Hong Kong: what next?

[yield]

China may find itself up against an alliance of the West (US, EU, Australasia and dear old Blighty) India, Japan and ASEAN. China has been bullying its neighbours and fighting totally pointless border wars with India as well as trying to dominate the whole of the South China Sea.

I don't think this Xi Jinping character is very clever. China may be overreaching itself and making unnecessary enemies.

Japan ratifies massive free trade deal involving China, South Korea and ASEAN
Jun 25, 2021

Japan ratified on Friday the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a massive trade agreement also involving China, Australia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Foreign Ministry said.

Tokyo deposited its ratification instrument with the ASEAN Secretariat, making it the third member to do so toward the possible enforcement of the 15-nation RCEP by the end of the year.

The ASEAN Secretariat processes operating procedures on behalf of the pact whose members account for about 30% of the world’s output, trade and population.

The Cabinet approved the accord Friday, completing Tokyo’s necessary domestic procedures for the ratification. It will be Japan’s first trade deal involving both China and South Korea — its largest and third-largest trade partners.

 

[Jessiedog]

@ 11:30pm 27th June

BREAKING: Apple Daily chief editorial writer (Head of English Section,) Fung Wai-kong was arrested at the airport for "collusion with foreign power" when attempting to leave Hong Kong, @hkcnews_com has learned. (Link in Chinese)



Woof

 

[Jessiedog]

The list is growing daily ...




Woof

 

[Jessiedog]

The Emperor’s New Clothes.

Indeed ...





Woof

 

[cyberpink]

What next? See "correction camps" for those unwilling to conform. See also Uighurs.
See also the systematic crushing of thousands of brave students in the square by tanks in the late 80's.
They were three or four deep, the bodies. Over an acre of land. Massacred.

 

[Jessiedog]

First they came for the activists.
Then they came for the professors.
Then they came for the teachers.
Then they came for the lawmakers.
Then they came for journalists.

Then they came for the judiciary.




Woof

 

[Cid]

China has a lot of problems. It is a ‘communist’ state which is more unequal than either the neoliberal UK or US! It has millions of poor peasants who are barred from going to the cities to improve their lives. About 6.4% of the country get a say in political decisions (and most of them only do so in a nominal capacity as they are rank and file party members there to rubber stamp the decisions decided for them by the hierarchy). Meanwhile it has more billionaires than any other country except for the US. How long will they put up being locked out of political power?

All of the south sea nations are threatened by China’s expansionist claims in their region which is why they will welcome US and UK naval manoeuvres along their coastlines. And the only way Beijing has managed to stave off widespread civil unrest is through frantic economic growth and even this hasn’t allowed rural areas to feel the benefit. So what will happen when economic growth inevitably stagnates and levels off in the medium term? Ultimately they will no more be able to solve the wall more advanced economies have hit than the US, Europe and Japan have.

There's also India as a potential anti Chinese ally for the West. India is growing at a rate of knots and it doesn't have China's demographic problems. The one child policy means that China is doomed to have an aging population which may reduce growth and also has millions of surplus men who will never find wives. India is more or less democratic which should make it a natural ally for the West.

China may find itself up against an alliance of the West (US, EU, Australasia and dear old Blighty) India, Japan and ASEAN. China has been bullying its neighbours and fighting totally pointless border wars with India as well as trying to dominate the whole of the South China Sea.

I don't think this Xi Jinping character is very clever. China may be overreaching itself and making unnecessary enemies.

You think an alliance with an aggressively nationalist India is going to be productive? Democratic it may be, but getting into bed with Mohdi is not a route to be lightly taken. Seems like a road to more border conflict, more defensiveness from the party.

I have no solutions mind you. Though I suspect if there is one it lies with East/SE Asia/Australasia. The west is a bit of a joke at the moment. I’m sure there are many good diplomats and related staff out there, the problem is the people they’re advising. Boycotts, sanctions as definitely not mentioned by Jessie upthread would be a start. But they need to be backed up with good diplomacy. It’s so insanely frustrating because frankly the CCP never even needed to behave like it is. Having democratic neighbours is even useful for them. Just fear in Xi and his allies I suppose.

 

[Jessiedog]

You think an alliance with an aggressively nationalist India is going to be productive? Democratic it may be, but getting into bed with Mohdi is not a route to be lightly taken. Seems like a road to more border conflict, more defensiveness from the party.

I have no solutions mind you. Though I suspect if there is one it lies with East/SE Asia/Australasia. The west is a bit of a joke at the moment. I’m sure there are many good diplomats and related staff out there, the problem is the people they’re advising. Boycotts, sanctions as definitely not mentioned by Jessie upthread would be a start. But they need to be backed up with good diplomacy. It’s so insanely frustrating because frankly the CCP never even needed to behave like it is. Having democratic neighbours is even useful for them. Just fear in Xi and his allies I suppose.

Well put, cid.

Nice to see you again.

"as definitely not mentioned by Jessie" And thank you for that. Sensitive and appreciated.


Meanwhile ... Happy Birthday CCP. Please remember what your founding goals were.

Great to see that Hong Kong has finally ditched that stupid British marching style and that all disciplined services have, for the first time, adopted the Patriotic Goose Step.




Happy days!


Blessings all.



Woof

 

[Cid]

Well put, cid.

Nice to see you again.

"as definitely not mentioned by Jessie" And thank you for that. Sensitive and appreciated.


Meanwhile ... Happy Birthday CCP. Please remember what your founding goals were.

Great to see that Hong Kong has finally ditched that stupid British marching style and that all disciplined services have, for the first time, adopted the Patriotic Goose Step.




Happy days!


Blessings all.



Woof

Aye, you too - look after yourself mate.

 

[Artaxerxes]

First they came for the activists.
Then they came for the professors.
Then they came for the teachers.
Then they came for the lawmakers.
Then they came for journalists.

Then they came for the judiciary.




Woof

Fucking hell

 

[Yossarian]

Well put, cid.

Nice to see you again.

"as definitely not mentioned by Jessie" And thank you for that. Sensitive and appreciated.


Meanwhile ... Happy Birthday CCP. Please remember what your founding goals were.

Great to see that Hong Kong has finally ditched that stupid British marching style and that all disciplined services have, for the first time, adopted the Patriotic Goose Step.




Happy days!


Blessings all.



Woof

I saw a photo of a street in TST East bedecked with CCP flags and smaller SAR flags and it looked 100% ready for tanks to roll down.

Though of course the fuckers didn't end up needing to bring in the tanks.

 

[Cerv]

China has said Hong Kong would be a model for Taiwan of how reunification under "one country two systems" would work - I guess they were technically correct but I don't think Taiwan will be taking them up on the offer.

*had said
not anymore. I don't think that's been on offer for a long time. not since Xi Jinping came to power.

 

[Jessiedog]

A man, on his own, holding a sign that says “The Basic Law protects personal freedom” was arrested by the Hong Kong police (July 1st, 2021)

(Edit for further info.) A better/fuller translation, I believe, is that the banner was quoting Article 28 of the Basic Law:

"The freedom of the person shall be inviolable. No Hong Kong resident shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful arrest, detention or imprisonment."

He was then arbitrarily arrested.






Woof

 

[Jessiedog]

Is Radiatori a CCP spy?

Please make sure.

Woof

 

[Yossarian]

 

[Yossarian]

Is Radiatori a CCP spy?

Please make sure.

Woof

What aroused suspicion, them 'liking' your post about the arrest? A 'like' can sometimes mean 'thank you for posting this and bringing it to my attention' - when I view Urban on my phone the only response option I get is the like, not sad or angry face, etc.

I think any real CCP agent would not draw attention to themselves by reacting to a post - but with untold millions of wumao out there, I don't know if this can be considered a safe space.

 

[Artaxerxes]

A man, on his own, holding a sign that says “The Basic Law protects personal freedom” was arrested by the Hong Kong police (July 1st, 2021)

(Edit for further info.) A better/fuller translation, I believe, is that the banner was quoting Article 28 of the Basic Law:

"The freedom of the person shall be inviolable. No Hong Kong resident shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful arrest, detention or imprisonment."

He was then arbitrarily arrested.


View attachment 276394



Woof

Good luck old timer

 

[Cerv]

What aroused suspicion, them 'liking' your post about the arrest? A 'like' can sometimes mean 'thank you for posting this and bringing it to my attention' - when I view Urban on my phone the only response option I get is the like, not sad or angry face, etc.

I think any real CCP agent would not draw attention to themselves by reacting to a post - but with untold millions of wumao out there, I don't know if this can be considered a safe space.

hold your finger on the "like" and the 6 options should come up without clicking it. equivalent of the hovering mouse cursor on desktop.


realistically nowhere on the internet can be considered totally safe.
most likely the PRC Ministry of Culture are certainly concentrating on sites like Twitter / Reddit / Weibo orders of magnitude larger than Urban for the greatest impact, but it'd be trivial for them to be signing up an account on places like this just in case someone ever wanted to have a look.

 

[Yossarian]

hold your finger on the "like" and the 6 options should come up without clicking it. equivalent of the hovering mouse

Every day's a school day.

 

[Pickman's model]

hold your finger on the "like" and the 6 options should come up without clicking it. equivalent of the hovering mouse cursor on desktop.


realistically nowhere on the internet can be considered totally safe.
most likely the PRC Ministry of Culture are certainly concentrating on sites like Twitter / Reddit / Weibo orders of magnitude larger than Urban for the greatest impact, but it'd be trivial for them to be signing up an account on places like this just in case someone ever wanted to have a look.

They'd probably have a lurker or two rather than an actual poster

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

When will the great firewall envelop HK?

 

[Yossarian]

When will the great firewall envelop HK?

For now, they seem to be relying on fear instead of technology - a lot of people deleted social media accounts after the NSL came in.

Out of the HK people I know on Facebook etc. who posted regularly in support of the protests there has been no direct criticism of the government in the last year - only some oblique references to Chinese proverbs etc., and even that seems brave at this point.

 

[Jessiedog]

What aroused suspicion, them 'liking' your post about the arrest? A 'like' can sometimes mean 'thank you for posting this and bringing it to my attention' - when I view Urban on my phone the only response option I get is the like, not sad or angry face, etc.

I think any real CCP agent would not draw attention to themselves by reacting to a post - but with untold millions of wumao out there, I don't know if this can be considered a safe space.

They seem to be new. Very few posts. Hidden profile. Lurking on the Hong Kong thread(s). AND, of course, I've developed a fairly healthy paranoia over the last 12 months or so (and have had quite a few, nasty, run-ins with very sophisticated Wumaos in the SCMP and The Guardian over time - before I stopped posting there [one of which effectively "outed" me after a lengthy battle - making it crystal clear they new exactly who I was; scared the living shit out of me! I'm well known to the authorities and have been highly and assertively vocal, both publicly and online, until self censoring some time ago.])

Oh well. Just don't try to leave the country, eh.

Woof

 

[Jessiedog]

So happy that CCTV cameras are being installed in primary classrooms (without informing parents,) in order to monitor teachers to ensure they are properly implementing the new, National Security, curriculum. Surely, all right-minded patriots must agree that it would be remiss to do otherwise, right?




Woof

 

[Jessiedog]

Meanwhile, apropos of nothing (other than a bit of light relief), I came across this a couple of weeks ago. Apparently, this guy was a stand up comic that, six years ago, went into reclusion due to recurring anxiety and panic attacks while on stage (obviously not good in context!).

He sorted his head out, a bit, and decided to re-emerge in January 2020, just as the pandemic was about to crash down.

So ... he did a live-stream from his bedroom - it's five minutes long. If you've not come across him (and even if you have!), please watch the video to the end and listen carefully.

It's certainly self absorbed but he has a truly passionate voice, is lyrically gifted and musically able. He also, briefly, references climate change. It's a self indulgent, poetic, ramble/rant.

I fucking love it.

If you like it, please share it with others.

Bo Burnham, thank you for your contribution to this universe!

Be nice to each other peeps.

Love and blessings.


Edit to add: And Get Your Fucking Hands Up!



Woof

 

[Dystopiary]

hold your finger on the "like" and the 6 options should come up without clicking it. equivalent of the hovering mouse cursor on desktop.


realistically nowhere on the internet can be considered totally safe.
most likely the [] are certainly concentrating on sites like Twitter / Reddit / Weibo orders of magnitude larger than Urban for the greatest impact, but it'd be trivial for them to be signing up an account on places like this just in case someone ever wanted to have a look.

They probably have an alert system/search bots regarding specific words.

 

[krtek a houby]

What aroused suspicion, them 'liking' your post about the arrest? A 'like' can sometimes mean 'thank you for posting this and bringing it to my attention' - when I view Urban on my phone the only response option I get is the like, not sad or angry face, etc.

I think any real CCP agent would not draw attention to themselves by reacting to a post - but with untold millions of wumao out there, I don't know if this can be considered a safe space.

Left a site some months back, after a few years it just seemed to be full of Trumpists, cranks and unpleasant 50 cent twats. The latter were using all Xi-like language - bashing/destroying/exterminating cockroaches etc when it came to the HK protesters & anyone who criticised the Xi regime.

Also, the paranoid right wing American cranks pushing the agenda that China is going to invade Japan had kind of messed with the head. Got paranoid the other day when twatter was asking for verifications and later got a cold call with a recorded Chinese voice. Hung up, of course, but shouldn't have answered the call.

Ridiculous.

 

[Jessiedog]

Left a site some months back, after a few years it just seemed to be full of Trumpists, cranks and unpleasant 50 cent twats. The latter were using all Xi-like language - bashing/destroying/exterminating cockroaches etc when it came to the HK protesters & anyone who criticised the Xi regime.

Also, the paranoid right wing American cranks pushing the agenda that China is going to invade Japan had kind of messed with the head. Got paranoid the other day when twatter was asking for verifications and later got a cold call with a recorded Chinese voice. Hung up, of course, but shouldn't have answered the call.

Ridiculous.

Tell me about it!

What's wrong with these fuckin' people?

Grow up! Don't be bad, eh?



Woof

 

[Rimbaud]

They seem to be new. Very few posts. Hidden profile. Lurking on the Hong Kong thread(s). AND, of course, I've developed a fairly healthy paranoia over the last 12 months or so (and have had quite a few, nasty, run-ins with very sophisticated Wumaos in the SCMP and The Guardian over time - before I stopped posting there [one of which effectively "outed" me after a lengthy battle - making it crystal clear they new exactly who I was; scared the living shit out of me! I'm well known to the authorities and have been highly and assertively vocal, both publicly and online, until self censoring some time ago.])

Oh well. Just don't try to leave the country, eh.

Woof

Indeed, I've also had similar experiences and it is unnerving. Thankfully I'm not in China anymore and have no intention to go back there under current conditions so I don't need to worry too much, but you are right to have a healthy paranoia. Stay safe.

We did briefly have an invasion of Wumao in some Hong Kong thread so this place is on their radar.

Edit: If there are Wumao reading this, I'd like to draw their attention to the declining numbers of foreigners in China, the declining numbers of people interested learning Chinese, the increasingly negative views of China around the world - in both Asia and the west - and the exodus of manufacturing which is likely going to doom your countries economy.

Gathering intel on everyone connected with China or of interest to China and creeping on social media isn't helping your country now that you've overdone it and people know about it. Rather, that sort of behaviour is exactly what is driving hostility and suspicion towards China and is exactly why people don't want to live or work in China anymore, and that is why any dream of a "Chinese century" is over before it began. You and people like you are to blame, you have betrayed your country for the sake of protecting your party and a small number of elite red families.

 

[krtek a houby]

So happy that CCTV cameras are being installed in primary classrooms (without informing parents,) in order to monitor teachers to ensure they are properly implementing the new, National Security, curriculum. Surely, all right-minded patriots must agree that it would be remiss to do otherwise, right?




Woof

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