21–30 of 94 posts
For those who don't know, Falun Gong is perceived like the Chinese version of Scientology in China, although a lot of injustice was done to Falun Gong followers and most of their assets frozen, there isn't much sympathy for them and they're typically regarded as a bit weird, believing in Qi, faith healing and all that.
> although a lot of injustice was done to Falun Gong followers
Well, I guess my priors need a bit of tuning; they picked up from the pervasiveness of the advertising that this must be a funded propaganda push, but I assumed it would be from the Chinese government, not someone rather bitterly opposed to them. (This is not an *-ist comment; that governments promote their cultures in other countries to create "soft power" is an established fact. I for one would love in many ways to…
I have to admit, I thought exactly the same. Just yesterday saw a booth with a nicely dressed man in a suit, selling Shen Yun tickets and thought it must a troupe from China and wondered how much propaganda is in it. I was imagining something like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius_Institute. Then today saw this on the HN front page.
It turns out yes, it is selling propaganda, but not the kind I thought.
"The fact that both Falun Gong and the Communist Party communicate via propaganda makes it almost impossible to understand what’s really happening."
Generalized it for you: "The fact that everyone in 2019 communicates via propaganda makes it almost impossible to understand what’s really happening." "Social media" is a bit of a whitewash. It should really be called, "Everyone Propaganda!"
The local media and most of the public seems to have no clue that it's a propaganda gambit.
For those who don't know, Falun Gong is perceived like the Chinese version of Scientology in China, although a lot of injustice was done to Falun Gong followers and most of their assets frozen, there isn't much sympathy for them and they're typically regarded as a bit weird, believing in Qi, faith healing and all that.
For those who don't know, Falun Gong is perceived like the Chinese version of Scientology in China, although a lot of injustice was done to Falun Gong followers and most of their assets frozen, there isn't much sympathy for them and they're typically regarded as a bit weird, believing in Qi, faith healing and all that.
It also reminds us that there are worlds views even worse than the status quo. As unbelievable as that may seem.
Well, I guess my priors need a bit of tuning; they picked up from the pervasiveness of the advertising that this must be a funded propaganda push, but I assumed it would be from the Chinese government, not someone rather bitterly opposed to them. (This is not an *-ist comment; that governments promote their cultures in other countries to create "soft power" is an established fact. I for one would love in many ways to…
Of course on the other end of things there's China Daily so... maybe not such a helpful data point.
Embarrassed to say that my wife and I were duped into purchasing tickets to the show. We had thought it would be a highly choreographed, theatrical re-enactment of significant events in pre-Mao China, and had not done any research on it. Instead, it was horribly amateurish propaganda (the entire "set" was a projected CG image). Heavy-handed plays for sympathy and the demonization of the Chinese state culminated in a…
For those who don't know, Falun Gong is perceived like the Chinese version of Scientology in China, although a lot of injustice was done to Falun Gong followers and most of their assets frozen, there isn't much sympathy for them and they're typically regarded as a bit weird, believing in Qi, faith healing and all that.
I've had first-hand experience of people defending the PRC's treatment of Uighurs, so I'll take the perception in China with a few grains of salt.
Embarrassed to say that my wife and I were duped into purchasing tickets to the show. We had thought it would be a highly choreographed, theatrical re-enactment of significant events in pre-Mao China, and had not done any research on it. Instead, it was horribly amateurish propaganda (the entire "set" was a projected CG image). Heavy-handed plays for sympathy and the demonization of the Chinese state culminated in a…