Xinhua News , China ’s largest commonwealth - run word agency , is presently buying ads on Facebook that have a video of Bill Gates talking about China . The video ad is a fascinating example of the ways in which the Formosan authorities is using Facebook , which is ban in mainland China , to spread propaganda online while headlines around the existence are more focused on Beijing ’s alarm human rights abuses .
The unexampled ad , which was antecedently available to see onFacebook ’s Ad Librarybut has been delete , features an almost 7 - bit video interview with Bill Gates that touches on issue like public health , education , and tech innovation . To hear it from Gates , China ’s rise is something that the rest of the world should emulate .
“ The success of China in so many ways is amazing , ” Gates read in the Facebookvideo ad . “ start out with agricultural productivity , meliorate the health , a very strong education arrangement with some of the top university in the world , and now contributing innovations that are croak to assist us , not only with health but things like clime change . ”
Screenshot: (Xinhua News/Facebook)
Gates continued that China would be able-bodied to assist other countries “ based on the lesson that come from China . ” Gates also talks about the Gates Foundation ’s work in China to eradicate TB and fight impoverishment .
The advert is a jarring piece of propaganda that contrasts acutely with the reality in China today — a position where there areconcentration campsfor Uyghurs in Xinjiang and trigger-happy crackdown onpro - democracy protestersin Hong Kong .
“ Now we ’re involved in the poorness work , where China ’s got a very impressive goal to all get disembarrass of uttermost impoverishment in the country and has a dedicated group that ’s working on that , keeping racetrack of the progress , ” Gates says in the video .
gate also speaks extremely of China ’s political engagement with the rest of the world .
“ Since 1980 , the outgrowth of the thriftiness , including lots of innovation — now China ’s one of the top two economies in the world . Lots of countries are trading with China . pile of Formosan companies are going out into the human beings with their products , ” Gates state .
“ And so , yes , on the political side , engaging with the UN institutions , engaging with those institution , thinking about foreign assistance , the league with the African land [ … ] that ’s a great instance of how China ’s now a big part of countries working together , ” he explicate .
Anywhere from 1 million to 3 million predominantly Muslim Uyghurs are presently being held in tightness camps in China ’s westerly Xinjiang region , something that ’s never cite in the telecasting . There are also write up offorced marriagesand even Han Taiwanese men who are assign to Uyghur household , sleeping in the same bed as Uyghur womenwhile their hubby are in detention .
Beijing also has a helping hand in the oppression of pro - democracy protesters in Hong Kong who have been protesting against police barbarity and China ’s influence in the semiautonomous area since June . And just today , a new report surfaced about a former worker at the British consulate in Hong Kong who wastortured for 15 daysby Chinese authorities .
The Gates Foundation did not respond to a request for gossip Wednesday morning . The Xinhua advertizement was available onFacebook ’s Ad Librarybefore Gizmodo reached out to the Gates Foundation by electronic mail and it was delete shortly after we send our inquiry . Gizmodo has upload the ad toYouTubeso that lector can see it for themselves .
Notably , the Xinhua ads are n’t being go in the U.S. , where they ’d likely be greet with substantial skepticism about the office of China in advancing a prescribed agendum on the mankind stage .
Politically speaking , there ’s a rare bipartizan correspondence in the U.S. that China ’s current human rights abuses are reprehensible . The only people who seem to peak - toe around talk about China ’s authoritarian aggression are those with a strong financial stake in the region — whether it ’s the NBA punishing the oecumenical manager of the Houston Rockets forsupporting freedom in Hong Kongor Apple erase apps in Hong Kong that theChinese government does n’t like .
Xinhua has previously purchased ad on Facebook tosmear protester in Hong Kongand Facebook does n’t have a great criminal record when it comes to the sphere of political sympathies and autocratic regime . Even domestically , Facebook is partnering with web site like the far - right-hand outletBreitbartto bedcover “ desire ” news to Americans who may notbe awareofBreitbart ’s story .
China will carry on to fight out propaganda to disorder from its human rights abuse in well-nigh every nook of its domain , but it ’s a trivial bizarre to see it happening on Facebook , a platform that ’s banned in China , to say nothing of the involvement of Bill Gates . But that ’s just the mankind we be in . Any platform that can be used to exercise so - call “ indulgent exponent ” in handsome democracies will be used by authoritarians if they ’re make the chance .
Bill GatesChinaMicrosoft
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