*Japan (more than just schoolgirls, otaku and robots)But those topics aren't taboo, right?
*Japan (more than just schoolgirls, otaku and robots)But those topics aren't taboo, right?
Also I have trouble finding an intersection of those three groups.
Well, actually I meant that there's more to Japan those those three things. But yeah, I'd prefer to keep discussion to the serious side of politics and what not. Now, if Japan unveils a JSDF battalion of robots piloted by schoolgirls (which....let's face it, we could all see Japan doing because Japan) that would be worthy of discussion.*Japan (more than just schoolgirls, otaku and robots)But those topics aren't taboo, right?
Also I have trouble finding an intersection of those three groups.
He is trolling us, clearly.I think he's been doing that for a while.
Posting to show interest.That shows surprisingly low self-esteem for someone who majored in what is, by far, the field with the most mud-slinging. Although I of all people shouldn't judge, especially not political science majors.
My wife majored in political science with an east asian focus, so she knows a lot about China. (although, she probably won't post out of fear of being responded to aggressively by anyone who disagrees)
It's interesting to see how... unstable? Duct-taped together? the country is. Without substantial economic and/or social changes they're gonna crumble in the next few decades.
This insult to the Superior and Sovereign Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Most Wise Juche philosophy proscribed by Eternal President Kim Il-Sung and all of his descendents shall not go unpunished, American pig dog traitor RedKing.
*cough*Europe*cough*.This insult to the Superior and Sovereign Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Most Wise Juche philosophy proscribed by Eternal President Kim Il-Sung and all of his descendents shall not go unpunished, American pig dog traitor RedKing.
And now we have precedent for Regional Politic Threads making war on each other.
Everyone not the Russia/Ukraine thread better watch their asses, or they might find their thread has a new title by morning. :P
So does this mean US will finally deal with the clusterfuck in Spratly Islands?
So does this mean US will finally deal with the clusterfuck in Spratly Islands?
Everyone not the Russia/Ukraine thread better watch their asses, or they might find their thread has a new title by morning. :P
The problem is that historically local governments in China are far worse than the central government. Corruption, embezzlement, bribery, just plain bureaucratic inertia.
But surely democratic local government could fix that issue?The idea that China pushes is that the local governments are democratic, within a one-party system. Which is of course almost complete bullshit, but you do sometimes have local people formally running as CCP who do represent the people and have a democratic mandate, just not often.
DID SOMEBODY SAY COOKIELAND?
PTW to not miss when China will invade Russia
And Chinese speaking peoplePTW to not miss when China will invade RussiaTo protect ethnic Chinese, no doubt.
Ahh yes. That's another issue -- there's a certain amount of "There I Fixed It" in local government as well.The problem is that historically local governments in China are far worse than the central government. Corruption, embezzlement, bribery, just plain bureaucratic inertia.
Remember the time a local government in south china just killed off millions of dogs, including pets, after like 3 people died of rabies?
Ahh yes. That's another issue -- there's a certain amount of "There I Fixed It" in local government as well.The problem is that historically local governments in China are far worse than the central government. Corruption, embezzlement, bribery, just plain bureaucratic inertia.
Remember the time a local government in south china just killed off millions of dogs, including pets, after like 3 people died of rabies?Spoiler: Sidebar about rabies and strays (click to show/hide)
One of my favorite examples was an incident in Yunnan where the local Bureau of Agriculture and Forestry was told their county needed to be greener, especially a decommissioned quarry in the side of a mountain. They were given funds to "green" the mountain (presumably for the purchase of seedlings and cost of labor to plant them). Instead, they did this:
~INVISIBLEIMGSNIP~
Theres also all those new cities (I don't know how many, but they exist) which are too expensive for 99.99% to even afford to move into.
I can understand them wanting to be able to house the ever growing amount of Chinese flocking to the cities, but complete cities that may as well be ghost towns? Kind of defeats the purpose. I'm pretty sure there are things that can be done that don't involve building entire cities just to do a 'what does nature do to abandoned modern cities' experiment.
Theres also all those new cities (I don't know how many, but they exist) which are too expensive for 99.99% to even afford to move into.
I can understand them wanting to be able to house the ever growing amount of Chinese flocking to the cities, but complete cities that may as well be ghost towns? Kind of defeats the purpose. I'm pretty sure there are things that can be done that don't involve building entire cities just to do a 'what does nature do to abandoned modern cities' experiment.
That's not a government thing, that's a private real estate thing. They need an investment for their oodles of money so they build a high end condo as a place to store value. It's like people buying gold, they're just using it to store wealth (or as a foolish speculative bid.)
Theres also all those new cities (I don't know how many, but they exist) which are too expensive for 99.99% to even afford to move into.
I can understand them wanting to be able to house the ever growing amount of Chinese flocking to the cities, but complete cities that may as well be ghost towns? Kind of defeats the purpose. I'm pretty sure there are things that can be done that don't involve building entire cities just to do a 'what does nature do to abandoned modern cities' experiment.
That's not a government thing, that's a private real estate thing. They need an investment for their oodles of money so they build a high end condo as a place to store value. It's like people buying gold, they're just using it to store wealth (or as a foolish speculative bid.)
I mean, is there no demand for housing that they can capitalize on? Building a high-end condo that remains abandoned does not seem like a sane way to invest your wealth, unless you're managing to make money by doing so. I'd suspect, illegally.
It's a bit of both. There is a government urbanization plan which calls for 80% urban population by 2050, because 80% is still over 1 billion people. And rather than create metropolises all over China (in part because a not-insubstantial portion of China's land area isn't really habitable), they're trying to create three megacity complexes:Theres also all those new cities (I don't know how many, but they exist) which are too expensive for 99.99% to even afford to move into.
I can understand them wanting to be able to house the ever growing amount of Chinese flocking to the cities, but complete cities that may as well be ghost towns? Kind of defeats the purpose. I'm pretty sure there are things that can be done that don't involve building entire cities just to do a 'what does nature do to abandoned modern cities' experiment.
That's not a government thing, that's a private real estate thing. They need an investment for their oodles of money so they build a high end condo as a place to store value. It's like people buying gold, they're just using it to store wealth (or as a foolish speculative bid.)
A considerable number of people are calling for it to be abolished altogether.
I mean, is there no demand for housing that they can capitalize on? Building a high-end condo that remains abandoned does not seem like a sane way to invest your wealth, unless you're managing to make money by doing so. I'd suspect, illegally.
Sounds similar to the Feudalism system with serfs, or at least that's the closest comparison that I can think of.Very similar, although without the feudal contract. Or I suppose you could say that the feudal "lords" in this case are bureaucrats rather than hereditary nobles. They're not tied to a specific agricultural plot but are tied more or less to a specific village.
RedKing, do you have any book suggestions for Chinese history? Possibly several; I'm looking to go more in-depth than what you'd get in a world history textbook or a 200-page summary.
@mainiac: I don't think that's accurate at all. There were a lot of investors who sunk money into housing because in the late 90's there was a serious ramp-up in housing prices in places like Shanghai and Shenzhen because of a slew of young professionals emerged with money to spend and looking for apartments to rent. People who owned real estate when that began became filthy rich. So lots of these nouveau riche thought they'd try that too. But then the housing bubble overheated and the number of professionals plateaued. Not much different than what happened in the US in some places -- demand didn't keep up with projections. But after all the work that went into getting the permits, hiring the construction company, getting the materials, distributing the various kickbacks to grease the system, etc.....it's frankly cheaper to go ahead and build it than to scratch the plans altogether. At least then you *might* get lucky and have some tenants. Sort of a sunk-cost fallacy, but not that fallacious in this case because of the nature of guanxi (favors). Even if you're wasting money, you're gaining favors that you can cash in somewhere down the road.
Bringing up pollution, this was recently announced by the Chinese government, which is to say 1 fifth of their arable land is polluted. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-27076645
"Pollution is severe in three major industrial zones, the Yangtze River Delta in east China, the Pearl River Delta in south China and the northeast corner that used to be a heavy industrial hub," the agency said.
>Not listing the Philippines in OP.Oversight corrected.
:(
The official Xinhua News Agency quoted eyewitnesses as saying at least two blasts went off at the South Station in the regional capital of Urumqi on Wednesday night, while a large group of knife-wielding attackers went after passengers.:(
Which party in Taiwan classifies as Green? The DPP?
Which party in Taiwan classifies as Green? The DPP?
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), Taiwan Independence Party (TAIP), Taiwan Constitution Association (TCA). There is also the Green Party in Taiwan but they're associated with Global Greens/Asia-Pacific Greens Federation, not the Pan-Green Coalition.
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What is it about foreign chinese factories that makes them so torchable. Barely a day goes by without an oriental country flipping their shit because the PRC is pressing claims again. I hear the PM sent a mass text message calling for peace, which is nice.
Did the Vietnamese go and accidentially burn a while bunch of other countries flags? At least that's the joke that seems to be poked at on polandball.They burned some other countries' factories. Because, y'know.....Chinese, Taiwanese, South Koreans.....they all look the same. >_>
Also, a bit earlier this morning, the Feds announced proof that China has been spying on and hacking US companies. Didn't listen to the details of it because I had to catch the trolley to class.
In 2008, after loosing the elections by 233 seats to 165 , the Democrat Party (the main Yellow Shirt party) was actually able to form a coalition government since the Constitutional Court had removed the red PM for hosting a cooking show, banned his party and removed all his MPs from office.
Is the Chavez effect about economic mismanagement?
Why is the Army the sensible one here? Also, who does the king support?Armies are usually pretty sensible, which was why we were all happy when Egypt's took over. Of course they recently went off the deep end, but the point stands. It's when the army is already in power that they go nuts.
I think I just coined an expression... I meant Westerners running after some popular politician in a third-world country merely because he is popular, and not because he's doing a good job. Nowadays it's a commonly held opinion that Chavez ruined the Venezoelan economy, but he used to be quite popular with first-world intellectuals because of his leftist stance and wide support in the populace.Oh, I thought he still is popular with that crowd. Also, thanks to the very convenient timing of his death just before the economy really went off the rails, we can almost certainly expect to see Maduro and other less senior political leaders being blamed for the institutional defects of the system that got their start under Chavez; I would expect to hear "If only Chavez had lived longer..." in at least ten years time, if not now.
We could call that the 'Lenin effect'.That is totally a thing (I mean Westerners worshipping a popular 3rd world politician). And the irony can have several layers I think, like when you meet people with Che Guevara wallets.
Am I right in thinking this Russia China deal represents about 7% of the amount of natural gas russia sells to Europe?It's certainly my impression. Not very helpful then beyond the symbolism of it, since Russia is hilariously dependent on Oil profit to remain in the black, and Europe suddenly up and going cold turkey would initiate self-destruct sequence.
Well, pipelines aren't built overnight. I think it's safe to assume that over time China will gobble more and more Russian gas.
In the forseeable future probably yes, though it depends what the gas is used for.Well, pipelines aren't built overnight. I think it's safe to assume that over time China will gobble more and more Russian gas.
Is that a safe assumption in an era of declining solar prices?
China's power consumption is massive, and in case of a major shift to renewables, then gas will be needed even more, in order stabilize the grid.Well, pipelines aren't built overnight. I think it's safe to assume that over time China will gobble more and more Russian gas.Is that a safe assumption in an era of declining solar prices?
China is like a gigantic ravenous tortoise. Considering that they are still consuming tons of coal. (Though I guess they may be slowing down on that... slowly.)China's power consumption is massive, and in case of a major shift to renewables, then gas will be needed even more, in order stabilize the grid.Well, pipelines aren't built overnight. I think it's safe to assume that over time China will gobble more and more Russian gas.Is that a safe assumption in an era of declining solar prices?
...and now Thailand's army has decided to coup the government. Expected?I find it kinda hilarious that RedKing posted about this just a few days ago... (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=138058.msg5295683#msg5295683)
Martial law =/= coup....and now Thailand's army has decided to coup the government. Expected?I find it kinda hilarious that RedKing posted about this just a few days ago... (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=138058.msg5295683#msg5295683)
To be honest, flaming water existed before fracking in regions with really high methane content. Fracking just made it worse.Best example I can think of is nihonjinron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihonjinron), but that's actually referring to the Japanese academic study of why Japan is a special snowflake.
Also, I was wondering, is there a concept similar to "white man's burden" in japanese? How is it called?
To be honest, flaming water existed before fracking in regions with really high methane content. Fracking just made it worse.Yes and no. As far as I know, it didn't really get promulgated overtly until the thorough militarization of Japanese society of the post-Taisho Showa era, and it was more of a "common understanding" rather than something that was boiled down into a single pithy quote by a Japanese Kipling. Ultimately, one could probably characterize the conception of Japanese "anti-imperial" thought that meandered through the 19th century and ultimately culminated in the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere in much the same way. Like the White Man's Burden, it was largely a moral excuse to exercise untrammeled imperialist practices over the poor indigenes, but the claim was that in doing so, they would be liberating these countries from the burden imposed on them by the European powers and America. However, as the other populations of Asia - Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos, Malay, Indochinese, and so forth, were all weak and disunited, it would have to be the promulgators of this pan-Asian philosophy and the only major East Asian power to avoid colonization, or to put it succinctly, it would have to be Japan that would take on the leading, dominant role in the Co-Prosperity Sphere, a burden taken on purely for the good of the others. Japanese propaganda in the Second World War thus consistently claimed things like "Asia for Asians!" and "Liberation from the imperialists!", and Japan consistently utilized independence movements in India and Indonesia as catspaws for destabilization of those lands they couldn't invade or stabilization of those lands they had. The fundamental seeds for this can probably be traced back to early pro-Western Japanese advocates, some of whom advocated things like the conquest of Ryukyu and Korea, or even the Philippines and China, though it was far more of an undercurrent in that era.
Also, I was wondering, is there a concept similar to "white man's burden" in japanese? How is it called?
Personally, I think a lot of that stemmed from how China was treated during the Opium Wars. Japan saw a nation which had been the shining core of Asia for 3000 years get curbstomped by the gaijin Westerners, and it scared the fuck out of them. It would be (to borrow CK2 for a second), like watching the Aztecs come in and conquer the entire Holy Roman Empire in less than a year.I take a small moment to note the Monroe Doctrine was more specifically aimed at keeping Europe out (which it failed at because at the time US threats were laughable), but it was the Roosevelt Corollary that got the US involved in Latin American interventions.
China and Japan had both been in a long period of stagnant isolation from the West (a couple hundred years). Japan looked at what happened to China and realized it was because Western technology was significantly in advance of Asian technology. So in the late 1800's the Japanese government made a concerted effort to send its best and brightest young people to Europe and the US to learn everything they could, then return home. This way they could try to leapfrog into modern technology (especially industrial and military tech) without necessarily allowing Westerners to come in and run things.
They were pretty much the only Asian country to pull that off. Everyone else either got colonized or retreated even further into isolation. So because of that (and their special snowflake Nihonjin status), it fell to them to "liberate" Asia under their watchful aegis. Honestly it's less of a "Japanese burden" and more like the Monroe Doctrine that the United States would "protect" all of North and South America from European influence -- which meant we totally had the right to meddle in those countries ourselves, to keep them free.
Had resource conflicts not forced Japan and the US into war, I the Axis plan had been more or less "Europe for Germany, Africa for Italy, Asia for Japan and the Americas for the United States". (at least until things like oil and minerals and lebensraum would have pushed those hegemonic spheres into conflict).
I feel the need to note that a lot of China's pollution is production-based, rather then consumer-based. They have a strong tendency to export the fruits of that pollution to the west. It makes sense that the country with the highest population has the highest pollution, but they are disproportionately exporting it.To be honest, flaming water existed before fracking in regions with really high methane content. Fracking just made it worse.Best example I can think of is nihonjinron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihonjinron), but that's actually referring to the Japanese academic study of why Japan is a special snowflake.
Also, I was wondering, is there a concept similar to "white man's burden" in japanese? How is it called?
@10ebbor10: Yes, but they are significantly attempting to decrease the share of coal in their overall energy profile. It's just that their energy demands are growing so fast that even opening new coal plants, it could still be decreasing as an overall percentage. I know there's a plan to build some huge-ass solar farms in Xinjiang.
It didn't fail, per se. The Monroe Doctrine was actually seized upon by the British during most of the 19th century, who were more than willing to help enforce it, in spite of the occasional "difference of opinions" with the United States, because it gave them exactly what they wanted - an excuse to keep Spain and Portugal out of their former colonies and those lucrative Latin American markets wide open for British industry. The British foreign secretary of the time actually wanted a joint statement to the same effect, but with 1812 so fresh in American memories, that was obviously out of the question.Personally, I think a lot of that stemmed from how China was treated during the Opium Wars. Japan saw a nation which had been the shining core of Asia for 3000 years get curbstomped by the gaijin Westerners, and it scared the fuck out of them. It would be (to borrow CK2 for a second), like watching the Aztecs come in and conquer the entire Holy Roman Empire in less than a year.I take a small moment to note the Monroe Doctrine was more specifically aimed at keeping Europe out (which it failed at because at the time US threats were laughable), but it was the Roosevelt Corollary that got the US involved in Latin American interventions.
China and Japan had both been in a long period of stagnant isolation from the West (a couple hundred years). Japan looked at what happened to China and realized it was because Western technology was significantly in advance of Asian technology. So in the late 1800's the Japanese government made a concerted effort to send its best and brightest young people to Europe and the US to learn everything they could, then return home. This way they could try to leapfrog into modern technology (especially industrial and military tech) without necessarily allowing Westerners to come in and run things.
They were pretty much the only Asian country to pull that off. Everyone else either got colonized or retreated even further into isolation. So because of that (and their special snowflake Nihonjin status), it fell to them to "liberate" Asia under their watchful aegis. Honestly it's less of a "Japanese burden" and more like the Monroe Doctrine that the United States would "protect" all of North and South America from European influence -- which meant we totally had the right to meddle in those countries ourselves, to keep them free.
Had resource conflicts not forced Japan and the US into war, I the Axis plan had been more or less "Europe for Germany, Africa for Italy, Asia for Japan and the Americas for the United States". (at least until things like oil and minerals and lebensraum would have pushed those hegemonic spheres into conflict).
Well it will be interesting to see Russia invade Hong Kong.How dare you speak against the self-determination of Hong Kong, which has always seen itself as a historical element of Russia. It's not their fault the Kiev fascists forced them to stay in Ukraine for so long.
They'd need to cross half the continent to do that, though, and Chinese army isn't well known for its foreign country invasion capabilities...
Now gangs are beating HK citizens into pulp.
It's very encouraging to see the restraint that HK protesters are showing. The great discipline means that the government doesn't have a convenient excuse that lets them avoid the real issues. You can't know if you are strong enough to beat the government but you can be strong enough to keep from beating yourselves.Update: among the 2 people arrrested, 1 is a protester. No news on the other one.
We understand that law enforcement is biased, but this is grossly out of proportion. It seems that the police is using these cases to provoke protesters into assaulting police compounds.
But pictures will remain in the net...We understand that law enforcement is biased, but this is grossly out of proportion. It seems that the police is using these cases to provoke protesters into assaulting police compounds.
Bingo. In the aftermath of fighting nobody will remember the provocation no matter how extreme.
That's not new. June 4, 1989: On this day, nothing happened (http://i.imgur.com/QZK1EWi.jpg).But pictures will remain in the net...We understand that law enforcement is biased, but this is grossly out of proportion. It seems that the police is using these cases to provoke protesters into assaulting police compounds.
Bingo. In the aftermath of fighting nobody will remember the provocation no matter how extreme.
The whole thing will be quashed and quickly expunged from public record
"On June 4th 1989, nothing of note happened today"
Yes, and it has been for at least a century. Funny thing happens when you pack gigatons of steel and concrete onto what is essentially a river delta: it sinks.The same problem exists for every city on riverside plains.
Though actually, the bigger problem is groundwater extraction. A city that big extracts tons of water from the water table every day, which when the soilbase is clay, means a fair amount of mass over time. Estimates are that the center of Shanghai has subsided 2.6m since the first survey in 1921.
True, but most cities don't have 80 million people in the metro area.Yes, and it has been for at least a century. Funny thing happens when you pack gigatons of steel and concrete onto what is essentially a river delta: it sinks.The same problem exists for every city on riverside plains.
Though actually, the bigger problem is groundwater extraction. A city that big extracts tons of water from the water table every day, which when the soilbase is clay, means a fair amount of mass over time. Estimates are that the center of Shanghai has subsided 2.6m since the first survey in 1921.
First off, converting your money into cans of baked beans is a great idea; those are fucking delicious - money is not delicious. Maybe you shouldn't convert all of your money into baked beans at once, but still. Foreign investment in China exceeded foreign investment in the USA (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31052566) in January.FDI != stock investing.
FDI is foreign companies (or venture capitalists) sinking money into partial ownership of a company. Which can take place through a stock purchase, but there are other avenues. More to the point, it's not speculative. You don't buy a company to flip the stock and make a quick buck, you buy it use its assets/markets/brand/technology to make MORE money. Some of that FDI contributed to the stock rise, no doubt, but that's the part that's SUPPOSED to. Which, based on the numbers I'm seeing thrown around, would have accounted for roughly 4% of the total stock market gain, if every bit of that FDI was stock purchases on the Shanghai.
The vast majority of that bubble is Chinese-made and Chinese-owned. Which just underscores the tremendous economic power of the Chinese and why reforms in China have to happen SLOWLY. The sheer size of the population is a force-multiplier for all kinds of effects, good and bad. Chinese fads can make or break entire industries and foreign economies without ever intending to.
Case in point: Chinese milk consumption. One of the lowest rates in the world, milk consumption per capita has been steadily rising since 2000, from about 11kg per year to about 25kg per year by 2008 (by contrast, the US rate was 253kg per year in 2007. Finland tops the world, at 361kg per Finn per year. And yet still find room to drink all that beer and vodka....) ;)
But despite that modest increase -- the equivalent of an extra 1.2 ounces of milk a day -- the net effect was to revitalize the dairy industry in several countries, including the US (where milk consumption has been on the wane for 30+ years, such that US milk consumption is half of what it was 30 years ago). Coupled with Chinese distrust of their own domestic milk production (thanks to several high-profile incidents of melanine poisoning), milk exporters are seeing record numbers.
And all this because milk is seen as a healthy food and a sign of affluence in Chinese culture.
Ok, you've convinced me that the Chinese stock market crash could be localized to China and Southeast Asia. What would it take to increase the chance of this turning into a fully-fledged global meltdown?
Purely for research purposes of course
2. If enough people lose enough money and get pissed off enough about it, there could be civil unrest.
I hate to sound like the heartless evil capitalist here, but -- you pays your money, you takes your chances. This isn't manipulation or ethical wrongdoing like the Wall Street crash, this is the laws of economics asserting themselves. The vast majority of these "gains" were hot air and dreams, and they're evaporating.
And in most countries, 50 million unhappy people would be enough to topple governments. Granted, China isn't most countries. But that's still potentially enough to cause a problem. Unrest breeds unrest. If millions are protesting in the streets, the PRC has the unenviable task of silencing the protests without resorting to another Tiananmen. And if they don't silence the protests, people see that and think "Well, I didn't lose any money on stocks, but I'm upset about X, so I'll join in the protest" and then you start getting a real problem.2. If enough people lose enough money and get pissed off enough about it, there could be civil unrest.
Of the 1,300 million people in China, 50 million own any stocks.
Well I heard on NPR that the median investor had $15k. Not chump change for a middle income country but certainly not "rich kid pai gow".$15K in China is pretty upper middle class. Average household income is still only about $10-11K, and there's still a major divide between rural and urban. The big thing is that cost of living (thanks in large part to state controls) is still quite low, as is inflation (which is kind of stunning considering over two decades of double-digit or near-double-digit growth). So all those increases in urban wages translate almost entirely to disposable income.
The stock market in China just isn't as big a deal as in the US. Despite having a much higher household savings rate the total value of stocks cap at, IIRC, 40% of so of the US market cap before the bubble burst. It's a lot like when Obama tanked the price of gold to fuck with the gun owners, an economic sideshow.
as is inflation (which is kind of stunning considering over two decades of double-digit or near-double-digit growth)
Of course, there's a strange irony that's a bit unprecedented here. America's (and Europe's) postwar consumerism boom was accelerated in part by using Japan (and later Taiwan and Hong Kong) as our offshore factory, supplying American demand for cheap TVs and cars.
2. Heterogenous population. India has more social divisions than you can shake a stick at. Caste, religion, linguistic, ethnic, ideological, historical, etc. China is 98% ethnic Han and has been a unified state for most of the last 2000 years.
1. Which part?2. Heterogenous population. India has more social divisions than you can shake a stick at. Caste, religion, linguistic, ethnic, ideological, historical, etc. China is 98% ethnic Han and has been a unified state for most of the last 2000 years.
1) I dont think that's true
2) They have been an non-unified state for most of the last 200 years which is much more important.
2. If you're referring to Taiwan, it's only been 66 years, and Taiwan is relatively minor piece of China. Unless you're referring to India? ???
China is 98% ethnic HanI fail to believe this. Unless there are simple "language=ethnicity" kind of cheating.
It went through periods of mass fragmentation, but on the whole there was a single recognized "Imperial" government for the most part since 221BC. I'd have to disagree with the idea that during the rebellions (of which there have been MANY over the last two thousand years), China doesn't qualify as a unified state. The Taiping Rebellion lasted 14 years and at its fullest extent controlled about three provinces in total. And that was the largest rebellion in Chinese (or world) history. The bulk of China was still under Imperial control, and the areas under Taiping control were quickly reintegrated into the Imperial system after the rebellion. There wasn't time for governmental and cultural differences to take root.2. If you're referring to Taiwan, it's only been 66 years, and Taiwan is relatively minor piece of China. Unless you're referring to India? ???
China spent the 19th century in intermittent civil wars during which warlords de facto ruled large swathes of the country. This century included the bloodiest conflict in human history, the Taiping rebellion. China spent the first 50 years of the 20th century in civil wars where warlords openly ruled most of the county and the president of China was fucking kidnapped (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi%27an_Incident) that is an actual thing that happened.
I'm pretty sure that China didn't spend most of the preceeding 2 millenia unified either but I dont know my pre Qing history too well. It's mostly that the Communist Party has been pushing the "One Land" narrative singlemindedly for the past 60 years and those who pay attention to China tend to credulously believe what the exotic foreigners say about their "ancient" "nation".
Actually, you're correct. It's down to about 92% now days. And it comes partly from having a relatively broad definition of "Han" (and from a purely biological standpoint, northern Chinese are going to be different in ancestry from southern Chinese) and partly from just demographics -- the central and coastal plains support a population orders of magnitude larger than the peripheries, which is where most of the recognized ethnic minorities reside.QuoteChina is 98% ethnic HanI fail to believe this. Unless there are simple "language=ethnicity" kind of cheating.
But hey, what do I know, I'm just one of those people who pay attention to China, ergo I'm swallowing that Commie propaganda, right?
I also have King. Check and mate. 8)QuoteBut hey, what do I know, I'm just one of those people who pay attention to China, ergo I'm swallowing that Commie propaganda, right?
You do have Red in your name.
*narrows gaze*
The Taiping Rebellion lasted 14 years and at its fullest extent controlled about three provinces in total.
And by your logic, the United States ceased to exist from 1861-1865.
There is a nice article (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/08/10/learning-to-speak-lingerie) in the New Yorker about Chinese lingerie sellers in Egypt.That is one good story
Without a clear strategy, China has turned to a basic instinct of the Deng Xiaoping era: When in doubt, build factories.<3
There is a nice article (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/08/10/learning-to-speak-lingerie) in the New Yorker about Chinese lingerie sellers in Egypt.That's actually a really informative and interesting article with a unique perspective. I like it!
"There will be a closed door training for our members tonight (Wednesday) and they will use long knives (parang) and swords for self-defence," he told The Star Online.I worry for the protesters to say the least, with the added fear that too many of my family are in it, so I hope things go well.
Bersih protesters demanding resignation of the prime minister (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/live-despite-putrajayas-numerous-attempts-to-stop-it-crowds-starting-to-gat) who's more than a tiny bit corrupt. People have "committed suicide," David Cameron got overshadowed, their website was blocked (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-34070655) and hopefully they'll succeed in toppling the #1 "donation" master. A reason why Singapore built a better nation than Malaysia after getting kicked out of Malaya was that they were obsessed over rooting out corruption and this made Singapore ripe for foreign investment. Southeast countries like Indonesia or Malaysia need this to enrich themselves, and not just the political class.
http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/what-you-need-to-know-about-malaysias-bersih-movementQuote from: http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/anti-bersih-reds-prepare-to-fight-yellow-shirted-bersih-protestors"There will be a closed door training for our members tonight (Wednesday) and they will use long knives (parang) and swords for self-defence," he told The Star Online.I worry for the protesters to say the least, with the added fear that too many of my family are in it, so I hope things go well.
Police fired tear gas and used water cannons with chemical-laced water at the demonstrators to stop the march. More than 1,000 people were reportedly arrested.
...Every so often you get to hear about the cops sitting around or holding off calling/preventing medical help, letting someone bleed out, just to avoid the bureaucratic issues involved with a living person...Strangely enough, those incidents from the Abusive Policing thread were the first thing that popped into my mind while reading the article. Fresh culprits trying desperately to get rid of evidence, witnesses, plaintiffs, at any cost. "Out, damn'd spot! Out, I say!"
In much drier news, here's a great article (http://qz.com/497287/singapore-blogger-roy-ngerng-sued-by-prime-minister-lee/) on why the Singaporean mandatory pension system isn't a very good deal for the pensioners. It's a much more engrossing read than you'd think.Could be big for the SE country that prides itself on its incorruptibility being corrupt
What they need is more authoritarianism and less transparency. Democracy bad, corruption worse, hierarchy good, oligarchy better! They'll soon be as incorruptible as the Russians or the Chinese!In much drier news, here's a great article (http://qz.com/497287/singapore-blogger-roy-ngerng-sued-by-prime-minister-lee/) on why the Singaporean mandatory pension system isn't a very good deal for the pensioners. It's a much more engrossing read than you'd think.Could be big for the SE country that prides itself on its incorruptibility being corrupt
What they need is more authoritarianism and less transparency. Democracy bad, corruption worse, hierarchy good, oligarchy better! They'll soon be as incorruptible as the Russians or the Chinese!Chewing gum licenses m8
There was also a provincial-level decision made in 2007 (2011 in Henan) that if both parents were only children, the couple could have a second child.
It is, but the point is that this was a decision made at the provincial government level, not coming from Beijing directly. In any case, it's been superseded by the more permissive "if one parent is an only child" policy, which was also adopted on a provincial basis and covers everything but Xinjiang and Tibet. I'm thinking the reason it didn't get passed there is that the provincial bodies have larger representation from non-Han populations, which are already worried that the Han are going to move in and assimilate them with sheer numbers.There was also a provincial-level decision made in 2007 (2011 in Henan) that if both parents were only children, the couple could have a second child.
I thought that was nation wide?
I agree with that assessment. For those who aren't familiar with the one-child policy's myriad exceptions, the policy does not apply to non-Han minorities, which significantly reduces the incentive for Uyghur and Tibetan populations to relax the regulations due to the demographic situation in their respective autonomous regions; they see no reason to grant the same demographic benefits they already possess to the Han majorities when they're already in danger of being out-populated into insignificance. The same permissiveness also applies to rural areas and towns, as the rapid urbanization of China and the flood of people to the coastal cities had had significant demographic effects on the interior, but this and most of the other exceptions haven't resulted in this sort of ethnic-, cultural-, or class-based political conflict.It is, but the point is that this was a decision made at the provincial government level, not coming from Beijing directly. In any case, it's been superseded by the more permissive "if one parent is an only child" policy, which was also adopted on a provincial basis and covers everything but Xinjiang and Tibet. I'm thinking the reason it didn't get passed there is that the provincial bodies have larger representation from non-Han populations, which are already worried that the Han are going to move in and assimilate them with sheer numbers.There was also a provincial-level decision made in 2007 (2011 in Henan) that if both parents were only children, the couple could have a second child.
I thought that was nation wide?
Apparently a Chinese admiral (or Naval chief or whatever) threatened war over us sending a ship near those island forts.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/30/us-southchinasea-usa-china-navy-idUSKCN0SO05320151030
It's probably just sabre rattling, but hey, if there is a war over it, at least we won't be firing the first shot.
I remember hearing on the radio about an incident (probably years ago) where a Chinese fighter jet pilot flew aggressively close to a US plane or something, and was called a "hotdog" by whatever analyst they had commenting on it. I think I'm doomed for the rest of my life to laugh at that every time something similar happens.
But no, contrary to that article title, there isn't any chance of war. There's a small chance of escalation of maneuvers that could possibly create an incident that would only lead to war if both parties wanted it to.
The U.S. Navy was asking for it, have you seen how revealing those uniforms are? Fucking sluts.
The U.S. Navy is operating in a maritime domain bristling with Chinese ships.
While the U.S. Navy is expected to keep its technological edge in Asia for decades, China's potential trump card is sheer weight of numbers, with dozens of naval and coastguard vessels routinely deployed in the South China Sea, security experts say.
And also: the new 5 years plans is out and so is video about it (https://twitter.com/XHNews/status/658837440375844864). It's... funky? I dunno. Though it is interesting that 1) it's been posted on Twitter that's banned in China iirc and 2) it's in English. Propaganda aimed at westerners, I guess?
I can't find concrete details, but officials are saying that they're going to be shifting somewhat from export-oriented to a consumption-oriented industry.
Does that mean global economy is going to implode leaving a china shaped hole?
Doubtful, but it could mean there'll be a huge manufacturing boom in Africa, Indochina, and maybe India if they ever get their heads out of their collective bottoms, if wages in China start to increase. Still, that's something I've been hearing for quite a while, and China hasn't exactly made too much progress in it beyond the coasts yet.I see a glorious future where Americans work 16-hour days with no healthcare to make cheap-ass novelty trinkets and substandard food products for a bloated, lazy Chinese middle class.
Doubtful, but it could mean there'll be a huge manufacturing boom in Africa, Indochina, and maybe India if they ever get their heads out of their collective bottoms, if wages in China start to increase. Still, that's something I've been hearing for quite a while, and China hasn't exactly made too much progress in it beyond the coasts yet.I see a glorious future where Americans work 16-hour days with no healthcare to make cheap-ass novelty trinkets and substandard food products for a bloated, lazy Chinese middle class.
Why is it that it always seems the well loved, long lived king is inevitably followed up by the horrible child?
There's also a month long mourning, where festivities are kinda forbidden. Had to put back my trip to Phuket.
That's like saying the Vice-President is bad because BLM protestors engaged in mob violence. Being important doesn't give you mind-control powers or omnipotence.
His fanboys who run the military? Besides, they're not personal fans. They're fans of kinglyness and TRAAADDDIIIITTIOONNNNNNNNNN!+1 to the thoughts behind these ._.
Not always though :P There's a long list of Asian literature that has this happen--but the child is also as strong-willed and thoughtful, primarily because the entitlement is shaven away by experience and exposure, but especially understanding.Why is it that it always seems the well loved, long lived king is inevitably followed up by the horrible child?
Because a long reign with a revered king give the prince a sense of entitlement (since his father was so loved) without any actual reponsability.
Stay safe, Japanese and pacific coastliners.Yeah...
Since 1989 when China started collecting DNA, it has amassed the genetic information of more than 40 million people. In the US, the national DNA index of offenders has only 12.7 million offender profiles.
Percentage-wise the US is still ahead of China though, having about 4% of the population indexed while China only has 2.9%.
On costs: India wants to record the DNA of everyone ever arrested for a criminal offence. In 2012 alone, there were 3.2 million arrests. At that rate, the asked-for Rs 20 crores ($3.3 million) is probably too little to build and maintain a database. For comparison, the UK spent £300 million ($450 million) just to setup a database.
UK Home Office figures show that the cost of running the national DNA database has more than doubled since 2002-03.
I'd imagine it's going to be stymied by cost. India wanted to set something up but the cost would be prohibitive.
https://qz.com/463279/indias-dna-profiling-bill-may-become-one-of-the-worlds-most-intrusive-laws/QuoteOn costs: India wants to record the DNA of everyone ever arrested for a criminal offence. In 2012 alone, there were 3.2 million arrests. At that rate, the asked-for Rs 20 crores ($3.3 million) is probably too little to build and maintain a database. For comparison, the UK spent £300 million ($450 million) just to setup a database.
http://dnapolicyinitiative.org/forums/topic/is-dna-database-expansion-worth-the-cost/QuoteUK Home Office figures show that the cost of running the national DNA database has more than doubled since 2002-03.
So yeah they could expand it to 10% of China (which would be proportionally similar to the UK) but I'm guessing that would become increasingly expensive to maintain. So i'm going to take a punt here and say that they won't end up doing that. it's not the most effective means of achieving whatever it is they want to achieve.
UK Home Office figures show that the cost of running the national DNA database has more than doubled since 2002-03.
Home Office figures show that the cost of running the national DNA database has more than doubled since 2002-03.Actually that was in 2008, so the costs would be higher now I'm guessing.
more than half of the world's muslim population lives in just Indonesia
The number of Muslims in the Asia-Pacific region – which, for purposes of this report, includes not only East Asian countries such as China but also countries as far west as Turkey
Quotemore than half of the world's muslim population lives in just Indonesia
I don't think you got that quite right. There are 1.8 billion Muslims, and Indonesia isn't quite that large. It's large, just not that large. However, articles state there are 900 million Muslims in Asia, which is half. So maybe you mixed up that detail from an article.
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/01/31/worlds-muslim-population-more-widespread-than-you-might-think/
this Pew Research article says 986 million muslims in asia-pacific region. It took some googling to discover what Pew research even consider to be Asia-Pacific. Every research group has their own definition:
http://www.pewforum.org/2011/01/27/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-asia/QuoteThe number of Muslims in the Asia-Pacific region – which, for purposes of this report, includes not only East Asian countries such as China but also countries as far west as Turkey
This is where report headlines can be misleading. Turkey is Asia-Pacific.
Quotemore than half of the world's muslim population lives in just Indonesia
I don't think you got that quite right. There are 1.8 billion Muslims, and Indonesia isn't quite that large. It's large, just not that large. However, articles state there are 900 million Muslims in Asia, which is half. So maybe you mixed up that detail from an article.
East Asia denotes a far more specific area than that. This is all about definitions.A curious distinction. It would seem their specific "Asia-Pacific" region means Asia minus the Levant. An odd choice, and I can't say I necessarily agree with the division, since it feels rather arbitrary (Turkey but not Iraq?).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asia
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/East_Asia_%28orthographic_projection%29.svg/375px-East_Asia_%28orthographic_projection%29.svg.png)
^ i.e. they didn't mean that. Saying a region such as "east asia" isn't helpful because you obviously are referring to a different set of countries when you say it than a demographer is.
Pew Research has actually made a map showing which countries they include when they say there are 1 billion Muslims in Asia-Pacific, so you can check that out without any sort of guesswork about what the region includes:
http://www.pewforum.org/2011/01/27/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-asia/
For more close up detail, see this interactive graphic (needs flash)
http://www.pewforum.org/interactives/muslim-population-graphic/#/Asia-Pacific
By Asia-Pacific they're including everything spanning the distance from Turkey to Indonesia.
The very name "Mayflower" is un-American. No good honest bear-wrestling all-American woodsman would be caught dead owning a boat called that.
IS is stepping up their operations in this region, it seems. They are on the back foot in the Middle East, but their brand is still inspiring attacks worldwide.
It seems there's foreign fighters amongst the insurgents in Marawi. Spokesman for the Justice department, Jose Calida, in a pressconference today:
"What is happening in Mindanao is no longer considered an insurgence by Philippine citizens. It has turned into an invasion of foreign terrorists listening to the trumpets of IS".
Philippine troops are still trying to liberate the city, supported by armoured vehicles and helicopters equipped with rocket launchers.
Thousands of people have fled the violence. Fighting has killed at least 44 persons, of whom 31 terrorists, and 11 federal soldiers. There's no info at all on civilian casualties.
EDIT: perhaps Duterte is regretting now that he shoo'd the US forces off the island.
The more I read, the more awesome this Duterte guy sounds.I hope you being sarcastic. The man is responsible for thousands of deaths of which many were definitely not deserving of death. Mass murder is never the answer.
Crime in Phillippines is out of control.
Elected on his rabid anti-crime stance, especially when it comes to drugs.
Fucking slaughters these savage cartel fucks.
Currently in the process of tackling big banks and rich tax dodgers, while fighting off their terrorist puppets.
Only way he could be better is if he started offering free helicopter rides.
murder
More like this:murderSpoiler (click to show/hide)
Are you implying the police did the drive-by killings?More like this:murderSpoiler (click to show/hide)
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2017/04/10/blogs/photography-pulitzer-recognizes-aftermath-of-violence-in-the-philippines/s/10-lens-p-slide-RMSV.html
Warning contains many dead people.
murderSpoiler (click to show/hide)
>drug cartels keep murdering people
>"You're not allowed to kill them! That's wrong!"
>unstable drug addicts keep supporting them
>"They're not criminals!"
When the police just up and kill somebody, criminal or, then yes, it is called murder.Could you provide some specific examples, preferably as closely related to the immediate topic? The whole "just up and kill somebody" rhetoric is too politically charged for me to take at face value.
There is kind of a reason why first world countries frown upon the idea of special government sanctioned hit squads against their own citizens and on their own soil.How could you know if secret police have really been disbanded? The whole point is that you DON'T know about them.
I mean even China disbanded its secret police.
When the police just up and kill somebody, criminal or, then yes, it is called murder.Could you provide some specific examples, preferably as closely related to the immediate topic? The whole "just up and kill somebody" rhetoric is too politically charged for me to take at face value.
There is kind of a reason why first world countries frown upon the idea of special government sanctioned hit squads against their own citizens and on their own soil.How could you know if secret police have really been disbanded? The whole point is that you DON'T know about them.
I mean even China disbanded its secret police.
And while the people may frown on such things, the governments of even first world countries have their hit squads. Surely you don't think Seth Rich was killed by some random mugger.
edit: I would also like to point out that Duterte's approval rating is still up around 80%.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/02/philippines-police-plant-evidence-to-justify-killings-in-drug-war-says-reportThe "reports" are nothing but hearsay.
http://www.dw.com/en/philippine-police-conducted-vigilante-killings-human-rights-watch-says/a-37777193Again, nothing but hearsay.
https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/03/01/license-kill/philippine-police-killings-dutertes-war-drugs"Our investigations say-" SHOW US THE EVIDENCE!
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/philippines-president-rodrigo-duterte-linked-to-killings-by-former-police-officer/"Corrupt cop from a family of drug pushers is against the war on drugs" No shit?
discredited conspiracy theoriesDiscredited? Discredited by who? HOW was it discredited?
Completely irrelevant. A well-liked murderer is still a murderer.I thought you valued democracy.
Of course, there's no way that the same officials involved in planting evidence would ever falsify reports. ::)You dun fucked up, now.
I'm disappointed, Baffler. You seemed like you'd be better than to endorse state-sanctioned murder.
Of course, there's no way that the same officials involved in planting evidence would ever falsify reports. ::)You dun fucked up, now.
I'm disappointed, Baffler. You seemed like you'd be better than to endorse state-sanctioned murder.
I can see China stepping in here. The way they could get neighboring nations to turn a blind eye to the South China Sea stuff is by creating a Pax China arrangement that benefits those other nations.
In other Phillippines-related news, an attack on a casino-hotel in Manila that left 37 people dead was identified as a botched robbery, not an IS terror attack as originally suspected:
http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/philippine-police-say-manila-casino-gunman-killed-rule-out-terrorism
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/dozens-dead-after-gunman-torches-resorts-world-manila-casino-8905730
I can see China stepping in here. The way they could get neighboring nations to turn a blind eye to the South China Sea stuff is by creating a Pax China arrangement that benefits those other nations.
I don't think China would pay attention to it until they got directly attacked. They're big on not messing with other countries domestic affairs. Having China get involved in the Philippines would make Congress want Trump to get into action.
Also, Trump wouldn't hesitate to help the Philippines with the problem as he doesn't care about human rights.
I can see China stepping in here. The way they could get neighboring nations to turn a blind eye to the South China Sea stuff is by creating a Pax China arrangement that benefits those other nations.
I don't think China would pay attention to it until they got directly attacked. They're big on not messing with other countries domestic affairs. Having China get involved in the Philippines would make Congress want Trump to get into action.
Also, Trump wouldn't hesitate to help the Philippines with the problem as he doesn't care about human rights.
Well, if the Philippines invite China in it's different.
Has there ever been a precedent of a nobel prize being retracted?
Has there ever been a precedent of a nobel prize being retracted?That's a possibility, but the military had generally had a policy of neglect towards the Rohingya, not active persecution. They wouldn't get involved if the locals decided to burn a village, but they weren't burning them themselves. Which makes sense, they wanted order and to minimize outside criticism of their rule.
If not, she makes a good candidate for being a first.
To give her some benefit of the doubt though, it is quite likely that the moment she speaks out against the Rohingya cleansing, she will be overhtrown by military coup and be killed. Myanmar is a democracy in name only, it's still the military junta pulling the strings in the majority of the country.
, if you're burning villages and attacking people as a Buddhist monk, UR DOIN IT WRONGI dont know why people have this idealized version of Buddhism. It has its own share of fanatical nutcases, just like any of the others. IIRC there are records of wars between momasteries for doctrinal differences
I know (Ikko-Ikki, etc.). Just feels like they have even less theological justification than Christian monks to engage in genocide. If the world is illusion, why give a fuck what other people are doing if it's not harming others?Quote, if you're burning villages and attacking people as a Buddhist monk, UR DOIN IT WRONGI dont know why people have this idealized version of Buddhism. It has its own share of fanatical nutcases, just like any of the others. IIRC there are records of wars between momasteries for doctrinal differences
There's also been an increasing willingness to flex China's military muscles (through display and moderate provocation, not outright hostility), and a tacit support of nationalist sentiment.The Chinese People Liberation Army's Navy carried out exercises in the Baltics for the first time in Chinese history, well, the first time any Chinese naval vessel has really. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/19/royal-navy-scrambles-shadow-chinese-warships-english-channel/) Proper spicy :]
The Baltics? That's interesting.There's also been an increasing willingness to flex China's military muscles (through display and moderate provocation, not outright hostility), and a tacit support of nationalist sentiment.The Chinese People Liberation Army's Navy carried out exercises in the Baltics for the first time in Chinese history, well, the first time any Chinese naval vessel has really. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/19/royal-navy-scrambles-shadow-chinese-warships-english-channel/) Proper spicy :]
Though they're not ready for it, they want to give the image of China preparing for world power-projectionThe Baltics? That's interesting.There's also been an increasing willingness to flex China's military muscles (through display and moderate provocation, not outright hostility), and a tacit support of nationalist sentiment.The Chinese People Liberation Army's Navy carried out exercises in the Baltics for the first time in Chinese history, well, the first time any Chinese naval vessel has really. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/19/royal-navy-scrambles-shadow-chinese-warships-english-channel/) Proper spicy :]
On the topic of China, Xi Jinping is consolidating his position.It's a bit scary that as the west shoots itself in the foot China gains ground. I would rather the alternative to dysfunctional neoliberal democracy is something that's not an authoritarian police state.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/24/world/asia/xi-jinping-china.html?_r=0
On the topic of China, Xi Jinping is consolidating his position.It's a bit scary that as the west shoots itself in the foot China gains ground. I would rather the alternative to dysfunctional neoliberal democracy is something that's not an authoritarian police state.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/24/world/asia/xi-jinping-china.html?_r=0
I'd say better to befriend the growing superpower than immediately cast yourself in opposition, as a target to be taken down to prove its own strength.For the US in particular, however (given that we're talking Trump and broken clocks), that's essentially a non-starter unless they do a full-on withdrawal from East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. As the presently-extant superpower, they simply have their fingers in too many pies for China to really tolerate as an emerging superpower ready to carve out their own place in the sun, and they're going to be a target to prove one's strength unless they completely abdicate their status as superpower and withdraw not just to the Americas, but within their own borders. After all, carving out your place in the sun all too often means you need to carve it out of someone else; it's not a moral judgment, but simply a matter of how things seem to often end up being in effect.
Trump doesn't even have an articulated opinion on China. The whole of his feelings are "China is benefiting from trade with us and therefore there is more flesh we could extract out of the deal, we therefore must be getting the short end of the stick, GINA!" And secretly "maybe the guys will finally respect me if I pass a trade deal favorable to them".I think it's just a few centimeters below that and "What's a Taiwan? Some kinda dumpling?" or even "What's a China? Some sort of drink?"
He didn't even fucking understand you don't publicly talk about talking to the Taiwanese government. How much space even exists below that level of knowledge on Chinese geopolitics?
Well this is what happens when the leader of the US doesn't even know what geopolitics are let alone complex theories of international relations.International relations is pretty simple tbh
Well, we'll see where China stands in the next 30 years. It's entirely possible that the US loses a great deal of ground to them and makes no real opposition, or that Xi doesn't properly resolve issues with his succession before his retirement and/or death (assuming he does retire after the usual 10 year period, which seems unlikely). As for my earlier post, I guess a better phrase would be "antagonistic" rather than "in opposition". Threatening trade wars, directly acknowledging Taiwan, and publicly considering labeling China a currency manipulator is definitely what I would consider antagonistic behavior.Of China implodes. Advantage of authoritarian regime: Your leaders think in terms longer than democracies; Shortside: You are liable to implode if enough things go wrong at the same time
Well this is what happens when the leader of the US doesn't even know what geopolitics are let alone complex theories of international relations.International relations is pretty simple tbh
i've met a lot of people who didn't believe China is a large country. Less people who seem to realize it's large.o_O
but then again, I live in a large country. So perhaps people in the UK are aware of the scale difference. I'm willing to be a lot of Americans don't think it's as big as it is.I reckon UK might be helped cos they know Australia is fuckhueg despite how the maps downplay its size, and of those, a good number'll know China is substantially larger than Australia
A few years back a friend of a friend was saying how the Chinese can't invent anything, they can only imitate. Does that sound familiar? (think what people said about Japan a few decades earlier before they started inventing everything) Of course this guy was a total drughead without a job himself.
The current thing is that it's noted that China now produces many more research papers than America. but this has been written off by pundits too "well their papers aren't that good, dontchaknow. Not like good ol' white person papers! Numbers of papers isn't everything!"
The problem with that logic is about half the "papers" in America are now Gender Studies / postmodern / post-structural stuff overturning the concept of Truth etc etc. Or PhD theses on the Olsen Twins vs Miley Cyrus. Or attaching the word "feminism" as a pure buzzword to everything where it doesn't really fit as in "feminist glaciology". While China produces roughly zero% of that stuff. Yeah, numbers of papers aren't everything, just look how high the average paper quality is in the USA!
China outperforms the European Union in terms of expenditure on research and
development as a share of its GDP, and already produces about the same number of scientific
publications, and more PhDs in natural sciences and engineering, than the United States.
It's also weird that you of all persons start blaming racism
I was responding because Sheb implied I was a racist.
Not to dismiss your post, but what does any of that have to do with East/SouthEast Asian politics?Tbh I was as surprised as you. I thought we were at war with Eastasia.
Not to dismiss your post, but what does any of that have to do with East/SouthEast Asian politics?Tbh I was as surprised as you. I thought we were at war with Eastasia.
Not only is there a risk of China imploding, but there's a risk of geopolitical power in general losing zero-sum status if the climate and energy crisis gets bad enough. Too much collapse and that power bleeds out into the void instead of being claimed by other nations.
The phrase "you of all people" is not a good way to word things then.
e.g. "you of all people saved a dying kitten" literally means that you're surprised because they're the least-likely person on earth to help a dying animal.
As it indicates a destruction of civilization so severe that it stops existing...not really.
Wait. Geopolitical power = Civilization? Sounds like a right-wing conspiracy theory to me.Smh tbqh famalam no one knows what conspiracies even are, yes there is a right-wing operation to covertly uploads memes to your brain. No that's not what MSH is saying. Geopolitical Power and Civilization are not, as he says, interchangeable terms. He's saying that if the energy and climate crises grow too severe, then geopolitical power will stop being a zero-sum game. This will be because the various lands and waterways great powers contest one another to have control over, will be useless - it will cease to be a zero-sum game where instead of one power gaining at the expense of another, everything will be an expense to anyone. What this will indicate is that everything is completely fucked and instead of a zero-sum game, the great powers start playing a negative-sum game where everyone is fragged no matter what, and are fighting to see who is the least fragged.
Alternative is to understand power as power to rather than power over and then we're already in a non-zero sum game from the outset.
Smh tbqh famalam no one knows what conspiracies even are, yes there is a right-wing operation to covertly uploads memes to your brain. No that's not what MSH is saying. Geopolitical Power and Civilization are not, as he says, interchangeable terms. He's saying that if the energy and climate crises grow too severe, then geopolitical power will stop being a zero-sum game. This will be because the various lands and waterways great powers contest one another to have control over, will be useless - it will cease to be a zero-sum game where instead of one power gaining at the expense of another, everything will be an expense to anyone. What this will indicate is that everything is completely fucked and instead of a zero-sum game, the great powers start playing a negative-sum game where everyone is fragged no matter what, and are fighting to see who is the least fragged.
So for example, if controlling the USA yielded no benefits to its controller, one could safely assume that the American civilization was bleeding sorely. What would be the use in controlling trading routes when there is no trade, in controlling populations when you can't sustain them, in controlling resources when you can't use them? Power bleeding into the void to human expense.
The alternative of understanding power as power is useful but inadequate, for the simple reason that power is when it comes to the contest of great powers is relative. Consider at the eve of the Napoleonic Wars, how the United Kingdom rose to dominate global affairs, controlling a fifth of the world and outnumbering its competitors at sea 2-1. Yet by the dawn of the Great War, the United States was burgeoning into an industrial Titan, the mess of petty German princedoms rapidly united into a centralized Imperial power, Japan was burgeoning into a brand new Industrial power on the world-stage and all of them expanding their spheres of influence into British influence, all the while the British still contended with the French and Russians, meant that British power in relative terms was much more contested. Of course by World War II this would be an even graver situation, and by the modern age despite the UK being more powerful in absolute terms than it had ever been, in relative terms it is much clearer that there is a gap between the top 3 and the top 12 (https://www.globalfirepower.com/countries-listing.asp). For this reason power is treated as a zero-sum game because one power's relative increase in strength is to the expense of another, much as how China and the USA both cannot share control over the Pacific Ocean. Whoever successfully contests the Pacific, will do so at the expense of their naval rival.
Well, the US and China can't share the Pacific universially, but it's big enough that China would probably be happy with us staying on our side of it. Not that we'd actually do so.
Yes, I was thinking that I should apologise (to all but especially to MSH) for the right wing conspiracy comment - vague and inflammatory; and I do. What I really should have said is something more like "I'm surprised that you believe that geopolitics is a zero-sum game."No worries famalam
And I intended to post just that and leave it there. But the comment (dismissal by attempted sarcasm, or perhaps satire - where does that tactic come from?) by LW ("there is a right-wing operation to covertly uploads memes to your brain") explains precisely my motivation for making that comment, memes being more or less equivalent to ideas in this context.I'd err on the side of more, as memes are pretty dank
And no great surprise that LW's following rubric quickly devolves into the clash of 'Great Powers' and sole bottom line criteria of "Military Force". This totally forgets (erases might be better) the non-zero sum aspects of geopolitical power such as trade and diplomacy, We could summarize it as turning Clausewitz on his head to say - 'Politics is the continuation of war by other means'. If we were talking about Geowar a zero-sum game might be more accurate, but even here the sheer absolute increase in destructive power (regardless of relative abilities) would lead us to say the Geowar is not a zero-sum game.You misunderstand, for I speak from the perspective not of Germans, but of Anglospheres - for whom the concept of power has no distinction between military force, trade and diplomacy. The sole bottom line criteria of power is not military force, it is power. A powerful military controls the world's trade, and enacts the foreign policy of civil government in order to protect the state's economic interests abroad. This in turn ensures the economic security and prosperity of the state, which can then reap the economic benefits of such policy in order to modernize their military and so ensure their military power. The British Empire arose to dominance with minimal military presence, controlling a quarter of the world's population directly and indirectly influencing even more - simply through the integration of all these ideas as one. Thus the control of the Suez, the Gulf, the English Channel, the Straits of Hormuz, the Straits of Gibraltar, the Straits of Malacca and the Cape of Good Hope allowed the British to dominate world trade and consequently continue expanding their Navy with which to protect their commercial interests, and so continue the cycle. The USA inherited this strategy and took it to its natural conclusion: If they don't have a Naval Base in every ocean and sea outside of the Caspian, they've got an allied base's permission. Where the British Empire outnumbered its rivals at sea 2 to 1, the US Navy outnumbers its rivals at sea 20 to 1. Any nation which is blockaded by the US Navy is not trading with the world by sea, and as 90% of the world's trade is by sea or capable of being attacked by Marines, this can have dramatic effects for making foreign governments see eye to eye with Washington.
It makes no sense geopolitically (particuarly without an existing state of war but even then) to talk of any nation or group "controlling" the Baltic Sea.*Denmark and Sweden were the first nations to actively seek and successfully control the Baltic Sea, enacting this as policy in the 1560s, a policy which would be eroded by Anglo-Dutch efforts to increase their economic share of Baltic trade at the expense of Nordic control by the 1650s. Today it's more complicated as the Baltic is held in a contest between the Joint Expeditionary Force and the Russian Baltic Fleet, all made more complicated by how both the JEF and RBF are underfunded and in trouble - no one is ready to make a contest for hegemony, sans the Swedish worry of the Russians borrowing Gotland.
Geopolitically I believe that China has sent its ships there as an exercise of "face" and not of "force" because that is what they understand shoudl be done by a power of their status on the international stage, given the precedents set by predominantly America but also Russia, and more importantly for them not to do so would be unbecoming.China is not a cargo-cult nation, imitating the motions of the USA. They sent those 840 sailors across the world to indicate that the Sino-Russian alliance lives, and their cooperation will deepen. While Russia and China have severely limited joint-military capabilities within the same theatres, they are both capable of profiting from relieving defence pressures exerted by the USA. It's no surprise that when China pushes into the South China Sea, Putin annexes the Crimea, and China pushes further into the South China Sea e.t.c.
Given the USA's reliance on regional partners for ports and joint operations, US allies switching Washington with Beijing would deal a devastating blow to US world power.
I'd err on the side of more, as memes are pretty dank
You misunderstand, for I speak from the perspective not of Germans, but of Anglospheres - for whom the concept of power has no distinction between military force, trade and diplomacy.
It makes no sense geopolitically (particuarly without an existing state of war but even then) to talk of any nation or group "controlling" the Baltic Sea.*
[Denmark and Sweden were the first nations to actively seek and successfully control the Baltic Sea, enacting this as policy in the 1560s, a policy which would be eroded by Anglo-Dutch efforts to increase their economic share of Baltic trade at the expense of Nordic control by the 1650s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominium_maris_baltici (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominium_maris_baltici)
The failure of the Scandinavian powers to take control of the Baltic, and steadfast refusal of other powers – local and international – to recognize their claims, is seen as one of the factors that led to the development of the "freedom of the seas" principle in international law.
China is not a cargo-cult nation, imitating the motions of the USA. They sent those 840 sailors across the world to indicate that the Sino-Russian alliance lives, and their cooperation will deepen. While Russia and China have severely limited joint-military capabilities within the same theatres, they are both capable of profiting from relieving defence pressures exerted by the USA. It's no surprise that when China pushes into the South China Sea, Putin annexes the Crimea, and China pushes further into the South China Sea e.t.c.
A question of when, not if, over the longer duration. America is falling, China is rising - a sheer matter of demographics. Then India, then Brazil... Entirely possible that a President dedicated to Making America Irrelevant Again or China a more monolithic state can speed or retard the process though.That's a big fucking assumption lel. Demographics are important but you're neglecting the importance of actually making your people useful. In the 19th-20th century China's population and absolute wealth was far in excess of any European or Japanese nation, yet because most of its population was devoted to the maintenance of its population and most of its wealth consumed by its population - it was far less powerful than any of its near or far rivals. There are optimum limits for how large a nation's population can get before its size outstrips the country's infrastructure & wealth, so for example India you pick, has an absolutely nightmarish scenario where 12,000,000 jobs have to be created every year in order to meet all the new young people entering the labour pool. This is why despite India and China both accounting for 36% of the world's population, nearly even split between them, China is the more powerful of the two. China's industrial capacity far outstrips India, her education infrastructure & spending is superior, her workers more productive owing to a technological & education advantage, her military receives four times the funding of India's without putting any strain on her economy (being considerably larger than India's). India's heterogeneous population brings with it the additional costs of security issues from separatists and religious insurgencies, which its heavily decentralized democracy is much less capable of quelling compared to China's authoritarian state. Conversely a state like the USA with 300 million individuals maintains its preeminence owing to its great internal and external security, its strong rule of law, its high productivity of its workers, its abundant natural resources, its extremely well-developed infrastructure and educational institutions, energy security & financial security. Look at GDP per hour worked (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_hour_worked) and compare the US to India; more productive citizens produce more wealth, and a greater number of citizens at lower productivity cannot match the economic output of a hyper-productive individual, as simply increasing the number of citizens also increases the amount of resources they require. No nation, however rich in natural resources and money to make made-up jobs, has an infinite supply.
QuoteI'd err on the side of more, as memes are pretty dankI'd advise you to put that in your pipe and smoke it but it appears that you already have :o
(Very tempted to flip you off with something like "Well let me know when you start speaking for yourself then" since it is your words that I am engaging with gubba.)The temptation is misguided. With great patience I implore you to read my post, and not discount the sections where I talk of controlling land, waterways, trade routes, populations, resources, industrial capability and military power (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=138058.msg7603644#msg7603644), for you have focused solely on military power. It is not my words you engaged with - rather, but a single word, that of the martial.
I think there is much greater continuity between the German and the Anglo traditions - here as elsewhere - than is generally admitted. (Take Ratzel's notion of the merchant marine paying for itself which constituted a large part of his argument for increasing German naval force and reach.)It would be impossible for the English tradition to have derived from German strategists such as Ratzel considering how the English tradition extends far back to the Merchant Navy, which predates the unification of Germany. What's more whereas German strategists argued that merchant marines were advantageous for a state to possess, British strategists argued that for a maritime nation such as itself, a strong Navy was not advantageous, but necessary for the guaranteeing of its security. Where the British tradition argued for control of global trade, development of finance and the preservation of continental balance, the German tradition argued for lebensraum, development of industry and the contesting of the balance of power - simultaneously constructing railroads in Turkey to contest Russia, expanding its army to contest France and expanding its Navy to contest Britain. Where the British tradition stemmed from its experiences at Trafalgar and its search for solutions to traditional British strategy having decreasing relevance in the 20th century, seeking to stop attempts at hegemony within Europe, the German tradition sought to attain hegemony over the world-island via land-based forces, and thus gain hegemony over its maritime rivals. Thus besides the superficial commonalities of the British and Germans both agreeing that ships are good, their approaches naturally diverged. Geopolitics vs Geopolitik
But in the end what is sought by this tradition is power over, the specific military force of containment or to damage an enemy or force them against their will. Yes this military power can get 'cashed' as a trade deal or perhaps diplomatically in the signing of some document at gunpoint and of course there are flow on effects (...nice anecdote from the Nepalese King :) btw) but the predominant and ultimate level of discussion always comes back to strategic military engagement. Reread your own last few posts and see how often the purely military domain is invoked as compared to the purely economic or purely diplomatic. And there are other factors to geopolitics - the territory itself, culture, and demographics, just to name a few that should be uncontroversial.
Not according to my history:Quotehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominium_maris_baltici (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominium_maris_baltici)
The failure of the Scandinavian powers to take control of the Baltic, and steadfast refusal of other powers – local and international – to recognize their claims, is seen as one of the factors that led to the development of the "freedom of the seas" principle in international law.
The Scandinavian (Nordic) powers, who sensed opportunity in the power vacuum created by the weak or non-existent naval power of the Holy Roman Empire and Poland-Lithuania, adopted expansionist policies which fostered conflict over the Baltic. Denmark and Sweden used their control of parts of the Baltic to fuel their militaries. Each claimed the Baltic as their own, and promised to protect foreign shipping. While the Nordic powers vied with one another over control, they both agreed that it should be the domain of one of them, not of an "outsider" like Poland or Russia. The Scandinavian powers tried to prevent the rise of their opposition through diplomatic treaties, which forbade other powers like Russia or Germany to build navies, and through military actions, whether targeting opponent naval forces, or through taking control of the Baltic ports. In one of the most notable actions to retain its monopoly over the Baltic, Denmark in 1637 destroyed, without declaration of war, the nascent Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy.Did you even read the wikishit m9 it just repeats what I said.
You are missing the point, no doubt because it is a cultural one rather than a military one. (Flashback to Trump and Taiwan.) Of course there are elements of sino-soviet solidarity, and of course sending warships halfway around the world (figuratively) is a military exercise, but that's like saying the point of speaking is to make sound.There are not elements of Sino-Soviet solidarity, they are conducting joint military operations in the Baltics to indicate to NATO that the Chinese intend to uphold their commitments to the 2001 Sino-Russian Treaty of Friendship. It is worth noting the Chinese government and USSR didn't get along, shall we say, where the Chinese and Russian Federation do. All in all your last points on the Sino-Russian Baltic exercise cause me far more grief than the really should ;P
Your thoughts on this http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-42436818 (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-42436818) madness right here?Hugging? Ban this sick filth. Almost as bad as hand holding.
Can someone explain to me whyt those responsible for running the police departments in malaysia appearently don't require even a U.S high school level of education?They do, but the education system runs on a different curriculum. The police force prefers to hire ethnic Malays for political reasons, and ethnic Malays live in a different system to the rest of Malaysians. For this reason Malaysia is effectively both a secular, multicultural state and an Islamic state, because it runs a parallel system. You can see this in grocery stores where the signs will read "no alcohol for under 21s and Muslims." In the school curriculum the efforts to separate ethnic Malays from the other Malaysians start early, so where most subjects are taught in English, things like politics are taught in Malay and different curriculums can be expected based off of which community the school is located in. For ethnic Malays, the system is designed to steer excellent pupils towards revelation based theology & politics. This is why many books are banned when they are written in Malay, but their English translations are allowed to circulate in Malaysia - the government doesn't expect the ethnic Malay to read the English translations. So you get stuff where the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin is available in many bookstores in English, but Malay translations are banned. This creates a politically powerful, conscious and religious ethnic group, which places revelation above reason.
Charles Darwin’s famous book is not the only publication to suffer such a fate. One other example is Karen Armstrong’s Islam: A Short History, which is freely available at bookstores and university libraries in Malaysia, while Sepintas Sejarah Islam, the Malay translation, is also listed as a banned book.Ruling over your political class is easy when you decide how they think (http://www.malaysia-today.net/why-are-some-books-banned-in-malay-but-allowed-in-english/)
In the last Parliamentary session, I submitted a question on The Origin of Species, enquiring why the Malay translation of the book is banned while the English version is allowed.
According to the written reply by the Home Minister (see attachments), the book is banned because it “endangers public harmony.” Explaining further, the Minister also states that the “translated book depicts a view of the origin and creation of species that goes against Islamic teachings and is in contravention of the Islamic Materials Censorship Guidelines as well as the beliefs of the Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah….”
Meanwhile, the English version is allowed because the Home Ministry has “not received any complaints regarding the existence of any infringements of Islamic aspects…” according to the very same guidelines by Jakim.
The explanation by the Home Minister not only makes absolutely no sense, it is also a veritable insult to the intelligence of Malaysians. How can the same book be considered a public danger and against Islamic teachings in one language, but perfectly acceptable in another?
Worse, is the Home Minister also effectively telling Malaysians that knowledge is reserved only for those who are English-literate? Is a Malaysian who can only speak and read in Malay considered not mature enough to make informed decisions? As most people who fall into the latter category are Malays, the question then arises whether there is a deliberate policy to keep Malays ignorant.
You know the false missile alert in Hawaii? Japan got hit with thier instance of it, and within days of the Hawaii one. (http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/16/asia/japan-false-missile-alarm-intl/index.html)Hawaii needs to get gud
Unlike Hawaii, which took over a half hour to be corrected, this one got corrected within minutes.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/02/23/588217754/photos-myanmar-apparently-razing-remains-of-rohingya-villages
No genocide here, move along.
Why isn' more of the world being tough on Myanmar when they pull shit like this? That is my main question.There are not many ways to be tough on Myanmar without causing a war which may be lost, and has a high probability of making everything worse. The situation in Burma is delicate. The authoritarian regime is strong but unstable and politically repressive, there are ongoing terrorist attacks in most states, with ongoing conflict in Kachin, Shan and Rakhine, in three individual separatist-state wars. This does not include all the lower scale conflicts on the borders of Burma and its neighbours in Bangladesh, Laos and China. The situation with other ethnic states remains volatile. The ability for foreign agents and journalists to act in Burma is severely curtailed. The Burmese mountains, forests and monsoon seasons are also some of the most formidable in the world, which means that even if the Chinese were not ambivalently keeping their eye on Burma, nations with great expeditionary capability like the USA might think twice about embarking upon an invasion which would make Vietnam seem pleasant by comparison. The international community's main hope came in the form of Aung San Syuu Kyi, who went from being a political prisoner to a great liberal proponent in an otherwise tightly controlled authoritarian regime. These hopes did not translate into any useful movement in Burma, as Aung San Syuu Kyi was elusive on the topic of the Rakhine cleansing.
With 2958 votes in favour, and 2 votes against, the National People's Congress of China approved of Constitutional changes which make it possible for Xi to stay in power for the rest of his life, by scrapping the rule that limits a president to two terms (which was added to the Constitution to prevent a Mao from happening again), and also to enshrine Xi's personal vision into the Constitution, so it is now a crime against the Constitution to critisize his descisions.banter
Pfft, they seriously went there with making it a crime to criticise his decisions? Does that apply to his advisors? If so, then that could mean that they can't critique his decisions.Yeah, it's pretty much a legal ratification of what has already become the case. Xi Jinping's anti-corruption drive also had the benefit (or some might say, intended purpose) of gutting all of his internal opposition, while he steadily assumed command of every branch of gov under the party, and consolidated his own position in the party. He steadily wiped out all internal factions, on the basis that taking power will result in legitimate authority later - and sure enough, there is no one to stop him assuming total control. He reminds me a bit of a more hardcore and communist Lee Kuan Yew, being an authoritarian leader who cracks down on civil liberty to make the nation stable & prosperous through the quelling of internal dissent and corruption - resulting in popular support.
This is exactly the kind of thing that they were trying to avoid after Mao.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/23/613662601/rohingya-militants-massacred-hindus-amnesty-says-they-were-all-slaughteredThat's so fucking metal
War makes monsters out of men. God damn it humanity. Stop being shitty to each other.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/23/613662601/rohingya-militants-massacred-hindus-amnesty-says-they-were-all-slaughtered
War makes monsters out of men. God damn it humanity. Stop being shitty to each other.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/23/613662601/rohingya-militants-massacred-hindus-amnesty-says-they-were-all-slaughtered
War makes monsters out of men. God damn it humanity. Stop being shitty to each other.
Also really not helping the whole Rohingya crisis as Thailand now has an actual crime to use against them.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/23/613662601/rohingya-militants-massacred-hindus-amnesty-says-they-were-all-slaughtered
War makes monsters out of men. God damn it humanity. Stop being shitty to each other.
Also really not helping the whole Rohingya crisis as Thailand now has an actual crime to use against them.
You know the Rohingya are in Myanmar, not Thailand, right?
Also really not helping the whole Rohingya crisis as Thailand now has an actual crime to use against them.So are we also just going to ignore the whole Burmese police being murdered thing? I feel like it's unhelpful to ignore that before the Burmese crackdown, the jihadists were blowing up bridges, attacking police bases and army bases all in one day of coordinated strikes and burning down villages/surrounding villagers so they can't escape.
Myanmar denies that, saying its forces are fighting ruthless terrorists. For the government, the proof of the insurgents’ brutality is plain to see, lying in rows by the mass graves just outside the village of Ye Baw Kya.Western blockheads literally took the word of terrorists that they weren't slaughtering innocents in order to have a morally black and white situation that didn't exist (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rohingya-hindus/slaughtered-hindus-a-testament-to-brutality-of-myanmars-conflict-idUSKCN1C21M6)
“This is terrorism,” Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, Win Myat Aye, who visited the site on Tuesday, told Reuters.
The ARSA has denied killing the Hindus saying they never kill civilians.
Exactly why Myanmar’s tiny Hindu minority in Rakhine state got caught up in the bloodshed is not clear, and different people have given different accounts at different times.
Some villagers have said the insurgents suspected Hindus of being on the side of the government and acting as government spies.
In late August, Reuters reporters in Bangladesh interviewed a group of Hindu women from the village who said their male loved ones were killed by Rakhine Buddhists.
However, three of the same women told Reuters this week that Muslims who brought them to Bangladesh had ordered them to say it was Buddhist vigilantes who had done the killing.
The Chinese government has developed a mobile app that tells users if they are near someone who is in debt. The app, called a "map of deadbeat debtors," flashes when the user is within 500 meters of a debtor and displays that person's exact location. TechSpot reports:
News of the app has caused quite a bit of controversy after it was originally reported by the state-run China Daily. It is an extension to China's existing "social credit" system which scores people based on how they act in public. The app is available through the WeChat platform which has become immensely popular in China. The government stated that "Deadbeat debtors in North China's Hebei province will find it more difficult to abscond as the Higher People's Court of Hebei on Monday introduced" the app. Once a user is alerted that they are close to a debtor, the user can then view their personal information. This will reveal their name, national ID number, and why they were added to the debtor list. The debtor can then be publicly shamed or reported to the authorities if it is deemed that they are capable of repaying their debts.
The Chinese government has
has developed a mobile app
It is an extension to China's existing "social credit" system
Buying games could potentially lower your ‘social credit’ in China by 2020 if a new government scheme gains traction
Chinese gamers face direct ‘social penalties’, such as lack of access to Visa schemes and dating sites, as part of an upcoming surveillance program which rates citizens based on their economic and social behaviour. The Black Mirror style trial scheme discourages certain types of behaviour and can even penalise people for buying video games.
I had not seen this thread pop up in a while. Does anybody know if we still at war with East Asia?We have always been at war with East Asia.
YOU ARE SCARING ME WITH THE 1984 REFERENCESI had not seen this thread pop up in a while. Does anybody know if we still at war with East Asia?We have always been at war with East Asia.
Hello Hong Kong-forumite, I hope you're all right.
FWIW, I sympathize with the plight of Hong Kong natives. We have a lot of ex-pats here in kangaroo land from Hong Kong, some of which I consider good friends. They're here due to the writing on the wall with China and its authoritarian political system taking over their home. It's sad to see yet another protest for democracy fail, and I predict similar scenes in the future being reported in Taiwan sooner or later.
I just hope like hell that I never live to see the same images appear in my own country, although it's not beyond the realm of possibility I might.
If you would like, I can try to satisfy your curiosity on the situation here as much as I can, just ask away.
Not that it helps but its the truth, but if China does anything no one would do anything about it. You can do sanctions against china, but then self destruct your own economy and further ruin the economy of the western world, like trump is doing. And then it really would end up being a world wide depression/recession with many smaller nations probably just collapsing. The only ones who'd likely come out on top is US (but with big problems on way there), China and Russia (russia only cause china probably help them out since they are pretty much allies). And no one wants a war with china.
Feel bad for you guys though, cause china can literally do anything they want with little repercussions (as seen by their expansion of their ocean territory). But if anyone does anything to them like trump with his sanctions, then it destroys the economy. So literally nothing can be done in a way that only effects china. I wouldn't be surprised if they do just move in if the protests go on too long, its just sad no one is likely (or really able) to do anything about it. I sometimes talked about china, to my hong kong friends who felt same way. They came to california, but they always thought it felt like china wanted full control of hong kong and didn't like they had a democracy right inside "their" territory or a black sore of their regime.
But that was just their thoughts of course, but I did think the same. But that is coming from someone who just sometimes reads stuff from there and what china has been doing over there in that region in general, so I dunno all the internal stuff
If you would like, I can try to satisfy your curiosity on the situation here as much as I can, just ask away.
It might seem like an odd question, but I was wondering if any interesting (particularly humourous or politically incisive) graffitti has been appearing in the streets recently. Would be most interesed in hearing about it if you see any, or is that something that would not happen in Hong Kong?
Keep safe, I do hope any violence passes you by.
I'm wondering whether there's any overt signs that some of the protests have foreign political backing. I'd imagine many western political entities would relish the opportunity to stir up trouble in China's backyard, and my cynical side says that perhaps some of the protests aren't as spontaneous as they might seem.
That's kind of interesting, Autohummer. The media over here tends to frame it as Beijing vs. Protesters. While the Hong Kong government kinda gets ignored. (Other than Carrie Lam.) Most of the attention gets put on the extradition law rather than a gradual buildup of resentment that led to this.
like Archduke Ferdinand after the first week of the Great War
Thank you for the joke and for it's explanation. It brought smiles.like Archduke Ferdinand after the first week of the Great War
That is an excellent analogy. :)
There was an interview done on NPR in the US that suggested that the extradition treaty would have been something that would have been worked out behind closed doors between Carrie Lam and Beijing before it ever became public, and that basically she has no choice at this point unless Beijing allows her to back off. Delaying the law would be about all she would have the power to do(and all she's offered) and reversing the plans are something that simply wouldn't be allowed.
Thank you though for your first hand opinion. It's something I don't get to hear much of outside of the biased media coverage that presents it either entirely pro-beijing or entirely anti-beijing. (I say it that way because nobody seem to really be pro-protesters, it's all about "The idea of democracy" rather than anyone's specific grievances.)
I mean, did anyone really doubt she was a puppet figurehead? I'm interested to see if the protests have enough fire in them to continue, or if it will all just die with a whisper. The opposite of passion is apathy.
Seriously...
What do they expect Lam to do? She's a puppet figurehead at best. A kept politician, that exists at the whim and whimsy of Beijing.
China has a very clear policy it keeps in regards to popular movements like this. The people in HK need to review the footage of Tienanmen Square. Lam has precisely ZERO power to oppose Beijing. The best protection they have against being turned into red stains under tank tracks, is to keep Lam around.
The best weapons they have are political intrigue, subversive message spreading, and anonymity. Getting rid of Lam gets rid of item 1, which is what allows them to do item 2, and grants them at least some token measure of item 3.
Lam put the proposed law forward, because Beijing demanded it, and she knows she is a kept politician, that exists at the whim and whimsy of Beijing.
I am by no means a Party Sympathizer. I just dont want to see the people of HK go from "living like sardines" to being "On the receiving end of Beijing's "concentrated and decisive attention." The shit that's gone on in the Himalayas to a certain ethnic group there should be an eye opener. Beijing is totally capable, and has demonstrated profound willingness, to do unspeakable things. These people are either extremely naive, or very very brave. I am not sure which.
But demanding the removal of Lam, instead of trying to co-opt her, makes me suspect the former, rather than the latter.
No wait, I just realized where order 66 is from, Star Wars.
So, I hear the mainland is shipping in folks to help quell the protests.
So, I hear the mainland is shipping in folks to help quell the protests.
So, yeah, Blizzard did a thing after a pro-player expressed support for the protests in Hong Kong. A bunch of people are upset (count me in).
https://www.vox.com/2019/10/8/20904433/blizzard-hong-kong-hearthstone-blitzchung (https://www.vox.com/2019/10/8/20904433/blizzard-hong-kong-hearthstone-blitzchung)
Seemed relevant to post here, particularly after the NBA has also engaged in some shenanigans over the last couple of days.
So, I hear the mainland is shipping in folks to help quell the protests.
China is in a real predicament here. Unlike Tibet and Muslims people in the West actually care about Hong Kong, and any police violence will receive widespread media coverage. It's hard to see China escalating to routine use of lethal force without serious sanctions being imposed.
On the other hand, the protests appear revolutionary in nature and well and truly beyond what can be handled with non-lethal force. So what do they do? Sit and wait is probably the smartest approach, which is mostly what they are doing. Hong Kong self-immolating doesn't really hurt the PRC so long as they don't get too directly involved. In my view, the PRC won't escalate this to the next level. Either the HK police do it, or some more radical elements of the protest movement arm themselves somehow and do it.
As for Blizzard, I feel a boycott is in order. I'd make a "Peninsula Defense" Starcraft map, but haven't time. Some mix of Tower defense and DotA would be good. Originality doesn't really matter as it's just about giving Blizzard the finger.
I can see the PRC just waiting for the HK protesters doing something outlandish/'revolutionary' enough before they really come down with the hammer.
I have a feeling any sort of sports association just really wants their players to focus on the game, rather then bringing the dumpster fire that is 'politics' in.
If that isn't a massive contributer to climate change, then nothing is.Only the CO2 component of smog contributes. The main harmful component - the particulate matter - reflects sunlight, slowing down greenhouse effect for as long as it stays in the air. The presence of smog does not mean that CO2 emissions are high, or vice versa.
That is more pollution than europe and US combinedHow do you know this? The article provides no numbers to make any meaningful comparisons.
For first one, it IS harmful. If it wasn't, then why would they give masks?If that isn't a massive contributer to climate change, then nothing is.Only the CO2 component of smog contributes. The main harmful component - the particulate matter - reflects sunlight, slowing down greenhouse effect for as long as it stays in the air. The presence of smog does not mean that CO2 emissions are high, or vice versa.That is more pollution than europe and US combinedHow do you know this? The article provides no numbers to make any meaningful comparisons.
Calm down, take a step back, and read what I actually wrote instead of throwing wild accusations.
Let's go back to the point. You said "That is more pollution than Europe and US combined"except instead of the co2 being in the plants, it's in the air
Then Il Palazzo merely pointed out, you've apparently just made that fact up yourself, since the article doesn't contain that specific claim whatsoever. This particular claim and any link to global warming isn't contained in the article whatsoever.
Also a key point in the article is that the smog is due to farmers burning stubble from their fields. The CO2 from the stubble comes from plants pulling in atmospheric CO2, so this activity cannot by itself increase atmospheric CO2 above baseline. It's like saying that if you drink river water then piss in the river you're going to raise the water level of the river.
Let's go back to the point. You said "That is more pollution than Europe and US combined"
Then Il Palazzo merely pointed out, you've apparently just made that fact up yourself, since the article doesn't contain that specific claim whatsoever. This particular claim and any link to global warming isn't contained in the article whatsoever.
Also a key point in the article is that the smog is due to farmers burning stubble from their fields. The CO2 from the stubble comes from plants pulling in atmospheric CO2, so this activity cannot by itself increase atmospheric CO2 above baseline. It's like saying that if you drink river water then piss in the river you're going to raise the water level of the river.
Hopefully you're kidding there.
This is farmland that's been farmed for thousands of years and the plants are renewed every year. It's carbon-neutral year to year, since the CO2 was by definition sucked into the plants from the atmosphere in the previous year's crop.
A major factor behind the high pollution levels at this time of year is farmers in neighbouring states burning crop stubble to clear their fields.
This creates a lethal cocktail of particulate matter, carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide - all worsened by fireworks set off during the Hindu festival Diwali a week ago.
They've increase yield because of increased population.
However the burn-offs categorically do not cause global warming, due to it being stubble from the previous years harvest. i.e. it's by definition new growth only. The article itself says this keeps happening at this time of year.
Almost all of which has nothing to do with the article you cited. Which is the main point. You're just moving the goalposts constantly here.
now you want to talk about Amazonian rainforest clearing, as if that's somehow relevant to an article about yearly crop stubble burn-offs in India. One thing has nothing to do with the other.
Almost all of which has nothing to do with the article you cited. Which is the main point. You're just moving the goalposts constantly here.
now you want to talk about Amazonian rainforest clearing, as if that's somehow relevant to an article about yearly crop stubble burn-offs in India. One thing has nothing to do with the other.
Okay I was thinking maybe I jumped to the conclussion about trump supporters here pretending to be left leaning, but now I know you are actually a trump supporter. Anyone who believes in climate change knows what happens in one area, effects the whole climate on earth. And the amazon rainforest was just an example of that. You said farming had nothing to do with it, so I pointed out did and now I outed you as a trump supporter. I will no longer argue with you, because trump supporters are trolls who are like arguing with a brick wall.
I didn't think anti-climaters/trump supporters were allowed on the forum.
Almost all of which has nothing to do with the article you cited. Which is the main point. You're just moving the goalposts constantly here.
now you want to talk about Amazonian rainforest clearing, as if that's somehow relevant to an article about yearly crop stubble burn-offs in India. One thing has nothing to do with the other.
Okay I was thinking maybe I jumped to the conclussion about trump supporters here pretending to be left leaning, but now I know you are actually a trump supporter. Anyone who believes in climate change knows what happens in one area, effects the whole climate on earth. And the amazon rainforest was just an example of that. You said farming had nothing to do with it, so I pointed out did and now I outed you as a trump supporter. I will no longer argue with you, because trump supporters are trolls who are like arguing with a brick wall.
Um, I think theres a severe misunderstanding here somewhere. Reelya only said that as events, they are independent of each other. Yes, they are part of a whole, but what's happening in the Amazon doesn't cause what's happening in India or vice versa.
I haven't read any data on whether the burnoffs in India farms are a net contributor to global warming, so, I can't respond to that, but they DO cause air pollution which is still a good incentive to do something about it.
The UK has offered British citizenship to 3 million Hongkong residents.Taiwan is also helping out - opening an office for managing refugees.
The UK has offered British citizenship to 3 million Hongkong residents.A nice time where I wholeheartedly agree with Bojo & pals
It's a "only nixon can go to china" thing. Bojo's so horrifically anti-immigration bigoted that he's got enough racist points for it to get passed.Is that like negative integer overflow nuclear gandhi?
Is that like negative integer overflow nuclear gandhi?https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_goes_to_China
As a political metaphor, it refers to the ability of a politician with an unassailable reputation among their supporters for representing and defending their values to take actions that would draw their criticism and even opposition if taken by someone without those credentials. Although the example is that of a hardliner taking steps toward peace with a traditional enemy, and this is the most common application of the metaphor, it could also be applied to a reputedly cautious diplomat defying expectations by taking military action, or a political leader reforming aspects of the political system of which they have been strong supporters.
One can twist it as HK folks being UK citizens all along, just gotta make it official.It's sad though for those Hongkongese youngsters who weren't born under the crown. I think the 3 million invited to british citizenship are only those Hongkongese people that are born before 1997, and those can indeed be argued to have been UK citizens from birth.
https://www.nbcnews.com/specials/china-illegal-fishing-fleet/
Here's a thing. Hundreds of North Korean fishing vessels have been running aground in Japan and South Korea, with their crews as skeletons or just missing. It was a mystery. Well, mystery solved, large numbers of Chinese fishing ships have been coming into North Korean waters for illegal fishing and they've been murdering the crews of the North Korean ships.
And the China government definitely knows about this, the number of ships involve makes up no less than a third of their entire deep sea fishing fleet.
probable explanation is that these Koreans are just poorly equipped fishermen taking desperate risks and venturing too far from shore
Autopsies on the bodies found on these boats usually indicate that the men died of starvation, hypothermia or dehydration.
Chinese fishing boats are famously aggressive, often armed and known for ramming competitors or foreign patrol vessels, according to U.S. Navy officials and maritime security specialists. Chinese media often depict the country’s maritime clashes with other nearby Asian nations as an extension of ancient China's Three Kingdoms, which fought a fierce three-way battle for supremacy.
Tensions between Seoul and Beijing increased in 2016 after a Chinese vessel, illegally fishing in South Korean waters, sank a South Korean Coast Guard cutter. The cutter was in South Korean waters and was trying to stop a Chinese fishing ship that allegedly had been caught fishing illegally when it was rear-ended by another Chinese ship.
I think they're capable of ramming NK fishing boats.
apparently they nearly always just ask to be returned home to North Korea.
apparently they nearly always just ask to be returned home to North Korea.
Now this I can't believe. I woulda thought all the inhabitants of NK would want to escape.
Since 2013, at least 50 survivors have been rescued from these dilapidated boats, but in interviews with Japanese police, the men rarely say more than that they were stranded at sea and that they want to be returned home to North Korea.
I mean. They have families and shit they care for. Seeking refuge abroad means your family goes to the slave camps, iirc. Or that they're executed.I feel like it's probably mostly this, with potentially a side of fear that they're being watched by NK's omniscient presence and that even if they don't have any living loved ones at home, they themselves are being judged on their response and will be tortured/executed if they fail to do what's expected of them.
Shinzo Abe has declared he is retiring as Prime Minister of Japan due to his ulcerative colitis.Is that like the US metric system, where everything is units of football fields, hamburgers and Trumps
If you aren't familiar with Abe's politics, he's often compared to Trump, particularly on racial nationalism. He is also the grandson of Nobusuke Kishi, one of Imperial Japan's worst war criminals and also a PM of Japan at one point.
But don't worry, because Abe's likely successors as PM include such potentials as two clones of Abe, a guy who said Hitler was right, and a guy who said nuclear war is inevitable so we should just nuke China first. #JustLDPThings
Mr. Abe has so far declined to name a favorite candidate, saying that the leading ones were all “very promising.”Diadochi: "Alexander, who amongst us should lead your Empire?"
Minister of Finance Taro Aso, 79, who also doubles as deputy prime minister, has been a core member of Abe's administration. Without a clear consensus on who should succeed Abe, LDP legislators could elect Aso as a temporary leader if Abe resigns.Translation: Weaboo and werhmachtaboo
The grandson of a former prime minister, Aso mixes policy experience with a fondness for manga comics and a tendency towards gaffes.
Shigeru IshibaPopular with voters, but billy no mates in his own party
A hawkish former defence minister and rare LDP critic of Abe, Shigeru Ishiba, 63, regularly tops surveys of legislators whom voters want to see as the next prime minister, but is less popular with the party's legislators.
The soft-spoken security maven has also held portfolios for agriculture and reviving local economies.
Fumio Kishida, 63, served as foreign minister under Abe from 2012 to 2017, but diplomacy remained mainly in the prime minister's grip.Like Abe, but younger
The low-key legislator from Hiroshima has been widely seen as Abe's preferred successor but ranks low in voter surveys.
Minister of Defense Taro Kono, 56, has a reputation of being a maverick but has toed the line on key Abe policies, including a stern stance in a feud with South Korea over wartime history.
Educated at Georgetown University and a fluent English speaker, he previously served as foreign minister and minister for administrative reform.
I'm seeing people say Taro would be the pro-US choice. Imagine being pro-US in Twenty^2.Easy choice to make when your neighbour is China, better to choose the farthest evil
Visions of a US-Japan partitiion of China along a South-North axis. (Okay, that's enough sniffing newsprint for me.. ;D)What about US-China partition of Japan on an East-West axis?
Visions of a US-Japan partitiion of China along a South-North axis. (Okay, that's enough sniffing newsprint for me.. ;D)What about US-China partition of Japan on an East-West axis?Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Nah, the US and China haven't really co-operated* since... they drove the Japanese off the mainland.I just wanted to propose terrible map borders, I don't think it's feasible
* Even the word 'co-operation' smacks of damn commies.
I say we agree on those borders, except the US and China also get the island's outside the opposite partation's coastI think the islands should go to Brazil, India and both Koreas to amplify the border gore
I say we agree on those borders, except the US and China also get the island's outside the opposite partation's coastI think the islands should go to Brazil, India and both Koreas to amplify the border gore
I see you follow the Hearts of Iron 4 school of peace treaties.Broke: PHD in international relations
What?He's aping the rhetoric Russia used when invading Ukraine, you know the whole "we're not invading but if we were invading it was because we were defending from fascists by defending into their country which we're not in"
What?
I can't even guess what LW has been drinking but it's certainly not the standard kool aid.I wasn't sure if you were being serious about fascist India vs communist China or if this was a Hoi4 thread in disguise
The renewed tensions along the line of actual control kicked off in June last year in response to India building a series of roads along the border. China responded by increasing its military forces in the region. Things have gone downhill since. (Mind you China have not been exactly shy in the road building stakes, but their approach has been more nuanced and gradual as opposed to India's sudden push.)And that's just objectively wrong, China has been the one continuously pushing, not just in Kashmir but near the Siliguri corridor and the South China Seas. China moves piecemeal so as to not provoke a military reaction, and if a military reaction occurs they can claim they're defending even when they just annexed someone else's territory. Same shit as the Russian salami slicing tactic
Experts say India’s actions in Kashmir a year ago exacerbated existing tensions with China, culminating in the deadliest clash between the Asian giants in more than four decades.
In August 2019, New Delhi stripped India-administered Kashmir of its statehood, demoting it to a federal territory, and clamped down on dissent. The region’s decades-old semi-autonomy, which protected jobs and land from outsiders, was also scrapped. New Delhi also carved out Ladakh as a separate federal territory.
Since the mid-June army clashes between China and India, residents of Ladakh’s towns, which are dotted with Buddhist temples and cafes for mountaineering tourists, have watched uneasily as Indian troops brought in fighter jets, artillery and construction materials. The activity has marked one of the most massive military buildups in decades.
In Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar, demonstrators on June 21 jeered at Indian soldiers by shouting “China is coming!”
“We hope powerful China’s involvement helps us to end India’s occupation of Kashmir,” said dried fruit merchant Nazir Ahmed.
I'm sorry (for you) but India has no claim, or frontage, on any of the South China Sea. Please spare us your vitriolic xenophobia over China.You misunderstand, I'm not saying India and China are fighting in the SCS, I'm saying China is using the same tactics they employ in the SCS
In fact the whole South China Sea thing has a bunch of countries with rather fantastic (read quite spurious) claims, China amongst them. Don't hear you complaining about Taiwan's claims now do we, even though they are of the exact same extension. But of course this is all off topic to the India-China border clash thing - hence my all too quick assumption about why you bring it up.Taiwan did not destroy a bunch of coral reefs to install ROC airbases against international Law, against UN rulings, against basic human decency, to go fuck with my SE Asian madlads like Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam. Meanwhile PRC did. And PRC has absolutely no claim at all to waters that belong to other countries, it's ludicrous to argue China is just one fantasist amongst many - they are the only unicorn in a field of horses
Back to where India and China do have a shared, and contested, border in Kashmir/Ladakh/the Karakorum mountains.Why stop at months? Why ignore the years of continual Chinese annexation of Indian ground? (https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/how-india-plans-to-counter-chinas-salami-slicing-strategy/articleshow/61035843.cms?from=mdr) Cos it's inconvenient when they fight back clearly
Basic background up till a couple of months ago:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-17/what-is-behind-the-india-china-border-dispute-lac/12363348 (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-17/what-is-behind-the-india-china-border-dispute-lac/12363348)
Part of the rise of Indian fascism has been the vilification and oppression of religious minorities, specifically Muslims, and to a lesser degree BuddhistsYeah the CCP with their actual genocide of Muslims in actual concentration camps are doing this for the anti-fascist crusade against the world's largest democracy
against international Law, against UN rulings, against basic human decencyWe're talking about the maritime 'redrawing' of boundaries Australia engaged in to steal Timor-Leste's (aka East Timor) oil and gas, right? Yeah that was abominable, full on cloak and dagger as well including the bugging of Timor-Leste's embassy in the lead-up to 'negotiations'. ;)
Basic background up till a couple of months ago:Why stop at months? Why ignore the years of continual Chinese annexation of Indian ground? (https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/how-india-plans-to-counter-chinas-salami-slicing-strategy/articleshow/61035843.cms?from=mdr) Cos it's inconvenient when they fight back clearly
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-17/what-is-behind-the-india-china-border-dispute-lac/12363348 (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-17/what-is-behind-the-india-china-border-dispute-lac/12363348)Part of the rise of Indian fascism has been the vilification and oppression of religious minorities, specifically Muslims, and to a lesser degree BuddhistsYeah the CCP with their actual genocide of Muslims in actual concentration camps are doing this for the anti-fascist crusade against the world's largest democracy
Lmao
While no border has ever officially been negotiated along the Himalayan stretch that divides the two nations, the truce established a 3,380 kilometre-long, loosely demarcated line referred to as the Line of Actual Control (LAC).It also mentions the the border war of 1959-62. The reason for the occasion of the article (also specified) were the first fatalities in the dispute since 1969. So that is why the events of a few months ago are significant (at least for me and the article).
Ali's brother-in-law failed to make it to the National Register of Citizens (NRC), a list published in Assam this year which declared 1.9 million people as "illegal" migrants, who now face either detention in a camp like the one coming up at Goalpara, or deportation.https://www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/the-ugly-rise-of-fascism-in-india-44235061 (https://www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/the-ugly-rise-of-fascism-in-india-44235061)
It is widely recognised that the National Register will be used to discriminate against Muslims in particular, and will leave them vulnerable in their own country and targets of persecution.
Symptomatic of this divide is the issue of mob-lynchings, an increasingly common phenomenon in India which generally occurs in the form of informal public executions to punish an alleged transgressor. Mob lynchings have often been associated with cow vigilantes who seek to protect and prevent the slaughter of cows seen as sacred under Hindu law, and more often than not, target members of the Muslim minority. Human Rights Watch has attributed this increase in mob vigilantism to the widespread use of communal rhetoric by the BJP.
Why must you fight? You can despise both China and India at the same time, you know.
Yoshihide Suga was voted as Abe's replacement, by the way. He's one of the clones of Abe, as opposed to the guy who said Hitler was right or the guy who said we should just nuke China and get it over with.It's ok, Japan is just getting ready to transform its economy into Super Gunbuster Armored VOTOMS Mode.
Suga has shown his immense boldness and vision by promising deregulation and self-help as Japan's economy makes that really concerning sound where you don't know if there's just a panel loose or something right before one of the wings falls off, also there's covid everywhere.
Are we at war with Eastasia yet?
Ceterum autem censeo Chinam esse delendam
Ceterum autem censeo Chinam esse delendamTotally agree but it should be 'Sinam' for the proper Latin flavor :P
War isn't always bad. War is horrible, but not always bad. Imagine how the world would be like if we hadn't gone to war with Hitler. And China is becoming more and more like Hitler, with how for example they genocide the Uigurs, and supress opposition.The whole western world was hoping this would be the outcome of welcoming China to the world table in the mid-twentieth century. The idea was that by raising the standard of living of the majority of the Chinese population from subsistence farming to middle-class western standards, they'd quickly demand personal liberties and topple their authoritarian government.
But yeah, I'd prefer China be destroyed from within by protests and democratic reforms than by war.
Also, China is floating a 'fishing' fleet off the Philippine coast (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56474847), except the vessels aren't moving, aren't fishing, and all appear to be brand new off the line.It's like the Russian green men; station irregular forces in disputed territory so that any conflict triggered is triggered by the opposing party. Combine politics with warfare, the Philippines cannot counter these "fishing ships crewed and armed by CCP militia" without resorting to actual Phillipino navy vessels, which in turn opens the door for intervention by Chinese naval and air forces posted in their "research reefs"
The modern day land grab is now the ocean. God only knows how many unmanned submarine drones China has out there, mapping the region for future wars.
Seems like the UN aught to do whatever they do for thisStrongly worded letter?
https://www.npr.org/2022/09/07/1121427407/survivors-of-a-massacre-in-south-korea-are-still-seeking-an-apology-from-the-u-sProbably won't happen any time soon; US military has a history of keeping quiet on shameful actions, like the quiet sweeping away of military crimes in Okinawa (https://theintercept.com/2021/10/03/okinawa-sexual-crimes-us-military/)
This was a great listen during my morning commute. I didn’t know that these brutal killings occurred at Jeju. The US really needs to apologize for these murders. Hopefully discussions and dialogue about this tragedy will continue in South Korea.
The Malaysia-based Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) set up a team to monitor hate speech on social media during the campaign and its data showed race-based narratives dominated the political discourse.Uh oh
In an analysis part way through the campaign it identified PAS and its leader Abdul Hadi Awang as among the worst offenders.
“They have resorted to fear-triggering Muslim voters with phrases like ‘going to hell if you vote Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional’, and inciting violence against ‘kafir harbi’ (enemies of Islam), and for calling Malays to unite and fight against the Chinese (DAP) and Indians,” CIJ said in a statement.
Muhyiddin also attracted criticism after claiming at a PN rally that PH was working with Christians and Jews to “convert” Muslims in Malaysia in a speech that was shared widely on TikTok.
Quote from: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/22/what-do-we-know-about-talks-to-form-a-new-malaysian-govermentThe Malaysia-based Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) set up a team to monitor hate speech on social media during the campaign and its data showed race-based narratives dominated the political discourse.Uh oh
In an analysis part way through the campaign it identified PAS and its leader Abdul Hadi Awang as among the worst offenders.
“They have resorted to fear-triggering Muslim voters with phrases like ‘going to hell if you vote Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional’, and inciting violence against ‘kafir harbi’ (enemies of Islam), and for calling Malays to unite and fight against the Chinese (DAP) and Indians,” CIJ said in a statement.
Muhyiddin also attracted criticism after claiming at a PN rally that PH was working with Christians and Jews to “convert” Muslims in Malaysia in a speech that was shared widely on TikTok.
Can we just fucking stop with the divisive rhetoric? Please? I want to live in a world where people can actually get along, Christ almighty.
How much contact do you still have with thr Malaysian side of the family? I hope they manage to keep out of danger if things escalate.They're pretty depressed but that's not anything new; they were already depressed before for nonpolitical reasons
It's always inspirational to see hiw much people are the same all over the world; just shuffle the nouns and you've got the USA right now ;)Lmaoing, but lmaoing and crying at the same time