US citizens warned they face arbitrary arrest in China

Post by unishark » Sun, Jul 12, 2020, 5:17 PM UTC

jorblumesea wrote: post #106

koheripbal wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Cold War had regular threats of nuclear annihilation as well as constant military testing of each other's response times and perimeter. There are no Chinese nuclear bombers violating US airspace forcing USAF jet scrambling. This is far far less antagonistic. ...at least for now.

Maybe not with US territory directly but China has been extremely aggressive in the South China Sea. Despite this being international waters, Western aligned nations and US ships have been directly harassed and threatened. The Chinese island military bases are a direct move to allow area denial. They [the CCP] also export Chinese-style internet controls and ideological ideas around censorship and the acceptability of…

Post by jlokier » Sun, Jul 12, 2020, 5:19 PM UTC

mytailorisrich wrote: post #104

wendyshu wrote: post #8

Not just arrested but tortured, as we've seen with the two Canadian Michaels and the British Simon Cheng. Edit: British-employed not actually British

Leaving the discussion on right or wrong aside, the 2 Canadians were not targeted at random and were clearly on a Chinese government list of foreigners with close links to foreign governments' agencies that the Chinese let operate "at their pleasure". A bit like when e.g. Russia arrests and expels/imprisons Western spies the US/UK immediately know which Russians on their soil to target in the same way in a tit-for-ta…

Post by razakel » Sun, Jul 12, 2020, 5:20 PM UTC

Aperocky wrote: post #85

adventured wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For Australia as well. They recently gave an Australian citizen a death penalty sentence in retaliation for the ongoing conflict between Australia and China. At the rate things are going, in another five years nobody from a liberal nation will be able to safely visit Xi's new hermit kingdom. It's a shame. I always thought it would be nice to visit Hong Kong.

> Karm Gilespie, had been sentenced to death for attempting to smuggle 7.5kg of methamphetamine through a Chinese airport in December 2013. The death penalty threshold is 50 gram for methamphetamine in China, in absence of other 'good behavior' such as collaboration, etc. If any Chinese citizen attempted to smuggle this much drugs into China, it's going to be the same fate, except maybe faster. Drug dealers in China…

Post by gambiting » Sun, Jul 12, 2020, 5:21 PM UTC

JohnTHaller wrote: post #105

simonsarris wrote: post #98

Note that US citizens have long been warned about stuff like this, especially exit bans. From the state department in 2018: > Exercise increased caution in China due to the arbitrary enforcement of local laws and special restrictions on dual U.S.-Chinese nationals. > Chinese authorities have the broad ability to prohibit travelers from leaving China (also known as ‘exit bans’); exit bans have been imposed to compel U…

> Chinese authorities have the broad ability to prohibit travelers from leaving China (also known as ‘exit bans’); exit bans have been imposed to compel U.S. citizens to resolve business disputes, force settlement of court orders, or facilitate government investigations. Individuals not involved in legal proceedings or suspected of wrongdoing have also be subjected to lengthy exit bans in order to compel their family…

Post by sterlind » Sun, Jul 12, 2020, 5:22 PM UTC

mlthoughts2018 wrote: post #82

jarfil wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure China is underestimating anything. They had an asset, in the form of millions of underqualified workers, and they've used it, to manufacture cheap stuff. But with increasing automation, that asset was never going to last; every passing year it's becoming easier for other countries to replace Chinese manufacturing with local developments, and I think they know it. In order to stay relevant, China needs a…

I think you misunderstand > “ but in order to control those better educated people, they will need ever better control mechanisms.” This is like a building whose own load directly undermines its own stability, or a roller coaster whose own construction dynamics tears itself apart little by little with each run. Trying to institute mass social control while changing a population to be highly educated knowledge workers…