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Cryptic, allusive messages from Hong Kong's wealthiest tycoon

languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu

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Re: Cryptic, allusive messages from Hong Kong's wealthiest tycoon

#71

Post by phatfish »

appleflaxen wrote: post #9

That appears to be an incredibly classy thing to do, at no small risk to himself. The billionaires have the most to lose with any social unrest, and he exposed himself to support the masses. If so: Respect Counter-possibility: it's a CYA maneuver, which supports both sides simlutaneously and either message can be declared as "intended" post-hoc.

Agreed he has put himself in more "danger" by this action, but billionaires like him certainly do not have the most to loose.

He will have investments, properties, friends or family outside HK. He can simply pay his way to citizenship in most countries around the world.

The average HK citizen has everything to lose, their rights and way of life. He will loose some money and property at the most, depending on how he decides to play it.

Re: Cryptic, allusive messages from Hong Kong's wealthiest tycoon

#72

Post by decoyworker »

billfruit wrote: post #65
thecopy wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I can’t see what the Chief Executive could possibly do Your assumption that HK doesn't have any autonomy might have something to do with that ;) As to what she could do: she can do a lot; the protestors have a list of 5 demands, one of them is the withdrawal of the extradition-bill. She could comply with that, for example.

Which she has declared to have been withdrawn.

Has not been formally withdrawn.

Re: Cryptic, allusive messages from Hong Kong's wealthiest tycoon

#73

Post by verttii »

Spooky23 wrote: post #46
neonIcon wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really illustrates the importance of our own second amendment.

Not really. Civil disobedience is the only historically effective way to defeat a modern state. With open warfare, the historical playbook for putting down this sort of thing is clear. Roll in the tanks, and infantry from Mongolia or whatever. Sometimes the revolt get put down immediately, sometimes you end up with guerrilla warfare.

There will be nothing like guerilla warfare in Hong Kong though. Literally no one has any military experience there, and nobody owns a weapon either. It's just not Singapore.

Meanwhile, the Chinese PLA certainly doesn't suffer from any manpower shortages to contain the situation when they eventually want to.

Re: Cryptic, allusive messages from Hong Kong's wealthiest tycoon

#74

Post by narrator »

Spooky23 wrote: post #46
neonIcon wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really illustrates the importance of our own second amendment.

Not really. Civil disobedience is the only historically effective way to defeat a modern state. With open warfare, the historical playbook for putting down this sort of thing is clear. Roll in the tanks, and infantry from Mongolia or whatever. Sometimes the revolt get put down immediately, sometimes you end up with guerrilla warfare.

The way our country (USA) solidifies its dominance in a country like Iraq or the nations of Latin America is mass assassinations of intelligentsia blamed on unknown terrorists or death squads.

China's style in Xinjiang is more bottom up and comprehensive with internment camps and mass surveillance.

You could say our style reflects our individualistic understanding of society while China's style represents a more Marxist collectivist view.

Re: Cryptic, allusive messages from Hong Kong's wealthiest tycoon

#75

Post by Retric »

psychrometer wrote: post #62
idlewords wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you defend yourself against the Chinese army with just handguns and rifles? You can post the answer here, or better yet, sell it to Taiwan confidentially for billions of dollars.

Ask the Vietnamese.

For a more recent example ISIS was crushed.

The Vietnamese had massive foreign support. China is unlikely to give up so easily, and no country is going to want to keep arming such a resistance.

Re: Cryptic, allusive messages from Hong Kong's wealthiest tycoon

#76

Post by dragonwriter »

neonIcon wrote: post #51
devoply wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really, say Texas wanted to declare independence. How long would a Texan militia last against the US military? Modern empires can't be resisted period. It's just a question of whether you want to destroy yourself to keep them from ruling you. In that case they still can't be resisted but at least you deny them their victory. You either belong to one empire or another. The only way for Hong Kong to resist would ha…

Consider if you will how well we fared in Korea, Vietnam, and in the Middle East against farmers and normal folks. As a Texan myself, I'd like to point out that a large percentage of the United States military happens to originate from or was stationed in our great state. I happen to think we would fare quite well in your hypothetical scenario..

> Consider if you will how well we fared in Korea, Vietnam, and in the Middle East against farmers and normal folks.

We crushed them (and the regular DPRK army) utterly and completely in Vietnam and Korea, but then forces that weren't “farmers and normal folk” (or even the DPRK military) got on the field (Chinese Army as we showed signs that we would roll the DPRK up completely and potentially—the concern on their side went—keep going into Communist China in Korea, the NVA in Vietnam.)

Re: Cryptic, allusive messages from Hong Kong's wealthiest tycoon

#77

Post by tony »

If you like Chinese poetry / ancient writing, I'd like to mention wengu:

http://wengu.tartarie.com/wg/wengu.php?l=intro

Text is laid out in the same fashion as OP. Wengu lets you mouseover characters for translation and along with an interpretation:

- Book of Odes: http://wengu.tartarie.com/wg/wengu.php?l=Shijing&no=1

- Art of War: http://wengu.tartarie.com/wg/wengu.php?l=Sunzi&s=1

- Book of Changes: http://wengu.tartarie.com/wg/wengu.php?l=Yijing&no=0

- Tao Te Ching: http://wengu.tartarie.com/wg/wengu.php?l=Daodejing&no=0

- Analects of Confucius: http://wengu.tartarie.com/wg/wengu.php?l=Lunyu&no=1

Re: Cryptic, allusive messages from Hong Kong's wealthiest tycoon

#78

Post by TheBranca18 »

neonIcon wrote: post #33
AmericanChopper wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think anybody seriously thinks Hong Kong has any meaningful level of autonomy. The impasse is that Hong Kongers want freedom and democracy, and China wants Hong Kong to be China. I can’t see what the Chief Executive could possibly do. Either the protestors will give up, or stage a revolution, which seems unlikely for a population armed with umbrellas.

Really illustrates the importance of our own second amendment.

You mean the first amendment right? The US military machine would decimate any civilians wielding weapons if they were so inclined. They wouldn't even have to use troops, they could do so with drones.

Re: Cryptic, allusive messages from Hong Kong's wealthiest tycoon

#79

Post by spacehunt »

billfruit wrote: post #65
thecopy wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I can’t see what the Chief Executive could possibly do Your assumption that HK doesn't have any autonomy might have something to do with that ;) As to what she could do: she can do a lot; the protestors have a list of 5 demands, one of them is the withdrawal of the extradition-bill. She could comply with that, for example.

Which she has declared to have been withdrawn.

She declared it "dead" which is not a legal term.

Re: Cryptic, allusive messages from Hong Kong's wealthiest tycoon

#80

Post by handelaar »

neonIcon wrote: post #51
devoply wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really, say Texas wanted to declare independence. How long would a Texan militia last against the US military? Modern empires can't be resisted period. It's just a question of whether you want to destroy yourself to keep them from ruling you. In that case they still can't be resisted but at least you deny them their victory. You either belong to one empire or another. The only way for Hong Kong to resist would ha…

Consider if you will how well we fared in Korea, Vietnam, and in the Middle East against farmers and normal folks. As a Texan myself, I'd like to point out that a large percentage of the United States military happens to originate from or was stationed in our great state. I happen to think we would fare quite well in your hypothetical scenario..

In your wording "faring quite well" logically would involve between two and five decades of unending guerilla warfare. Doesn't sound like a great way to live if you're not a gun nut
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