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When the sun will literally set on what's left of the British Empire

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Re: When the sun will literally set on what's left of the British Empire

#11

Post by WillPostForFood »

kingkawn wrote: post #5
FridayoLeary wrote: post #2

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's sadly symbolic of the current political direction of the UK. It's probably not too important either way, but the chagos island deal is one of the most one sided I have ever seen. On a darker note the UK was unable to protect the people of Hong Kong when it mattered in another symbol of it's decline. At least they had enough courage and strength to support Ukraine in the early days of the war when nobody else wou…

The idea that the British were holding territory in the world to protect anyone is laughable

Do you think citizens of Hong Kong would choose the Chinese rule of today, or go back to British rule if they could?

Re: When the sun will literally set on what's left of the British Empire

#12

Post by budududuroiu »

FridayoLeary wrote: post #2
dang wrote: post #69

[stub for offtopicness / genericness]

It's sadly symbolic of the current political direction of the UK. It's probably not too important either way, but the chagos island deal is one of the most one sided I have ever seen. On a darker note the UK was unable to protect the people of Hong Kong when it mattered in another symbol of it's decline. At least they had enough courage and strength to support Ukraine in the early days of the war when nobody else wou…

Protect the people of Hong Kong from what?

Re: When the sun will literally set on what's left of the British Empire

#13

Post by Cyph0n »

FridayoLeary wrote: post #2
dang wrote: post #69

[stub for offtopicness / genericness]

It's sadly symbolic of the current political direction of the UK. It's probably not too important either way, but the chagos island deal is one of the most one sided I have ever seen. On a darker note the UK was unable to protect the people of Hong Kong when it mattered in another symbol of it's decline. At least they had enough courage and strength to support Ukraine in the early days of the war when nobody else wou…

No, it’s not symbolic of anything. The reality is that the UK has long been relegated to the status of a non-world power, but still acts as if it is one by clinging onto its colonial past.

This reminds me of an interview with the CCP spokesperson from last year when asked about how China sees the UK (timestamped): https://youtu.be/8jZ0KTRUgpU?t=240

Re: When the sun will literally set on what's left of the British Empire

#14

Post by neilwilson »

petermcneeley wrote: post #6
FridayoLeary wrote: post #2

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's sadly symbolic of the current political direction of the UK. It's probably not too important either way, but the chagos island deal is one of the most one sided I have ever seen. On a darker note the UK was unable to protect the people of Hong Kong when it mattered in another symbol of it's decline. At least they had enough courage and strength to support Ukraine in the early days of the war when nobody else wou…

Are you aware the UK is basically bankrupt? https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/aug/26/more-pain-r...

Are you aware that is an impossible situation in the UK and that you should never listen to journalists or economists on this topic. They haven’t a clue what they are talking about.

Look at the one month Treasury bill to see the actual situation.

Re: When the sun will literally set on what's left of the British Empire

#15

Post by majormajor »

FridayoLeary wrote: post #2
dang wrote: post #69

[stub for offtopicness / genericness]

It's sadly symbolic of the current political direction of the UK. It's probably not too important either way, but the chagos island deal is one of the most one sided I have ever seen. On a darker note the UK was unable to protect the people of Hong Kong when it mattered in another symbol of it's decline. At least they had enough courage and strength to support Ukraine in the early days of the war when nobody else wou…

How would the UK have kept Hong Kong if China didn't want them to? Would an invasion have been better for the people of Hong Kong? How would the UK have won that battle from that far away?

Re: When the sun will literally set on what's left of the British Empire

#16

Post by lostlogin »

rwmj wrote: post #4
FridayoLeary wrote: post #2

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's sadly symbolic of the current political direction of the UK. It's probably not too important either way, but the chagos island deal is one of the most one sided I have ever seen. On a darker note the UK was unable to protect the people of Hong Kong when it mattered in another symbol of it's decline. At least they had enough courage and strength to support Ukraine in the early days of the war when nobody else wou…

The UK offered residence with a path to citizenship for all BNO holders in Hong Kong, which was pretty much the limits of the UK's power. What are we going to do? Invade Hong Kong? Hold China over a barrel by refusing to sell whatever it is we sell to China (Scotch whisky?) As for the Chagos islands, it's by far the best thing to get rid of them. There's no value at all and a lot of trouble keeping them.

> What are we going to do?

I heard a Hong Kong national argue that that the end of the agreement should have seen Hong Kong go back to Taiwan, not China, because the initial agreement wasn’t made with the CCP and the Taiwanese government is closer to being the natural successor.

I can only begin to imagine the shit storm this would have caused.

Re: When the sun will literally set on what's left of the British Empire

#17

Post by FridayoLeary »

petermcneeley wrote: post #6
FridayoLeary wrote: post #2

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's sadly symbolic of the current political direction of the UK. It's probably not too important either way, but the chagos island deal is one of the most one sided I have ever seen. On a darker note the UK was unable to protect the people of Hong Kong when it mattered in another symbol of it's decline. At least they had enough courage and strength to support Ukraine in the early days of the war when nobody else wou…

Are you aware the UK is basically bankrupt? https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/aug/26/more-pain-r...

I know and it's a crying shame, we should be doing everything we can to encourage innovation and growth, not finding new ways to tax businesses and the people who run them. The conservatives kind of gutted public services, but the governments priority atm should really be on increasing prosperity. I can only think of one recent prime minister who had that vision and the less said about her the better.

Re: When the sun will literally set on what's left of the British Empire

#18

Post by afavour »

FridayoLeary wrote: post #9
rwmj wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The UK offered residence with a path to citizenship for all BNO holders in Hong Kong, which was pretty much the limits of the UK's power. What are we going to do? Invade Hong Kong? Hold China over a barrel by refusing to sell whatever it is we sell to China (Scotch whisky?) As for the Chagos islands, it's by far the best thing to get rid of them. There's no value at all and a lot of trouble keeping them.

I don't agree. The UK can still accomplish great things if has the political will, but each time they concede they lose more and more ground. Could they have done more to protect HK? perhaps but they didn't try and now we'll never know. Again the chagos islands, I know very little about them, but I understand that the islanders themselves hate the deal. And the UK is offering a whole lot of money to keep the military…

> perhaps but they didn't try

Do we know that? Presumably there were negotiations. Normally both parties in a negotiation start at extreme opposites and make their way somewhere in the middle. Obviously we don’t/won’t know every detail but I don’t know you can say they didn’t try. Simple reality is that the UK wasn’t holding a lot of cards in that negotiation.

Re: When the sun will literally set on what's left of the British Empire

#19

Post by bluerooibos »

random9749832 wrote: post #10
rwmj wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The UK offered residence with a path to citizenship for all BNO holders in Hong Kong, which was pretty much the limits of the UK's power. What are we going to do? Invade Hong Kong? Hold China over a barrel by refusing to sell whatever it is we sell to China (Scotch whisky?) As for the Chagos islands, it's by far the best thing to get rid of them. There's no value at all and a lot of trouble keeping them.

I think you are just highlighting how the UK is losing agency in the world. At this rate it will become a museum.

Last time I checked, most countries today, aside from Russia, aren't in the business of invading other countries and expanding territory or forming colonies. The UK will be just fine - it's doing as much as any other western country to keep it's relevance.

Re: When the sun will literally set on what's left of the British Empire

#20

Post by alwa »

rwmj wrote: post #4
FridayoLeary wrote: post #2

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's sadly symbolic of the current political direction of the UK. It's probably not too important either way, but the chagos island deal is one of the most one sided I have ever seen. On a darker note the UK was unable to protect the people of Hong Kong when it mattered in another symbol of it's decline. At least they had enough courage and strength to support Ukraine in the early days of the war when nobody else wou…

The UK offered residence with a path to citizenship for all BNO holders in Hong Kong, which was pretty much the limits of the UK's power. What are we going to do? Invade Hong Kong? Hold China over a barrel by refusing to sell whatever it is we sell to China (Scotch whisky?) As for the Chagos islands, it's by far the best thing to get rid of them. There's no value at all and a lot of trouble keeping them.

I’m unfamiliar, what’s the trouble in keeping them? I thought they’d long ago evicted the natives, and more or less handed the islands over to the Americans—does this move relieve them of either of those headaches?

Is the idea that Chagossian repatriation now becomes a Mauritian problem? Had the British been taking that problem particularly seriously?

Or more to do with the British not really wanting to be caught between the Americans and increasingly assertive regional powers who may be annoyed by the Americans’ stronghold there?

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