Simple English Listening

E14: The HONG KONG Story - The Present Day (Intermediate English)

September 20, 2020 Tristan Palumbo
Simple English Listening
E14: The HONG KONG Story - The Present Day (Intermediate English)
Show Notes Transcript

Learn 30+ new VOCAB and about Hong Kong!
✍ Free activities:  www.simpleenglishlistening.com
☕ Buy Me A Coffee: https://bmc.link/simpleenglish
⭐ Every 1st day of the month!
👉 Subscribe!

▶️ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SimpleEnglishListening
👉 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/simpleenglishlistening
📸 IG: https://www.instagram.com/simpleenglishlistening 

⭐ TIP: The best way to learn is to listen to and read as much English as possible which is just ONE level above your level. This way, you pick up MAXIMUM amounts of new language and pronunciation naturally.

❤️ English: Your PASSPORT to the world! My name is Tristan, from England. I've been a university-qualified English teacher for 10+ years, and taught in five countries - UK, Italy, South Korea, Japan and Vietnam. So far, I've lived in 10 countries and visited over 45.

#IntermediateEnglish #SimpleEnglishListening #Englishlesson #EnglishPodcast #englishstudy #Englishteacher #Englishcourse #englishvocabulary #Englishquiz #englishspeaking #speakingpractice #englishpractice #Englishlearning #learningenglish #EnglishListening #영어공부 #الانجليزية #anglais #apprendreanglais #английскийонлайн #английскийдлявсех #aprenderinglês #inglês #aprenderingles #estudaringles #英語 #ingilizceöğren #tienganh #hoctienganh

None of the opinions expressed in this episode are my own. I have summarized different sources from The Guardian, The Independent, Wikipedia, various history websites, The South China Morning Post, Al Jazeera, The New York Times, CNN, BBC News and Yahoo News. 


Hello English learners and welcome to the third and final part of the Hong Kong story.

Welcome to Simple English Listening. On this channel, I find interesting topics and share them with you in simpler English. 

Today's podcast is intermediate level. 

Please, feel free to read the transcript by following the link in the video description. You can read with me or read in your own time. Also, there are subtitles on the video so you can switch them on if you like.  And on Youtube and podcast apps, you can change the speed - faster or slower.

In this episode, we will discuss the the Hong Kong story from 2014 on wards. This includes the recent protests in the city ('protests' meaning, when thousands of people gather together, and hold signs, and shout and make speeches and chant songs etc.. and, sometimes even fight!)

If you want to know the full story, please listen to the first two episodes about Hong Kong on this channel.

To quickly summarize what's happened so far, Hong Kong is a small island off the coast of China. It used to be part of Great Britain from 1841 to 1997. In this time, Hong Kong became a more capitalist, democratic, open and free society than mainland China. Hong Kong was more westernized. It was also a major international business hub, connecting China with the west.

In 1997, Hong Kong was returned to China. China has a very different government system to Hong Kong. The Chinese government is a one-party communist party who have had power in China since the 1940s. In this system there is not free speech. Ordinary citizens like you and me cannot vote for another party and normally do not participate in politics.

So, the question is, how do you unite (how do you bring together to become one) two countries with completely different systems and lifestyles? China and Hong Kong have been trying something called the 'one country, two systems' policy, which is what we have now over there. They are both a part of China but they have two different systems.


China promised that Hong Kong could continue their capitalist, more democratic government for 50 years after 1997 until 2047. So, until 2047, there would be the 'one country, two systems' policy.

In Hong Kong, people have had mixed feelings about returning to China. There have been a few protests since 1997. 

The people of Hong Kong usually protest when they feel their more free society is under threat from Beijing. When they feel Beijing is trying to influence Hong Kongese society too much. When we talk about different country's governments , we say the capital city name so for now on, I'll say 'Beijing' when talking about the mainland Chinese government.

The protests from 1997 to 2014 were big, but were also peaceful.

But unfortunately, more recent protests starting in 2019 have been less peaceful. They have turned more violent. There has been some fighting in the streets, protesters against armed police, buildings have been damaged, a few people have died unfortunately. These protests have been the biggest protests in Hong Kong's history and there have been big changes there recently.

These protests, or demonstrations (we can say 'protests' or 'demonstrations', both these words are synonyms). They started on March 15th 2019. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets.

This is because China proposed a bill (a 'bill', meaning a draft copy of a law for politicians to discuss). So, China offered a bill which would of allowed Hong Kong criminals to go to the courts and face trial for crimes in China! Hong Kongers did not want their people to be sent to China to face the Chinese communist party's courts. This is because the judicial systems (the system of justice) between China and Hong Kong are very different ('judicial system' means the laws, the courts, the judges, the prisons of a country etc...). So, Hong Kong and China have two very different judicial systems.

Hong Kongers did not want their people to face the Chinese judicial system and maybe go to prison in China for crimes that were done in Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong, the system of law is different to in China. In Hong Kong, you have a 'rule of law' system. This means that the government and the judicial system are separate. They are different institutions and stand separately. Everyone is equal to the law and everybody, including all politicians and leaders of Hong Kong -  everyone must obey the law and must answer to the law. Nobody is above the law. It has been this way in the UK for about 800 years since 1215. King John signed the Magna Carta, the first 'rule of law' agreement in the UK, to stop a civil war. Anyways, the Hong Kong judicial system was modeled (was based) on the British system - a rule of law system where the judicial system (meaning, the justice system) is separate to the government. 

In China, however, there is less 'rule of law' and more a 'rule of power' system. 'Rule of power' meaning, the judicial system there is not fully separate from the government. It is part of the government and works together with  the government. The government can more easily influence decisions in the courts, working with the judges. This way, the law is a tool that the government use to more easily organize and control the population.

According to the World Justice Project, Hong Kong's judicial system ranks 16th best in the world for the rule of law (the separation of powers between the government and the law and fairness of trial) - which is a very high score, 16th! This means there is very little corruption in Hong Kong. It was ranked 12th but they've now slid four places down to 16th.

China, on the other hand, ranks the 88th in the world which means the opposite. It is more a 'rule of power' system. Actually, according to The Guardian 99% of all convicts in the Chinese judicial system are found to be guilty and punished, so this means that 99% of all people that they say that have done a crime - 99% are found to be guilty! This is a very high number and maybe this means there might be many innocent people in prison (in jail) in China.

So, this is one reason why Hong Kongers do not want their citizens to be sent to the Chinese judicial system. Because, they don't trust the Chinese judicial system to give their criminals a fair trial (a 'trial' is when a convicted criminal must stand in front of the judge and defend himself in the courts. It is also when, if found guilty, the judge tells the criminal what their punishment is). 
 

Also, the trials in China (where the criminals have to face the judges), the trials in China would be behind closed-doors (which means that members of the public, like you or me, cannot watch the trial or know what the result of it is).

Sometimes, these two different judicial systems try to work together but it's difficult and they clash! For example, right now Canada have arrested the daughter of the Huawei CEO, Meng Wanzhou. China are asking for the Canadian government to return her but the Canadian government say ''I'm sorry we can't'! We can't interfere with the judicial system because here in Canada, the judicial system is separate to the government. So we can't return the daughter, Meng Wanzhou''. The Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeaux says, 'the Chinese government do not understand the Canadian justice system'.

Anyways, back to the story: in March 2019, there started big, big protests of hundreds of thousands of people. This was because the government proposed the bill (to 'propose a bill' means to offer, to suggest a new law).

This bill was a criminal extradition bill which would allow Hong Konger criminals to be sent to mainland China, to Beijing to face the Chinese courts and be punished by the Chinese judicial system. Remember, Beijing is the capital city of China. We say 'Beijing' when talking about the mainland Chinese government. As we've said before, Hong Kongers don't trust Beijing to give their people a fair trial because Beijing can influence the courts decision, right? That's what we've been saying. Because the judicial system in China is not fully separate to the government.

Hong Kongers believed that police would use this new law - the criminal extradition bill -  to arrest and silence anti-Beijing protesters. They believed they'd use this new law to criminalize and put critics of Beijing in prison. Hong Kongers were afraid the new law would stop free speech and free expression in Hong Kong. 

The protest started when hundreds of protesters walked into the Hong Kong government headquarters HQ and sat down! This is called a 'sit-in'. Hundreds of people sat on the floor of the government HQ in Hong Kong and refused to leave. 

Following this, there were many other protests and demonstrations and for the first time, violence was seen in Hong Kong protests ('violence' meaning, physical fights between protesters and the police - tear gas, pepper spray, batons and shields etc..). Before 2019, protests in Hong Kong had always been peaceful.

Carrie Lam, the leader of Hong Kong quickly suspended the proposed criminal extradition bill ('suspended' means, she took it back and said 'we won't do it now, we'll do it later') but the protests continued!

The bill - for the criminal extradition law - being suspended wasn't good enough for the protesters. The protesters wanted the bill completely cancelled, completely withdrawn.

An even bigger protest happened on the 9th June of over a million people (in a city of only 8 million people) asking for:

One: the complete withdrawal (cancellation) of the criminal extradition bill to mainland China, so their criminals would not have to be tried in Chinese courts.

Two: an investigation into police violence and brutality in the protests. They also wanted

three: the police to release (to free) all protesters who were arrested (who were taken by the police previously). 

Four: in the Chinese news, the protests were called 'riots' ('riots', is a more violent word for 'protests'). They wanted the Chinese to stop using the word riots in their news and instead, use the word 'protests'.

Five: the resignation of Carrie Lam as the Hong Kong leader ('resignation' meaning, her to quit her job, to leave her position).

And six: universal suffrage (which means that everyone should be allowed to equally vote in a fully-democratic election). Hong Kong now has a limited democracy, so, not a full democracy. Right now, only 1200 people can vote in Hong Kong and the leader must be pro-Beijing. 'Universal suffrage' means that all 8 million people of Hong Kong could equally vote.

So, the protests for these six things continued for months. Confrontations between police and protesters became more dangerous and intense. Police brutality and violence increased. Protesters also became more violent, using petrol bombs and vandalizing and destroying pro-Beijing symbols, buildings etc..  Protesters broke into Hong Kong's legislature (the judicial system HQ) smashing windows and doors. There were fights between the police and the protesters. The police used rubber bullets in their guns, water cannons and tear gas ('tear gas', is the gas which makes your eyes cry and sting).

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said ''ok, we will withdraw, we will cancel the criminal extradition bill (which was one of the protesters six requests) but we will not agree with your other five other requests''

The Hong Kongese protesters didn't believe her, seeing her words as meaningless. At this point, the protests started to become more than just protests, but a wider pro-democracy movement. They chanted slogans such as 'free Hong Kong revolution of our times', had it printed on T-shirts etc.. 

There continued to be violent clashes between police and protesters. Then, for the first time, a policeman used a live bullet against the protesters in early October ('live bullets' means not rubber bullets in the guns, but real metal bullets!). The shot is on Youtube actually, a young 18 year old protester gets shot in the chest but he survived luckily! A new law came into place that banned (that prohibited) people wearing face masks and covering their faces so people could no longer protest anonymously but now, could now be identified easily on CCTV.

By November 2019, two people had died in the fighting and two of Hong Kong's top universities were sieged (were taken over by protesters, invaded by protesters).  

In the local election, the pro-democracy politicians won by a landslide (which means, won by many many votes - to 'win by a landslide') just before everything closed for Covid-19. Protests continued in May 2020.

At this point, Beijing had had enough! The protests had continued for over a year! Instability and disruption in Hong Kong had continued for too long. Beijing's patience had finished. They needed a stable and secure Hong Kong.

They decided the only way to stop the protesters and restore peace to Hong Kong was to enforce (to force through) a new set of law.

Normally, the Hong Kong government decides and makes its own laws but for Beijing, this would take too long. Beijing felt it had no choice but to force through a new set of laws for Hong Kong called the 'national security laws'. These were to stop the protesters once and for all.

These new laws came into effect on June 30th 2020.


For the people of Hong Kong (remember, who are used to complete free expression, can freely state their opinion and criticize the government), these new laws of June 30th meant that Hong Kongers could no longer:

One: 'promote secession' of Hong Kong (meaning, to try to make Hong Kong an independent country from China). Many people in the protests were wanting this! The slogan for the protests was 'free Hong Kong, revolution of our times'. People chanted it and had it printed on T-Shirts and put on flags. So, this was now illegal, banned, prohibited.

Two: 'subversion' against the Chinese communist party of China (this means, trying to form or promote a new government in Hong Kong, or trying to bring down, criticize, or cause threat to the Chinese communist party). This includes, for example, disrespecting or ridiculing the Chinese national anthem.

Three: 'terrorism' (this means using any kind of violence or weapons against the police, government buildings etc..) 

Four: 'colluding with foreign forces', meaning, people of Hong Kong can no longer use political help or aid from outside of Hong Kong and China. They can no longer use foreign countries to interfere with Hong Kong politics.

To break any of these new 'national security laws' means 3 years to life in prison - to life behind bars.

On the same day, June 30th, it was decided that the pro-Beijing Hong Kong government can choose it's own judges in the courts - so its own pro-Beijing judges. Foreign news media must be closely watched. Hong Kong criminals can now be taken to China for trial - trial behind closed-doors in China so nobody knows what happens! This was the reason the 2019 protests started in the first place. Remember, the Chinese judicial system is part of the communist government and can control to some level, what happens in the trial. 

Also, after June 30th, police can now freely search people's houses without a search warrant. Beijing can now stop Hong Kongers who are suspected of criminal activity from freely coming and going from Hong Kong.

The government can now watch people's internet activity, check their messages and ask internet apps to remove information much like mainland China's system. So now, the internet in Hong Kong would be closely watched for anti-China messages, tweets, statuses and ideas. Before, the internet in Hong Kong was a place of complete free expression but not anymore.

Also, Article 38 in the new national security laws says these laws apply to foreigners too, people who live outside of Hong Kong and people who aren't even from Hong Kong! So, for example - me! I have to follow the national security laws too! And so do you! So, don't criticize the Chinese communist party. Let's call the Chinese communist party 'the CCP' now, for short.

So, yea, I had be, honestly, careful in scripting this podcast in a way that doesn't criticize either the CCP nor the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement. I'm just giving you the facts and what I've read in the news, and tried to make it into a story for you.

In summary, these laws make Hong Kong now much more like mainland China. 

How did Hong Kongers react to the new laws after June 30th? Well, thousands of Hong Konger pro-democracy protesters took to the streets. There were mass-protests, people waving 'free Hong Kong' flags and other pro-democracy chants and songs. Young people were stopped and searched by the police. On the first day after the new laws were passed, nine people were arrested (were taken by the police) for breaking the new laws on July 1st. One of them was arrested for waving a flag - a pro-democracy flag saying 'Free Hong Kong'.

Before passing the new national security laws, Carrie Lam (the Hong Kong leader) said the new laws would only affect 'a very small minority of people, a tiny amount of people, the troublemakers'. Many things happened over the following 6 weeks.

Many pro-democracy political groups have now disbanded (have now separated) because they fear being arrested. Some key figures, ('key figures' meaning, important people in the pro-democracy movement) have moved abroad to places such as the UK and Taiwan.

25 Hong Kong pro-democracy activists have been taken by the police for taking part in a candlelight memorial service to remember those who died in Tienanmen Square in 1989.

Books written by pro-democracy writers have now been removed from libraries as well as books about Tiananmen Square and the cultural revolution, and other key historic events that don't fit with Beijing's narrative (Beijing's version of history).

Cafes, restaurants and shops have removed pro-democracy posters because shops and cafes known for being pro-democracy were being attacked and trashed.

Then authorities ('authorities', meaning, the police and the government) have arrested people for holding Hong Kong independence flags and for saying or writing the protest slogan 'free Hong Kong, revolution of our times'. That is now banned (it's illegal) to say that.

Actually, because it's illegal to say it or write it on paper as a protest, Hong Kongers are now just holding up blank empty pieces of paper with nothing on it! And the police have arrested eight people for holding up white blank pieces of paper because of what it represents (what it symbolizes). 

The Hong Kong police have issued arrest warrants of six pro-democracy activists who are now living abroad in western countries. So, these six people can now not return to Hong Kong. They are refugees - there's that new word again from last episode ('refugees' meaning people who must leave their home country for their safety).

Now - the internet - the internet has been censored ('censor', means people can no longer freely say what they like online). Information on the internet is now controlled. Internet companies must now give the police information about people, if they ask for it, so many Hong Kongers have rushed to their Twitter and Facebook accounts, deleting anything that could get them in trouble because there has been a couple of times the new laws have been used retroactively (meaning, punishing people for things they said before 30th June, when the law came into effect). Actually, Google, Facebook and Twitter have all said that they will not give user's data to the Hong Kong police until they better understand the new law and Tik Tok says it will no longer operate in Hong Kong to avoid complications.

Another thing, the Hong Kong government disqualified 12 pro-democracy politicians from standing in the elections (an 'election' is where you vote for a new party). So, they've been 'disqualified' (meaning, they are not allowed to be in the elections and people cannot vote for them).

Also, the government delayed the next election (they pushed it back). In this election, pro-democracy figures, politicians, were expected to make gains (to get more votes) but they've instead pushed back this election for a future date.

The second most popular newspaper in Hong Kong is called Apple Daily, which has existed since 1995. But, on the 10th August, over 200 police officers walked into the Apple Daily offices and arrested ten people, including the multi -millionaire media tycoon owner Jimmy Lai.

He was arrested and Beijing labeled him as 'traitor of China' (like, an 'enemy of China'). They took thousands of documents, 25 boxes of evidence and they want to accuse Jimmy Lai of 'colluding with foreign forces', which is one of the new laws. Again, this might be retroactively, so, accusing him for an action that happened before 30th June. We don't know yet. More on that story later.

Actually, the day after the police raided Apple Daily ('raided', so when 200 officers went into the newspaper HQ) , the stock value (the market share price) of Apple Daily went up by 800% because people were investing in the company and buying hundreds of thousands of newspapers to show support for the newspaper. So, they bought newspapers as a form of protest.

Next, moving onto schools!

Most of the protesters were students and 3000 of the protesters arrested were children! Under 18s.

For example, four student activists were arrested aged between 16 to 21 - three boys and one girl - for posting anti-Beijing and pro-democracy opinions on the Internet. They had made an organization on social media which wanted Hong Kong independence from China.  Computers, phones and documents were taken from them.

Now, there''ll be colorful posters in all schools saying 'freedom comes with responsibilities'.

A famous law professor Benny Tai was fired (lost his job) from the University of Hong Kong and other senior academics have also been fired because of their political views being too pro-democracy.

Beijing is getting rid of what they call problematic teachers ('problematic' is a great word - an adjective - for something that causes problems). Beijing believes they have a responsibility to protect young minds from extreme pro-democracy ideas.

About a third of all university teachers (about one-in-three) have been told by their supervisors they cannot discuss politics in class. In interviews, this makes them worry that students will not be able to think critically.

But actually, many parents support this. They want teachers to stop talking about politics because they don't want their kids to get arrested.

There was a famous protest song, an anthem called 'Glory To Hong Kong'. This has been banned in schools. One music teacher, Lee Kwan-Piu was fired (lost her job - 'fired') because she allowed her students to play the song. Also, students can no longer form human chains which is when students all hold hands in a line because this is a symbol of the protests. 

They are also modifying the school curriculum now ('modifying' means, making small changes to it). They want a school curriculum that praises (that speaks positively) about the Chinese Communist party and to show communism in a more positive light.  

Chinese history is now a mandatory subject, meaning, a subject that they must study in schools now.

I've read that teachers are now a bit worried to teach because they don't know what they are allowed and are not allowed to teach. They wonder, for example, can biology teachers say the coronavirus came from China? Or is that illegal now? Can children be taught about the Chinese cultural revolution? Or is that also prohibited?

Also, teachers are not sure how they can work with universities abroad for fear of being accused of 'colluding with foreign forces' which is one of the new national security laws. 

Well, to summarize this section, Beijing sees the root (sees the source) of lots of the protests as being the schools and universities of Hong Kong and their pro-democracy ideas.

Essentially, Beijing is doing what it can to create a new generation of loyal patriotic youth just like in mainland China.

So, what are Hong Kongers saying about these new laws?

Right now, they say the new laws are too vague ('vague', means they are not specific enough. People don't know exactly what is legal and what is illegal. What they can do and what they can't do). The laws are too vague, meaning they are unclear. 

Another thing that has upset some people is that they feel that China has not kept her promise, has broken her agreement with the UK. Remember, In 1984, the UK and China signed a treaty (an agreement) saying that Hong Kong would continue to have free speech, more democratic politics, their economic systems, rule of law and the separation of judicial system etc.. for fifty years until 2047. However, many Hong Kongers believe that Beijing is not honoring the treaty. They are changing Hong Kong much earlier than previously agreed. 

Hong Kongers were also promised that they could write their own laws until 2047 but these 'national security laws' were created and passed directly by Beijing, not through the Hong Kong political system in the same way that other Hong Kong laws are made. 

Also, human beings, we naturally fear change. Hong Kongers are going to be living in a new environment, not the Hong Kong they know and grew up in. It'll be different, right? It's possibly the start of a new reality for them.

Next, how has the world reacted?

Generally, western countries have reacted negatively. They believe that these new national security laws are a violation of human rights and basic freedoms. Some countries, in response to the new security laws, have made it easier for Hong Kongese people to immigrate there. For example, the UK has said that anybody born before 1997 (which was the date Hong Kong was returned to China), anyone born before 1997 can have a British passport and move to the UK on a five-year VISA and then get full British citizenship. 

The USA has increased economic sanctions (meaning, they are economically punishing top Hong Kongese and Chinese politicians such as the pro-Beijing leader of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam). Any assets these people have in America such as property and stocks have been frozen and they've had difficulties using their credit cards apparently.

Ten times more people in Hong Kong than normal have searched the internet for ways to immigrate ('immigrate' means, to move abroad to a new country). Especially to Australia, Canada and the UK. Some have moved to Taiwan.

Canada, Australia, UK, New Zealand and now Germany have all suspended their extradition treaties with Hong Kong. What this means, is that criminals (people who have broken the law in Hong Kong and China) who are in Canada, Australia, UK, New Zealand or Germany will now not be sent back to Hong Kong to face trial for their crimes. 

Also, some Chinese companies and apps such as Huawei and Tik Tok have been banned, or partially banned in some western countries and in India. Actually, India has now banned (prohibited) over 100 different Chinese apps.

Overall, these new national security laws that Beijing made for Hong Kong have damaged China's relationship with western-influenced countries it seems. That's what I read in the paper.

So, let's make a conclusion for this discussion.

From Beijing's point of view (from their opinion), they want stability, security and balance so Hong Kong can continue being a centre of international business. They have seen protests, and fighting and buildings being smashed up and burned and a few people have died. They want to bring peace to a territory that is politically China's.

And perhaps they never would have passed these new national security laws on June 30th 2020, maybe they would have not passed these laws if protests hadn't got so violent compared to previous years.

Many people don't understand or agree with the Chinese communist party for many reasons but one thing we can remember is - a fact is that in 2002, most of China was in poverty (people were poor). In 2002, only 4% of Chinese people were in the middle-class ('middle-class' meaning, professional, skilled people, business people and their families. People who can afford to go to pretty good schools and go on family holidays). Only 4% of the population had this middle-class life.

One decade later, by 2012, that number has increased to 31%. 420 million people in China are now in the middle class and it continues to grow today.

Of course there are problems too but I can't talk about them because I don't want to go to a Chinese prison.

There has been political uncertainty in Hong Kong for a long time. How do you re-unite two completely different political systems? This problem has been a long time coming. 

The mentalities (meaning, the mindset) of Hong Kongese and Chinese are quite different now. Imagine actually trying to reunite North and South Korea? The mentality is just so different at this point that it would be very difficult.

What will probably happen now is, Hong Kong will slowly get used to this new reality. Protests will quieten down. Hong Kong will be more stable and peaceful. Some people might immigrate and there will be people who will remember back to how it was, once upon a time, many years ago when they felt completely free. 

Hong Kong was returned to China 23 years ago and it is time, somehow, they found common ground.

Only history as always, will decide who were the heroes and who were the villains of this story.

And this isn't the end of the story, right? What will happen in 2047? At the end of the 50 years period where China agreed to allow Hong Kong to keep it's own systems and own laws. Well, we'll find out in 27 years!

I hope now you better understand the very complex, complicated and sensitive situation in Hong Kong that's been all over the news for nearly two years. I tried to summarize it the best I could for you.

So now, see if you can listen to all three Hong Kong episodes of Simple English Listening in a row! I have made them all into one big playlist which is going to be over an hour long on Youtube. There will be a link at the end. The playlist will also be on the Facebook videos. 

Most of my sources today are from the British newspapers, The Guardian, The Independent, Wikipedia, various history websites, The South China Morning Post (a Hong Kongese media outlet), Al Jazeera of Qatar, The New York Times, CNN, BBC News, Yahoo News. Nothing here is my opinion - I've just put together what I've read and made one big story for you!

Remember, the more times you listen, the more you will be able to understand. You'll pick up lots of new language in this episode.

Remember to subscribe to all the Simple English Listening channels on Youtube, Facebook, Spotify, Itunes etc.. and please 'like' the video and podcast to help this channel grow so more people can benefit from the lessons. It actually took me about a month to research and write this podcast. I think the ones in the future will be a bit shorter but I did enjoy myself, I did learn a lot.
https://youtu.be/6Yq1Jlw7uQ0

Take care everyone, all the best! Have a lovely week and see you for an interview with my good friend, an interview in two weeks. Okay, goodbye.