Malaysia-born YouTuber Nigel Ng, aka Uncle Roger, needs to learn more about the human rights abuses committed by the Chinese government, according to former collaborator and China critic Mike Chen today, days after Ng deleted a video of the both of them in a bid to appease Chinese fans.
Chen’s statement came as Ng drew global backlash for deleting the video titled Uncle Roger DISGUSTED by UGLY DUMPLINGS and telling fans on Weibo that he was not aware of Chen’s “incorrect” views of China. The clip of Chen and Ng throwing shade at a New York chef for his “disgusting” dumplings did not show them discussing anything political in nature.
“I do hope that he learns more about the human rights abuses that the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] has committed because he lives in a free country where he can do that,” Chen, 40, wrote on Instagram today, later adding: “I hold no animosity towards Nigel for what he did, because it’s hard to stand up to the CCP’s tactics.”
Chen, who runs the Strictly Dumpling YouTube channel, had been vocal about the tragic Tiananmen Square massacre, Uyghur labor camps, and the imprisoning of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy activists. He also noted on Instagram common tactics by the CCP, which ranges from cyberbullying to instilling the fear of offending Chinese people.
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The video of the both of them didn’t seem to attract as much attention as it did when it disappeared from Ng’s YouTube channel. He wrote to his 125,000 Weibo followers on Tuesday that he wasn’t aware of Chen’s political thoughts.
“My staff and I would like to express our sincerest apologies to everyone,” his apology went. “Considering the seriousness of this issue and the negative impact of the video itself, we discussed it internally and decided to take it down. I wasn’t aware of his political thoughts and his past incorrect remarks about China.”
Ng, who was previously based in London, is currently back home in Malaysia with his family. Criticism against him even spawned the online movement #UnsubscribeUncleRoger.
“Goodbye uncle roger #UnsubscribeUncleRoger,” @Melomelochuxo said yesterday.
“I’m really disappointed in you,” @Raytso790211 wrote in a reply to one of Ng’s tweets. “I was one of the early followers in your channel and always supportive of your work. Now I am unsubscribing.”
“A lot of the commenters on Weibo don’t even know what happened. It seems like Uncle Roger’s team nipped this in the bud before it became a full-blown PR crisis,” Twitter user @DJaghory said.
The video of Ng and Chen has been circulated on other platforms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7sIm6mxF8k
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