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When the sun will literally set on what's left of the British Empire

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Re: When the sun will literally set on what's left of the British Empire

#61

Post by tomatocracy »

lostlogin wrote: post #16
rwmj wrote: post #4

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.

> 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.

One obvious problem with that is that the UK voted in favour of the UN resolution recognizing the CCP government in the 1970s.

Re: When the sun will literally set on what's left of the British Empire

#62

Post by msgodel »

rayiner wrote: post #31
dang wrote: post #69

[stub for offtopicness / genericness]

I wonder what will be the legacy of the British Empire. The Roman Empire lived on in a sense as many of the barbarian kingdoms purported to be continuations of the empire for a long time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbarian_kingdoms . That hasn’t been the case with the British Empire.

America? the Anglosphere? the improvements to India? The almost complete eradication of slavery? The web? The British Empire arguably has a greater legacy than the Roman Empire.

Re: When the sun will literally set on what's left of the British Empire

#63

Post by throawaywpg »

rayiner wrote: post #31
dang wrote: post #69

[stub for offtopicness / genericness]

I wonder what will be the legacy of the British Empire. The Roman Empire lived on in a sense as many of the barbarian kingdoms purported to be continuations of the empire for a long time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbarian_kingdoms . That hasn’t been the case with the British Empire.

Hmmm. Canada, NZ, Australia and even SA are all pretty darn "British," to this Commonwealth citizen.

Re: When the sun will literally set on what's left of the British Empire

#64

Post by trallnag »

dang wrote: post #69

[stub for offtopicness / genericness]

"Gott strafe England!" (translates to "May God punish England!")

Whenever the British Empire is mentioned, I involuntary have to think of this German slogan from WW1. The only military memorabilia I own carries this slogan. I came across the slogan in a meme featuring Donald Duck and found the vignette on a flea market.

Re: When the sun will literally set on what's left of the British Empire

#65

Post by throawaywpg »

msgodel wrote: post #62
rayiner wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder what will be the legacy of the British Empire. The Roman Empire lived on in a sense as many of the barbarian kingdoms purported to be continuations of the empire for a long time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbarian_kingdoms . That hasn’t been the case with the British Empire.

America? the Anglosphere? the improvements to India? The almost complete eradication of slavery? The web? The British Empire arguably has a greater legacy than the Roman Empire.

improvements to India? Improvements to Britannia you mean!

Re: When the sun will literally set on what's left of the British Empire

#66

Post by [deleted] »

FridayoLeary wrote: post #2
dang wrote: post #69

[stub for offtopicness / genericness]

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…

[deleted]

Re: When the sun will literally set on what's left of the British Empire

#67

Post by throawaywpg »

FridayoLeary wrote: post #2
dang wrote: post #69

[stub for offtopicness / genericness]

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…

There's no realistic way for the UK or anyone else to guarantee Hong Kong political freedom short of war with China.

Re: When the sun will literally set on what's left of the British Empire

#68

Post by throawaywpg »

rwmj wrote: post #47
random9749832 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you are just highlighting how the UK is losing agency in the world. At this rate it will become a museum.

The UK is a mid-sized country in Europe, and that's fine. Only you seem to think this is a problem.

with another several mid-sized countries closely connected to it

Re: When the sun will literally set on what's left of the British Empire

#70

Post by dang »

gugugaga1 wrote: post #8
[deleted] wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[deleted]

[flagged]

Please don't create accounts to break HN's rules with. It will eventually get your main account banned as well.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

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