151–160 of 376 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Any entity involving millions of people is never just one thing. So if you start with the premise that an entity like Taiwan "is" something and therefore "is not" another thing, you're setting yourself up to be wrong no matter which thing you decide it is. The only thing it "is", for sure, is complicated.
Upvoted. Not sure why you got downvoted.
Chinese students should be allowed to think however they want, but their behavior is unacceptable in a western democracy. I am not sure that these international Chinese students are good for our universities. I feel like the universities sold out to them because they pay full price tuition. This is latest example of them not understanding even basic behavior in western country.
Wanting their rules to apply in a host country... yeah, that's not a good look. In contrast, we in the West never expect other countries to do it our way when we visit them... /s
The “Post-Truth” Publication Where Chinese Students in America Get Their News https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-post-trut...
https://supchina.com/2019/08/21/college-daily-fires-back-at-...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Everyone feels a lack of free speech about issues they want to discuss. The hard part is establishing a shared understanding that some issues you'd like to discuss will always end up being inconvenient to the powers that be. Most Chinese citizens I've seen discuss the issue argue that they're simply immune to the problem; that as long as you're a responsible person just trying to live a good life, the government won'…
True. Actually discussing the leaders doesn't do anyone any good. For one, how do you know the things you being fed are real? And what are you going to do if it's real/not real? Just venting? If you don't like the leadership, there are plenty of other ways to improve that, but talking is the cheapest.
Gee, the authoritarian brainwashing really is strong with you.
I think a lot of people who were born in the west don't understand that, when you're very poor, economic circumstances matter more than political freedom. After all, having money (or not) affects what you can or cannot do far more than whoever's in charge. Chinese people today have lived through an economic miracle. If I lived there I doubt I'd criticize their system, especially considering people still can remember…
I think the protesters will offer a different slant. From what I've read, they genuinely understand that what is at stake is their freedom to choose their own path. They've watched as China has gradually taken control of the governing body, the media, the financial management and the police. Each transpired more or less over a number of years, but each was also worrisome and that worry and anxiety pent up. The trigge…
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3012611...
One of the foreboding events before that:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causeway_Bay_Books_disappearan...
I think a lot of people who were born in the west don't understand that, when you're very poor, economic circumstances matter more than political freedom. After all, having money (or not) affects what you can or cannot do far more than whoever's in charge. Chinese people today have lived through an economic miracle. If I lived there I doubt I'd criticize their system, especially considering people still can remember…
>when you're very poor, economic circumstances matter more than political freedom It's more than that. Back in the 70s, Westerners could very easily make the case that the USSR was corrupt, inefficient, hopelessly backwards and fundamentally organised in the interests of the state rather than the people. The evidence was abundant, even to Soviet citizens; any possible defence of the Soviet system was predicated on bl…
It is even easier to look at India, where the putative democracy the country has has not led to any kind of economic miracle for the poor.
I think a lot of people who were born in the west don't understand that, when you're very poor, economic circumstances matter more than political freedom. After all, having money (or not) affects what you can or cannot do far more than whoever's in charge. Chinese people today have lived through an economic miracle. If I lived there I doubt I'd criticize their system, especially considering people still can remember…
If the government can throw you in into a re-education camp at a snap of their fingers, that's not economic prosperity in my book. Better to be poor and free than economically sufficient at the pleasure and whim of a dictator. The entire concept of economic prosperity is meaningless outside a free market with due process protections. If the government can take away your prosperity for no reason at all, it's purely ar…
Just how poor have you ever been?
First time I got an accurate map of India was when I stepped out of it. Whole of Kashmir is shown as Indian territory in all books and newspapers, even the area that is under administration of China and Pakistan. It was quite something. Other aspects opened up too, but the map thing was quite outrageous example. With international media availability, graphics have become better now thankfully.
Can you explain this a little bit? Isn't there a big issue right now between India and Kasmir? You're saying it's actually under the administration of China? I'm sorry if this sounds naive - I guess I have no idea what's going on in the world.
In reality, control of Kashmir is split between India, Pakistan, and China.
I think a lot of people who were born in the west don't understand that, when you're very poor, economic circumstances matter more than political freedom. After all, having money (or not) affects what you can or cannot do far more than whoever's in charge. Chinese people today have lived through an economic miracle. If I lived there I doubt I'd criticize their system, especially considering people still can remember…
I think the protesters will offer a different slant. From what I've read, they genuinely understand that what is at stake is their freedom to choose their own path. They've watched as China has gradually taken control of the governing body, the media, the financial management and the police. Each transpired more or less over a number of years, but each was also worrisome and that worry and anxiety pent up. The trigge…
Unfortunately that's not what's at stake because they won't succeed; freedom isn't actually an option. They think it is, but they'll fail.
> Liberty is what they are fighting to keep. Not wealth.
That might be what they tell themselves, but I can guarantee that if all the HK youth got cushy finance jobs like the previous generation, these protests would have never happened. In absence of personal fulfilment, HK youth are searching for an identity.
> The trigger for the current mass-action was not an economic event
Yes, that was the trigger. However there are triggers, and underlying sentiment. Remember the Umbrella Revolution was a thing only a few years before.
For the record, I'm not saying that Hong Kongers are wrong for protesting or wanting freedom. I'm just saying they'll fail, and the consequences won't be pretty.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I can't any imagine any other real government can do better. Sorry forgot to put real . I don't follow ideas unless it's actionable. You can imagine a lot of good things for sure, but won't be useful if not actionable. Like I said, it has its good and bad, but generally I think it's OK. I didn't say it's all good. Now let's look at the list: 1) Concentration camps and organ harvesting: I'm not going to argue about th…
I am not going to engage with concentration camps and organ harvesting, but I would have enough links and even official reports on the validity. It is - as you said - not even a thing the CCP even denies in the first place (and the path from denial to admitting their existence is telling). The other measures targeting Muslims are official policy, so we don't need to argue about those either. So we can disagree on the…