31–40 of 356 posts
[stub for offtopicness / genericness]
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The idea that the British were holding territory in the world to protect anyone is laughable
Do you think citizens of Hong Kong would choose the Chinese rule of today, or go back to British rule if they could?
I think the people that lived there in 1997 would absolutely want to go back to British rule. But you have to remember that it's been nearly 30 years since it went to Chinese rule. All the young people there prefer Chinese rule, because they grew up with schools teaching them that the British were bad and the Chinese were good.
And at the same time, the most pro-British people left, either going to the USA or Canada, or actually taking advantage of the UKs right-to-return programs and going to the UK itself.
So if you asked the people who lived there today, they majority say they prefer Chinese rule.
My prediction is that they will no longer operate as an SEZ within the decade and will be folded fully into China.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The idea that the British were holding territory in the world to protect anyone is laughable
Do you think citizens of Hong Kong would choose the Chinese rule of today, or go back to British rule if they could?
If they really really wanted too, they could have tried to go the USA route and kick both parties out and be independent. But there is approximately zero chance they would have succeeded, eh?
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The UK offered residence with a path to citizenship for all BNO holders in Hong Kong, which was pretty much the limits of the UK's power. What are we going to do? Invade Hong Kong? Hold China over a barrel by refusing to sell whatever it is we sell to China (Scotch whisky?) As for the Chagos islands, it's by far the best thing to get rid of them. There's no value at all and a lot of trouble keeping them.
> What are we going to do? I heard a Hong Kong national argue that that the end of the agreement should have seen Hong Kong go back to Taiwan, not China, because the initial agreement wasn’t made with the CCP and the Taiwanese government is closer to being the natural successor. I can only begin to imagine the shit storm this would have caused.
In a similar vein, Russia should never have got USSR's UN security council seat.
I think I saw it in the fortune file first.
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It's sadly symbolic of the current political direction of the UK. It's probably not too important either way, but the chagos island deal is one of the most one sided I have ever seen. On a darker note the UK was unable to protect the people of Hong Kong when it mattered in another symbol of it's decline. At least they had enough courage and strength to support Ukraine in the early days of the war when nobody else wou…
‘Protect the people of hong Kong’? You mean follow the treaty they signed ages ago?
Whether that would have protected the people of Hong Kong is another matter. I think at the time people were still optimistic about the direction China was taking and they might have thought China would be a democracy by 2047.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The UK offered residence with a path to citizenship for all BNO holders in Hong Kong, which was pretty much the limits of the UK's power. What are we going to do? Invade Hong Kong? Hold China over a barrel by refusing to sell whatever it is we sell to China (Scotch whisky?) As for the Chagos islands, it's by far the best thing to get rid of them. There's no value at all and a lot of trouble keeping them.
>Hold China over a barrel by refusing to sell whatever it is we sell to China China is currently the largest or 2nd largest buyer of UK Pork. Although I won't be surprised in 2-3 years time China will use it as leverage. As they did with Denmark. And it is not that China wants any of these either. UK is currently desperately trying to increase its export ( without success )
If the UK had stuck with Truss, that mightn’t have been true. She was opening up new pork markets.
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No, it’s not symbolic of anything. The reality is that the UK has long been relegated to the status of a non-world power, but still acts as if it is one by clinging onto its colonial past. This reminds me of an interview with the CCP spokesperson from last year when asked about how China sees the UK (timestamped): https://youtu.be/8jZ0KTRUgpU?t=240
They have nukes which is enough to sit on the table. Even if you don't like it or them.
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