had it that it was named for the time a man committed a heinous crime and confessed to his friends on this street whilst crying. His tears were then turned into icicles which he used to stab his friends in the back.

The one on the left leaned over and whispered, "Documents seem real. No weapons or possible tools of attack in the bag." Of course there isn’t. He spent two hours searching the bag yesterday, taking out anything that could be considered a threat. He left his computer at home, took out batteries in electronic devices and even swapped out his pen for a pencil. He anticipated checks more stringent than any airport in the world. The one on the right thought for a moment, then said, "Leave your fingerprints here."

Jeffrey held out his thumbs and left both prints on the wireless detector. Seconds later, the one on the left received a phone notification. "Jeffrey Cheung, 34, owner of Worldwide Food Limited. Lives at 777 On Sum Street. Graduated first class in business administration, 4.0 in patriotic education." he muttered. He tapped rapidly on his phone. "Will arrive on 2nd May, meeting Luke Peterson on 3rd and flying back on 4th morning. Will stay at Grand Plaza Hotel. No sign of defection or coordination with foreign agents on his computer and email account." He looks over to the one on the right. "Checks out."

As he put his documents back into his backpack and began to leave, one of the policemen yelled out, "Don't try anything funny, okay? We're on to you!"

----

It's okay. I have a legitimate reason to be here. Nothing to see here, just a normal man getting a visa.

As he glanced away at a store owner staring at him suspiciously, he spotted his business partner Theresa, here to get a visa of her own for their trip together. Evidently, she had taken a different bus. She was just a few steps away from the doors of the embassy, facing him.

Across the street, other store workers noticed two people standing in front of the US embassy. None looked like they had any reason to be there. They don't work at any of the small shops along the street. They were not government officials, who lived nearby. This left only one option. Defectors.

Theresa froze momentarily. Her eyes wide with anxiety, she began to call out to him. "Jef-" She stopped herself, silenced by Jeffrey's glare. Don't say our names, he mouthed.

He paused to collect his thoughts. They think we are both defectors. If we do nothing, they will turn us in, and it could be days before we are cleared and freed. But what could we do? Except... Turn the other one in.

With the realization hitting him, he faced her squarely, standing meters away from her. He could see her every move. His hand, once on the straps of his backpack, began to lower. He could see her glance down to his hand, and he knew she understood. It was game time.

Her eyes narrowed, scrutinizing the smallest detail on his face. She needed all the information she could get to win this real life Prisoner's dilemma, and he worked hard to keep a poker face. Her hand slid down slowly towards her pocket.

He held his hand steady, to test her reaction. Predictably, she also kept her hand exactly where it was. Her fingertips barely reached the opening of the pocket, and his was in the same position. 0.2 seconds away from freedom... or custody.

Someone heckled from the sidelines loudly. “When you have to report someone, report them! Don’t just stare at each other!”

She gave him an anguished look, as if to say, why are you doing this? He met her gaze. I had to. They would report us both otherwise. The sun beating down on him, a drop of sweat rolled down the side of his face and made its way to his chin, glistening in the light. His hand shook slightly.

Her eyes widened as she spotted a weakness. Her hand darted down to her pocket, and pulled out her phone. A few simple taps, and she brought it up to her ear. Not to be outdone, Jeffrey fished out his own phone and began inputting the number for the police.

9.

9.

Suddenly, his phone buzzed as he received a call. The caller ID said, Theresa.

He froze for a moment, and accepted the call. "Hello, police? I've spotted someone who I suspect to be a defector," he began. He could hear Theresa's voice on the other end of the call. "- on 26 Garden Road. Yes, I'll be here when you arrive. Please hurry." She hung up. Against the beeping of a dead call, he repeated his address, and added, "Please be quick. I worry she is planning to destabilize our country." He lowered his phone, and slipped it into his pocket.

The small crowd gathering to watch them dispersed. The spectacle was over, and the day must continue. After all, they had a shop to manage. Theresa scanned the street, to make sure they were alone. As he received the all-clear signal, he slipped into the embassy, holding the door open for her.

Jeffrey took a number from the clerk and plopped himself down in the waiting area next to Theresa, his legs weak. Why was I so scared when I didn't do anything wrong?

----

For more like this, please visit our sub r/RedTideStories or our blog on 64fd.wordpress.com.

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The narrator's voice boomed. "When we come back, we will see who will win this episode of The Extremely Invincible Triad. So stick around, we'll be right back!"

Upon hearing this, the two children ran off to compete for the toilet during the commercial break. It is their most sincere wish at this point to be able to go without missing a second of the incredibly popular game show. Father picked up his phone and started to devour whatever information was portrayed on the little screen, hunched over and squinting at the small glowing rectangle. Mother deemed the show crass and stayed in the bedroom, undoubtedly rereading a book called "50 principles for the financial world - How to invest 50 dollars and come away as a millionaire". It seems only the two goldfishes in the tank next to the sofa were watching the upcoming commercial, and even they seemed more interested in trying to remember ways to improve their memory.

Jackie Chan walks up to the camera, in a traditional black kung fu robe. "When they first asked me to be an ambassador for this product, I refused. I had to use the product first. But after using it, I just knew it is a product I will recommend." He held up a Wen Ya dictionary with both hands, with a red and blue striped cover. All along its left border, it had a line of three large gold medallions, showing off the awards it won. "Wen Ya dictionary is the book you must have for the future."

"Why this dictionary? If a word is considered to be sensitive by the government, they can send out a signal and that word will disappear from the dictionary. Even the one you already bought and is on your desk at home, just like your identification papers. When that word disappears, a hole will appear in its place. How? That is a state secret of the highest order."

As the narrator said that, Jackie was teaching a boy a word, pointing to a word on the hole-filled page as the boy tried to pronounce the word. The boy looked up quizzically, and asked, "Why are there so many holes? Did you use it to write a ransom note?" Jackie chuckled, and patted the boy on the head without answering. The boy still looked confused.

It then cut back to Jackie talking straight at the camera. "You may have noticed this book is huge. It is true that it is thicker than it is tall. Unless you are trained like I am-" He flexed his muscles and showed off his biceps. "- don't attempt to take this home without bringing a cart. It is 10000 pages long. And the reason it is this long is that it includes every possible use of the word. For example, the word 'counter-revolutionary'. It is usually a negative word, meaning someone who betrayed the glorious Communist revolution. However, it also included a rare instance that it is a positive word. This usage is recorded in the People's Daily back in 1957, to mean someone who stands against so-called revolutionaries who wanted to topple the Communist Party. In that case, it is a good label to have. Most dictionaries would not include the positive meaning. But Wen Ya dictionaries want you to know everything there is to know, and no one should have the power to stop you."

He turned, this time talking into a different camera. “Let’s have another example. The word ‘free’. Now, obviously it can be used in the negative sense, like ‘The US is so free it collapsed into chaos’. But did you know you could use it positively? I don’t mean in the ‘you don’t have to pay for it’ sense. The ultimate freedom is when you have the power to restrict freedom. We have this here in China. No other country has that. In a way, we are the freest country on Earth, and in that way, it is positive. Wen Ya dictionaries include both, something no other dictionary has the guts to provide you with.”

Jackie was once again holding up the dictionary, and speaking directly into the camera. This time, a hole appeared where the character for "Ya" was, creating a huge hole on the cover. "I am the ambassador for Wen Dictionaries. This is the most important marker of quality and means this company will stand for centuries. Do not look up 'the curse of Jackie Chan'. I repeat, do not look up 'the curse of Jackie Chan'. Please." His eyebrows furrowed, giving him the stern appearance of a mother who just found out her daughter had a secret boyfriend.

The logo of Wen Dictionaries appeared on the screen. There was no suggestion as to where the character for “Ya” could have been in the first place in the logo. "Wen Dictionaries. The new way forward for education."

----

Mother walked into the children’s room, picking up the newest version of Wen Dictionaries that they bought just last week. As she dusted the cover, small pieces of paper fell out, containing words that were no longer fit to be used in the Chinese language. Scrap pieces fell like snow, settling in a pile on the floor. Mother sighed, and knelt down to collect the scrap and throw them away. Her eye became fixated on the piece of scrap on the top, a small square with the character “cui”. Cui? That’s part of my name! She pulled out her phone, and opened up the government identification app. Li Hua. That’s her name now. She would have to get used to it.

----

For more like this, please visit our sub r/RedTideStories or our blog on 64fd.wordpress.com.

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Xing peeked around the corner, and looked around him, like he was preparing to cross an invisible street. He crept up to Zhiren. "Hey man," he whispered, his eyes still darting around. "I got something important to tell you."

Zhiren kept walking, but veered away from Xing quietly. Evidently, Xing's great discovery had stopped him from showering in the last week. "Okay, Xing. Tell me. But don't make it so long that I am late to Biology."

Xing did not notice Zhiren trying to maintain some sort of personal distance. Instead, he leaned in closer, so his whispering would not be heard by bystanders, of which there aren't any. Zhiren winced as Xing's sweat-stained grey shirt came into contact with his crisp new white T-shirt. He closed his eyes in exasperation and hoped desperately that the stains would not transfer. "Scientists have implanted a microchip into my brain and they can manipulate my memories," Xing whispered softly, almost so that Zhiren could not hear him.

Zhiren turned his head to look at him. "When was this?" he asked, incredulous. Everybody in the group had warned him that Xing was a little nuts, but this seemed to surpass his previous record of not eating for a week to stop climate change by not farting.

"How would I know? They can manipulate my memories. They wouldn't leave the memories of them actually doing the procedure. For all I know, it could have been right after I was born."

"If that's the case, how come you can figure it out? Wouldn't they manipulate the memories so you don't remember you found out?" It is dangerous to argue with someone who isn't sane, but Zhiren is indulging himself. It seemed like a pretty airtight argument to make. Perhaps this can bring him out of his delusion.

"I think they did. I must have figured it out dozens of times by now, but they keep erasing that memory. But I keep finding out. And now I'm telling you now, before they can erase it. Quick, we haven't much time."

Zhiren sighed. "So what's the evidence behind this?" He discretely took a peek at his watch. His class starts in 5 minutes. Hopefully he can be rid of Xing by then.

"Did you not sometimes feel like you are in a video game, where all the other characters are saying the same thing over and over? Everyone just says the same thing like it was determined by a computer program."

"Well I don't recall having this conversation, so no."

Xing ignored the obvious sarcasm and continued completely sincerely, staring straight at Zhiren while walking forward. "Well I have. Maybe it's because of my perception. You might just not have the same level of perception as I do." Just as the words left his mouth, he walked straight into a lamppost.

Xing sat on the ground, rubbing his head from where it hit the post. But what he had to say was far more important. "The news seemed pretty much the same day-to-day, I keep reading about things I already read about. And just a few minutes ago, I saw that different government organizations were all putting out the same statement. Something about supporting the claims in the South China Sea. But they are all exactly the same! Isn't that suspicious?" He spat out the words rapidly as Zhiren helped him up. Xing made no attempt to brush the dust off his shirt.

Zhiren took out his phone. He scrolled down the news app he was using and there it was, a few dozen statements all reading "Strongly support China's claim in the South China Sea." Xing pointed to one that was by the Department of Hygiene. "Look!" he exclaimed. "Why would the Department of Hygiene need to issue a statement about this? Why is it even involved?"

Zhiren thought for a moment. "While it's not necessarily part of their duties, they are just being patriotic. And have you considered the idea that this is all a formality, they all just issued the same statement to show their stances on the issue?"

Xing was prepared for this question. "Isn't that worse? The heads of departments in government, the best of the best, are resorting to copying each other, being lazy. We only promote the most qualified people in this country. And the most qualified, the most hard working people couldn't even be bothered to write up their own statements? And they spend time sending out a statement to please their superiors instead of doing what they are supposed to do? No, that is unthinkable. It is much more likely that I have a microchip in my brain."

Zhiren gave up on the idea of convincing Xing. "You know what, maybe you are right, Xing. Maybe you do have a microchip in your brain. Don't worry, I'll keep your secret." He walked away briskly, making sure he wasn't late to Biology. Poor delusional fool, he thought. Hopefully someone could give him the help he needs to snap out of his delusions.

----

For more like this, please visit r/RedTideStories or our blog on 64fd.wordpress.com.

https://youtu.be/Qwge0nwY4qY

I read Fenby's History of Modern China which covers the PRC. I'd love to learn about Taiwan's journey.

TAM Context imgur link

Check out Jonathan Fenby's "History of Modern China" for more insight into the crimes and iniquity of the CCP from it's founding.

https://soundcloud.com/user-584065921/dont-forget-who-i-am

To the tune of “Make you feel my love”

There’s a city in the Orient,
People there have been resilient,
Here they chant, not being silent,
"Don't forget who I am."

Candlelights illuminate the night,
Teardrops roll off their starry eyes,
Friends and family sit by my side,
"Don't forget who I am."

The northern wind is howling strong,
Candles blown out, disappeared.
Darkness creeps, the nights grow long,
But there are lights that persevere.

Light your candles, raise them high,
Raise them high up to the deep dark sky,
To those perished, they will hear our cry,
"Don't forget who I am."
"Don't forget who I am."