All statements about China

98 statements about China in 57 videos, by upload date.

Back to China.

2007

2007-06-04 · Brotherhood 2.0: June 4th: The First Nerdfighter Wedding! — Blake (quoted): Blake commented that cars should never run on coal, but developing cleaner coal technology makes sense since countries like India and China won't phase out coal in 50 years. — 00:02:31
2007-09-06 · September 6th: The Book Club Returns — John: Citing McKibben, John says that if people in China owned cars at the American rate, the total number of cars in the world would immediately double. — 00:01:30
2007-11-05 · November 5th: John's Not Happy about Pakistan — John rejects Bush's repeated claim that 'democracy is on the march', listing countries it is not marching to, from Pakistan and Russia to Venezuela. (playful) — 00:02:39

2009

2009-04-05 · The EVIL BABY ORPHANAGE Returns for North Korea — John reports North Korea launched a long-range missile into the ocean; though the launch failed, the international community, even China, is really mad. (playful) — 00:01:41
2009-04-05 · The EVIL BABY ORPHANAGE Returns for North Korea — John: Via an imagined letter from China, John mocks North Korea's totalitarianism, cult of personality, refusal to let people leave and killing of political enemies. (satire) — 00:01:56
2009-05-17 · Burma! Myanmar? BURMA! — John says Burma is a Southeast Asian nation bordering Thailand, China and India. — 00:00:24
2009-05-17 · Burma! Myanmar? BURMA! — John argues Burma's neighbours let the junta get away with it; China won't care about human rights, but India must press harder, or Burma won't be led by its Gandhi. — 00:03:16

2010

2010-05-26 · How to Be Green Without Being a Prick — Hank notes that since they started watching, India's birth indicator has blinked nonstop and China and the USA have flashed red quite rapidly, which he finds frightening. — 00:00:29
2010-05-26 · How to Be Green Without Being a Prick — Hank argues the solution is understanding: without it you can only change yourself, and since China emits faster than the US, changing ourselves will not solve the problem. — 00:01:56

2011

2011-01-31 · Revolution in Egypt: A 4-Minute Introduction — John: Even before the protests began last week (week of 24 January 2011), Egypt held more than 10,000 political prisoners: a lot, but a drop in the bucket compared to China. — 00:01:32
2011-08-08 (said on 2011-08-09, implied) · Hackers, Cyber crime, and a New Kind of War. — Hank says Chinese hackers, maybe sponsored by their own government, have hacked governments and private corporations for years and stolen billions of dollars of intellectual property. (hedged) — 00:01:41
2011-08-10 · Understanding America's Debt Problem — John's last reason: for now, countries that make things, like China, need countries that consume, like the US, to keep consuming. — 00:03:27
2011-12-30 · How to Tip Properly — Hank says in places like Japan and China tipping is considered insulting. — 00:02:59

2012

2012-03-06 · Know Your News! Understanding the Syrian Revolution in Under 4 Minutes — John says Syria is now in a civil war and the UN Security Council has tried to act, but Russia and China have vetoed every resolution on Syria. — 00:02:55
2012-03-06 · Know Your News! Understanding the Syrian Revolution in Under 4 Minutes — John suggests the vetoes may stem from old Cold War ties, from what Russia and China see as a failed intervention in Libya, and from Russia's only Middle East naval port being in Syria. (hedged) — 00:02:55
2012-10-23 · Understanding the National Debt and Budget Deficit — John: Contrary to the guess 'China', John says the plurality of that debt is owned by American individuals and institutions; China owns about 8%, Japan 7% and the UK 1%. — 00:01:05
2012-10-23 · Understanding the National Debt and Budget Deficit — John says the US also owns foreign debt, including about $235 billion of Chinese and Hong Kong sovereign debt; for every $1 of foreign-owned US debt, the US owns about 89 cents of foreign debt. — 00:01:17
2012-10-23 · Understanding the National Debt and Budget Deficit — John says China cannot call in US debt on a day of its choosing, since treasury bonds are repaid only at term, so despite commentators this is not really a risk to the US economy. — 00:02:10
2012-10-23 · Understanding the National Debt and Budget Deficit — John sees a huge future risk if US debt stopped being cheap: investors buying bonds elsewhere would force borrowing at rising rates, spending cuts and tax rises slowing growth, 'and then Greece'. — 00:03:28

2013

2013-04-05 · North Korea: Explained — Hank's first reason for the escalation: recent UN sanctions anger North Korea, especially because China, its only ally, supports them. — 00:00:48
2013-04-09 · Inside North Korea — John says Shin escaped not out of an indomitable will for freedom but because a friend from outside told him China had endless food. — 00:01:50
2013-04-09 · Inside North Korea — John says Shin is a hero because he developed an ethical center after escaping, in China, South Korea and the US: in Shin's words, evolving into a human being. — 00:02:41
2013-05-21 · Poetry Makes Nothing Happen: Thoughts on Ai Weiwei from the Indianapolis Museum of Art — John says Ai lived in New York from 1981 to 1993, knew Allen Ginsberg, worked as a photojournalist, then returned to China and the Beijing East Village artist community. — 00:00:31
2013-05-21 · Poetry Makes Nothing Happen: Thoughts on Ai Weiwei from the Indianapolis Museum of Art — John says straightening the rebar brought back no children and held no contractor accountable, yet threatens China's government enough to detain Ai, because amid tragic statistics he gave form to love, anger and grief. — 00:03:00
2013-07-19 · TFiOS Movie, Bees, Babies, and More! — John says he learned that China's monopoly on the world silk trade ended when two monks smuggled about seven silkworms out of China to the Byzantine Empire, rewriting history. (hedged) (doubtful: seven) — 00:02:40
2013-09-20 · 42 Amazing Maps — Hank says Africa is very big: bigger than the United States, France, Germany, Spain, the UK, all of Eastern Europe, China and India. — 00:02:46
2013-12-31 · GOOD NEWS: 14 Reasons 2014 May Be the Best Year Ever — John says the share of people living on under $1.25 a day, adjusted for inflation, fell from 43% in 1990 to 20% today, mostly through gains in China, India and Brazil. — 00:01:21

2014

2014-04-01 · VELOCIRAPTORS — John says the velociraptor never lived in Montana; it lived in Mongolia and China. — 00:00:45
2014-08-26 · Food Is Weird: Understanding Agriculture in the Developing World — John: When such cycles break, good things happen: China's rice yields quadrupled between 1960 and 1990, and Brazil's agricultural yield tripled between 1970 and 2005. — 00:03:44
2014-08-26 · Food Is Weird: Understanding Agriculture in the Developing World — John: Showing poverty rates in Brazil and China over 40 years, John warns against conflating correlation and causation but calls it nice-looking correlation. (playful, hedged) — 00:03:55
2014-08-26 · Food Is Weird: Understanding Agriculture in the Developing World — John: The hope is that sustainable higher yields bring Ethiopia growth and poverty reduction like China, Brazil and India; the program seems to be working but is extremely complicated. (hedged) — 00:04:41
2014-08-26 · Food Is Weird: Understanding Agriculture in the Developing World — John: If Ethiopia's land produced as many calories per hectare as China's or Brazil's, no Ethiopian would starve; raising calories per hectare is unsexy but one of the world's most important problems. — 00:06:54
2014-10-03 · Hong Kong Protests Explained — In the description Hank thanks Hong Kong Nerdfighters for keeping him informed and unnamed China experts who helped his research. — video description
2014-10-03 · Hong Kong Protests Explained — Hank says that in 1847 Hong Kong, a sparsely populated island off southern China, was ceded to the United Kingdom after the Opium War. (doubtful: 1847) — 00:00:21
2014-10-03 · Hong Kong Protests Explained — Hank says that in 1898 China and Hong Kong agreed to a 99-year lease of Hong Kong to the British Empire as a colony. — 00:00:28
2014-10-03 · Hong Kong Protests Explained — Hank finds it 'kinda hilarious' that in the 1990s Hong Kong's appointed governor began praising democracy after 150 years of colonial rule; China found it annoying, wanting to have its economic cake and eat it. (playful) — 00:00:37
2014-10-03 · Hong Kong Protests Explained — Hank says that in 1997, after 150 years of British rule, Hong Kong became part of China, 'kind of', keeping its own dialect, judiciary, taxes, postal service, money and culture. — 00:00:58
2014-10-03 · Hong Kong Protests Explained — Hank says Hong Kong people are ethnically Chinese and feel connected to Chinese people but don't consider themselves Chinese; crossing into Hong Kong from China requires a passport stamp. — 00:01:10
2014-10-03 · Hong Kong Protests Explained — Hank says China and Hong Kong had separate teams at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, though they are the same country. — 00:01:23
2014-10-03 · Hong Kong Protests Explained — Hank says that at root Hong Kong as it is is great for China: running it under China's system would be very hard and also bad for China. — 00:01:31
2014-10-03 · Hong Kong Protests Explained — Hank says that for this to keep working Hong Kong has to be something China finds uncomfortable, free: the arrangement called 'one country, two systems'. (hedged) — 00:01:59
2014-10-03 · Hong Kong Protests Explained — Hank says that in America mocking a politician on TV can make them seem stronger, but in tightly controlled China such criticism makes a politician look extremely weak; its culture accepts no derision. (hedged) — 00:02:10
2014-10-03 · Hong Kong Protests Explained — Hank says that for China's National Day this week (week of 29 September 2014) 10,000 doves were released in Tiananmen Square, each cavity-searched for explosives. (playful) — 00:02:33
2014-10-03 · Hong Kong Protests Explained — Hank says China's government mixes immense pride with vulnerability, a fear of falling apart that might be warranted since many areas of China don't want to be part of it. (hedged) — 00:02:45
2014-10-03 · Hong Kong Protests Explained — Hank says that with a weakening economy and a growing number of protests, Chinese politicians worry about losing stability, which they really like. — 00:02:58
2014-10-03 · Hong Kong Protests Explained — Hank says China's president Xi Jinping just did a massive crackdown on corruption, making enemies of officials who benefited from it. — 00:03:07
2014-10-03 · Hong Kong Protests Explained — Hank notes some hope Hong Kong, a testing ground for China's capitalism, could test Chinese democracy, but says the cultural gap between China's control and Hong Kong's freedom may be too big. (hedged) — 00:04:48
2014-10-03 · Hong Kong Protests Explained — Hank says China's state media report on the Hong Kong protests as they did on the Arab Spring, focusing on the chaos and inconvenience the protests bring. — 00:05:16
2014-10-03 · Hong Kong Protests Explained — Hank sarcastically voices the state-media message: what China really needs is to stick together and be stable ('Yay, stability!'). (satire) — 00:05:27
2014-10-03 · Hong Kong Protests Explained — Hank says few call for Hong Kong to secede, though China may fear it; mostly Hong Kong wants to be itself, with a bit more control over its destiny for the first time. (hedged) — 00:05:39
2014-10-03 · Hong Kong Protests Explained — Hank says that in a country that checks pigeons for explosives, a seven-million-person region outside central control might be a completely foreign concept. (playful, hedged) — 00:06:00
2014-10-03 · Hong Kong Protests Explained — Hank hopes that, as China found ways to allow actual capitalism within its borders, there may be a way for actual democracy too: a fantastic outcome. 'I guess we'll see.' (hedged) — 00:06:13

2015

2015-09-08 · Understanding the Refugee Crisis in Europe, Syria, and around the World — John: Who is to blame? Pretty much everybody, John says: the Assad regime, and Iran, Russia and China, which support it directly or indirectly and do very little about the crisis. — 00:05:28
2015-09-22 · Is Poverty Necessary? Looking back at the Millennium Development Goals — John: Most of the fall in poverty came from China, South Asia and South America, but the poverty rate in sub-Saharan Africa has also fallen since 1990. — 00:01:01
2015-09-24 · Continents are Dumb — Hank: If any part of the definition is cultural, there is no excuse for one continent containing Russia, Indonesia, Japan, China, the Middle East, India and Pakistan. — 00:01:44

2016

2016-03-18 · Brazil's Government is Falling Apart...and it's Good News? — Hank says that after troubled decades, hard work and China's appetite for iron ore and beef ('hamburgers', said playfully) put Brazil's economy on track, making it a developing-world success story until recently. (playful) — 00:01:32
2016-03-18 · Brazil's Government is Falling Apart...and it's Good News? — Hank says the timing is awful: Brazil is in a giant recession, with jobs lost to the scandal, Zika hurting tourism, China's slowdown, failed trickle-down loans, low oil prices and austerity. — 00:05:46

2017

2017-06-02 · The Paris Accord: What is it? And What Does it All Mean? — Hank says no one country can handle climate change: even the biggest contributors, the US and China, together make up less than half the emissions; everyone must agree. — 00:01:54
2017-06-30 · Eyes Made of Crystal? - Trilobites are Bizarre — The description says a trilobite genus first found in China is named Han, after the dynasty, and its one species known from a single fossil is named Han Solo. — video description
2017-12-15 · Why Big Solutions Fail — Hank says it takes almost as much energy and work to get something he ordered off Amazon from China to the Missoula distribution warehouse as from that warehouse to his house. — 00:00:24
2017-12-15 · Why Big Solutions Fail — Hank says an item made in China has one place to go, its port; from there maybe a dozen other ports; then a few thousand warehouses or stores. (hedged) — 00:00:45

Also named in: Valentines Candy Taste Test with Hank and Katherine

2018

2018-03-13 · Who Should We Root For? — John: Italy, the Netherlands, Chile, Canada, China, New Zealand and many other countries also failed to qualify. — 00:01:17
2018-05-15 · Seven Maps to Better Understand the World — John: Comparing 1980 with 35 years later, low- and middle-income countries from China to India to Peru to Angola saw life expectancy rise by at least 10 years, in some cases 20. — 00:03:02
2018-06-22 · Stumping EDU Creators - Trivia at VidCon — a guest: The answer to a geography question (not stated on air) is something located in both Nepal and China. — 00:01:31
2018-07-10 · The General Crisis — John: The single biggest contributor to 17th-century population decline was the Ming Dynasty's collapse: between 1600 and 1644, when the Qing began, China's population fell by 50 million. — 00:02:43
2018-07-13 · Why Do So Few Countries Have Nukes? — Hank: First nuclear tests: the US in 1945, the USSR in 1949, the UK in 1957, France in 1960 and China in 1964, a big spurt that becomes important later. — 00:01:12
2018-07-13 · Why Do So Few Countries Have Nukes? — Hank: The 1960s spurt ending with China was rightly seen as scary, possibly especially because Europeans saw China as a non-European, non-white country, and because Mao Zedong was a pretty scary dude. (hedged) — 00:02:33
2018-10-09 · How Big a Problem is Mental Illness? — John says in China depression and anxiety rob people of more years than liver cancer or diabetes. — 00:01:27

2019

2019-02-05 · Deepfake: A Brief History of Unreliable Images — John says Hitler did the same to Goebbels and Lenin to Trotsky, and it happened often in China, most famously in a photo of Mao's funeral without the Gang of Four. — 00:01:57
2019-03-29 · The Largest Theft of All Time — Hank says the largest bank robbery was in 2015: hackers in China, Russia and Europe took $300-900 million from many banks with common malware; no one was caught and nothing was recovered. — 00:00:43
2019-05-03 · What Game of Thrones is Really About — Hank cites a Vox video saying stopping global warming requires the biggest nations, like China, India and the US, to sacrifice a little in the short term and put aside their political competition. — 00:03:13
2019-05-31 · Uncomfortable Nuance: Natural Gas Edition — Hank says more regulated fracking in Asia could help bring an immediate end to new coal plants in China and India, probably the most important short-term goal for curbing the climate crisis. (hedged) — video description
2019-07-02 · On Sunlight — John says it is reported that in 1634 Jean Nicolet, the first European to cross Lake Michigan, thought he had reached China. (hedged) — 00:00:29
2019-11-04 · This Cat Makes No Sense — Hank says Pallas's cats range across Tibet, China, Pakistan, India, Mongolia and Iran, living solitarily on small rodents and birds, with the longest hair of any cat, stealth hunting and fertility windows as short as one day a year. — 00:00:00

2020

2020-11-10 · On Immunity, Inoculation, and Individuals — John says many smallpox inoculation strategies already existed: in China, for centuries, people inhaled dried smallpox scabs to induce a mild case and then immunity. — 00:01:56

2021

2021-08-13 · How We Fix the Climate — Hank: The approaches can be combined, and exist widely: China, Canada and the EU have cap and trade; Japan, Turkey, Thailand, Indonesia and much of Europe have carbon taxes; nearly everywhere has some regulation. — 00:14:19
2021-10-12 · Fine, I'll take the bait. — John: For 99% of history people knew pi only as 3.1-something; about 2,000 years ago Chinese mathematicians reached the seventh digit, and 1,400 years later Jamshid al-Kashi about the 15th. (doubtful: the seventh digit) — 00:00:58

2022

2022-08-12 · The Biggest Climate Bill of Your Life - But What does it DO!? — Jesse Jenkins: Jenkins says supportive policies in the US, China, Germany, Japan and elsewhere turned expensive alternatives into cheap, trillion-dollar mainstream technologies scaling rapidly. — 00:03:02

2023

2023-04-21 · On TikTok Bans — The description says destroying a platform's cultures is a dramatic step, and hopes lawmakers are motivated by more than distaste for social media and looking tough on China. (hedged) — video description
2023-04-21 · On TikTok Bans — Hank: Not claiming to understand US-China relations, Hank says what the Chinese government would do with its influence over TikTok in 10 years may differ greatly from today. (hedged) — 00:01:33
2023-09-28 · What the Heck is the UN? — Hank says the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China did not exist when the Council was founded but inherited their seats because they hold the same land. — 00:02:06
2023-10-04 · A Messy and Unhinged Introduction to Geoengineering — Hank says cutting a neighbour's rainfall feels intentional in a way US and Chinese coal burning does not, and he is trying to accept that how it feels matters. — 00:08:04
2023-12-15 · Cat...I Farted. — Hank says his own research found that Pepsi's slogan 'brings you back to life' was rendered in China as bringing your ancestors back from the grave. (playful) — 00:02:28

2024

2024-08-16 · I Have Uncovered an Olympics Mystery… — Hank says the US and China tied in gold medals, partly because a French basketball player's toe was on the three-point line for a buzzer-beater. — 00:00:29
2024-08-16 · I Have Uncovered an Olympics Mystery… — Hank says the US was very consistent at 40, 44 and 42 medals, while China was weighted toward gold: 40 gold, 27 silver, 24 bronze. — 00:04:39
2024-08-16 · I Have Uncovered an Olympics Mystery… — Hank: Since money and socioeconomic status usually explain most things, Hank guesses less affluent countries may invest in elite athletes but less in those further down; China fits, but the affluent US shows no pattern. (hedged) — 00:05:58
2024-08-19 · The Olympics Mystery Explained!!! — Hank notes that normalizing does not make China's medal effect go away. — 00:02:43

2025

2025-04-11 (said on 2025-04-10, implied) · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank says Japan, China and South Korea, reacting to US instability, signed a significant trade agreement, though they dislike each other and historically traded through Western partners. — 00:04:29
2025-04-11 (said on 2025-04-10, implied) · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank calls the three-country deal historically S-tier crazy: the US pushed rivals to settle their problems, which is great for China. — 00:04:58
2025-04-11 (said on 2025-04-10, implied) · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank says the large deficit with Vietnam reflects a working trade relationship and Vietnam helps diversify supply chains from China, so giving it the harshest tariff is S-tier crazy. — 00:05:39
2025-04-11 (said on 2025-04-10, implied) · How Actually Crazy is This Mess? — Hank says Trump paused the tariffs nine days after imposing them, while the trade war with China continues; some countries seem to have offered concessions, others did not. — 00:10:02
2025-05-02 · I Found the Dumbest Time Zone — Hank says China has only one time zone and no daylight saving time. — 00:01:37
2025-05-02 · I Found the Dumbest Time Zone — Hank says China chose Beijing time rather than a central point, so far western China runs on distant time, and crossing into Afghanistan shifts clocks by three and a half hours. — 00:02:06
2025-09-05 · Caffeine is Very… — Hank says drinking caffeinated teas arose seven separate times: tea in East Asia, coffee in the Horn of Africa and Arabia, cacao in Mesoamerica, kola nut in West Africa, guarana in the Amazon Basin, yerba mate in the Southern Cone, yaupon in southeastern North America. — 00:04:48
2025-09-09 · Sorry, Hank, but Coffee Is Just Better — John says tea has a much longer history, at least 2,200 years, when it was definitely consumed in China. — 00:01:27
2025-10-24 · What Will Books Become? — Hank notes books did not always rely on paper: thousands of years ago in China, bamboo was split into thin strips bound together into something book-like. — 00:00:29

2026

2026-06-09 · Your 1-Sentence Guide to EVERY TEAM in the 2026 World Cup — John: When FIFA expanded the World Cup to 48 nations it was clearly hoping populous China and India would qualify out of Asia. — 00:00:29
2026-06-13 (said on 2026-06-12, implied) · Wait...How Do You Pronounce Turkey??? — Hank: China may once have shared this problem, but nobody calls their dishes china anymore. (hedged) — 00:00:29

Also named in: 2026 P4A Changes! (Plus...GAMES!)