• apotheotic(she/they)
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    1157 months ago

    International sentiment generally negative about country actively committing genocide.

    More at 11.

    Jokes aside - yeah? Of course there’s propaganda about China. I would wager its hard to find a big international power that doesn’t have some level of propaganda being spread about it by the other big international powers. But between the propaganda you still find a bunch of real reasons to have negative views toward China’s leadership and actions.

    • Uyghur genocide (ongoing)
    • authoritarian rule with huge censorship of outside media I really don’t need to go on
    • falsem
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      257 months ago

      Can we add bellicose relations with a lot of their neighbors over the expansionist goals they’re pushing?

      • alyaza [they/she]M
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        167 months ago

        you’re free to argue the points you have been in the rest of the thread, but genocide denialism is a no-go.

        • DessertStorms
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          27 months ago

          Got to wonder if you’d be this lenient with someone denying the holocaust, too?

          Barely even a slap on the wrist (“no-go”? Seriously?), not even removed the blatant genocide denial.

          So is it that you don’t think any genocide denial is really that big a deal and not even worth removing, or is just the deniers of the genocide being perpetrated by the state you ignorantly support, that you’re happy to turn a blind eye to and continue platforming?

          At least have some fucking integrity and don’t pretend to care when you clearly don’t, but this reaction? Is genuinely pathetic.

          Fuck, I really wish you tankie bootlickers would stop falsely claiming communism and defending genocide and other atrocities committed in its name by authoritarian dictators (also falsely claiming it, to gain the support of wilfully ignorant enablers like yourself), you’re really are fucking it up for those of us who actually want to be free.

          • alyaza [they/she]M
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            77 months ago

            Barely even a slap on the wrist (“no-go”? Seriously?), not even removed the blatant genocide denial.

            you’re posting from kbin–the comment isn’t removed for you because you aren’t on our site and kbin is dogshit for propagating removals.

            • DessertStorms
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              7 months ago

              Fair enough, my bad on that, but you’re still allowing them a platform when they’re clearly spreading pro genocide-committing CCP propaganda.

              If this was an article whining that Anti-American Rhetoric Is Off the Charts in Chinese Media, and op was in the comments defending the war in Afghanistan, or immigrant children in cages and women forcibly sterilised, I don’t doubt it would have been removed in a flash, and rightfully so. China and America are both oppressive and destructive capitalist superpowers smearing each other to keep us distracted from the handful in each country hoarding all of the resources. The existence of competing propaganda really isn’t news.

              Bottom line is by not banning op or at least removing this post you’re still enabling and even showing support to a literal genocide denier, they’re not even trying to hide it. You can’t tout yourselves as a platform for socialism and equality while allowing people like OP the space to promote the exact opposite.

              • alyaza [they/she]M
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                7 months ago

                If this was an article whining that Anti-American Rhetoric Is Off the Charts in Chinese Media, and op was in the comments defending the war in Afghanistan, or immigrant children in cages and women forcibly sterilised, I don’t doubt it would have been removed in a flash, and rightfully so.

                then you’re assuming incorrectly–we give people some latitude to have dumb, incorrect takes that people disagree with or aren’t popular here, and having one of those takes is not unto itself a bannable offense. this is especially and frequently true if it receives a lot of pushback because it provides a record of where the community stands and what the community finds acceptable, which is socially useful information for observers. this is outlined quite extensively in our moderator philosophy and has been pretty much since we took off. in any case, the idea that everything anyone posts here is tacitly endorsed by having been posted and not removed is a goofy standard for any social media website.

                • DessertStorms
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                  7 months ago

                  X for doubt (especially since I’ve seen what kind of content does gets instantly removed/banned around here, and this is definitely not op’s first “mistake”) E: though if you are being serious about allowing such content, it only makes your stance worse - I thought this instance was meant to be a safe space, but I guess the people impacted by these violent and oppressive acts don’t deserve protection if it goes against the, what, equal opportunity genocide denier platform? As a grandchild of holocaust survivors, this is a huge blaring warning alarm telling me to stay away (which I will, don’t worry).

                  Either way, all you’ve shown here is that you find CCP propaganda acceptable to the point of defending its existence in your space, and while you might not be comfortable admitting it, that’s you picking a side.

                  Thanks for confirming.

            • Rainhall
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              17 months ago

              I use Kbin and I see it as “removed by moderator.”

              • alyaza [they/she]M
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                7 months ago

                hmm, odd. typically the issue here is how federation from lemmy works with kbin (and vice versa).

  • @DaDaDrood@feddit.nl
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    707 months ago

    I read this ‘article’. There are zero references towards the so called ‘China Bashing’. If it is so rampant, how hard can it be to just link to a few mainstream offenders? It alludes towards a deliberate bashing, once again without any links or merit. I am fully aware that news is hardly unbiased but come on, this is ridiculous.

      • @cnnrduncan@beehaw.org
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        197 months ago

        A Chinese corporation openly tested those spy balloons over my country a decade ago (allegedly just for monitoring livestock), why is it so unbelievable that they’d use a more polished version on their biggest geopolitical rival?

      • @DaDaDrood@feddit.nl
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        87 months ago

        Give me a source that shows the blatant and deliberate anti China rhetoric about the ‘spy balloon’.

        • Hyperreality
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          7 months ago

          U.S. president Biden … however stated that it was “not a major breach”, and that he also believed that the Chinese leadership wasn’t even aware of the balloon. … On September 17, 2023, in an interview with CBS news, General Mark Milley, the retiring 20th US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated “I would say it was a spy balloon that we know with high degree of certainty got no intelligence, and didn’t transmit any intelligence back to China." Technical experts had also found that the balloon’s sensors had never been activated while it was travelling over the Continental United States. The general also touched on a leading theory that the reason that it was flying over the United States, was probably because it was blown off-track, where the balloon had been heading towards Hawaii however winds at 60,000 feet simply came into the equation. Miley said, “those winds are very high… the particular motor on that aircraft can’t go against those winds at that altitude.” c

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Chinese_balloon_incident

          TLDR: Unbeknownst to China’s leadership, one of their balloons blew off-track (hardly a rare occurence). It didn’t collect or transmit any intelligence.

          But if you watched the media coverage of that incident, you’d likely come to a different conclusion. For example:

          Chinese spy balloon gathered intelligence from sensitive U.S. military sites, despite U.S. efforts to block it

          https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/china-spy-balloon-collected-intelligence-us-military-bases-rcna77155

          • @SugarApplePie@beehaw.org
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            27 months ago

            So funny how that all got memory holed and now you have people who genuinely still think it was a spy balloon of some kind (even in these very replies!) because they just never read anything past the headlines and never followed up on it after. Just completely lacking any curiosity or news literacy but will still scoff at the thought of them being victims of very obvious propaganda haha

    • @zephyreksOP
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      77 months ago

      Have you been following media recently or have you been living under a rock?

      • Gamma
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        527 months ago

        That’s not a defense. Opinion pieces can be fine, but if you’re claiming that something is off the charts you should probably have some charts (or any points of data) to prove the claim.

        • @zephyreksOP
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          47 months ago

          Then… Disprove it? If there’s such distinct evidence that counters the article, might as well use it in your argument lol

          • FaceDeer
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            507 months ago

            That’s not how the burden of proof goes. The article is making a claim. It’s on the article’s authors to prove it.

            • @zephyreksOP
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              27 months ago

              Do I need to? I haven’t had a visceral reaction to the article.

              For what it’s worth, China’s affirmative action policies for minority groups put the US to shame. Significantly easier college admissions (despite using a standardized process), extremely generous business loans, proportional ethnic representation in government, vast infrastructure projects to bridge the salary gap, and celebrations of different cultures across the country. Not very capitalist of them, given that these infrastructure projects (while very beneficial to the endpoints) are not profitable.

              • Gamma
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                7 months ago

                Nobody else has had a visceral reaction, we’ve just pointed out bad journalism 🙂 Using big negative words might make you feel better, but it doesn’t make them accurate. You’re using them to be dismissive of our points

              • @cnnrduncan@beehaw.org
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                257 months ago

                Treating minorities better than the USA isn’t exactly a high bar.

                My country also treats minorities better than the USA, it’s easy to get into uni, celebrates diversity, has an alright social welfare system and socialised healthcare, does the occasional infrastructure project etc.

                Thanks for teaching me that I’m actually living in a socialist paradise rather than a poor, neoliberal capitalist, physically isolated island where private corporations are free to wreck the environment for profit!

              • @SugarApplePie@beehaw.org
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                17 months ago

                Significantly easier college admissions (despite using a standardized process), extremely generous business loans, proportional ethnic representation in government, vast infrastructure projects to bridge the salary gap, and celebrations of different cultures across the country. Not very capitalist of them

                Sorry OP but basically none of this has anything to do with not being capitalist. I don’t even doubt that China is doing better in those departments than America, but that has more to do with how utterly shit America is at most things outside of building bombs than how communist China is. They should get some kudos for executing a couple billionaires, though, gotta at least give 'em that.

                • @zephyreksOP
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                  17 months ago

                  Capitalism leads to those with money reaping all the benefits: affirmative action is, at its core, anti-capitalist because it redistributes wealth to the less fortunate.

      • @DaDaDrood@feddit.nl
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        447 months ago

        I have been following media intensively. I am not saying that news about China is unbiased in the western media. I am calling out the lack of any sources in this weak ‘article’

          • @DaDaDrood@feddit.nl
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            397 months ago

            1 I don’t know this outlet, nor am inclined to use perceived pedigree to determine the quality of news. I’d like to see sources, not news dresses as opinions. 2 Opinion pieces that try to be credible need sources or else I will disregard them as petty trolling. The title makes a bold claim, I want sources backing up that claim. 3 that ‘source’ is also an opinion peace without any sources.

            Just show me where mainstream media is deliberately bashing China. If it’s that rampant it can’t be that hard right?

            • Hyperreality
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              that ‘source’ is also an opinion peace without any sources.

              ?

              The source of that article are the authors. One a professor at Oxford, the other a lecturer at MIT. The professor’s also written a book about China which is mentioned at the bottom of the article. Pretty weak argument to say that isn’t a valid source. A bit like an anti-vaxxer saying an article about vaccination written by a doctor isn’t a valid source in an internet argument.

              Just show me where mainstream media is deliberately bashing China. If it’s that rampant it can’t be that hard right?

              I googled myself, because I was curious. Not necessarily bashing, but plenty of sensationalism. For example, NBC at the time of the balloon incident:

              Chinese spy balloon gathered intelligence from sensitive U.S. military sites, despite U.S. efforts to block it

              Fox:

              Spy balloon likely sent extensive intelligence to China, experts say. The Pentagon said Thursday it ‘acted immediately’ to counter a collection of sensitive information

              Guardian:

              China ‘spy balloon’ wakes up world to new era of war at edge of space

              CNN:

              Why the Chinese balloon crisis could be a defining moment in the new Cold War

              Wikipedia:

              U.S. president Biden … however stated that it was “not a major breach”, and that he also believed that the Chinese leadership wasn’t even aware of the balloon. … On September 17, 2023, in an interview with CBS news, General Mark Milley, the retiring 20th US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated “I would say it was a spy balloon that we know with high degree of certainty got no intelligence, and didn’t transmit any intelligence back to China." Technical experts had also found that the balloon’s sensors had never been activated while it was travelling over the Continental United States. The general also touched on a leading theory that the reason that it was flying over the United States, was probably because it was blown off-track, where the balloon had been heading towards Hawaii however winds at 60,000 feet simply came into the equation. Miley said, “those winds are very high… the particular motor on that aircraft can’t go against those winds at that altitude.”

              Media: the Chinese are spying on us. Are you ready for WAR?

              Reality: the wind blew a balloon of course and by now most of us have already forgotten what turned out to be a nothing burger of a story.

              • @Karzyn@beehaw.org
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                27 months ago

                I think that the concern was not that the articles like the ones you link to do not exist. Instead the complaint is that the posted piece did not itself link to them to back up the claim. These were likely quite easy for you to find and it’s poor journalism that the author did not put in the same effort.

            • @zephyreksOP
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              37 months ago

              Again, have you been living under a rock for the past few years? You can even look at the top posts of this community.

              • @DaDaDrood@feddit.nl
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                347 months ago

                I’m not the one making bald claims. The onus is on the one with the claims. Just show me some sources!

                • @zephyreksOP
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                  27 months ago

                  The evidence is right in front of you, yet you refuse to see it

    • @averyminya@beehaw.org
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      This is an important difference that always gets left out in these articles.

      Of course people will be anti-China when the CCP is making the movies (edit, I meant “moves” but movies works too haha). It’s one thing to ask for companies to make a version of media specifically for your country, but using your weight to make that the version? That is an insanely big red flag when Tencent has roots in everything and also goes by the whim of the party.

      On the flip side, my friend from college moved to China a couple years after we graduated and he’s been doing really, really well. He loves it there. Ironically he ended up getting a job with Tencent and is a pretty big part of their last released Synced. So I’m glad he’s doing well, but it’s also been weird talking about certain topics with him. It was also weird when I was asking about how he was talking with me and he’s like “oh I just have to get on a VPN and etc so I that’s why I’m not around much, but it’s cool lol.” Kinda freaky when I also just see the articles about a company getting fined for using a VPN. I’m sure he’ll be fine but it’s still slightly worrying.

      Which ultimately kind of sums up the situation. My friend loved his experience in China so much so that he moved back there seemingly permanently and set himself up with a nice life with the culture seeming to be a big part of that. And then there’s the actions of the government. Many of the same criticisms can absolutely be held toward the U.S. regarding housing and towards a not-so-small portion our political actions, however it seems the difference is that we don’t have a knitted corporate government quite yet. I dunno, the sway of Apple, MS, whoever else just doesn’t have the same weight as the CCP and Tencent. That generally seems to be peoples issue

      • @Floey@lemm.ee
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        57 months ago

        I dunno, the sway of Apple, MS, whoever else just doesn’t have the same weight as the CCP and Tencent.

        The fact that you name Apple and Microsoft makes me think there is a blind spot here. If you are taking about big tech with it’s tendrils in US policy I’d go for Google and Facebook. Big pharma and the military industrial complex are even bigger issues. These industries don’t just undermine the US but harm the global community as well. Then you have think tanks, often funded by capital, shaping narratives and foreign policy.

        • @averyminya@beehaw.org
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          67 months ago

          I more just didn’t want to list more than 3 companies, hence “whoever else”. You’re right that Google and Facebook are closer to the tendrils of Tencent than MS or Apple, or well, Apple at least.

    • @Floey@lemm.ee
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      97 months ago

      The government of the United States is also highly untrustworthy, but plenty of other nation’s governments engage and cooperate with the US. This isn’t whataboutism, it’s evidence that there must be other factors.

        • @Floey@lemm.ee
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          7 months ago

          certain factions within the US government have been untrustworthy.

          between far-right, corporate factions and those groups that actually defend some semblance of democratic liberty.

          This just sounds like a whole lot of liberal US apologia. It isn’t actually far off from regressive phrases like MAGA or A Few Bad Apples. There was no golden time when the US has been a bastion of freedom and human welfare and it mostly shows signs of getting worse, and you cannot fix the US by removing a few politicians.

          Are they at all comparable as reflections of the viability of each respective state’s potential to sustain human liberty? No.

          I don’t see what the point is of picking two specific events when we are discussing nations and governments as a whole. Taken in totality the US does not and has not ever shown signs of sustaining liberty as you put it. The law and order system is a joke, human welfare is a joke, safety is a joke, education is a joke, foreign policy is a joke. A lot of these fundamental issues are completely ignorable for the privileged, and the last one ignorable if you live in the US itself, but I am not looking to have liberty for some and not others.

          You’re not required to sing the praises of the US, but acknowledging the meaningful degree of difference is critical to preventing the world sliding further into an authoritarian paradigm.

          I disagree. I think what you’re doing right now is what strengthens authoritarianism in “Western” countries. Always framing Western countries, especially the US, as the lesser of two evils just justifies nationalism and militarism and downplays the need for radical change. What’s the point of this liberty you speak of if we don’t use it to criticize our own governments, and why stop at just criticism? The truth is you’ll only realize how thin your liberty actually is when you actually pose a threat.

          But I’m not sure how we got on this tangent. I was simply responding to the notion of geopolitical trust and how that relates to the US and China. The US reneges on international agreements all the time or simply does not adhere to them. The government also partakes in the manipulation of foreign governments, extrajudicial murders in foreign countries in “times of peace”, and sabotages countries with embargos. All of this should make the US untrustworthy, but the unspoken part is that when we talk about trust we are taking about among Western countries. These nations have some shared geopolitical goals and because the US’s violations aren’t against these nations but against ones where say the common religion is different or the people have a darker average complexion they can be ignored.

          • Dark Arc
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            What’s the point of this liberty you speak of if we don’t use it to criticize our own governments, and why stop at just criticism? The truth is you’ll only realize how thin your liberty actually is when you actually pose a threat.

            You’re conflating a comparison with an endorsement.

            One can say the US is unquestionably better than China while still acknowledging the US has issues.

            I’d challenge you to find any country that’s truly “trustworthy.” That doesn’t mean I think it’s impossible, I just think historically humans suck at governorship.

            As for what’s different between the US and China, your original point, I think a lot of it is just what’s available/who has the better deal. The US historically has the better innovations, the better weaponry, and in the case of Europe, bidirectional cultural influences, and there’s just a lot more history with the US as a partner and a lot more families with folks in both locations.

    • @zephyreksOP
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      37 months ago

      Better tell all the people critical of the Chinese government on weibo that they’re in jail lol

      • @tias@discuss.tchncs.de
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        7 months ago

        That’s right. Because not every single person is in jail, no problem exists. /s

        How about this: even putting one person in jail because of political opinion is an oppressive, undemocratic action.

        • @zephyreksOP
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          27 months ago

          Better tell that to literally every government on the planet, then.

          Jailing dissidents is government oppression, but it’s a type of government oppression that happens in every major government, democratic or not. Welcome to the real world.

          • @tias@discuss.tchncs.de
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            87 months ago

            This post was about China, not other countries. What China is doing is an atrocity and your whataboutism doesn’t change that.

            • @zephyreksOP
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              07 months ago

              You claimed that even putting one person in jail is oppressive and undemocratic. I’ve either disproven that point or proven that most governments are oppressive and undemocratic. Either works for me.

                • @zephyreksOP
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                  17 months ago

                  You brought up a point and now you say I’m sidetracking? The gall…

                  Just admit that that argument point was stupid and we can move on.

      • @wahming@monyet.cc
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        157 months ago

        Yeah, like Naomi Wu, famous in the maker community, who tried her best to provide a nuanced view of China before pissing off the wrong group of people and going radio silent for good.

        • @zephyreksOP
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          07 months ago

          And the fact that she was able to operate for years without issue, despite being critical of the regime for most of that period?

          Oh. Right. We don’t talk about that part. Her existence both contradicts and supports your point.

          • @anachronist@midwest.social
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            And the fact that she was able to operate for years without issue

            I used to watch ADVChina, which was a youtube series by an American and a South African who married Chinese women and decided to live in China with their families. For years they rode motorbikes around China, filming “day in the life” type content and occasionally saying something mildly critical.

            Eventually the CCP decided they didn’t like them and they had to flee the country. The way they told it they had to lie their way through the border to HK to get out because the government put an exit ban on them. Now they live in California post angry anti-CCP rants.

            Point being, the fact that Wu or the ADVChina guys were able to operate in China for a little while isn’t proof that the CCP tolerates independent media. It is proof that the CCP can be slow sometimes to shut down people who grow a foreign audience organically using information channels the CCP doesn’t yet fully understand.

            • @zephyreksOP
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              07 months ago

              You do realize that the CCP isn’t some top-down monolith… Right? If it takes years to crack down on independent journalists, that sounds more like “freedom until you say overstep some line.”

              Which, sure, isn’t entirely free, but it’s not even close to as bad as what people suggest.

  • magnetosphere
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    567 months ago

    Everyday people need to remember the difference between the general Chinese population and the CCP. The Chinese people are wonderful. The CCP is horrific, and working tirelessly to create their own version of hell.

    • @Rin@lemm.ee
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      227 months ago

      I second this. I love Chinese people and culture, hell, I’m even learning Chinese to be able to communicate with my Chinese gf’s parents, however CCP ≠ Chinese people.

      • @sunbeam60@lemmy.one
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        27 months ago

        However, when you travel in China, you don’t have to travel far before you realise that broadly the Chinese support their government because things are getting better and in many places are on par or better than the west.

        • @Rin@lemm.ee
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          47 months ago

          I don’t think I’ll ever voluntarily go to China. I’ve said bad things about the CCP, so I’ll most likely be on some kind of list.

          As for your other claims, i honestly doubt it.

    • @anachronist@midwest.social
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      107 months ago

      Nobody would deny this. On the other hand, it’s the same argument as “not all Russians support Putin” or even—dare I say—“not all Germans were Nazis.” It’s true that when you live under a despotic regime there’s not much you can do about it, individually. And most people would not willingly be complicit in the regime’s crimes except to the extent that they have no choice.

      But it’s true that these regimes do have lots of internal support. They wouldn’t exist without that support. And to the extent that this support is manufactured by internal propaganda, people within that message-space will not be able to resist having their own perceptions shaped by it.

      So while it’s undeniably true that the CCP is not the Chinese people, and that the Chinese people are the principle victims of the CCP, they also are complicit in a collective sense.

      • magnetosphere
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        I’m being generous. I tend to think that the Chinese people (or people of any country, really) are victims of propaganda. We’d all be less supportive of our various governments if we weren’t constantly told that we’re the GOOD guys, and our enemies are BAD and EVIL.

    • @zephyreksOP
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      57 months ago

      Does that version of hell include transit, affordable housing, education, upwards mobility, and healthcare?

      • @YourFavouriteNPC@feddit.de
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        157 months ago

        Yeah: mass transit (transit) into camps (housing) for “re-education” (education), with the chance to get forcefully married to a real Chinese man (social mobility), or end up having your organs harvested (healthcare)

        • @zephyreksOP
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          27 months ago

          Do you have any idea what happens in China outside of the limited view presented by journalists who have never stepped in the country?

          • @tias@discuss.tchncs.de
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            Do people really need to know more? I don’t think there are any virtues that could make up for China’s treatment of Uyghurs and the people who try to save them.

          • @YourFavouriteNPC@feddit.de
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            147 months ago

            A lot of stuff. But that your point basically boils down to “not all of China is about genocide!” is more than enough to know that it’s not worth my time arguing with you.

            • @zephyreksOP
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              07 months ago

              Do you know the context behind Xinjiang or the affirmative action that China takes on its minority groups? Have you ever been to Xinjiang?

              • apotheotic(she/they)
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                67 months ago

                “affirmative action that China takes on its minority groups” good god, have the balls to call it what it is dude. China is doing a genocide. If that doesn’t bother you, that’s your deal, but at least own up to what you are defending

                • @zephyreksOP
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                  07 months ago

                  Do you even know what affirmative action is?

                  Minority groups in China get substantially more points on standardized tests that are the sole factor used in college admissions. They get egregiously advantageous business loans. They get proportional representation in government. They are (were?) exempt from family planning policy. They get dumped billions of dollars in infrastructure.

                  And… Who’s died for it? Oh. Right.

      • @anachronist@midwest.social
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        127 months ago

        Chinese healthcare makes American healthcare look good by comparison. It is mostly private and you’re expected to bribe the doctors, nurses, orderlies and have a family member stick around the hospital the whole time pestering them or you won’t receive care. Same with Education, which is like the American Ivy system times 1000. Housing in China is… well, just try googling Evergande. Upwards mobility involves either climbing the party hierarchy or “leveling up” from being a rural peasant to being an urban migrant worker with bad hukou.

        You got me on transit though, the Chinese have built some amazing trains.

      • @Zabjam@lemm.ee
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        27 months ago

        Yeah that’s true. As long as there is good transit, everything is fine. That Hitler guy built the autobahn. Must have been a great leader.

        • @zephyreksOP
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          17 months ago

          That Hitler guy gave affordable housing too! And healthcare! Would you look at that.

  • Silverseren
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    487 months ago

    By that, you mean criticism of China’s known actions that are detrimental to their neighboring countries and the world?

    If you want to call that “anti-China”, then sure, but it’s an appropriate reason to be, just as appropriate as being “anti-Russia”.

  • GroteStreet 🦘
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    487 months ago

    This article is prime “SelfAwareWolves” material…

    Countering this in international media by offering more balanced views for a global audience is near impossible as censorship is rife. There almost seems to be a global compact to control the narrative, a propaganda war powered by today’s digital technology.

  • Paranoid Factoid
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    7 months ago

    Bullshit. I’ve been to China and there’s no fucking way I’d go back with pooh bear in charge. It’s dangerous for westerners now. No joke.

    • @wahming@monyet.cc
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      7 months ago

      Westerners? I’m foreign-born Chinese, and you couldn’t pay me to enter China. My anti-ccp sentiments combined with their sense of ownership of all Chinese people regardless of birth nation means I’m probably on a low priority list somewhere.

      • Paranoid Factoid
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        137 months ago

        You look at them funny and they’ll confiscate your passport and leave you stranded behind the border. That’s if they’re in a good mood.

  • Pat
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    297 months ago

    It’s almost like if they want people to not hate their country they should stop being a corrupt authoritarian hellhole

    • alyaza [they/she]M
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      127 months ago

      to be clear: the “they” here is the chinese government rather than the chinese people, correct? your comment is a little ambiguous

    • @zephyreksOP
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      07 months ago

      Oh so like India and America, corrupt democratic hellholes?

      • @cnnrduncan@beehaw.org
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        287 months ago

        Yes, exactly. Most people don’t want their governments to copy imperialistic authoritarian capitalist shitholes like China, the USA, or Russia.

        The American government being awful doesn’t mean that everybody else should copy them and be as awful as they can.

        • @zephyreksOP
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          07 months ago

          What reference do you have then, though? You’ve basically eliminated every country of reasonable size: India, China, America obviously, but also Pakistan, Indonesia, Brazil, Russia, Mexico and Nigeria, Bangladesh are in similar states.

          • @cnnrduncan@beehaw.org
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            317 months ago

            Yeah and? I don’t want to live in an oppressive shithole, doesn’t matter to me if they became oppressive because they were copying China, the USA, Nigeria, the UK or whatever - they’d still be oppressive!

            I honestly didn’t think that saying “I don’t like authoritarian capitalism” would be such a controversial statement…

            • @zephyreksOP
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              07 months ago

              You’ve expressed disapproval without giving a solution. How would you ask the US or China to change and why do you think that would work?

              • @cnnrduncan@beehaw.org
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                177 months ago

                I’ve legitimately got no idea how they can fix their countries (or if they can even be fixed) as I’m more focused on my own country. I do not want my country to copy either the USA or China, and I resent the close relationship my government maintains with both of those oppressive states.

                The USA pressured our government into performing illegal searches/arrests to favour their corporations, and the CCP has repeatedly been caught infiltrating our parliament. Those big authoritarian countries just bully smaller states to get what they want, and we need to stop pretending that it’s morally justified and normal. It’s not okay.

                • @zephyreksOP
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                  07 months ago

                  Hi, fellow Canadian!

                  To some degree there’s a need to pick a side, because the alternative is to get stomped on by both (like what’s happening now).

  • flatbield
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    247 months ago

    China is the one county that could just tell Russia to get out of Ukraine. Same with North Korea. Just look at who they hang out with and you know quite a lot.

    • @zephyreksOP
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      57 months ago

      Why would they? The Global South is completely unaligned with the West on the Russia-Ukraine issue. It’s an issue between Russia and the West, not a global issue.

      • flatbield
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        97 months ago

        Of course they would not. They have chosen to be aligned with Russia. This whole thing is a Russia / China thing.

        • @zephyreksOP
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          37 months ago

          The entire Global South is aligned on this issue.

          I guess they don’t matter to you because they’re poor.

          • flatbield
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            7 months ago

            Most of the global south is aligned in staying out of it as much as possible. Their self interest is to play nice to all sides and play all sides.

            It is not the entire global south. I think Australia and Taiwan would both feel differently. Very convenient of you to forget that. From the original UN vote it showed that the Russian invasion was widely condemned through out the world including global south with some notable exceptions too.

            • @zephyreksOP
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              27 months ago

              Do you even know what the term Global South refers to? Given that you refer to Australia as being part of the Global South, I’m going to assume not.

              Don’t talk about things you don’t understand.

                • @zephyreksOP
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                  37 months ago

                  Many countries included in the Global South are in the northern hemisphere, such as India, China and all of those in the northern half of Africa. Australia and New Zealand, both in the southern hemisphere, are not in the Global South

                  Time Magazine

                  It was generally agreed that the Global North would include the United States, Canada, England, nations of the European Union, as well as Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and even some countries in the southern hemisphere: Australia, and New Zealand. The Global South, on the other hand, would include formerly colonized countries in Africa and Latin America, as well as the Middle East, Brazil, India, and parts of Asia.

                  Gendered Lives: Global Issues

                  Do you just enjoy being wrong?

        • @zephyreksOP
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          17 months ago

          Why should the Global South care? People are dying there, too. We have a spoiled Western perspective.

          • @tias@discuss.tchncs.de
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            37 months ago

            For the same reason that the West should care about people being murdered around the world: it’s a human rights violation.

            • @zephyreksOP
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              17 months ago

              So it only matters because white people are dying? Damn.

              • @tias@discuss.tchncs.de
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                7 months ago

                That’s completely misrepresenting what I’m saying. The very criticism against China that you are so against is the result of white people who care about Asian people.

                Yes, the West could and should do much better, and they are far from saints. But we’re not talking about what the West should or shouldn’t do. We’re talking about why China is being criticized.

                • @zephyreksOP
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                  17 months ago

                  Again, there’s a reason the Global South is aligned against the Global North on this issue, and it’s not because China has somehow bribed every country in the Global South.

                  Ask yourself why that’s the case. Ask yourself why the Arab League unanimously supports China’s management of Xinjiang. Ask yourself why Muslim-dominated countries like Indonesia and Malaysia and Nepal are all overwhelmingly positive.

  • InsurgentRat
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    227 months ago

    While it is true that insane propaganda is off the charts, for example in my own country Australia we’re chaining ourselves to the fading star of the usa and the UK militarily despite having:

    • different trade interests
    • different geopolitical interests
    • different cultural interests

    all while the usa government tries it’s hardest to undermine our economic policy, erase our culture, and distort our politics towards their own demended lines.

    There is zero evidence the chinese government does not want to do the same. They have interfered in our media, our education systems, there has been stupid petty trade squabbles with both “sides” using us for their own ends.

    When chinese diplomats speak to our media, even in excruciatingly fair interviews, the pattern is the same slimey deny deny deny and legal quibble that usa diplomats engage in. Their media is insanely critical of Australian life too.

    There are no good guys in this power struggle and looking for one is childish thinking.

    Even this article refuses to address the notion that the chinese government has ever conducted itself in a condemnable manner.

    • falsem
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      57 months ago

      As an American, I thought our cultures were relatively similar being both former British colonies. What different cultural interests are you referring to?

      • InsurgentRat
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        57 months ago

        we elected a socialist in the 70s. It ended in a constitutional crisis and his successor was groomed by the CIA. rhymes with certain things no?

        we had a publicly owned transport system, telephony, healthcare system, a thriving public service. Then we started getting leaned on.

        We had a collectivist culture, government funding for our own media with our own values, then we started getting leaned on.

        It goes on.

        Even our slang is being replaced, people are pronouncing things your way, the media of the usa is replacing everything and that’s intentional government policy.

        • @cobra89@beehaw.org
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          77 months ago

          We had a collectivist culture, government funding for our own media with our own values, then we started getting leaned on.

          This is hilarious to point out when you consider Rupert Murdoch has done more to change American politics than probably anyone else in the last 50 years, but you’re gonna complain about the US “leaning on” Australia? Sorry but that just screams of shirking responsibility for your own country’s problems.

          • InsurgentRat
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            37 months ago

            Everything is feedback cycles. Yes there’s homegrown bullshit but it’s naive to ignore how that is encouraged by for example the usa exporting neoliberalism and encouraging/bullying other countries to deregulate their own markets (like media ownership that lets people like Murdoch rise) for favourable political treatment.

            It’s naive to ignore that when usa media, usa products, usa megacorps all arrive somewhere that they wont swing the culture.

            The usa has almost certainly interfered in our elections ffs.

            Being a country the usa has military interest in is incredible corrosive. It’s not just Australia where this has happened.

      • GroteStreet 🦘
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        7 months ago

        Gun culture, car culture, sports culture, political culture… /s, kinda

      • @imsodin@infosec.pub
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        27 months ago

        Not Australian or American, but hey it’s the internet so why not voice second hand knowledge: I heard Aussies pride themselves on being (relatively) egaliatarian, despising individuals elevating themselves above others. Seems to me about as antithetical to US mentalitity as it goes :)

        • @anachronist@midwest.social
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          7 months ago

          AU and USA share in a foundation belief that they are “classless societies.” I think this is probably true of many ex-British colonies since class is such a dominant and suffocating aspect of British culture.

          Australia, like the USA has severe inequality, and the rich there like to flaunt their wealth. A disproportionate number of the crypto grifters ended up being Aussie. And while Australia does have a better social welfare state than the US it is both 1) under attack and 2) was put together almost entirely by one socialist prime minister in 1975 who was taken out after only a few months by a coup.

          • @cobra89@beehaw.org
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            47 months ago

            I think this is probably true of many ex-British colonies since class is such a dominant and suffocating aspect of British culture.

            Laughs in India

          • InsurgentRat
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            37 months ago

            A lot of the Aussies you’ll chat to on the internet don’t realise how recent there was heavy segregation even among people broadly considered white now.

            If you look at the last names of powerful people even now you’ll find that while they’re general all white dudes Irish last names are underrepresented, despite being around as long as English ones. A lot of migrants from Greece/Italy/Poland etc were heavily sidelined too.

            Lets not even get into treatment of native peoples and non white migrants cause we’ll fucking be here all day.

            This country is definitely heavily divided by class, last oecd report I read found 4 generation median time for bottom quartile income to next quartile up. That’s bonkers.

  • ArtZuron
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    77 months ago

    McCarthyism’s back yo! Or, rather, it never really left.

    • @zephyreksOP
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      57 months ago

      McCarthyism has changed because now the “communists” look different and talk different and aren’t white.