Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I don't have an opinion on that. Just want to point out that out of the previous 2500 years, China has been unified for only 500 years, and 300 of those 500 years was spent under the yoke of a foreign invader (the Mongols). This is not true, Mongol rule only lasted for about 100 years. Han dynasty lasted 400 years. Tang about 300 years, Ming and Qing together lasted about 550 years. All of that adds to about 1250 y…
Why are you counting Qing dynasty into that?
Lithuania evacuates its embassy in China
631–640 of 727 posts
Re: Lithuania evacuates its embassy in China
#632I am Lithuanian; Lithuania Taiwan PRC conflict is frequently a topic of discussion these days among my peers. My position, shared by a few others, is that this is the next best thing that happened in Lithuania after leaving USSR: the first being joining NATO and EU in 2004. Everyone in the world can (and almost everyone do) endorse PRC. "You won't get fired for picking IBM/Oracle/PRC". While very few countries have t…
While I generally think the EU should have a deeper relationship with Taiwan, I disagree with your interpretation of what happened here. Lithuania has weak trade relations with the PRC in the first place, and got basically paid by the US to provoke the PRC. The EU having no coordinated foreign policy, but being supposed to show solidarity is ill equipped to react to a member state just going of the rails, and this no…
Re: Lithuania evacuates its embassy in China
#633Earlier quoted context omitted.
It isn't that easy. It's not just China's government that believes Taiwan is part of China — China's people also believe that. There is a saying that if China is democratic, they would have invaded Taiwan yesterday. Or another saying: if the president lets go of Taiwan, the CCP would be overthrown tomorrow. Another factor that complicates things is the fact that Taiwan is a strategic location for the US's military co…
Chinese Communist Party has tied it's legitimacy into uniting China. Xi has doubled down on it. Giving up would destabilize the party. It's and identity question for China. Chinese law ways that China must go to the war if peaceful unification is not possible. Even Chinese people seem to think that Taiwanese want to be part of China. In reality support for unification is about 4% of the population. The official One C…
There is nothing to do with the Communist ideology or any particular party or people. If it were KMT on the mainland and Communist Party on Taiwan, they would do the same.
Re: Lithuania evacuates its embassy in China
#634I am Lithuanian; Lithuania Taiwan PRC conflict is frequently a topic of discussion these days among my peers. My position, shared by a few others, is that this is the next best thing that happened in Lithuania after leaving USSR: the first being joining NATO and EU in 2004. Everyone in the world can (and almost everyone do) endorse PRC. "You won't get fired for picking IBM/Oracle/PRC". While very few countries have t…
However, following your argument of human rights, would you cut diplomatic ties to Russia in similar fashion? Who's your largest trading partner?
Re: Lithuania evacuates its embassy in China
#635Earlier quoted context omitted.
The recent study about Omicrons severity is from South Africa where 80% were already infected, so mild symptoms could just be because it's the second infection. The severity of Omicron as a first time infection is not researched enough.
How's that any different from any disease in the history of humanity? We "dont't" know (even though we know covid is harmless for the vast majority of people), so why risk the adverse effects of a shutdown again. Aren't you worried about the mental health of children, the women at risk of being shut in with a domestic abuser, or the resulting inflation disproportionately affecting low income people of color?
Aren't you worried that it seems to be bad for children's mental health that they spend more time at home and with their parents, that our world is so broken that the only thing that seems to stop abuse of women is that the abuser goes to work so they don't have time for the abuse? The poor are also disproportionately affected by the disease and death consequences of Corona, the effect this has on children and women doesn't concern you? Financial problems can be solved, it just takes political will, illness and death is more complicated. Not to mention the destroyed trust in the state's ability to act and in the minds of fellow citizens, cue vaccination opponents. It seems to me that you are worried about the whitewash that has so far concealed our problems to some extent and that is now coming to light thanks to the pandemic.
Re: Lithuania evacuates its embassy in China
#636Earlier quoted context omitted.
USA has absolutely been in economic decline since the 70s. Which was okay because USD is the global reserve currency and Washington can just print USD to buy things and offset the declines in productivity/etc. However, once the USD loses global reserve status, USA is in extreme economic trouble. In 2021 alone, it will have over $1T trade deficit in goods.
The US won't lose it's global reserve status because anyone that could, doesn't want to. Certainly not China especially.
Re: Lithuania evacuates its embassy in China
#637Earlier quoted context omitted.
Please substantively challenge any of the facts I laid out. > "The mean old world is just lying about China." It is a literally a core theme of modernity. Opium Wars, Yellow Peril, anticommunist crusades in SEA... Chinese civilization is a historical threat to narratives of Anglo racial/cultural supremacy like nothing else.
My substantive rebuttal is to dismiss out of hand the idea of a global conspiracy to make the really good guy actually look like a bad guy.
Re: Lithuania evacuates its embassy in China
#638Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Is there a hypothetical future event or evidence that would shift your viewpoint to believe the "western narrative"? If so, what is it? A good start would be a motive for why Beijing would do a Holocaust against peoples within China. Hitler had a motive, you can read all about it in Mein Kampf . It was out in the open. There is nothing even remotely resembling such a policy by Beijing. On the other hand, there is a…
> On the other hand, there is a very clear motive for why Washington would spread misinformation about Beijing. And the rest of the world? Why is the free press of the entire world conspiring against China? Or the free press in the US? Does Washington own that? Anyway, we can only speculate on the motive. Ethnic cleansing? Perceived threat of religious beliefs? Who knows. You're gonna have to do better than "I don't…
Re: Lithuania evacuates its embassy in China
#639Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Is there a hypothetical future event or evidence that would shift your viewpoint to believe the "western narrative"? If so, what is it? A good start would be a motive for why Beijing would do a Holocaust against peoples within China. Hitler had a motive, you can read all about it in Mein Kampf . It was out in the open. There is nothing even remotely resembling such a policy by Beijing. On the other hand, there is a…
When I ask pro-CCP people the question "what might change your mind", I often hear a variant of what you just said - "consider the motives (of the American hegemony), it explains our observations". But that doesn't answer my question (2). Would you please answer it directly? Either there is some hypothetical evidence that would change your mind, or there is no hypothetical that could change your mind. Providing the a…
Anyways, please don't dismiss my comment. What is Beijing's supposed motive here?
Re: Lithuania evacuates its embassy in China
#640Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Is there a hypothetical future event or evidence that would shift your viewpoint to believe the "western narrative"? If so, what is it? A good start would be a motive for why Beijing would do a Holocaust against peoples within China. Hitler had a motive, you can read all about it in Mein Kampf . It was out in the open. There is nothing even remotely resembling such a policy by Beijing. On the other hand, there is a…
> On the other hand, there is a very clear motive for why Washington would spread misinformation about Beijing. And the rest of the world? Why is the free press of the entire world conspiring against China? Or the free press in the US? Does Washington own that? Anyway, we can only speculate on the motive. Ethnic cleansing? Perceived threat of religious beliefs? Who knows. You're gonna have to do better than "I don't…