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On Campuses Far From China, Still Under Beijing’s Watchful Eye

nytimes.com

11–20 of 192 posts

Re: On Campuses Far From China, Still Under Beijing’s Watchful Eye

#11

TIL that pro China talk is against freedom of speech, how ironic.

"freedom of speech" refers to specific legal principles related to what kinds of reprisals the US federal government can take against you for speech (fun fact: there are types of speech which can send you to jail [0]). It has nothing to do with what kinds of actions society can take against you, or private citizens, or private institutions.

This is an article about astroturfing.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_free_speech_exce...

Re: On Campuses Far From China, Still Under Beijing’s Watchful Eye

#14
I've noticed similar things at my university [am research faculty; disclaimer: throwaway account since my usual one identifies me].

Something I've seen often is unfamiliar faces specifically at seminars presented by academics of Taiwanese origin. My department has a pretty static set of seminar attendees, so it is quite noticeable when three or four undergrad-aged people I don't know slip into the back of the room.

Re: On Campuses Far From China, Still Under Beijing’s Watchful Eye

#15
post #2

Seems like a war of culture vs. culture, who will win?

The one with the money.

Money is a variable but to list it alone feels a tad glib. Factors like ideology, corruption, political altruism, perceived and actual opportunity within nation, social justice etc are all extremely significant and can outweigh money when they are obviously unbalanced from expectations.

Re: On Campuses Far From China, Still Under Beijing’s Watchful Eye

#18
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

did you even read the article? You're probably a Chinese shill too.

@dang or @sctb accusing people of being shills is not ok, right?

'dang and 'sctb don't see everything. If you want to guarantee something is seen by them, contact them via the Contact link in the footer.

Re: On Campuses Far From China, Still Under Beijing’s Watchful Eye

#19
post #10

Israel's been doing this for a long time. Try inviting pro-Palestinian activists to campus and see what happens. At the end of the day, everyone has the right to protest, whether that's Black Lives Matter or the Westboro Baptist Church or any other group. Always distressing to see it used to further what I see as oppression but there's not really a whole lot to be done about it. You get your opinions and I get mine.…

There's a very interesting investigative documentary by Al Jazeera that shows how Israel funds and manages the Israeli lobby in the UK. I'll look for the link and edit this comment.

Edit: Here is a link to part 1 of the series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceCOhdgRBoc. You can follow the "Up next" link to watch the other parts; there are 4 parts in total.

Re: On Campuses Far From China, Still Under Beijing’s Watchful Eye

#20

China is buying influence Globally as the United States and Europe cede soft power after years of war in the middle east. While not fantastic for rights of freedom loving people everywhere it is probably a good thing for Africans in general since they seem to be getting a lot of economic love from China in exchange for mineral rights. http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/03/africa/what-africans-really-th...

War in the middle east is ruining the West. I don't understand it and I don't buy the oil explanation. With the absurd cost of these wars we could just buy the oil, or pay for megaprojects to replace it with gas (even gas to liquids), nuclear, and renewable power. There seems to be no rational explanation for the immense gravity well of Middle Eastern war and how it drags in Democrats and Republicans alike even if they seem initially opposed to it.

I also don't buy the religious or Israel explanation, as neither of these groups have that much influence. The need to constantly involve ourselves in the Middle East seems like an imperative that supercedes all other concerns.

I wasn't a fan of Trump and did not vote for him, but I did have a little bit of hope that at the very least he might be against these wars on "America first" grounds. Looks like the answer is no as his administration is slowly taken over by the war party.

It's almost like when presidents are elected they learn something nobody else knows.

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