For those who say it's OK to be a president for life because he's a competent person: he's 64 years old. Brain deteriorates rapidly with age. The most reasonable person today can suddenly start rounding up Chinese who post memes on WeChat a year from now simply because of a normal biological process. That's where you need a system in place that strips them off power very quickly. History has had plenty Mad Kings.
Xi Jinping decides to abolish presidential term limits
111–120 of 187 posts
Re: Xi Jinping decides to abolish presidential term limits
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is it disturbing from a US POV, or generally speaking? Because if I recall correctly, the US military spending has gone up significantly as well, also it's projected to rise even further in the future. On a related note, could someone explain to me how Russia manages to stay a threat with a military budget that's about 6% of the US budget? Or does it only seem to be that smaller because their soldiers are payed less?
> On a related note, could someone explain to me how Russia manages to stay a threat with a military budget that's about 6% of the US budget? Because Russia: (1) has ICBMs, which makes it a strategic global threat, even though they can't directly control territory that way, (2) because Russia has a large and capable conventional military than makes it a strong regional power threatening US interests and allies (it ca…
And Russia can apparently influence world opinions and politics to a major unknown degree. Cyber security tends to get the short end of the budget stick, but Russians seem to excel at it.
Re: Xi Jinping decides to abolish presidential term limits
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
It doesn't just disturb the US, but every country surrounding China that is dominated by the strongest power in the region. The weaker countries have no choice but to accept unfavorable trade deals, give up ocean territory away from what is the accepted as international convention, etc. China is big. China being ran by a dictator becomes a big bully.
US is a big bully with its Monroe Doctrine, dictator or not. This is China's version.
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Re: Xi Jinping decides to abolish presidential term limits
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
It doesn't just disturb the US, but every country surrounding China that is dominated by the strongest power in the region. The weaker countries have no choice but to accept unfavorable trade deals, give up ocean territory away from what is the accepted as international convention, etc. China is big. China being ran by a dictator becomes a big bully.
US is a big bully with its Monroe Doctrine, dictator or not. This is China's version.
I mean, tell that to South Korea, Japan or Poland.
Re: Xi Jinping decides to abolish presidential term limits
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is disturbing because China did not hesitate to kill 10000 of their own people in 1989 on a shoestring budget, and faced no consequence. Who knows what they would do to Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, etc.
If we are on the subject of what crimes against humanity should prevent a country getting what kind of weapon, Asia-raping Japan is on the brink of acquiring nukes according to some comments below, do you find that disturbing? Sorry for the whataboutism but I think how each country is perceived when spending money on military is worth discussing.
Yes. But Japan has been mostly, um, "inert" and peaceful since WW2. China's history since WW2, to this day, has been one of one atrocity after another. Things seem to be getting worse with Winnie the Pooh declaring him eternal president.
Also, if Japan was Asia raping in WW2, China is China-raping now.
Re: Xi Jinping decides to abolish presidential term limits
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is it disturbing from a US POV, or generally speaking? Because if I recall correctly, the US military spending has gone up significantly as well, also it's projected to rise even further in the future. On a related note, could someone explain to me how Russia manages to stay a threat with a military budget that's about 6% of the US budget? Or does it only seem to be that smaller because their soldiers are payed less?
A couple of friends of mine worked as hardware engineers in Russian military (or, to be exact, some subsidiary). They later moved on to Intel and Nvidia, and overall you can consider them quite capable CPU engineers (I never got the hang of what exactly they were doing, and a lot of it was under NDA). While working there, they got less than $10k annually. If they would be able to get H1B, it's my understanding they'd…
Expenses are also lower, right? Basics like housing, food, utilities. Even in the west few actually need the bloated budgets they say they do. "Oh I can't live on 60K/year!". Give me a break.
Re: Xi Jinping decides to abolish presidential term limits
#117> The party hierarchy outranks the state one. In other countries, the ministers of finance and foreign affairs (government jobs) are usually the most important ones after the president or prime minister. In China, they are not even in the top 25. Neither man is a member of the Politburo, let alone its inner sanctum, the Politburo Standing Committee. Formally, the People’s Liberation Army is controlled by the party, n…
I never really understood the relationship between the party and the state in China, but this article cleared up a lot. Having a better grasp of that relationship also makes this development all the more unsettling:
> No less important, the parliament will approve what looks like a new administrative branch that merges elements of the party, government, police and judiciary into a powerful organisation called the National Supervision Commission. This will incorporate the party’s discipline-enforcement body but work closely with the courts and report to the legislature—ie, there will be no separation of powers. It will be able to interrogate, search, detain and punish any official, whether from the party or the government bureaucracy, in cases involving corruption, violations of ethics and ideological deviation.
It sounds like any state check on the power of the party that existed before will be effectively neutered by this commission.
Re: Xi Jinping decides to abolish presidential term limits
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
It doesn't just disturb the US, but every country surrounding China that is dominated by the strongest power in the region. The weaker countries have no choice but to accept unfavorable trade deals, give up ocean territory away from what is the accepted as international convention, etc. China is big. China being ran by a dictator becomes a big bully.
US is a big bully with its Monroe Doctrine, dictator or not. This is China's version.
> US is a big bully with its Monroe Doctrine, dictator or not. This is China's version.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monroe_Doctrine
> The Monroe Doctrine was a United States policy of opposing European colonialism in the Americas beginning in 1823. It stated that further efforts by European nations to take control of any independent state in North or South America would be viewed as "the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States." .... The Doctrine was issued on December 2, 1823 at a time when nearly all Latin American colonies of Spain and Portugal had achieved, or were at the point of gaining, independence from the Portuguese and Spanish Empires.
Doesn't sound very bully-like.
Re: Xi Jinping decides to abolish presidential term limits
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
If china invades taiwan in will be a sign that China believes US leadership to be weak, and the world would follow that lead depending on the us response. If they successfully coax a response, we hurt our economic ties, if they dont, they get facevalue gains and reduce us foreign credibility. Now that i think about it...im scared for taiwan
Taiwan is a first world democracy that has at least existed with its own distinct government for seventy years. A Chinese military invasion would be unprecedented in the history of the world since WWII. I wonder what such a war would signify for the postwar order.
A very sudden decline in Chinese manufacturing, that's what. With such a bold action, many if not most US and EU businesses will pull out of China, this would be no joking matter. Still not sure there would be a WW3 over Taiwan or any other small country that is not is some sort of bigger union.
Re: Xi Jinping decides to abolish presidential term limits
#120I thought it was kind of odd when Trump joked that maybe the US should experiment with getting rid of term limits. The joke he made was clearly to enrage us leftists, but it also reeked of a man who doesn't fully grasp this new situation, which is actually scary. It was odd because China is an extremely advanced country and Xi Xinping made an extremely undemocratic, dictatorial move by abolishing term limits. So now…
Outside of the west, democracy is generally held in contempt. This can be dated at least as far back as Plato. Trump isn't misinformed, he believes that democracy is contemptible. And whether he is wrong is arguable.
If democracy is"contemptible" by the kinds of people that run oppressive, autocratic (soon dictatorial) Orwellian surveillance states that disappear people at the drop of a hat, I'll gladly keep my "contemptible" method of governance please.
At least we can (and do) peacefully and easily vote out our leaders for someone we'd rather have.