China has added forest the size of Texas since 1990

Post by yanhangyhy » Thu, Oct 30, 2025, 3:25 AM UTC

scoopertrooper wrote: post #279

yanhangyhy wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So most people believe it was a mistake. We were misled by some so-called experts at the time. Conspiracy theorists claim that many of those experts weren’t Han Chinese, since the one-child policy only applied to the Han population.

The policy last about 35 years and didn’t end till 2015. Even today there a limit on procreation as the cap was only increased to three children in 2021. At some point the CCP has to own its mistakes. The problem isn’t that China instituted the policy (although its use of forced abortions to enforce was… problematic), it’s that its system of government prevented open discussion, reflection, and self-correction.

Post by goatlover » Thu, Oct 30, 2025, 3:29 AM UTC

BurningFrog wrote: post #269

yanhangyhy wrote: post #233

I don’t know how it is in other countries, but nearly thirty years ago when I was in elementary school, a Chinese propaganda slogan stuck with me: “If you want to get rich, build roads first; have fewer children, plant more trees.” Every part of that slogan has been put into action, continuously, for decades. Although low birth rates have now become a problem, back then it seemed like a solution. Xi Jinping may be a…

"Have fewer children" implies that people are a burden, which can be true in a dysfunctional society, like perhaps China under Mao. But in a well functioning system, more people get more things done and make society wealthier. The old idea was that the planet can only produce enough food for a certain number of people. But it turned out that people produce the food, not the planet!

Post by jopsen » Thu, Oct 30, 2025, 3:32 AM UTC

scoopertrooper wrote: post #263

andrewflnr wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would really respect the hell out of the nation of China if it wasn't for the authoritarianism and imperialism.

They go hand in hand. The authoritarianism of China allows it to undertake generational projects of immense scale with mass popular support through propaganda. It works well when the government is pursuing welfare maximising initiatives, but limits self-correction when the government goes off track. A small example of it going wrong, was when Mao convinced peasants to exterminate Sparrows and other ‘pests’ only to se…

Post by jopsen » Thu, Oct 30, 2025, 3:38 AM UTC

picture wrote: post #270

free652 wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ohhh so they aren't like selling weapon to Russia? Right. Keep going.

I see your point but, they're really not selling much more than golf carts and drones. If they go all-out with selling their actual military hardware (which they have a large stockpile and production capacity of), it would be get much more difficult for Ukraine to keep up the balance without increasing support from the west. It's really quite interesting to see China being labelled as imperialist mean while the weste…

Post by mitthrowaway2 » Thu, Oct 30, 2025, 3:45 AM UTC

BurningFrog wrote: post #269

yanhangyhy wrote: post #233

I don’t know how it is in other countries, but nearly thirty years ago when I was in elementary school, a Chinese propaganda slogan stuck with me: “If you want to get rich, build roads first; have fewer children, plant more trees.” Every part of that slogan has been put into action, continuously, for decades. Although low birth rates have now become a problem, back then it seemed like a solution. Xi Jinping may be a…

"Have fewer children" implies that people are a burden, which can be true in a dysfunctional society, like perhaps China under Mao. But in a well functioning system, more people get more things done and make society wealthier. The old idea was that the planet can only produce enough food for a certain number of people. But it turned out that people produce the food, not the planet!