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‘A Form of Brainwashing’: China Remakes Hong Kong

nytimes.com

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Re: ‘A Form of Brainwashing’: China Remakes Hong Kong

#11

Post by danrocks »

missedthecue wrote: post #6

China's ability to completely control the domestic narrative is really really underappreciated in my point of view. Not that it is positive from a personal liberties standpoint, but in that sense that it is an incredible strategic asset. Imagine if the second world war had been fought today in the era of entertainment journalism, twitter reactionism, and professional punditry. It would be laughable. The war effort wo…

Good comment. Additionally, we can't forget the fact that, for all their external policy blunders (which are many), the Chinese leadership is extremely skilled in manipulating domestic public opinion. They have mastered the weaponization of online mobs and are using them to foster a nasty brand of ethno-nationalism that can force even the biggest corporations and foreign celebrities to bend to their will.

Re: ‘A Form of Brainwashing’: China Remakes Hong Kong

#12

Post by missedthecue »

axguscbklp wrote: post #9
missedthecue wrote: post #6

China's ability to completely control the domestic narrative is really really underappreciated in my point of view. Not that it is positive from a personal liberties standpoint, but in that sense that it is an incredible strategic asset. Imagine if the second world war had been fought today in the era of entertainment journalism, twitter reactionism, and professional punditry. It would be laughable. The war effort wo…

US citizens' desire to fight in WW2 perhaps largely came from propaganda to begin with - maybe in the absence of propaganda most of them would have been fine with doing nothing to help Britain, France, etc. About 60% of US WW2 soldiers were drafted, not volunteers. So it is not so much a question of no propaganda in the past versus propaganda today, it is more of a question of more tightly controlled propaganda in th…

But that is my point. Most people got the latest war news from the government sanctioned newsreels playing in the movie theaters. Any photos of the war were approved by the government before they were run in printed media. Letters home were famously read individually to cross out unacceptable content under the pretext of protecting frontline strategies.

The government had a very strong stranglehold on what information the population received. Today that is not the case, and there are very good reasons for it, but in the event that world war three occurred, it would put the West at a severe disadvantage.

World War Three is a dramatic thought, but it isn't even happening and the West is already feeling the pain of this situation. Destabilizing election and covid misinformation being spewed by China and Russia are prime examples.

Re: ‘A Form of Brainwashing’: China Remakes Hong Kong

#13

Post by danrocks »

systemvoltage wrote: post #5
vco3340 wrote: post #2

I realize this isn't a high value comment, but I lived in Hong Kong for a couple years during the handover. The socio-political turmoil over the past few years has been painful to observe.

I used to go there for business. It is a city with rare combination of the eastern and the western values. Hong Kong culture affected me in ways I cannot describe in words. I took photographs on film that I sometimes browse to remind me of those days. I highly recommend Greg Girards albums (esp the ones from Kowloon days): https://www.instagram.com/gregforaday/

All that is being washed away. I foresee Hong Kong will be a regular mainland, primarily Mandarin-speaking city within a couple of decades.

Re: ‘A Form of Brainwashing’: China Remakes Hong Kong

#14

Post by culturestate »

vco3340 wrote: post #2

I realize this isn't a high value comment, but I lived in Hong Kong for a couple years during the handover. The socio-political turmoil over the past few years has been painful to observe.

I lived in HK for the better part of a decade (I still do, technically, despite COVID fencing me outside of HK and inside Singapore) and it's hard to articulate just how distressing it is to watch a place that you dearly love literally disappear before your eyes.

I have permanent residency and had planned to make HK my long-term home; those plans have evaporated. My friends who've been there even longer than me - many of them from the colonial days - are in the same boat, trying to work out how to sell property they thought they'd always hold and decide where to set up what are effectively completely new lives.

At the same time, I feel like this sense of melancholy is almost fraudulent, because I have an option, unlike a lot of the people I know.

I can just leave; that avenue isn't available to the lady who's sold flowers on the corner outside my flat for longer than I've been there, or to my local friends whose families didn't take part in the pre-1997 passport arbitrage or who were born too late to get a BNO.

Their entire way of life is fundamentally changing in a way they have no control over, and it's heartbreaking.

Re: ‘A Form of Brainwashing’: China Remakes Hong Kong

#19

Post by axguscbklp »

missedthecue wrote: post #12
axguscbklp wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US citizens' desire to fight in WW2 perhaps largely came from propaganda to begin with - maybe in the absence of propaganda most of them would have been fine with doing nothing to help Britain, France, etc. About 60% of US WW2 soldiers were drafted, not volunteers. So it is not so much a question of no propaganda in the past versus propaganda today, it is more of a question of more tightly controlled propaganda in th…

But that is my point. Most people got the latest war news from the government sanctioned newsreels playing in the movie theaters. Any photos of the war were approved by the government before they were run in printed media. Letters home were famously read individually to cross out unacceptable content under the pretext of protecting frontline strategies. The government had a very strong stranglehold on what informatio…

Got it, thanks for explaining so clearly. The way I see it, because of nuclear weapons, no other country can actually conquer the US, so I much prefer free speech to any sort of propaganda initiatives meant to strengthen the US against other countries. We are already basically almost completely protected from other countries by our nuclear weapons. We do not need censorship and propaganda to add any sort of meaningful further protection.

Re: ‘A Form of Brainwashing’: China Remakes Hong Kong

#20

Post by danrocks »

SPBS wrote: post #16

The targeting of the education system is insidious. Hong Kong youths may be known for being outspoken about democracy today, but Hong Kong youths tomorrow will become passionate about the CCP. We are seeing a turning point in history.

Take a look at some of the things being done:

Under the guidelines, students as young as six years old are expected to learn the names of the four offences under the national security law – subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces – as well as the national flag and anthem and the city’s law enforcement agencies. Schools have also been advised to call police under “grave or emergency” situations involving pupils’ staging campus protests, displaying slogans or forming human chains, while teachers were told not to approach the national security law as a debatable matter.

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/312320...

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