Editor’s note for Tuesday, January 18, 2022

My thoughts today:

“Let’s be honest. Nobody cares about what’s happening to the Uyghurs…I am telling you a very hard ugly truth, OK? Of all the things I care about, it is below my line.” That’s what former Facebook executive and current billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya said in a recent podcast. But some people do care what Palihapitiya says: For a few hours today, even (some of) the tech bros of Twitter were slightly distracted from their chatter about cryptocurrencies and unicorns.

One of Palihapitiya’s podcast co-hosts, fellow tech investor Jason Calcanis, vigorously disagreed with him in the podcast, but celebrated the attention the debate created. The Golden State Warriors basketball team, of which Palihapitiya is a major owner, distanced itself from his statements. Others pointed to previous statements by Palihapitiya that were negative on China, and he himself made a non-apology apology.

But was he wrong? He did not deny that Uyghurs were being persecuted. He just said that the rest of the world is not really bothered by it. It’s hard to argue against that, whether you find it objectionable or not.

Our word of the day is “The current COVID-19 prevention and control situation is complex and grim” (当前疫情防控形势严峻复杂 dāngqián yìqíng fángkòng xíngshì yánjùn fùzá) according to a Beijing city government spokesperson.

Upcoming events:

• January 19: How to use your China skills to develop a career in journalism.
• January 27: Confetti: A virtual screening and discussion with award-winning director Ann Hu.

Finally, the “blame Canada” referenced in the subject line of this email is from the South Park movie.

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief