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The China Cultural Clash

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Re: The China Cultural Clash

#211

Post by Merrill »

nostromo wrote: post #26

It's frustrating to see people say that we shouldn't fight Chinese economic imperialism, mercantilism, and protectionism because we should support free trade. Free trade is a two way street. If a trading partner is engaging in unfair practices then it's reasonable to support sanctions and tariffs and other means to get them to stop, even if you're a free trade supporter. In fact this is the whole premise of the WTO,…

Free trade works so long as you are the economic hegemon. After the Napoleonic Wars, Britain was the strongest economic power and championed free trade until the 1870s. Then German and French manufacturing, US and Argentinian agriculture competed favorably with British manufacturers and landowners and free trade was not so popular in the run up to WW I.

Similarly, after WW II, the US was dominant and free trade served us well. However, as other nations develop their competitive advantages, free trade is not so popular in the US.

Re: The China Cultural Clash

#212

Post by takamh »

madiathomas wrote: post #194
Aaronstotle wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is this anti China propaganda? These are legitimate complaints that haven't been properly addressed nor called out for years.

One-sided complaints? When we point out millions of people which were murdered by US, we are downvoted and suppressed because we are a minority on this US-dominated website. I am seriously fed-up with the bullshit spread on this site. You can remove some of us and continue to discuss rubbish pro-US drivel. If there is a way to report users, please do me a favour by reporting my account. I want to get out of this rubb…

I feel the same way that the quality of discussion here has declined significantly and even as an American I'm tired of politicizing everything in a pro-US light. Do you have any recommendations for alternative sources of tech news?

Re: The China Cultural Clash

#213

Post by wensi »

shalmanese wrote: post #141
Loughla wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>they realize China needs the NBA more than the NBA needs China. I was with you right up until this point. How is that?

The NBA is enormously popular in China and an NBA blackout would be catastrophically unpopular. Furthermore, it would be unpopular with precisely the most damaging kind of people, the ones who are largely apolitical but just want politics to not interfere with their daily enjoyments. There's a common misconception in the West that because China is an authoritarian state, it doesn't need to care about happiness of its…

I'd argue that the damages will only happen one way as people in China will seek other ways to watch the NBA (which people have already been very accustomed to anyways), but NBA will lose all sources of revenue from China.

Re: The China Cultural Clash

#214

Post by lwansbrough »

paxys wrote: post #60
zarro wrote: post #41

I see lots of Anti-China sentiment. I would be very careful here into not falling into their deliberate trap of making "The West" China's "Enemy". China in its current totalitarian form needs an "Enemy" to survive, without it, it has to deal with difficult internal questions which will force it to adapt and change - and this what scares them. Totalitarian governments rely on distraction and misdirection of the popula…

So what's the alternative? Don't speak out about real issues because you don't want to piss off Chinese citizens and make them think you are the enemy?

Well, your issue isn't actually with the people with China. Therefore, it would be wise to frame the argument around Xi and the CCP, as opposed to "China." It's like when radicals in the middle east yell "death to America" they're not talking about the people, but instead "the system."

Re: The China Cultural Clash

#215

Post by knzhou »

viscanti wrote: post #191
knzhou wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The Chinese consulate in Houston put out a statement condemning the tweet. Okay, perhaps. But that could also be them jumping on a popular bandwagon. I'm just raising this doubt because I've seen, many times on sites like this, enormous panics over supposed Chinese government actions, which actually boil down to totally innocuous actions from individuals. The most common cognitive bias when the West discusses the E…

> Okay, perhaps. But that could also be them jumping on a popular bandwagon. How could there be a bandwagon when twitter is banned in China (so no one could have ever seen the tweet), and immediately after the tween all Chinese social media blocked any posts related to the Houston Rockets? There was zero way for anyone in China to even know it was a thing or to be angry.

I see tons of tweets that I’m supposed to be outraged about every day, and I don’t have a Twitter. People spread around screenshots in posts, articles, messages...

Re: The China Cultural Clash

#216

Post by notebookstack »

mrlala wrote: post #163
chrisjc wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps differentiate between the CCP and the average Chinese citizen?

How? I don't know anyone that currently lives in China. I don't see posts like, anywhere, from people who currently live in China. From my perspective, they seem to be basically cut off from the rest of the world. So how can I differentiate between the chinese government and the individual, when for all I know most of the individuals support everything their government is doing?

So...because you don't personally know any of these 1.4 billion people, you feel like it's okay to make whatever assumptions you want about every single one of them? Is that not dehumanization? Would you enjoy having others' assumptions of you being whatever worst crime your government has ever perpetrated? How about even the simple assumption that you are your government and agree with every single one of their current policies and actions?

Re: The China Cultural Clash

#217

Post by lwansbrough »

mrlala wrote: post #163
chrisjc wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps differentiate between the CCP and the average Chinese citizen?

How? I don't know anyone that currently lives in China. I don't see posts like, anywhere, from people who currently live in China. From my perspective, they seem to be basically cut off from the rest of the world. So how can I differentiate between the chinese government and the individual, when for all I know most of the individuals support everything their government is doing?

> when for all I know most of the individuals support everything their government is doing?

They most certainly do, but that's not their fault. They've grown up with the CCP and aren't given the freedom to learn about the world from a broader perspective. They live in total ignorance of their government's control over them. Everything they know and understand is blessed by the CCP.

That's the fault of the CCP, not the individual.

Re: The China Cultural Clash

#218

Post by Merrill »

president wrote: post #135

One misstep of the American education system is the lack of attention paid to Chinese/Asian history. I believe a big part of the indifference and ignorance of American citizens to the China problem, let alone policy makers is that they don't understand how Chinese people think. This is evident by the blunders by Bush and Clinton that brought us to where we are today with regards to China's rising hegemony. Our idea o…

I recommend "Chinese Thought: Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Science - Part 1" and "Part 2". Chinese philosophy from ancient times had given much thought to the nature of people and the problem of how to organize society.

https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:UBCx+China300.1x+3...

https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:UBCx+China300.2x+3...

Re: The China Cultural Clash

#219

Post by coldtea »

chromaton wrote: post #179
Shivetya wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tim only stands up to leaders and governments who cannot cause him physical of financial harm. Pretty much par for the course for many American CEOs but he stands out because how much he touts Apple's stance for rights.

Even if it means bad press for saying nothing?

Companies don't care for bad press, not even for bad quarters. They care for bad stock performance...

Re: The China Cultural Clash

#220

Post by madiathomas »

madiathomas wrote: post #194
Aaronstotle wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is this anti China propaganda? These are legitimate complaints that haven't been properly addressed nor called out for years.

One-sided complaints? When we point out millions of people which were murdered by US, we are downvoted and suppressed because we are a minority on this US-dominated website. I am seriously fed-up with the bullshit spread on this site. You can remove some of us and continue to discuss rubbish pro-US drivel. If there is a way to report users, please do me a favour by reporting my account. I want to get out of this rubb…

Unfortunately I don't know a website which is as good as Hacker News when coming to technical news. I wish there was a Hacker News site without politics.
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