China using families as 'hostages' to quash Uyghur dissent abroad
www.bbc.co.uk
Refugees and activists tell the BBC intimidation tactics are tearing apart Uyghur communities overseas.
  • fishtacos@lemmy.ml
    0·
    1 year ago

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

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

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

    • MacroCyclo@lemmy.ca
      0·
      1 year ago

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

      Edit: Kinda like Russia

      • fishtacos@lemmy.ml
        0·
        1 year ago

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

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

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

        • MacroCyclo@lemmy.ca
          0·
          1 year ago

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

          • fishtacos@lemmy.ml
            0·
            1 year ago

            And the argument from ignorance continues.

            All I have to say is read more and be online less.

              • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmygrad.ml
                01·
                1 year ago

                Newsflash, you can find people in any country who don’t like their government, and you’ll obviously see these people over represented in the population that left the country. The fallacy of your argument is to conclude that the people you know hold the opinion of the majority of people in China. I made plenty of friends who from China in university, and most of them went back after graduating. Vast majority of people in China support their government and are proud of their country. Even western polling admits this.

                • UFO@programming.dev
                  0·
                  1 year ago

                  Cool story. China is still authoritarian.

                  China is a one party system with a “president” for life. Fancy that up all you want: still authoritarian with a dictator.

                  • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmygrad.ml
                    01·
                    1 year ago

                    You used so many words to tell us that you don’t know anything about Chinese political system and expose yourself as being confidently wrong. Maybe spend some time educating yourself instead of flaunting your ignorance in public.

      • OurToothbrush@lemmy.mlM
        03·
        1 year ago

        How many seats are in the highest legislative body?

        What rights and responsibilities do autonomous regions within China have?

        What is the most distributed government legislative committee type and what is their role in the government?

        • yeather@lemmy.ca
          0·
          1 year ago

          1, Xi Xinping and whatever he says, doesn’t matter how many show ponys you fill the room with.

          1. In the end they all answer to the whims of the central government, which can change or remove and rights and responsibilities autonomous regions within China have.

          2. See answer one.

          • OurToothbrush@lemmy.mlM
            03·
            1 year ago

            So what I’m hearing is it doesn’t matter if you’re ignorant about the way China works because the US media told you Xi is an evil dictator who controls everything and you believed them. Got it.

    • A1kmm@lemmy.amxl.comEnglish
      0·
      1 year ago

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

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