Lots of American corporations have helped
the CCP rise to its current authoritarian glory, but there’s one in particular that
may just take the cake. Welcome to China Uncensored, I’m Chris Chappell. China has become the world’s biggest threat,
but it couldn’t have done it on its own. Thanks to both stupid naivety and greed, the
West has propped up the Chinese Communist Party. Western corporations especially are guilty
of this. They’ve pumped money and technical know-how
into China, but one compa
ny in particular did more than just that. And it’s probably one you’ve never even
heard of. The business I’m talking about is McKinsey
& Company , one of the largest consulting corporations in the world. It’s been facing a lot of scrutiny over
the past few years for advising Chinese state companies, especially since it also contracts
to advise the Pentagon. Sadly, none of the advice they gave China
was, “Be less evil!” McKinsey’s links with Chinese companies
run deep. Here are just a few example
s. Costco. No, not that Costco. *This* COSCO, the China Ocean Shipping Company. It’s a state-owned conglomerate that has
played a key role in China’s naval expansion. Other friends to McKinsey include Sinochem,
a state-owned conglomerate that works closely with the PLA and provides Chinese aid to North
Korea and Iran, and Shenzhen Dajiang Baiwang Technology Co.,
a manufacturer that specializes in unmanned aerial vehicles that is owned by the Chinese
drone maker DJI. Yes, the same Chinese drone m
aker that is
on a US Department of Commerce blacklisted entities list. Man, with a resume like that, McKinsey & Company
is a shoo-in if they submit to get hired by the Legion of Doom According to this 2018 New York Times article,
McKinsey “advised at least 22 of [China’s] biggest state-owned companies — the ones
carrying out some of the government’s most strategic and divisive initiatives”. The Times also reported that “McKinsey has
produced at least 10 reports in Chinese focusing on ‘Made in Ch
ina 2025.’” Made in China 2025 is an initiative that aims
to reduce China’s dependence on foreign technology and make China the dominant developers
of high-tech industries like electric vehicles, next generation information technology, advanced
robotics, and AI. By giving out advice for Made in China 2025,
McKinsey is basically helping a genocidal authoritarian regime become even more powerful. At this point, I think Lex Luthor might be
thinking “Wow, uh… that might be too evil even for us.” McK
insey, of course, tries to downplay its
role in China’s rise. It claims that reports about its Chinese dealings
are “misleading”. And that McKinsey has a “demonstrated record
of making a positive difference” in authoritarian countries “and on behalf of their fellow
citizens”. Yes, nothing says “making a positive difference”
in authoritarian countries like China than having lavish corporate retreats just
a few miles from genocidal concentration camps. What’s next, are they gonna take a party
bus
around Auschwitz? McKinsey also tries to downplay its connections
with China by claiming that it never worked with the Chinese Communist Party. “Senator, we’ve never worked with the
Chinese Communist Party or the central government in China, to the best of my knowledge. But we’re talking about China here. Working with any Chinese company, especially
state-owned companies, definitely involves getting the CCP’s blessings. McKinsey knows this. They may be evil, but they’re not stupid
*and* evil… No
offense, Bizarro. And here’s where things get really sinister. The Financial Times recently put out a report
that details how a McKinsey-led think-tank advised the Made in China 2025 initiative. And it’s pretty damning. I’ll tell you all about it after the break. Welcome back. US consulting firm McKinsey & Company has
done all sorts of, let’s say questionable, business with Chinese firms. But it goes even deeper. The Financial Times reports that a McKinsey-led
think-tank advised China on the Ma
de in China 2025 policy that fed US tensions. The think tank in question is the Urban China
Initiative, or UCI. It put out a 310-page book called “Scientific
and Technological Revolutions around the World” for the NDRC, a major Chinese government agency
that forms and guides economic policies. The book formed part of the Chinese government’s
research for its 13th Five-Year Plan covering 2016-20. “In all, it made 61 recommendations across
14 different technologies.” If you’ve been following this
channel for
a while, you may be familiar with how China’s been using dual-use commercial-military technology
and cracking down on foreign companies over national security concerns. And by national security concerns, I mean,
“For funsies.” It seems McKinsey may have played a role in
that. In one chapter covering advanced materials
for cutting-edge manufacturing, the Urban China Initiative recommended that China “accelerate
the conversion of military technology into civil use [ . . . and] promote
the
two-way transfer and dissemination of military-civil material technology”. Ah, so that’s where they got the idea. It also warned about how relying on foreign
suppliers to build China’s cloud infrastructure could pose security risks, so China should
“strive to grow its domestic cloud computing industry and prevent core technologies from
being controlled by foreign companies”. Now might be a good time to remind everyone
that McKinsey & Company *is* a foreign company. So their advice is basical
ly, “Don’t trust
westerners… except for us. Now please pay us and don’t betray us.” The book also advocated for the Chinese government
to provide more financial support for domestic internet of things companies so they could
“eventually take control of the industry from foreign firms”. Sound familiar? It should. McKinsey pretty much gave China an instruction
manual on how to be a more efficient and dangerous bully. Now, perhaps China was going to pursue these
policies regardless of what McKinsey
had to say, but it’s pretty astonishing that McKinsey
would directly help China undermine the US and the rest of the world. McKinsey, of course, has tried to distance
itself from the Urban China Initiative, going so far as to claim that “The Urban China
Initiative was a non-profit initiative co-founded in 2011 with Columbia University and Tsinghua
University. The Urban China Initiative is not McKinsey,
and it did not perform work on McKinsey’s behalf. To our knowledge, McKinsey was not compensa
ted
for any UCI-related research or initiatives.” So they’re claiming they weren’t paid
for it. It doesn’t really make them look better
when their excuse is, “We did it for the love of the game!” It also reiterated how the central Chinese
government is not, and has never been, a client of McKinsey. But… according to the Financial Times, the
UCI’s book included a foreword by McKinsey’s Shanghai-based senior partner Lola Woetzel
, whose listed title was “director of McKinsey Global Institute,” whi
ch is McKinsey’s
in-house research division. Woetzel, by the way, also founded UCI in 2011
and co-chaired it. So the Urban China Initiative is not McKinsey. It was just founded and co-chaired by one
of the directors of McKinsey’s research arm. Got it. Meanwhile, according to the Financial Times,
“UCI has been described by several people involved as a McKinsey initiative. One said it was initiated and run by McKinsey,
rather than Columbia or Tsinghua. UCI’s director of research Gengtian Zhang,
de
scribed the organisation as ‘McKinsey (Shanghai) Consulting’s Urban China Initiative’
in a biography in the annual report of a company where he is a director. Other former UCI staff members list themselves
as having worked for McKinsey on their LinkedIn profiles.” Okay, so when you ask who did you work for,
UCI or McKinsey, the answer is, yes. In fact, if you look up UCI’s address… …you’ll notice that it’s in the same
office building as McKinsey’s Beijing office. At this point the only thing tha
t’s missing
is McKinsey + UCI carved into a heart in a tree. But I’m sure that’s all just a coincidence. And I’m sure it was also a total coincidence
that UCI was shut down in 2021, right when McKinsey was facing scrutiny from the US government
over its ties to China. McKinsey definitely deserves the scrutiny
that it’s getting, but there should also be some light shined on all its past and current
employees. Some of them are up to no good even after
they leave the company. I’ll tell you more aft
er the break. Welcome back. McKinsey itself does a lot of bad things,
most notably, y’know, supporting authoritarian regimes like China And even as China’s economy is crumbling,
it’s still saying things like how "Multinational companies should continue to invest in China.” But it’s not just McKinsey the corporation
that we have to worry about, though. Some McKinsey employees end up helping the
CCP well after their time in the company. Here are just a couple notable examples. Let’s start with Ian
Davis , a knighted
English businessman. Easily the richest knight working in the shadows
since the Dark Knight . Davis is big on promoting engagement with
China. On top of being managing director at McKinsey,
Davis has served as a member of the Beijing Mayor's International Entrepreneur Advisory
Conference. One of the last things he did while he was
in McKinsey was sign a memorandum with China's Commerce Ministry back in 2009. After his time in McKinsey, Davis continued
working with China as th
e chairman of Rolls Royce . In 2020, Davis met with then-Chinese ambassador
to the UK Liu Xiaoming to discuss Rolls Royce's role in China’s aviation industry. Which is pretty much him just begging for
China to steal Rolls-Royce’s technology. His role would be “useful idiot.” Oh, sorry… “*Sir* Useful Idiot.” Knowing how pro-China business people work,
I wouldn’t be surprised if Davis just shrugged off fears of Chinese espionage. He’d probably say something along the lines
of “Hey, we’ve already g
ot dozens of Chinese Communist Party members working in Rolls Royce. Might as well ‘roll’ with it.” I guess it all paid off, because just two
years after Davis left, Rolls Royce managed to build a new maintenance, repair, and overhaul
plant in Beijing! And I hope Davis won’t be too surprised
when China screws Rolls Royce over just like how China’s EVs screwed over foreign businesses
that helped develop them. Then there’s Dominic Barton , who succeeded
Davis as McKinsey's top partner. He recounte
d how McKinsey was asked by the
Chinese government to present some recommendations for economic stimulus programs in 2009. Barton himself apparently presented McKinsey’s
findings to the NDRC. Remember them? Yeah, the same government agency that received
the Urban China Initiative’s book. Now, not only has he become an adjunct professor
at Tsinghua University , the same university McKinsey blamed for the UCI report I mentioned
earlier, but he has done a lot to promote business ties with China in
Canada. China’s business dealings are like Pete
Davidson’s love life. I have no idea what anyone sees in them, or
why they keep hooking up, because it always ends poorly. In 2015, Barton co-wrote a piece for the Centre
for International Relations and Sustainable Development urging Canada to support China’s
economic and geopolitical ambitions, saying, “The world is re-balancing towards Asia,
and China in particular; Canada must re-balance with it” Re-balancing? You mean the way they’re all trippi
ng over
themselves to get that China money? No wonder it all comes toppling down. Went a little too hard on that re-balancing. Barton later became chair of Teck Resources
Ltd. , a Vancouver-based metals and mining giant partly owned by China Investment Corp.
, a Chinese state company. That already raises red flags, but knowing
the Trudeau administration I’m not surprised that Barton of all people became Canada’s
ambassador to China. Although, that didn’t end well. Still, it seems being ambassado
r hasn’t
stopped Barton from doing business with China well after his time in government. He became the chairman of Rio Tinto Group
, the world’s top iron ore exporter. As chairman of Rio Tinto, Barton oversaw deals
with Chinese corporations… …rubbed shoulders with Chinese officials… …and promoted Chinese talking points. “What is the sense you’re getting in terms
of how ambitious this country is, how committed China is when it comes to its climate initiatives?” “China’s incredibly committed.” “S
o there’s a talk about, you know, let’s
all decarbonize and make sure we get to net zero, and there’s a walk, and I think what
China has done is walked. They’ve done it.” “And what we’re finding is the innovation
that’s going on here is astounding. And that’s something I think we need to
cooperate on” Wow, considering what a well trained parrot
he is, I’m surprised he isn’t payed in crackers. China’s totally committed to its climate
initiatives. Yeah. Let’s just ignore all the coal plants China’
s
building… …its wasteful manufacturing… …and all those EV explosions. China’s as committed to the climate as Guy
Fieri is to unfried foods. The two McKinsey employees I mentioned are
most likely a drop in the bucket, although it’s hard to know for sure, because McKinsey
is pretty secretive. Who knows how many more McKinsey employees
are helping China behind the scenes? Let’s just hope at least one of them is
giving the advice, “Seriously! Be less evil!” Now, I’ve got a video I want to show you
about standing up to evil, but first, it’s time to show love to the people who make this
show possible, the China Uncensored 50 Cent Army— Fans who support the show on patreon.com/chinauncensored. And as a thank you, I’ll answer your questions
at the end of these episodes. Today's question comes from oh this is a double
one. I. Syed says The complete extinction of the
CCP can't come soon enough, and Matt Nachazel replied Unfortunately, the CCP owns something
like $7T in US debt. Their fall will
impact the USA directly. To what degree I cannot fathom. I’m glad I have a chance to talk about this. So often, you’ll hear someone say that China
owns a bunch of US debt so that puts the US in a really weak position. But that simply isn’t true. China owns about $850 billion worth of US
debt. That’s only about 2.6% of all US debt. The majority of US debt is owned by Americans. In fact, China isn’t even the top foreign
holder of US debt. That’s Japan at about $1.1 trillion. So debt is not some ax
e China can hang over
the US’s head. In fact currently, China is in default on
$1 trillion of debt owed to US bondholders. The US could, “utilize them to offset (partially
or in whole) the $850 billion-plus of U.S. Treasurys owned by China (reducing up to $95
million in daily interest paid to China)” The real problem the US has is companies like
McKinsey, getting the US and China in bed in a variety of ways, so that when the Chinese
Communist Party collapses, it will be able to take down everyon
e still tied to it. So that is the threat, and why decoupling
is so important. So thank you both for bringing that up, and
thank you for your support. Now there are a lot of dark forces at work
in the world today. And it would be easier, and a lot more comfortable
to ignore it and just try to go about your day. But you can only do that for so long before
it comes back to bite you. Of course YouTube might not like me suggesting
you stand up to the evil in the world now, so I’m hiding that convers
ation in gaming
content on my new show Deep Thoughts While Gaming. Check out the video and let me know what you
think and let’s fight back against the tides of darkness together. And click on the orange button to support
China Uncensored on Patreon. Once again, I’m Chris Chappell. See you next time.
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