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China’s State Media Show Hong Kong Protest Images, Fanning Public Anger

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Re: China’s State Media Show Hong Kong Protest Images, Fanning Public Anger

#12

There's a lot of negative things that can be said about president Trump, but I for one am glad he's taken economic action against China. It seems like most Nations have resigned themselves to let China become the preeminent super power, which is very troubling to me; to let a nation with legitimate concentration camps, prisoner organ harvesting, and a general lack of moral compass become the most powerful country in…

TPP was little more than an attempt to get a bunch of countries to stand up to China. Trump is hardly the first US president to do so.

Arguably, Trump's economic actions and continued threats against the EU has led to EU countries cooperating with China in ways they refused to before.

Re: China’s State Media Show Hong Kong Protest Images, Fanning Public Anger

#13
China is really betting on the media coverage helping the pro-China side. They control the narrative and the discussion in official channels but that doesn't mean they control everything. Hong Kong is insular enough that they could become something like Taiwan, de facto independent. I don't see major revolution in Beijing happening anytime soon.

Re: China’s State Media Show Hong Kong Protest Images, Fanning Public Anger

#14
post #4

It's pretty surreal watching this conflict play out. I'm still shocked this is happening on the international stage and other nations are unwilling to take sides in the conflict. I wonder what happens when the tension comes to a precipice and China sends in security forces to "maintain the peace". I hope for Hong Kong and the global economy's sake, it doesn't come to that. Although it seems like that's exactly what t…

By how the West seems to precipitate trouble without no clear end game in sight as in Venezuela, Syria and other places, international actors getting involved can only mean moving farther away from solutions.

There is a famous commencement address of Solzhenitsyn delivered at Harvard, I think in the 80s, illustrating how West seems to deeply misunderstand Eastern cultures, but it seems to me, we are where were then, and nothing has been learned.

Re: China’s State Media Show Hong Kong Protest Images, Fanning Public Anger

#15
It's kind of fascinating how important the defacing of the national insignia is in the reporting in China.

An authoritarian government like China's has no real mandate - they have no right to be running the country and no legitimacy that can be claimed. They're a bunch of men that the army listens to. They have the guns and the power and that's it. With such a government, symbols and flags are the proxies for legitimacy. I don't know whether the translation is faithful, but the vandalism was actually translated to the English word "desecrate". That's some powerful language for wooden sign.

Re: China’s State Media Show Hong Kong Protest Images, Fanning Public Anger

#16

There's a lot of negative things that can be said about president Trump, but I for one am glad he's taken economic action against China. It seems like most Nations have resigned themselves to let China become the preeminent super power, which is very troubling to me; to let a nation with legitimate concentration camps, prisoner organ harvesting, and a general lack of moral compass become the most powerful country in…

American prison system is deeply problematic too, one which both parties has continually failed to reform.

Perhaps CCP see themselves as guardians of a country, a system thousands of years old. In comparison the existence of the modern democratic West has been for a mere ephemeral duration, and look who likes to lecture whom..

Re: China’s State Media Show Hong Kong Protest Images, Fanning Public Anger

#17

There's a lot of negative things that can be said about president Trump, but I for one am glad he's taken economic action against China. It seems like most Nations have resigned themselves to let China become the preeminent super power, which is very troubling to me; to let a nation with legitimate concentration camps, prisoner organ harvesting, and a general lack of moral compass become the most powerful country in…

TPP was little more than an attempt to get a bunch of countries to stand up to China. Trump is hardly the first US president to do so. Arguably, Trump's economic actions and continued threats against the EU has led to EU countries cooperating with China in ways they refused to before.

[flagged]

Re: China’s State Media Show Hong Kong Protest Images, Fanning Public Anger

#18
post #4

It's pretty surreal watching this conflict play out. I'm still shocked this is happening on the international stage and other nations are unwilling to take sides in the conflict. I wonder what happens when the tension comes to a precipice and China sends in security forces to "maintain the peace". I hope for Hong Kong and the global economy's sake, it doesn't come to that. Although it seems like that's exactly what t…

I don't understand what you think other nations are supposed to do? Or what influence they can possibly have? Hong Kong is Chinese territory - really, they can do whatever they want there. This is the same regime that is holding as many as a million Uyghurs in concentration camps right now. One interesting constraint that Beijing is operating under, though, is Taiwan. The government has argued in favor of reunificati…

China would be risking sanctions.

Given that their economy is already slowing (dramatically faster than the official numbers by many reports) and their massive debt loads -- sanctions could pack a real punch.

Re: China’s State Media Show Hong Kong Protest Images, Fanning Public Anger

#19
post #4

It's pretty surreal watching this conflict play out. I'm still shocked this is happening on the international stage and other nations are unwilling to take sides in the conflict. I wonder what happens when the tension comes to a precipice and China sends in security forces to "maintain the peace". I hope for Hong Kong and the global economy's sake, it doesn't come to that. Although it seems like that's exactly what t…

I don't understand what you think other nations are supposed to do? Or what influence they can possibly have? Hong Kong is Chinese territory - really, they can do whatever they want there. This is the same regime that is holding as many as a million Uyghurs in concentration camps right now. One interesting constraint that Beijing is operating under, though, is Taiwan. The government has argued in favor of reunificati…

> If they send the tanks and the shock-troops in to Hong Kong, then no one can deny that that's all bullshit.

Of course people can still deny it. Tiananmen Square happened after all. The PRC has never governed Taiwan yet essentially no governments call their imperialism what it is and tacitly accept their “unification” language. At the end of the day countries can argue up is down if money is involved.

Re: China’s State Media Show Hong Kong Protest Images, Fanning Public Anger

#20
post #9
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's pretty surreal watching this conflict play out. I'm still shocked this is happening on the international stage and other nations are unwilling to take sides in the conflict. Are you equally shocked that other nations are unwilling to take sides in the various political conflicts that we've lived through in the past decade in the United States? Generally, it's prudent, in the geopolitical arena, for nation stat…

I would disagree that our on street political conflicts are at the same level with internal citizens. We don't have protests at the same scale, nor organized crime being hired to beat people.

You disagree because I assume, given the typical HN audience, that you live in a bubble of relative privilege, compared to the issues faced by African Americans (Ferguson), Native Americans (Land wars over pipelines), illegal aliens (ICE raids, DACA status), and Middle America (a Mad-Max style economic and social collapse, that had lead to an overflow of anger and frustration, and a political revolution, culminating in the election of DT.)

Of course none of these things seem like a big deal to you. You aren't one of the people on the front lines of these conflicts.

Notice how you don't see foreign leaders like Justin Trudeau, or Angela Merkel picking sides in these issues. That's because whatever their opinions on these matters might be, they don't want to piss off the the winner in these conflicts.

And yes, we absolutely have organized crime that is hired to beat people - what do you think happens at any of the large protests/demonstrations where the police are found to have engaged in illegal use of force? Just because the criminals wear uniforms doesn't mean they aren't criminals.

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