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Will Deatherage: Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of the Barefoot Lawyer reports on China. My name is Will Dethridge, the producer. And joining me today is Chen Guangcheng.
Chen Guangcheng: Hello, everyone. I’m glad to have you here again today. Thank you, Will.
W: Yeah. And Guangcheng, could you introduce the topic that we’ll be talking about today?
G: Yeah. Today we will talk about: the United States destroyed Iran’s capability to make nuclear weapons and destroyed Iran’s propaganda building. And, uh, the Chinese people [are] excited to see the video online.
W: Why are they excited, Guangcheng?
G: Yeah, because they think Iran’s government is an authoritarian regime. And the Chinese people’s comments after the video said, “Oh, now the US solved the problem from Iran, when will they try to destroy [the] CCP’s propaganda building?” Of course, because of censorship, the people are using the code word “shorts” because the CCP’s propaganda building looks like shorts.
So people are saying online, “When will the US destroy the CCP’s shorts in Beijing?”
W: So that’s how they’re getting around the censorship.
G: Yes. Yeah.
W: Okay, that’s interesting.
G: Yeah. Now, you know, of course, after this, the CCP is afraid of the B2 bombers that the US used against Iran.
W: Gotcha.
G: Yeah. Now, Iran said they will close routes that are used to transport oil. But you know, data show that the oil from these routes, over 30% goes to the CCP.
W: So Guangcheng, what you’re saying is Iran closing these routes is actually hurting, the CCP, one of its allies.
G: Yes. Yes. The U.S. just gets around 3%.
W: Oh, wow. Okay.
G: Yeah, 3%. That is just a little, right?
W: Yeah. Yeah.
G: But if Iran closed that, the CCP’s economic situation will get worse.
W: Get even worse. Yeah, they’re already in pretty bad shape. Yeah.
G: Yeah. So a lot of people hope, in the future, the US can stand up to help hold humanity to clean the authoritarian regime. They hope in the future [for] no authoritarian regime in the whole world.
W: Right.
G: Of course. A lot of people, they talk about Taiwan. They said, “Oh, because the US destroyed Iran’s propaganda building and the nuclear sites, don’t worry, the CCP will try to attack Taiwan now.”
W: Do you think that will happen?
G: I think the CCP should [be] very, very, very, very careful to do that. Now, the CCP understands, you know, if the US really wanted to stop the CCP, they easily could.
W: You know, speaking of which, we’ll be airing this episode very close to the 4th of July. And Guangcheng, do you have any message to Americans or even non-Americans listening to this podcast around Independence Day?
G: Yeah, I think the U.S. Independence Day is a very important time and a lot of people in mainland China, they will say, “Happy Independence Day [to] the US People. Happy Independence Day.” If we want the Independence Day, we should stand up to refute the CCP’s persecution and stand up, fight back against the authoritarian regime.
So I think the US Independence Day is very important for the whole world. The US is a beacon in the whole world, not just for the U.S. people. And they want their countries to become like the US. They want more than one party. They want freedom of speech, they want the rule of law, they want constitutional government.
W: And what would you say to Americans that listen to the podcast?
G: Yeah. We should stand up to protect our freedom in the US and we should stand up to refuse the CCP’s influence here.
And we should join hands together to make our political system better and better. Yeah, stop the regime [that] tried to destroy our traditional culture and universal values.
W: Right. Well, Guangcheng, thank you so much for sharing the information and also reminding our listeners and viewers that these values are things that we should cherish and they’re so unique throughout the whole world. Right, Guangcheng?
G: Yes. Thank you. We are. Yeah. Thank you everyone. If we join hands together, we can do more to make our life better and better. I hope you have a good Independence Day.
W: Thank you, Guangcheng.
G: Thank you, Will. Yeah.
The Catholic University of America’s Center for Human Rights has published a documentary on the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights. The documentary features world class human rights experts, from former State Department officials to ambassadors and human rights activists. It can be found on our website at humanrights.catholic.edu.