What "thing" is that? I'm pretty sure that if the rest of the world put enough pressure/ sanctions on them, they would at least change a few things.
They have their finger in every pie. You underestimate their current global domination right now. They are dominating through economic means rather than bullets... except in the case of keeping their own in line. Most countries are too tied up with them in one way or another to even speak out against their various atrocities, let alone do something outright against them.
The “thing” is they own a good chunk of your country now. Your country owes them trillions, as do others. So they basically get carte blanche on ass-fucking the planet if they don’t pollute us into extinction first, or cause an economic bubble that Mad Max’s the entire planet.
I’m sorry? Did you say awesome Olympic opening ceremonies? I forgot all the oppression and mass murder and re-education camps and thought police already. ....they gave that fucking country the Olympics. It simply doesn’t get more stupid than that. I’m surprised they allowed other countries to win, they could have just declared themselves the gold across the board. Beating the host country is improper thinking!
I mean, what should be done against them? The US is heavily sanctioning them and crippling their economy. The UN isnt going to do anything, China is one of the 5 permanent members of the Security Council and will just veto any measure. The next step is boots on the ground, and good luck getting any Americans, let alone Europeans, on-board with a ground war in Asia. Theyre not the dominating force that everyone thinks they are. Think of the 2008 economic recession we had here based around an over-leveraged mortgage market. Thats what China has right now, twice the size, and in every single major economic sector they have (transport, manufacturing, finance, etc.) Their bond market is currently propping it up but unlike here, there are no private bond buyers. Its just 4 nationals banks buying up each other's bonds. This is also the reason why the rest of the world would never fully allow the Yuan to be convertible. The suspicion among geopolitical analysts is that the notion that they are in any way a rival of the US is a carefully orchestrated propaganda campaign.
That's my point. They will continue doing what they want in the way they want and the measures that countries ARE willing to take are ineffective. War is the fucking worst and is best avoided at all costs. It can often be encouraged and created when financial interests, especially of the wealthy and politically influential, are at stake but with the globalization of markets, that doesn't make sense in this case at all. They are subtly involved in a lot of countries at a high level. Their middle class has (had?) a glut of cash and invested a lot of that in real estate markets in Canada and the US's west coasts, creating problems for residents of those areas. Nothing significant has been done about that. China has invested heavily in Africa and issued loans to a ton of countries including us. African countries have a pretty chaotic and bloody history and will continue this partnership as long as they can. There is quite a bit of espionage type activity as well, and there are certain politicians in this country that I can think of off the top of my head that are either suspiciously chummy with or have received donations from well connected Chinese donors. Money talks. I think the real danger is going to happen if and when there is a huge global financial crash. Like the financial markers you mentioned, that might be sooner rather than later. That will hurt China really badly since their influence/relationships/partnerships are based on money. Then I think war is on the table. They could take the resources they need by force at that point. They have a huge population to placate (or at least keep fed) and right now they are doing their best to get complete control over that population. With changes in tech, they are doing a pretty damned good job of that. This will help them when the next war comes, because at a baseline I think CPC fears its own population and keeping in power and in control is the primary concern.
Yeah, Ill agree with you there. China's population is over 3 times the size and the % of arable land compared to their size is about 10-15%, thats a dramatic difference compared to the US and Canada. I dont think that they are that afraid of their own people. The last time the people revolted and overthrew the government, the Politburo came to power and has been there for 70+ years. Problem, the largest groups that are being victimized or at the very least, ignored, are the Uyghurs (currently being exterminated), Kazakhs, TIbetans, Sino-Koreans, Sino-Mongolians and the other Arab-Chinese groups to the southwest. Those are very different people with very different grievances. Historically, a unified China is really rare thing, most of it was under Mongol domination. I could see China weakening to a point where groups split off an declare independence rather than forming a coalition and overthrowing the government.
I've been wondering that, too. The thing is, I have no doubt that China would put all of its effort into keeping a thriving economy like Hong Kong, but they might not make AS big of a deal about some Mongolians seceding out in the wasteland. And I think there would be merry Hell to pay for any country that tried to step in and "liberate" Hong Kong. Trump, I'm looking in your direction. I think we're just going to have to sit back and watch just how badly this will blow up.
Yeah I think there's a zero percent chance anyone steps in. Especially the US. I am surprised (and glad) the HK bill passed the Senate 100% though. As divided as this country can be, it's cool to see everyone agree that what China is doing is just fucked up. Nice it hasn't turned into a political thing over here, at least in the partisan sense. The Hong Kong reddit is worth a follow. I didn't realize how bad it had gotten there until I started reading that.
Its technically (somewhat) independent now. Its one of the autonomous regions, the other being Macau, which is why China is cracking down. The further south of Shanghai you get, the more tenuous grasp China has over the hearts and minds of the people. That area has been under a relatively large foreign influence for hundreds of years. I dont think the Chinese government would ever allow a full secession; the economy would have to weaken to such a degree that the country kind of breaks apart. Chinese Presidents usually alternate between coming from Beijing or coming from Shanghai. Winnie the Pooh comes from Beijing, so the next one may come from Shanghai and therefore will probably be a bit more western-friendly. What will happen is that China's model of focusing on throughput vs profits is going to come to a head sometime in the 2020s, and that will have a dramatic effect on its world-wide influence.
The only thing I hate more than Spike Lee is Spike Lee when he’s right. WHY do people keep giving him material? ...usually I don’t repost these catalyst videos but this one so perfectly defines racial profiling it almost seems fake.
Is this fucking guy an honest-to-god human insect, or does he just plain WANT to spend the rest of his life in hiding? https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5384378 Somebody just knife this turd already.
Why do they always find it necessary to say “unarmed teen” when describing Martin? The dude was beating his ass. You don’t have to have a gun to have a deadly weapon. that being said, Zimmerman is most decidedly a fucking turd, to say it lightly. Even the most extreme 2A people I know don’t want him on their team. Only the openly racist do now. What he did initially was self defense (though he wouldn’t have been in that spot if he hadn’t followed the dude). What he is doing now is pure, unadulterated being a fucking piece of shit. He’s piled high in legal fees and trying to keep himself in the media in order to lessen those fees, at the expense of a grieving family. That’s the risk you take when you decide to defend your life. Is your life worth the legal fees and possibly your freedom? You can’t just kill someone in self defense and walk away like it’s nothing. The courts have to make sure you were right, and I’m glad it’s that way.
Because he was a teen and he was unarmed. Everything Zimmerman has done after he killed that unarmed teen has gradually shown his true nature, he was out looking for someone to shoot and needed to get himself into a situation where he could say "It was self defense."
Just like when they mention the Kennedy assassination they always begin the story "The unarmed president..." Just in case we weren't aware. God bless the news media.
surprised they don’t say “unarmed black teenager who was just on his way back from getting skittles.” Yes, that is true, but it’s just as irrelevant to how he died as the fact that Zimmerman followed him. In the moment that deadly force was used, deadly force was being applied against Zimmerman (or at least he has a reasonable fear that his life was in immediate danger). if some dude is following me I can’t beat the shit outta him and expect him to not do anything about it. Actions have consequences, and if your actions are deadly, there is a chance that those consequences might be deadly too.
I guess in the same way that Brock "convicted rapist" Turner is always described as a convicted rapist when mentioned. Sometimes you need to remind people of the facts. That way when you go to a gun show to get your AR-15 autographed you know whey there is a long line 2nd Amendment enthusiasts.
It's about the bias of the story and bias of the readership. The same legal system that convicted Brock Turner of rape also said Zimmerman lawfully acted in self defense. By saying "unarmed teenager," the story (and those who agree with it) are trying to say that the Zimmerman jury was wrong whereas the Turner jury was right. Not liking the verdict is different from disagreeing with it. I don't like the fact that Trayvon Martin was killed and I don't like the fact that Zimmerman is a free man. I wish you could jail someone for being a piece of shit and dumb as a box of rocks but you can't. I think Zimmerman never should have followed him and been in that position to begin with. But I also agree that the jury got the law right in that Zimmerman acted lawfully in defending himself with deadly force when being attacked and in reasonable fear for his life. And as someone who frequents gun shows as a form of entertainment, I can promise you no self respecting gun owner is going to want to get anywhere near Zimmerman except to not so politely tell him to stop talking and go away. Fucker reminds me of the type people who like to brag "I only carry a gun if I'm going somewhere I might need it." Yeah, well if you think you might need it, then you probably shouldn't go there huh?