Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai arrested under national security law • Hacker News Board

Re: Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai arrested under national security law

#111

Post by notimetorelax » Mon, Aug 10, 2020, 6:21 AM UTC

ken47 wrote: post #72

zozin wrote: post #42

The thought of living in a China-centric world during the twilight of my life on Earth (2050+) makes my hair stand on end. I do not want to be treated as a second class human because of the color of my skin or my ethnicity. I do not want to lose business and professional opportunities because I am not Han. I do not want to live in a world where freedom of speech and expression are long lost memories, where even the r…

Invoking dystopian fantasies to rally cry for war? Seriously?

Same thing happened during most other wars, older population calls upon the younger population to defend their rights and riches. No war is better than peace.

Re: Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai arrested under national security law

#112

Post by tedhuang » Mon, Aug 10, 2020, 6:22 AM UTC

Reelin wrote: post #99

tedhuang wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a false statement. There is general understanding one will only be questioned if the misinformation has caused a significant financial or social impact.

> will only be questioned if the misinformation has caused a significant financial or social impact Oh good, so I'm free to speak my own opinion as long as I don't actually try to accomplish anything!

Well, if what you wish to accomplish has to rely on misinformation then China is the wrong place for you. People will come after you, you may end up need CPC's protection

Re: Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai arrested under national security law

#113

Post by Zafira » Mon, Aug 10, 2020, 6:22 AM UTC

seibelj wrote: post #4

As an anecdote, someone I know is an immigrant from HK and has lived in the USA for many years, and this person is afraid of saying anything publicly against China out of fear. Fear for their family in China and fear for their personal safety even in the USA. Similar to how Russia murders defectors [0], it’s not a good idea to be an expat and criticize China. It is an authoritarian regime, bottom line. [0] https://en…

Chinese culture remains very authoritarian in a lot of ways. You can see attempts to get out of this, but it's hard.

I know people who emigrated from Taiwan before marital law was finally lifted and they were also terrified, even in the US, of criticizing Chiang Kai-Shek. I was told that there were minders on the streets in Taiwan and you might just disappear if they heard you complaining.

Re: Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai arrested under national security law

#114

Post by bhaskara2 » Mon, Aug 10, 2020, 6:22 AM UTC

throwaway-semi wrote: post #36

Why are we empowering this regime? Shouldn't we force companies like Apple to make a statement of why they manufacture their goods in China? Apple is happy make a statement about BLM - it is cheap, doesn't cost them anything. But when it comes to things that actually harm profits and challenge shareholder responsibilities, they stay mum. We need to force Apple (and other giant corporations) to speak up about atrociti…

Amazing if Apple actually did that it will be huge. The CCP is going rogue and hostile towards worlds peace. We all must come together to boycott them. One more company that should take a stand and remove China from its supply chain is Amazon. They have let their store run amock with low grade goods

Re: Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai arrested under national security law

#115

Post by aww_dang » Mon, Aug 10, 2020, 6:22 AM UTC

knzhou wrote: post #92

zozin wrote: post #42

The thought of living in a China-centric world during the twilight of my life on Earth (2050+) makes my hair stand on end. I do not want to be treated as a second class human because of the color of my skin or my ethnicity. I do not want to lose business and professional opportunities because I am not Han. I do not want to live in a world where freedom of speech and expression are long lost memories, where even the r…

This is the kind of comment that makes me know there's no hope for HN. The color of your skin has bought you a lot. When you were a kid, my parents were making a dollar a day. When your parents were kids, my grandparents were facing famine. Now, finally, for the first time in all of modern history, a large group of non-white people has escaped crushing poverty. They're not rich by any means. You'd still be richer tha…

>You look at this tiny measure of progress and hope, and you declare it repulsive. You think if you're no longer standing far on top of everybody else ... you'll become a "second class human"

I didn't read that in the above comment at all.

Re: Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai arrested under national security law

#116

Post by Benjamin_Dobell » Mon, Aug 10, 2020, 6:23 AM UTC

TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #94

throwaway-semi wrote: post #36

Why are we empowering this regime? Shouldn't we force companies like Apple to make a statement of why they manufacture their goods in China? Apple is happy make a statement about BLM - it is cheap, doesn't cost them anything. But when it comes to things that actually harm profits and challenge shareholder responsibilities, they stay mum. We need to force Apple (and other giant corporations) to speak up about atrociti…

I'm on board as soon as we explain why we allow Donald Trump to have the launch codes.

Because no matter how depressing it is to say/hear, he was elected democratically.

Re: Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai arrested under national security law

#117

Post by Johnjonjoan » Mon, Aug 10, 2020, 6:23 AM UTC

knzhou wrote: post #106

ffggvv wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Before I answer that, you are aware that we casually started two wars last decade that directly killed 200,000 innocent civilians, right? And that we reliably do that every other decade?

There's no excuse for killing civilians in war but there's a definite difference between doing that and putting people in concentration camps because of their religion.

Re: Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai arrested under national security law

#118

Post by actuator » Mon, Aug 10, 2020, 6:24 AM UTC

MattGaiser wrote: post #101

actuator wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is most probably Apple doing diversification to avoid SPoF and taking advantages of tax breaks. They will never stand up for these things because they don't just manufacture, they sell a lot of devices there.

Why does the reason matter? Pulling production is pulling production. We are better off letting companies quietly pull out than starting big rights that fundamentally hurt Western firms. Let them quietly move towards the exits.

I support this if that is the intention, I was just speculating that the reason is just the points I mentioned and not Apple looking to calling it quits over some ideals.

Re: Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai arrested under national security law

#119

Post by knzhou » Mon, Aug 10, 2020, 6:24 AM UTC

Reelin wrote: post #108

knzhou wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the kind of comment that makes me know there's no hope for HN. The color of your skin has bought you a lot. When you were a kid, my parents were making a dollar a day. When your parents were kids, my grandparents were facing famine. Now, finally, for the first time in all of modern history, a large group of non-white people has escaped crushing poverty. They're not rich by any means. You'd still be richer tha…

> if you sink to the 90th percentile of privilege from the 99th, you'll become a "second class human" That isn't what the person you're responding to said at all. They were observing the discrimination against those who are not Han in China and extrapolating that it would apply to them as well in a China-centric world. They don't want to be discriminated against. That's all that's being said. (Well also they're sayin…

The "discrimination" they fear is no longer automatically being worshipped the second they step foot in a non-Western country, for being the richest guy in every room. In other words, what they actually fear is dropping from 99th percentile to 90th, and they think that possibility is worth starting World War III over.

That attitude is typical, and precisely why people in China find the West so unconvincing.

Re: Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai arrested under national security law

#120

Post by DaiPlusPlus » Mon, Aug 10, 2020, 6:25 AM UTC

jessaustin wrote: post #102

ssalazar wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But when it comes to things that actually harm profits and challenge shareholder responsibilities, they stay mum. Cynical but this is why- it would cost them a lot , at least today. The Chinese government has zero reservations about sandbagging US corporations that publicly critique it or otherwise don't fall in line - just ask Google, Facebook, or the Houston Rockets. You wont hear a peep out of Apple until they'r…

If any firm in history has ever been rich enough to weather a bit of a business setback, surely Apple would be?

Consider that Apple's supply chain is centered around the PRC - if Apple PR ever says the /wrong/ then then Foxconn would immediately find their factories closed and Apple wouldn't have their latest iPhone available come October - and Christmas.

I'm surprised it took until very recently for Apple to start spinning-up alternative supply arrangements and manufacturing in other countries - I guess they expected that the PRC would improve their human-rights situation by now.