this post was submitted on 31 Jul 2023
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[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Yes, the reason diaspora isn't speaking out against China is because there's a conspiracy to silence them.~

There can't possibly be any other explanation.~

[–] 001100010010@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Well I, as a former citizen of China, do "speak out" against CCP as in family discussions, in online forums, and sometimes with classmates in school, but I don't "speak out" as in actually participate in protests. Demonstrations just isn't my thing. Protesting against CCP gets you labeled a "race traitor". I mean honestly, with all the racial problems in the US, and having to deal with my abusive family, I really don't have to energy care about CCP anymore. It's dead to me. I view China just like how an anti-fascist German view Nazi Germany. There's no point of protests. It's beyond anything a protest can fix. Like... why do I even care, it isn't even my country anymore.

Edit: Also, it isn't a conspiracy that ethnic Chinese (I'm gonna use the term "ethnic Chinese" because this applies regardless of citizenship status) people don't "speak out". People just value "Social Harmony" more than being correct. Like if you live abroad, why care about what happens back in China? Most ethnic Chinese people who lives abroad don't really feel welcome in their new country, so why be against your former country if you aren't even sure if you are actually safe in your new one? You don't end up in a situation where you have no safe harbor in the world. Ethnic Chinese people living abroad believe China will accept them again in-case their living situation abroad goes south, so they don't want to get on the bad side of the Chinese government. Like what happened with the Chinese Exclusion act in the US more than 100 years ago, and also the Japanese Internment Camps. Maybe you disagree with the thought process, but that is what most ethnic Chinese people think.

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

No, clearly the Chinese government has your family hostage and that's why you aren't out protesting.~ Didn't you read the article? 😏

[–] 001100010010@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

If your comment (the top-level one) was supposed to be sarcasm, you need a /s tag because there are people actually being serious saying that "it's a conspiracy, couldn't be any other possible explanation" stuff.

But also, the "hostage" thing is not entirely false, just very exaggerated. They only take your family "hostage" if you are like a leader of a protest or something. But I doubt they care if you are just some forum user that has no followers and "protesting" online. They got too many dissidents within their jurisdiction to care about those abroad.

[–] Aria@lemmygrad.ml 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Can't you guys just stop using Adrian Zens? Is no one else able to make up unhinged nonsense about China? Literally all it takes is for him to adopt a pseudonym and the credibility of the propaganda increases entirely for free.

[–] SpooneyOdin@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 year ago (14 children)

What does he have to do with this story? His name isn't mentioned in the article.

[–] Aria@lemmygrad.ml 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I'd like to draw attention to how every tankie who commented in this thread actually looked at the sources whereas the liberals mostly read the headline.

[–] SpooneyOdin@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Did you really look at the sources? Because the first source in the article links another BBC article (which links to another article) that ultimately sources research from the Uyghur Human Rights Project. That project does not appear to have any connection to Adrian Zenz. So my original question still stands what does Adrian Zenz have to do with this?

You say every tankie who commented actually looked at the sources but, as far as I can tell, they are just parroting propaganda talking points that they are accusing everyone else of falling for.

Look, I get being skeptical of what the West says about China but I don't think anyone can deny that anything anti China gets quickly astroturfed on Lemmy. I'm seeing lots more knee jerk reactions from tankies that obviously did not read the article and are accusing everyone else of just falling for Western propaganda without doing some real introspection that they are basically just doing the same thing.

[–] Aria@lemmygrad.ml 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Adrian Zens is integral to the Uyghur Human Rights Project. I suppose I don't do new research, I just follow links until I find something I've judged as untrustworthy before. He's not directly credited as a contributor, but Uyghur Human Rights Project uses him as their source for all their publishing, and invites him to their events.

[–] SpooneyOdin@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Well, I don't know what else to tell you. I couldn't find anything about him on their site or him being used for any of research that I looked into. Now, I didn't go over everything so it is possible he's worked with them in the past but I don't think that would be a reason to discredit all the work the UHRP.

What am I seeing is anything critical of China getting downvoted and a bunch of people congrating themselves for not falling for the propaganda when I literally looked and could not find anything they were claiming as part of the article.

I encourage anyone seeing all these comments discrediting this story and look into the details yourself. I could not find any evidence for all the claims they are making to discredit this. There has been some good thoughtful discussion and I appreciate that but lots of knee jerk reactions that people not doing proper research when even just a cursory check doesn't back up what they are claiming.

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[–] mim@lemmy.sdf.org 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm just gonna sit back and enjoy the tankies from lemmygrad denying or trying to justify this one as well. 🍿

[–] Blursty@lemmygrad.ml 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Imagine believing the BBC about China. Are you not embarrassed?

[–] mim@lemmy.sdf.org 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Imagine defending Russian and Chinese imperialism because "the enemy of my enemy is my friend".

[–] Blursty@lemmygrad.ml 0 points 1 year ago (12 children)

Neither China not Russia are imperialist. China is a socialist state so by definition cannot be and Russia is an immature industrial capitalist state.

[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Ask Taiwan if if they think China is imperialistic. I'm sure you'll get an answer.

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[–] mim@lemmy.sdf.org 0 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Imagine thinking Chinese workers own the means of production, or not even knowing where the term "tankie" comes from.

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[–] EnderWi99in@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago (7 children)

What is with the China apologists in this thread? Wtf??

[–] psilocybin@discuss.tchncs.de 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This, my friend, is the absense of neocon/neolib censorship and propaganda that you were so used to on corporate social media.

Isn't it great?

[–] socsa@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Strange, I never had any trouble on Reddit talking about socialism.

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[–] Blursty@lemmygrad.ml 0 points 1 year ago (4 children)

What's with all the conspiracy nutcases here? The fucking Uighur genocide... smh, are the space lizards making China do this or is it Sasquatch man?

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[–] fishtacos@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I found this to be a decent enough primer: https://medium.com/@bobbyarlan/a-case-study-in-racist-anti-chinese-sentiment-fuelled-by-american-bots-and-western-propaganda-f0a69978d568

A decent TLDR: The article argues that anti-Chinese propaganda spread by the U.S. and Western media is fueling racist sentiment. Claims of mass detention of Uyghurs are based on flawed studies and sources like Adrian Zenz, a far-right Christian fundamentalist. Atrocity propaganda is a common tactic used by the U.S. to justify wars. The U.S. is threatened by China's economic rise and technological progress, so it is trying to portray China negatively and prepare public opinion for a potential conflict. However, most of the world sees China positively and as an economic opportunity, making a new Cold War against China unlikely to succeed

In short, a lot of information about China that has come out of Western news media has been proven to be based on known biased sources, known anit-China rhetoric, and/or outright lies. It's difficult to prove/disprove of any information specifically, that takes time and reporting, but a lot of people see the anti-China pattern in BBC reporting, and tend to dismiss it because of known history.

[–] MacroCyclo@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

I think this flies a bit too far in the other direction. China is totalitarian. It is not a democracy. It is also increasingly antagonizing nations abroad. I think it is valid to consider it a threat if you are any other nation, period.

Edit: Kinda like Russia

[–] fishtacos@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

So... No, it's not like Russia at all. But that nuance is too long for me to explain right now. Short answer is that Russia is capitalist, and China is 50/50 capitalist/socialist, depending on definitions, and yeah a lot of nuance.

But China is run by the people, their authoritarian politics keeps their billionaires and induatry in check. Their local politics is a negotiation with the national politics.

And... How exactly is China antagonizing nations abroad? Because a lot of countries are choosing to work with China because they AREN'T antagonizing them as much as America and Europe. So... The reality is the opposite.

[–] MacroCyclo@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 year ago (15 children)

I mean, if you haven't been there or don't know anyone from there you could pretend they are a democracy, but they are authoritarian like Russia is authoritarian. Long term they will seek a wider swath to be authoritarian over.

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[–] GameGod@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 year ago

Or you know, you could just listen to someone who was in an internment camp:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/04/muslim-minority-teacher-50-tells-of-forced-sterilisation-in-xinjiang-china

(Also your summary sounds like ChatGPT)

[–] A1kmm@lemmy.amxl.com 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Apparently there is a PRC smear campaign against Adrian Zenz - https://www.mandiant.com/resources/blog/pro-prc-information-operations-campaign-haienergy, including by creating what Mandiant describes as what they "suspect to be at least three fabricated letters based on obvious grammatical errors and typos" to smear him - so I'd take anything that is ad hominem attacks against him rather than debating his actual work with a grain of salt.

However, even if you don't accept his writings, there are plenty of other people who have done credible research into the plight of the Uyghur people - e.g. resources contributed to https://xjdp.aspi.org.au/, such as articles like this one by Gene A. Bunin: https://livingotherwise.com/2021/01/04/the-elephant-in-the-xuar-ii-brand-new-prisons-expanding-old-prisons-and-hundreds-of-thousands-new-inmates/.

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[–] pinkdrunkenelephants@lemm.ee 0 points 1 year ago (11 children)

They're paid astroturfers and they don't belong on Lemmy. Why the server admins refuse to police them, I just don't know.

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[–] EchoCT@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'd take the study a lot more seriously if the people financing it weren't literally tied to the US/UK governments...

[–] yeather@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 year ago (3 children)

We'd all take China a lot more seriously if it wasn't literally interring people in reeducation camps and ruling over people's lives like it's 1984.

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