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China Bans the Word 'Leica' on Social Media

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Re: China Bans the Word 'Leica' on Social Media

#221

Post by GuiA »

frostburg wrote: post #132
apo wrote: post #40

The Chinese are innovating totalitarianism faster than any other country. Take this, for example: > ... When undergraduate students at Peking University, which was at the center of the incident, were shown copies of the iconic photograph [of Tank Man] 16 years afterwards, they were "genuinely mystified." One of the students said that the image was "artwork." It is noted in the documentary Frontline: The Tank Man that…

Leica distancing itself from the ad isn't a good look. The company is not very relevant for actual "working" photographers today (I use one, but tellingly photography isn't a real job for me), but it once was and at the time they stood up to their own homegrown totalitarian regime by helping jews escape Germany disguised as transferring employees.

Like many “classic” camera companies (Polaroid, Voigtländer, etc), “Leica” today is a name controlled by various holding entities and private equity firms. While it might bear the same name, it has very little in common with the original company (the one that saved the lives of hundreds of Jewish employees).

Re: China Bans the Word 'Leica' on Social Media

#222

Post by throwaway55244 »

baby wrote: post #80

I have a question that maybe Chinese people here can answer. How patriotic are chinese people? How critical are they about the government and how many people (especially outside of China) approve of them?

Chinese people are critical of the government but when speaking to Westerners, they are tired of being lectured.

It’s like, when you want to go wash the dishes, and then someone nags you to wash them and “explains” the importance of keeping things clean.

Almost every interaction with Westerners about the government isn’t because they genuinely care about Chinese people, but rather to feel superior, like they are saving the “Chinese” from themselves.

That’s what it feels like and why many Chinese don’t like talking about it.

Unless of course pandering to Westerners can make them money. Then there are some that will gleefully act the part.

Re: China Bans the Word 'Leica' on Social Media

#223

Post by throwaway55244 »

icelancer wrote: post #150
throw2016 wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tienanmen happened in 1989. Would it not be better to apologize to Iraq, Libya and Syria and promise the world not to destroy entire countries, kill hundreds of thousands of people and put millions of families in disarray for those who genuinely care about human rights and lives? Instead millions more are threatened in Venezeula and Iran with the exact same warmongering playbook and propaganda while 'human rights lov…

>> a protest that happened in China in 1989 Yeah, it was just a protest.

Someone did something right?

Re: China Bans the Word 'Leica' on Social Media

#224

Post by tomc1985 »

apo wrote: post #40

The Chinese are innovating totalitarianism faster than any other country. Take this, for example: > ... When undergraduate students at Peking University, which was at the center of the incident, were shown copies of the iconic photograph [of Tank Man] 16 years afterwards, they were "genuinely mystified." One of the students said that the image was "artwork." It is noted in the documentary Frontline: The Tank Man that…

It's pathetic that companies are giving in to that pressure

Re: China Bans the Word 'Leica' on Social Media

#225

Post by YjSe2GMQ »

patcon wrote: post #197
Veen wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The West is the outlier here. Most of the world has lived under dictatorships for most of history. China is a millenia-old civilization that has never been a democracy. The current regime may fall, but it is not written in the universe that it will progress towards anything resembling a Western democracy. If I were playing the odds, I'd put money on democracy failing in the west rather than it rising in China in the…

Also, fwiw, the west is the one that can't stop it's out-of-control careening toward climate catastrophe. China's handling it much better.

I'm sorry but China shows no sign of reducing emissions: https://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/09/22/blogs/dotglobcarb...

Also, have you been to Beijing? The smog is so dense that sometimes you don't see 50m ahead ...

The only thing they're doing is trying to build cheaper electric vehicles.

Re: China Bans the Word 'Leica' on Social Media

#226

Post by mirimir »

Gpetrium wrote: post #205
mirimir wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have there been any truly successful forceful interventions?

It depends on the definition of success for the involved parties. It doesn't always mean full captulation.

I meant more about long-term improved situation.

I suppose that you could claim Germany or Japan as long-term successes. But the costs were immense.

Re: China Bans the Word 'Leica' on Social Media

#227

Post by ardy42 »

landryraccoon wrote: post #93

Do any companies secure their confidential information by randomly inserting information or images that would be considered subversive in China? Like, every other page contains an embedded Winnie the Pooh image, or an insert describing the 1989 incident. Would Chinese agents be afraid to have such materials in their possession?

> Do any companies secure their confidential information by randomly inserting information or images that would be considered subversive in China?

That would be pointless, since it's only forbidden in public discourse. People in trusted positions are able to access subversive information if needed, and anyone hacking foreign organizations for the state are probably in that group.

This article might be enlightening about the situation: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/02/business/china-internet-c...

Re: China Bans the Word 'Leica' on Social Media

#228

Post by Leary »

baby wrote: post #80

I have a question that maybe Chinese people here can answer. How patriotic are chinese people? How critical are they about the government and how many people (especially outside of China) approve of them?

https://www.quora.com/Why-do-so-many-people-feel-that-the-Ch...

Re: China Bans the Word 'Leica' on Social Media

#229

Post by kabacha »

ashelmire wrote: post #56

Another western corporation loses its spine in pursuit of profits. "Hey, sorry we mentioned that time you murdered thousands of your own citizens, it's totally a fake event. Please let us keep selling things in your country." One day, maybe, this cowardly behavior will end.

People like to pretend that corporations aren't political entities when they absolutely are - that's the whole point of capitalism and free market.

Re: China Bans the Word 'Leica' on Social Media

#230

Post by phyrex »

YjSe2GMQ wrote: post #225
patcon wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, fwiw, the west is the one that can't stop it's out-of-control careening toward climate catastrophe. China's handling it much better.

I'm sorry but China shows no sign of reducing emissions: https://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/09/22/blogs/dotglobcarb... Also, have you been to Beijing? The smog is so dense that sometimes you don't see 50m ahead ... The only thing they're doing is trying to build cheaper electric vehicles.

I’m in Beijing right now and it’s nowhere as bad as you describe (which is how it was ten years ago). Electric cars and scooters are everywhere. China really seems to be trying to get their environmental shit together, it’s just a big project that takes time
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