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Chinese activist's family 'taken away' over letter calling President Xi to quit

theguardian.com

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Re: Chinese activist's family 'taken away' over letter calling President Xi to quit

#31

Post by studentrob »

elevensies wrote: post #23

Does anyone care to speculate on the odds that the Communist Party of China loses power/control in the next 5 years? 10 years? From the other side of the world I don't have any idea how likely this is, and I never see anyone discuss it.

Anything could happen but I don't see any indication. Other countries seem content with China as a cheap source of labor. The ruling party is obviously content to be in power. People aren't happy but are having trouble unifying. Protests are in pockets and always silenced thus far. I could see it happening with some technology that leveraged the internet in a manner that was unblockable and untraceable by the government. Not really sure what that'd look like though.

I'm in Taiwan and have been to China a couple times. Taiwan got lucky and a former leader installed democracy here in the late 1980s. I'm probably oversimplifying. Before that, for 80 years, the Taiwan government, which used to be in China before they fled after losing a civil war after WW II, touted democracy. But it wasn't until the late 1980s that they actually did what they said they believed in. It was a loooong process of releasing power.

Re: Chinese activist's family 'taken away' over letter calling President Xi to quit

#32

Post by studentrob »

DougN7 wrote: post #30
elevensies wrote: post #23

Does anyone care to speculate on the odds that the Communist Party of China loses power/control in the next 5 years? 10 years? From the other side of the world I don't have any idea how likely this is, and I never see anyone discuss it.

After the Arab Spring, I wouldn't be surprised.

What connection do you see between Arabs and Han Chinese that would make them follow suit? Also China has tight controls over its internet. They watch it very closely, and anyone attempting to circumvent these controls to promote civil disobedience is dealt with severely. They're smart and not smart at the same time. They don't crack down on people who use VPN to read news, use Facebook etc. But they will throw you in prison, and threaten you with the safety of your loved ones, if you seem to be "causing trouble" among masses. Not smart because this keeps their country weak. But that's who's in power.

Re: Chinese activist's family 'taken away' over letter calling President Xi to quit

#33

Post by [deleted] »

Mikeb85 wrote: post #7
jimrandomh wrote: post #4

Does anyone have a link to the letter itself, preferably in English translation? Making sense of this story depends a lot on the content of that letter and on whether any accusations in it are true.

Here you go: http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2016/03/open-letter-devoted-par... It does contain threats to Xi Jinping and his family for his anti-corruption campaign, so that may explain the state's reaction. > We are worried that this type of inner-Party power struggle may also bring risks to the personal safety of you and your family.

[deleted]

Re: Chinese activist's family 'taken away' over letter calling President Xi to quit

#34

Post by studentrob »

Mikeb85 wrote: post #11

Here's the letter: http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2016/03/open-letter-devoted-par... One of the lines, a veiled threat to his safety: > We are worried that this type of inner-Party power struggle may also bring risks to the personal safety of you and your family.

Wow this letter is fascinating. It is really well written to educate people about policies around which they could rally. I wonder how many Chinese have read this. Probably not much will come of it but it is cool to see some people sacrificing themselves to educate the population. I think Chinese are, on balance, in a greater state of fear / hypochondria than even Americans. They can't even protest. Who knows though, maybe we will live to see free speech in China. That would be nuts.

Re: Chinese activist's family 'taken away' over letter calling President Xi to quit

#35

Post by studentrob »

sharetea wrote: post #14
outside1234 wrote: post #13

We are still getting cheap manufacturing there - so don't expect any support from the US govt

Not true. China angered by Hillary Clinton tweet on women's rights http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-34377406 "Mr Xi has come under fire for hosting the summit as several women's rights activists were held earlier this year for planning a demonstration against sexual harassment on public transport."

For sure our politicians make a lot of criticisms. Not sure what parent post meant by no support but if they meant military yeah let's hope the US stays out of another country's business for once! I couldn't see anything good coming from US involvement in a Chinese civil war. It'd spark a world war at worst.

Re: Chinese activist's family 'taken away' over letter calling President Xi to quit

#36

Post by apalmer »

elevensies wrote: post #23

Does anyone care to speculate on the odds that the Communist Party of China loses power/control in the next 5 years? 10 years? From the other side of the world I don't have any idea how likely this is, and I never see anyone discuss it.

pretty unlikely. even the governments harshest critics wouold honestly have to agree that the general prospects of the average chinese citizen has been steadily getting better in a very palpable way. the horrible oppression and control remains but day to day is clearly getting better for many years, in those type of situations there is almost never regime change.
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