Desperate West Bashing Russia & China “Left and Right”….literally
Andre Vltchek
The insanity and vileness of Western anti-Chinese propaganda used to make some of my Chinese friends cry late at night. But things are changing. The lunacy of what is said and written about China (and Russia, of course), in the US and Europe, is now clearly reflecting frustration and the bad manners of sore losers. One could almost be inclined to pity the Western empire, if only it wasn’t so violently murderous.
The Empire’s propagandists are pitying nobody – they are now shooting like maniacs, but without any coherent plan.
Various Western ‘experts’ and journalists cannot really agree on the basics: ‘what is really wrong with China’. But they are paid extremely well to find new and newer skeletons in the huge Chinese closets, and so they are constantly competing with each other, looking for the juiciest and the most scandalous stories. Often it appears that it pays to assume that absolutely everything is flawed with the most populous, and on top of it, Communist (with the ‘Chinese characteristics, of course) country on earth!
China will end extreme poverty by 2020, but do not look for cheers and applause from Berlin, Paris, London and Washington. China is far ahead of all the large countries on earth in building a so-called ‘ecological civilization’, but who is willing to notice? China is constructing public parks, boardwalks and playgrounds, the biggest on earth, but who cares? The Chinese government is introducing sweeping educational reforms, while flooding the entire nation with concert halls, museums and theatres. But that’s not worth mentioning, obviously!
Western propaganda tries to discredit China literally from both ‘left and right’, sometimes accusing it for being too Communist, but when it is suitable, even for ‘not being Communist enough’.
The New York Times ran a cover-page story on October 5, 2018, “Unlikely foe for China’s leaders: Marxists”. For this highly sarcastic piece, a reporter visited the Chinese city of Huizhou, from where he wrote about a group of over-zealous young Marxists who are demanding things to be as they were in Mao’s days:
But the Huizhou activists represent a threat the authorities did not expect.”
Seriously? A threat? China is moving towards Communism, again, under the current leadership. We are talking about democratic, socially-oriented Communism. But let us not argue with the official U.S. newspaper. It is definitely not a pro-Communist publication, but they had to show some sympathy (by running a cover story!) to a small bunch of over-zealous ‘opposition’ Marxists, just to spread doubts among the readers, suggesting that the Chinese government is not that Red, anymore.
The next day (Saturday-Sunday edition, October 6-7, 2018), the same New York Times published two cover stories on China. One was along its usual anti- Chinese and anti-Russian conspiracy lines “Will China hack U.S. mid-terms?”, but the other basically contradicted the story from the previous day, accusing Beijing this time of cutting the wings of private companies: “Beijing is pushing back into business”, with a sub-title:
Government flexes muscle as private companies that built economy lose ground.”
‘Wherever it can hurt China, just write it’, could be the credo of thousands of European and North American journos: ‘as long as the news about or from China is bad, really dark and negative, anything goes!’
Too much Communism, or too little… As far as the West is concerned – China can never get it right! Because… simply because it is China, because it is Asia, and because it waves the red flags.
And so, The New York Times ran two totally contradictory stories. An editorial blunder, or a pre-meditated attempt to inflict maximum damage, by kicking ‘left and right’?
*
It is, of course, fun, to follow this propaganda trend, ‘from a safe distance’ (meaning: ‘not believing a word of what it says’). But what is happening is not a joke; what is being done can actually be deadly. It can trigger, unexpectedly, a chain of events that could truly hurt China.
‘An explosion’ could originate in Taiwan, in Southeast Asia, or from the PRC territory itself.
Look at Brazil, look at Venezuela! Look at all those Color Revolutions, Umbrella Revolutions, ‘Springs’ from Europe to Arab countries. And look at China itself: who triggered; who sponsored the so-called Tiananmen Square events? There is clearly enough evidence, by now, that it was not some spontaneous student rebellion.
The West has convinced several countries such as the Philippines, that they should confront China, through various territorial claims in which, honestly, almost no serious Filipino historian or political scientist is ready to believe (unless he or she paid royally from abroad). I talked directly to several top historians and political scientists in Manila, and I got a clear picture of whom and what is behind those territorial claims. I wrote about it in the past, and soon will again.
China is too big to tolerate dangerous subversions from abroad. Its leadership knows well: when the country is in disarray, hundreds of millions of human beings suffer. To preserve the nation’s territorial integrity is essential.
*
So, what is China really; in a summary?
It is a Communist (or you may call it a socialist) country with thousands of years of a great and comparatively egalitarian history. It has a mixed economy but with central planning (government tells the companies what to do, not vice-versa). It is clearly the most successful nation on earth when it comes to working on behalf of, and for the benefit of its citizens. It is also the most peaceful large nation on earth. And here are two more essential points: China is at the forefront of saving the world from the looming ecological disaster. And it has no colonies, or ‘neo’-colonies, being essentially an ‘internationalist’ state.
Its political system, economy, culture: all are diametrically different from those in the West.
China has millions of things to say about how this planet should be governed, how it should be marching forward, and what is true democracy (rule of the people).
Now honestly: does Western mainstream, which manufactures ‘public opinion’ all over the world, allows many Chinese (PRC) patriots, Communists, thinkers, to appear on television screens, or to write op-eds?
We know the answer. Almost exclusively, it is the Westerners who are, (by the Western rulers), entrusted with the tremendous task of ‘defining what China is or isn’t’. And what the entire world is or isn’t.
If China says that it is ‘socialist with Chinese characteristics’, they say ‘No!’ with their perfect Oxford accents. And their arrogance from telling the greatest civilization on earth what it actually is or isn’t, gets accepted because of the fact that most of them are white, and they speak perfect English (paradoxically, still a seal of trustworthiness, at least in certain circles).
The West never hears what the Chinese or Russians think about the world. While the Chinese and Russians are literally bombarded by what the West thinks about them.
Even Chinese people used to listen to such ‘false prophets’ from the ‘civilized West’. Now they know better. Same as the Russians know better. Same as many in Latin America know better.
The spread of Western propaganda and dogmas used to appear as a battle, an ideological combat, for Chinese and Russian brains (if not for hearts). Or at least it appeared as such, to many naïve, trusting people.
Now it is all much simpler and ‘in the open’: the battle continues, but the frontlines and goals have shifted. How?
What is taking place these days, is simply an enormous clash between Western imperialism plus its propaganda, versus the determination of the Chinese and Russian people to live their own lives the way they choose. Or to put it into even simpler terms: the battle is raging between Western imperialism on one side, and democracy with ‘Chinese and Russian characteristics’ on the other.
West is bashing China and Russia ‘left and right’, literally. But it is definitely not winning!
First published by NEO – New Eastern Outlook
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More China-praising from Andre Vltchek via Anti_Republocrat on today’s SyrPer:
Chinese building eco-friendly high speed rail through Laos, paying Laotians what they pay Chinese, while Western enterprises pay Laotians less than 1/20 what they pay Westerners. From Andre Vltchek:
https://ahtribune.com/world/asia-pacific/2580-destroying-and-spreading-nihilism.html
Hope Chinese do the same for Syria.
+18
“The Empire’s propagandists are pitying nobody – they are now shooting like maniacs, but without any coherent plan.”
Not so. Their very coherent plan is to start a major war with China and Russia – in which order as opportunity permits – to try to take them down before they get to be more of a challenge to Western supremacy than they already are. What you call their “shooting” is known as “sabre rattling” and is aimed primarily at their domestic populations. Remember Iraq’s “weapons of mass destruction”? Non-existent but a good enough sabre rattle to get enough their populations and politicians ready to “kick Iraq’s ass and take its gas”, as some bumper stickers said back then.
One of the routine “Two Minutes Hate” pieces in the paper recently concerned the use of video cameras to monitor public spaces as a sign of a repressive society. It was nicely written, almost convincing, but if you happen to be English then you’ve been living with CCTV for decades now — you can’t walk down the street in a town or city without being logged, you can’t drive anywhere without you car’s number plate being recorded in the police’s central database and so on. But since we’re the good guys this is perfectly acceptable, definitely not a sign of oppression or a totalitarian society,
Quite apart from working with people who have relatives in China or travel there on business there’s also blogs like “ADVChina” which do a good job of showing both the good and the bad in China. Its a society that’s developing rapidly so you’ve got a weird mixture of the ultra modern and the ancient, of conservative and progressive thought. I expect it will work out in the end but I don’t expect the Chinese to ever embrace what we call Western Democracy — they’ve had a dose of that starting with the Opium Wars and its left a bit of a historical bad taste in the mouth. Expect them to be friendly, formidable competitors but under no circumstances will they let themselves be dominated by an Imperialist power again.
Good post. It is essential to the American Creed that there remain an unparalleled connection between the US and modernity. The idea that ‘the world’s last, best hope’, its divinely-ordained ‘City on a Hill’ may now be being surpassed by commie inferiors – people lacking our superior values and moral qualities – is too painful to be allowed to enter into public consciousness. Hence the wild demonization of China from any and all angles.
But a greater concern, with the so-called pivot to Asia is that rather than peacefully surrender hegemonic status, DC psychos will resort to the Samson strategy, reducing the entire earth to a nuclear desert…. the blackened skulls of Bolton and McCain retrieved from the ash ten centuries later bearing tight grins.
Zach, now even Putin is threatening the Samson Option. The sooner the world gets rid of nuclear weapons the better. Otherwise every tinpot nation will be threatening the world with its own Samson Option. As Bertrand Russel wrote years ago, not even the U$A, not even China (and I dare say not even I$rael) is big enough to rule the world. Hence the importance of Putin’s Multipolar Concept.
The ‘West’ are denigrating Russia for its so called malign polices in the Ukraine and Syria, in the case of the Ukraine the West instigated a coup there starting with a 5 billion dollar campaign for regime change, culminating with Nuland and McCain handing cookies out to their right wing supporters and the replacement of the elected President Yanukovych with Poroshenko in a clear breach of the constitution, detailed here by Dr David Morrison http://www.david-morrison.org.uk/ukraine/why-ukrainian-regime-illegitimate.htm Of course Russia [unlike the US] have been invited into Syria legitimately and all within International Law. As for interfering in US elections, that is the most ridiculous accusation ever made, clearly made by the Clinton supporters to mask the Democratic party involvement in the corruption which favoured Clinton over Sanders and other distasteful activities. The US of course would never involve themselves in other peoples election processes./s
May be the old adage of Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely is beginning to come into play. The sin of hubris!.
In the end all empires are doomed to fail in attempt to control all power. As bacteria in a petri dish must at some point collapse back in on themselves. Perhaps this too transgresses the laws of physics.
May be one day we will again learn that peaceful cooperative friendship and sustainability are the true way. Over the last few weeks there has seemed some sort of pivotal shift of consciousness among a lot more people. The establishment are desperately trying to recapture their minds again. But the self obsessive drivel they have been using as brain numbing entertainment and mind warp is also losing its savour. A mid summer nights dream awakening. The Ass we were all meant to have been spellbound into falling in love with was nothing more then our own gullibility and monstrously over inflated egos. Narcissus fixation in the reality TV pool .
The relentless carrion cry’s of conflict against any one or thing that does not parrot the Western power base. Has become rabid and illogical. The continual demonizing of some who are relatively benign. While rabidly supporting regimes and behavior from others.No sane human could in true conscience understand. This blatant schizophrenia has emboldened more to question the narrative. This and the ability for people to at least for now! side step the constant trickle of propaganda MSM. Is I believe leading to more and more people awakening from the spell they have been under. We live in hope.
“China has millions of things to say about how this planet should be governed, how it should be marching forward, and what is true democracy (rule of the people).”
China, in the shape of the CCP, has absolutely nothing to say on the subject of democracy. This article is blind enough to China’s faults to count as propaganda. I write from Taiwan, where there is a functioning democracy, and where there is freedom of speech, and where are there no political prisoners.
” I write from Taiwan, where there is a functioning democracy, and where there is freedom of speech, and where are there no political prisoners.”
Did they shoot them all?
Taiwan-the KMT Republic in exile- has a ‘democracy’ founded on decades hunting and persecuting socialists and non-fascist nationalists.
China’s system is vastly superior to the phony ‘democracy’ you get under Free Market capitalism and ‘Western Moral Values’. Naturally Western supremacist and Orientalist racists refuse to acknowledge that.
@yarkob
Wired?! since when was Wired a reputable source for anything? You may as well stick a wikipedia link in there
Is zerohedge an acceptable source?
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09-19/digital-dictatorship-china-exerts-control-over-population-through-social-credit
[also in Independent or New Statesman, Foreign Policy Journal…]
@Stonky, Godfrey Roberts, Grandstand
I don’t (and didn’t) dispute that Western propaganda efforts have sought to paint a distorted picure of China. The centralised government led economy there clearly is better able to be steered toward some kind of renewable energy mix. The fact remains that China is a huge consumer of coal, and even if the projections toward 2040 were realistic then there would still be huge coal consumption 20+ years from now – something that environmental scientists say absolutely cannot happen. [My reading of the peak resources literature tells me that the energy projections of the ‘New Policy’ are wholly unrealistic].
The problem is consumer driven industrial society rather than the Communist-Capitalist hybrid that has developed in China.
Migrant workers slaving away in factories for low wages everywhere have a difficult life (not just in China). It is a system problem of industrial society (like the burning of fossil fuels).
https://waronwant.org/sweatshops-china
Your replies show the same kind of binary thinking that I criticise liberals for on other subjects. China is better than the Western model in some respects, granted, and clearly material living conditions are easier for many many people there than 20 years ago. My point was that it is not any kind of model of a sustainable, free society, and to say that ‘my enemy’s enemy is my friend’ is something with a bad track record.
Pretty much the same goes for Russia.
I rail against the warmongering Russophobia, but in truth, Russia is a country of haves and have nots. It makes money out of selling weapons systems around the world (including Saudi Arabia we must note), that and selling gas, coal and oil.
National loyalties are no response when faced with existential threats to all humanity.
no, zero hedge is a blog that I happen to like, but I wouldnt say it’s a reliable source.
So do you dispute the accounts of the social credit system in China?
Do you like the idea maybe?
Do you have an opinion at all about it, or just on which sites are legit and which not?
i can believe that such a system is being proposed but i’m not sure we’re getting a reliable full account of the details. it might not be so bad.
Yes-China is rewarding people for good social behaviour, and punishing those who rip off others and harm society. The opposite of the ‘Free World’. How awful.
What you clearly don’t understand (and yet, 1.4 billion Chinese do) is that “good social behaviour” equates to “makes the CCP happy (and thus granting them more control)”. This often does not align with the desires of the people/country.
Posting positive posts on social media about the party is good. Posting negative comments, talking about democracy, criticising a policy, etc are bad, and “disrupt social harmony”.
Watch over the next 10-15 years as the west watches Sesame Credit, and tries to implement it!
We’ve grown up in the West giving hard word utmost respect. We’re also proud of our technical advancements.
The West started to chide the Chinese for doing exactly what we have always cherished: The Chinese proved they work the hardest to improve their lot, they proved they technologically capable. Top it up with deep respect and good will to foreigners, all while shady agencies from the West working secretly to undermine all Chinese achievements.
It is one thing to decry the internal social and political structures and practices of sovereign states it is quite another to launch wars against them. The current liberal-imperalist ideology and propaganda drive aims at softening up western public opinion with a view to launch an invasion, colour revolution, or nuclear first strike against them. Bear in mind howerver that If these democrats don’t like China, they don’t have to live there. End of. But no ‘we’ the good guys, have got to reconfigure the world in our own image, this being our manifest destiny. ‘But of course there is not consistency here. Good regimes, like Israel, Saudi Arabia are not included in the ‘bad’ countries list for raison d’etat. Without question the US-NATO bloc is the most dangerous force in the world, this fact has been confirmed in poll after poll of global public opinion. The good guys are the most murderous barbarians since Atilla the Hun surged in from the east laying waste to christian civilization. Just check out the history.
I’ve lived in China for about 10 years now, and the above article is utter crap! Yes, I know China is getting demonised, and some of it is unfair… unfortunately, some of it is well-deserved!
It is not even remotely communist or socialist – especially in more recent years. It is, in fact, the most capitalistic country on the planet… money speaks louder here than anywhere else… and that obviously means corruption. The “socialist” aspects you may have heard of is actually the top echelon’s piece of the pie. (look at who controls those SOE’s – and then look at their finances).
The social credit scheme is about the most invasive, privacy-breaching thing you (or Orwell) could think of. Your social credit will be *directly* linked to your online purchases (and, no doubt in the not too distant future, your offline purchases as well!). And, this purchasing history is going to *directly* affect whether you do get that house loan… or even if you’re to have a passport and leave the country! You buy a Japanese made car – your credit goes down… Buy Chinese made, and it can go up. All at the whim of the top dogs. (and, yes, there is still hatred by many for Japan – and, not to forget, us “westerners” for the “century of humiliation”). Every. Single. Day. there are movies about the war and invasion by Japan.. this is a sickness perpetuated by the government.
Re: Imperialism. Yep, it’s happening! The South China Seas issue – you need to remember that China signed an agreement to not do any developments to any disputed territories.. and broke it! It promised it would not militarize the islands it did build up… and broke that too! It says it’s merely ensuring freedom of navigation… but it’s not
It is preparing to take back Taiwan by force (give it another 5 years and listen to the rhetoric then….!)
It continues to trade with North Korea – against the embargo that the UN proposed.
The minority peoples are more and more minority, as the Han people try to ethnically cleanse the country. Tibet?? Yeah, go there, and take a look at the military embedded there to quell any dissent! (oh, that’s right… you can’t! Unless it’s with an authorised ‘tour group’ – that is, you go only where your spy/handler takes you).
Go to Xinjiang, where the ethnic Uighers and Kazakhs (Muslims) are some of the most repressed in the world… they are effectively banned from practicing their religion, can’t grow beards, have had their passports confiscated, and for the past decade or so, have had Han Chinese public servants forced into their homes to monitor their activities! And, that’s not even talking about those who have been taken away to the modern equivalent of concentration camps.
And, take a look at the actual deals that China is making with the various countries where its Belt and Road is going through… look at what happens when the country defaults on the loans… ports are taken over, 99-year leases are imposed. And, that’s all while Chinese companies only allow Chinese workers to work in their companies in Africa (ie, no jobs for the locals).
Censorship… holy crap! It’s getting worse and worse by the day! And the propaganda that’s forced upon everyone day in, day out… Human Right’s lawyers disappear with great regularity. You mentioned Tiananmen Square – do you know that the current generation hasn’t even heard about the events of those weeks, because there’s a complete ban on the subject? Even subtle hints referring to the event get quickly removed from social media. Same with other events (look up Karamay… and how the parents of those kids aren’t allowed to mourn or grieve publicly). I just tried to access the BBC website – blocked! Google – blocked. NYT – blocked. Washington Post – blocked. ABC in Australia – blocked (I’m not saying they’re particularly fantastic, but still – the censorship is overboard!). Post a negative article about China, get yourself blocked!
The author above talked about ‘democracy’ … that’s hilarious! People don’t vote here! 99% of the population have *zero* say in th4e direction the country goes! And the 1% that do are corrupt as hell! For that matter, any actual discussion of the idea of democracy leads to you getting disappeared.. or, if you’re lucky, house arrest after days of interrogation, and threats of what’s doing to happen to your family.
Yeah – the country is making great advances in some areas – and there’s a growing middle class that’s getting richer and richer. And that’s going to change this country more than any revolution…
But, for now, It’s the CCP that’s in control, and they want more more more…
Just as a matter of interest, Frank, why on earth have you spent ten years in a country you obviously despise?
Did someone staple your knees to a chair in 2008? Or are you one of these expats filling their boots in China while they rubbish the place form dawn till dusk?
You remind me of a guy who once invited himself into my house. He spent the afternoon smearing dogshit on the walls, and then when I complained he told me to shut up. Anyway, I’ve no doubt you make it abundantly clear to all your Chinese friends and colleagues how much you hate their country.
False equivalence, Stonky… the government and the country (and, for that matter, the people, the culture, the society, etc) are not the same thing!
I hate the government (the party) and how it operates. And all I wrote above is about that…
The examples of censorship and repression in your original comment look rather too much like the kinds of general things we’ve already seen in or heard from Western MSM about China. These examples have been raked over so much by Western MSM that they have become stereotypes. After ten years of living in China – you don’t say exactly where – you don’t refer to any particular grievance/s that people have against Beijing in the area or areas where you have been resident. Therefore we have reason to suspect you’re not being entirely honest with us.
Ah yes that old saw.
So where does my wife figure in your scheme of things? And her family and their friends? None of them join you in ‘hating the government’. They support the CPC and think it’s doing a good job in dragging China back to its feet. Presumably you hate them too, along with the majority of Chinese who feel the same way they do.
Unlike you, they actually know what it’s like to experience hardship and want. And they’ve seen the improvements in every aspect of their lives over the past forty years.
Neither my wife at one end of the scale nor Xi Jinping at the other need some self-appointed grandee to come swanking half way round the world and start lecturing them on their folly, and explaining to them how they should be running things.
You might have a point if you could actually show them some third-world country that emerged from World War II on its knees, dirt poor after decades of conflict and foreign occupation, oppression and exploitation, and is now prosperous and successful.
Feel free, Frank. Point me to the country that has done a better job of putting food on the table, clothes on the backs, and roofs over heads, and giving children a proper education and prospects of a better future.
Tiananmen Square is mentioned in China much more often than Kent State is in the US. You need to move back to the US. You can make a fortune talking to neocon think tanks about how horrible China is. You will be on late night Fox News, CNN, CBSNBCABC. Don’t worry , none of what you say has to be true and I am confident it won’t be.
” none of what you say has to be true and I am confident it won’t be.”
So, you don’t actually know, but thought you’d put in your 2 cents worth, huh????
Btw, I’ve never been to the US – and have no intention of doing so.
If you think you can back up your assertion regarding Tiananmen and Kent State – go for it! (I am, naturally, not counting Hong Kong as China). No, seriously… try doing an internet search for those terms – and see how many hits you get for Chinese academic papers on the topic of Tiananmen.
The human rights abuses haven’t disappeared.. it’s just that the west wants the money more. Just like the oil in Saudi.
Please, feel free to fact check anything I wrote and prove me wrong!
“I am, naturally, not counting Hong Kong as China…”
80% of Hong Kong is on the Chinese mainland. It is “Hong Kong” as a result of arbitrary lines drawn on a map by an invading colonialist power. Hong Kong island itself only became “British” as a result of a war fought on a pretext that would have had even Tony Blair and Geroge Bush swallowing uneasily.
But hey. Here comes Frank, all the way from the other side of the world, to wave his hand and grandly inform the Chinese that Hong Kong, is naturally, not part of China…
You really do come across as an odious, condescending, colonialist prick.
Can’t we have a discussion/debate/argument without insults? I actually agree with your points, Stonky, but your last sentence isn’t necessary and even detracts from them.
Rule #1: count to 10 before pressing the ‘Post Comment’ button.
To you and those who followed on…
I discounted HK because those born and bred in HK often do the same.
While in principle, HK is part of China, you need to remember that it still has it’s own currency (the RMB has not replaced the HKD yet), has it’s own visa laws, and it’s own statutes.
Also, as against the mainland, it is still a democratic region (although, that’s being eroded by BJ), whereas the rest of the country is not (in that all adult citizens are nominally eligible to vote).
It has vastly different business laws. It’s taxation system is separate (but coming together).
It’s culture and demographics are unique in China.
And, of course, its access to media (good and bad) is vastly more open than on the mainland.
So, other than some mis-guided attempt to paint China as the good guy (while the evil Brits will always be the bad guys), why is it that what I wrote is so offensive, and out of place?
(and, btw, please – which parts of the world aren’t “a result of arbitrary lines drawn on a map by an invading colonialist power.” Yes, I do know that many of the lines are there because of geography, and now culture, language, etc…. but such things have been happening for millenia! China is what it currently is because of exactly the same reason!)
Not counting Hong Kong as China? Just because the British invaded Hong Kong in the past doesn’t mean it’s in any way not China.
As someone who visits China and Hong Kong regularly for business I would say HK is different in culture to mainland China. When we go back over the border to HK we breathe a great sigh of relief,- not because we don’t like China, quite the opposite, but because HK is, well, our own western culture; lyfestyle, food, shops and people.
I up voted you by accident while trying to press the reply, so don’t get excited. Do you see any irony in your comments about the1%?
Oh, the penny has just dropped. Lee, like my name, is an old Anglo-Saxon name ‘leah’ which meant dweller in the clearing. Many chinese including the inhabitants of Hong Kong and Kowloon as well in all probability Taiwan changed the Chinese name ‘Li’ to the more anglicised Lee. The latter version it was thought would add more status to them and be approved of the British and American imperial overlords.
There was NO massacre in Tian An Men Square, as the prototype ‘Colour Revolution’ culminated, as they all do, in violence by the hardcore putschists.
edited by Admin for empty abuse
FrankleeWrong,
Yet there you are happily living 10 years – in that hellhole, unable to think freely!
You utter – hero, you.
FL Wright, it’s strange but I approve of most of the things you deplore about China; especially your Social Credit going down if you buy a Jap car, because I still suffer twinges from when Maggie (“Theres no such thing as Social Credit”) Snatcher abandoned our motor industry to the Japs.
One Japanese Car that will definitely lose you Social Credit in China: Toyota Technicals for NATZO Terrorists. Tried and tested in Syria, ready for use in China’s Islamic provinces. Large fleets of “lost and recovered” Toyota Technicals available brand new from Australia. Easy terms from AZC Finance.
Frank wrote:
“Go to Xinjiang, where the ethnic Uighers and Kazakhs (Muslims) are some of the most repressed in the world… they are effectively banned from practicing their religion, can’t grow beards, have had their passports confiscated, and for the past decade or so, have had Han Chinese public servants forced into their homes to monitor their activities! And, that’s not even talking about those who have been taken away to the modern equivalent of concentration camps.”
Looks like a copy and paste of the rubbish we read in western media, not the words of someone who has actually been there. ‘Concentration camps’? What a load of crap.
Yes, this is the new WMD type smear being peddled in the western MSM – that “a million Uighurs” have been “sent to concentration camps.” Expect to hear a lot more in this vein from our media hacks. Not so coincidentally, Xinjiang is a key area in the Belt and Road Initiative. The CIA has been trying to destabilise China (and Russia) for years, supporting radical Islamist groups, and Soros/ NED funded Colour Revolutions and Umbrella Revolutions.
China has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of dire poverty and created the most dynamic country on earth. It is the world’s leading manufacturing and trading nation. In its trade with Africa and the Third World (for its own benefit) it has built the infrastructure that colonial powers neglected in 100 years of imperialism in just a few short years. It does so without interfering in the domestic affairs of other nations or trying to impose its way of life on others.
It is quite legitimate to point out that this comes at a price, in terms of growing inequality, corruption and authoritarian rule. Like any country, China has its problems. But one might also legitimately ask what right the US has to criticise China on human rights grounds, a country with the largest prison population on earth, 2.3 million, with a global gulag of Abu Ghraibs/ Guantanamos/ Bagrams, whose president is an open and enthusiastic advocate of torture. A country which is untroubled by human rights issues in Palestine or Saudi Arabia, and which itself breaks all records when it comes to corruption and inequality.
Another contrived and manufactured issue is the disputed islands in the South China Sea. After the war, when China was ruled by Chiang Kai Chek, America accepted that these islands belonged to China. Then Mao Tse Tung and the Communists took over, and the Chinese claim to these islands suddenly became illegitimate. Like many other territorial disputes like Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands, the Kurile Islands, and China’s borders with India, these are complex issues which go way back into history. They can be resolved with a basic amount of goodwill – except when trouble is deliberately stirred up by the Neocons for their own purposes.
I completely agree with this assessment. This article won’t fool anyone personally familiar with life in China today.
FLW should supply some more personal details about his residence in China so that kingfelix & co can report him to the Chinese authorities. Down with other viewpoint comrades, time for self-critic!
Don’t be quite so wet.
Racist, Orientalist, Zionazi hate. How they fear China, a great civilization that they will NEVER control, unlike the stooge regimes of the West.
Reality bites the Balts; an edited clip from Ruslan Oshtenko in today’s Saker:
When the Baltic countries struggled for European integration with all their might, without even needing the inducement of Nudelman cookies and promises of lace panties for men to try on, they assumed by default that the European Union was the earthly paradise.
So why are Latvians buying rye from Russia?
Sputnik news: “Latvia bought almost the entire export volume of Russian rye in the 2018-2019 agricultural year, which began in July. Of the 110.9 thousand tons, 88.99 thousand tons were supplied to the Baltic republic, the Rosselkhoznadzor reports.”
Why did those ultra-patriotic Latvians, eternally and loudly offended by those damned communist Russian oppressors, not buy rye from the EU? After all, they are sitting in the EU, there are no internal customs barriers, the agrarian sector of the European Union blooms and smells good. The answer is obvious – Russian rye is cheaper.
[And Russian grain is non-GMO as well. Latvian patriots are ready to blow up the world by starting WW3 to save it from Russia. But when it comes to filling the belly for less, Reality Bites. — note by vexarb]
China is moving towards Communism, again, under the current leadership. We are talking about democratic, socially-oriented Communism
Democratic under Xi? In that case Stalin was a democrat too.
Communism? Some super rich Chinese are getting away with billions. Is Germany today communist too?
See my post on the Pew survey. China has a different way of gauging the opinions of people and it seems to be more effective that UK or US democracy currently.
Look East ! Witness the rising sun of wisdom – and then look west and watch the sky dim.
The West is losing ground and desperate, that I would agree with.
However, China is not any ideal society. Migrant workers don’t have a great life there.
The state authorities and private business have joined forces to create a huge deeply dystpopian system of social control:
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/chinese-government-social-credit-score-privacy-invasion
Corruption is rife.
The notion of an eco-society emerging in China stands at odds with the projections of increases in the already vast quantities of coal used to make all the stuff we buy from them.
The culture is declining into the superficial consumerism that has destroyed the West.
…
China has millions of things to say about how this planet should be governed, how it should be marching forward, and what is true democracy (rule of the people).
Personally don’t fancy ‘marching’ anywhere, and – my disdain for Western journalists aside, want to be able to read critiques of countries anywhere by people everywhere.
This is appalling writing in my opinion.
Pew on satisfaction with a country’s direction makes interesting reading though now a few years out of date (I wonder why it stopped):
http://www.pewglobal.org/database/indicator/3/survey/all/
Note that it is a survey undertaken by a US organisation (Pew) with no interest in painting a positive picture of China. Check out the UK, US, Australia, oh, and Russia.
As to coal use:
https://www.chinadialogue.net/blog/10424-China-s-coal-consumption-grows-slightly/en
And the use of renewables in China is growing very significantly faster than coal.
https://www.iea.org/weo/china/
Per capita:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/604946/per-capita-coal-consumption-in-selected-countries/
China’s per capita use of coal is relatively high, but not as high as Australia, where I live. And Korea appears to use more coal per capita to “make the stuff we buy from them”.
When the Russia / China pipe line is completed around 2019 Gazprom estimate 1.3 Trillion cubic feet of natural gas per year will be delivered to China, thus consumption of coal will may be reduced.
“On Wednesday, Gazprom said that the Power of Siberia pipeline had reached a 75.5 percent completion rate, which it called the most ambitions gas project in the global gas industry. Gas shipments from the project to CNPC are scheduled to start on December 20, 2019.
The disclosure also comes as China’s natural gas demand is increasing amid a government mandate requiring at least 10 percent of the country’s energy mix used for power generation to be derived from gas. Further mandates are set for the year 2030 and beyond. China has been trying to offset stagnant air pollution in its major urban centers by replacing coal needed for power generation with gas as well as for industrial and manufacturing end-users”.https://www.rt.com/business/422212-russia-china-gas-demand/
‘Migrant workers don’t have a great life there’? They’re no worse than the lives of migrant workers in California’s Central Valley, their wages have doubled every ten years for the past 40 years and they all own their homes in their native provinces.
‘The state authorities and private business have joined forces to create a huge deeply dystpopian system of social control’? The Social Credit program is far from dystopian–though it is very Chinese. It’s just a bunch of experiments now but, by the time it’s legislated in 2020, it will have at least 90% popular support–the threshold for introducing legislation in their Congress (except for the Three Gorges Dam, which garnered 76% of the vote, oddly).
‘Corruption is rife’? Go to China. Anywhere in China. See if you can find signs of corruption. I cannot nor can any of my Chinese friends. We know it happens but, unlike the US, it doesn’t impact policy-making or implementation.
‘The notion of an eco-society emerging in China stands at odds with the projections of increases in the already vast quantities of coal used to make all the stuff we buy from them’? China’s emissions of sulfur dioxide and NOx peaked in 2006 and 2011 respectively and some water pollutants–like ammonia and nitrogen have been declining since 2000 and most of China’s ecosystem services improved[1] significantly between 2000-2010. Food production had the largest increase (38.5%), followed by carbon sequestration (23.4%), soil retention (12.9%), flood mitigation (12.7%), sandstorm prevention (6.1%), and water retention (3.6%). Gretchen Daily, Stanford’s Professor of Environmental Science says, “China has gone further than any other country–as strange as that sounds given all the devastation that we read about on the environment front there. In the face of deepening environmental crisis, China has eagerly incorporated science into its environmental program and funded far-reaching efforts that could serve as models for other countries. It has become very ambitious and innovative in its new conservation science and policies and has implemented them on a breathtaking scale”.
‘The culture is declining into the superficial consumerism that has destroyed the West.’? Far from it. They’re having fun with consumerism just as we did when we started but they know it’s just a phase that is scheduled to end in 2020, the end of the Reform and Opening mandate. Traditional Chinese values are part of the Social Credit program, incidentally, and the program is far more carrot (low-interest, no-deposit car loans; visa-free entry to Japan) than stick (no first class on international flights).

[1] Sugden, A. M. China’s National Ecosystem Assessment. 2016. Science. Ecosystems services are the direct and indirect contributions of ecosystems to human well-being. They support directly or indirectly the survival and quality of human life. To improve ecosystems service, green politics must address issues such as: Climate regulation, water purification, pests and diseases, soil biodiversity, and associated cultural serviceS.
Agree GR. What kind of migrant workers are you thinking of, mog? In China, “migrant worker” can mean a Chinese person who has migrated from a rural area to a large city, not necessarily someone from another country. The former need permission to move from one part of the country to another and there have, indeed, been mental health issues arising from such internal migrations from a rural life to one in the factories of the major cities.
Foreign migrant (and even Chinese) workers wouldn’t move if there was better payed work for them at home. Many domestic jobs in wealthier households in China are taken by Filipinos. Have you been to Manila, mog? The Philippines survives on exporting its labour overseas and, while China is not high on the list of destinations, I suspect that is largely to do with the language barrier, more so than any ill treatment they might receive. And the numbers are growing.
https://gulfnews.com/news/asia/philippines/china-to-hire-300-000-filipinos-including-100-000-english-teachers-1.2203123
High tech foreign migrants from India and Europe are doing very well indeed in Shenzhen.
But western investment firms are piling pension and savings funds into China to take advantage of the burgeoning ‘middle class’.
For example this blurb from one company (Fidelity)
“The manager believes there are notable investment opportunities in the Chinese stockmarkets. The government is focused on bringing about a structural shift away from a reliance on investment towards consumption. Simultaneously, the natural development of the middle class and notable internet penetration supports the rise in penetration rates across a range of categories along with increasing premiumisation. There is also great variation in trends between different parts of the economy. The Trust remains focused on private companies in ‘new economy’ areas, but continues to look for opportunities in state owned enterprises (SOEs) as well.”
As it is chinese tourists are daily arriving in jet loads across all destinations – they were the highest spenders in London last year too!
Another 50+ years they too will be surpassed by the African middleclasses doing the same!
Britain is meanwhile evolving into the biggest historical and entertainment ‘new disney land’ as our grandkids will learn Chinese (as they don’t need to learn English), to be effective tour guides, hotelliers and retailers of gifts!
“our grandkids will learn Chinese (as they don’t need to learn English)”
Ouch!
“The notion of an eco-society emerging in China stands at odds with the projections of increases in the already vast quantities of coal used to make all the stuff we buy from them…”
This is one small but pertinent example of exactly the kind of thinking the author is writing about. China is making a massive effort to clean up its act, and you know nothing about it because the people who run our society don’t want you to know.
Beijing has four main power stations. They used to burn raw coal, mostly freighted from coal fields in Inner Mongolia by diesel locomotive. Over the past 5 years they have all been switched to burning much cleaner coal gas, which is produced in situ at the coal fields, and transported to Beijing by pipeline. So there has been a massive reduction in the emissions from the power stations, and a massive reduction in the emissions caused by transporting the fuel. Have you ever heard any of that before? Has anybody ever explained it to you?
I’ll bet my last farthing you’ve heard that “China is opening a new coal-fired power station every week…” though. Here’s why: All across the north of China, winters are long and the temperature often drops to -30 or even -40. Central heating is not a “nice-to-have”; it’s an essential. It’s provided by hot water that is produced in communal stations and then pumped to apartment and housing complexes. The cities of north China used to be peppered with coal-burning stations providing this water. There must have been thousands of them. Many of them were small, ancient, outdated, inefficient, and filthy, often serving just a few acres of land around them.
I’ve known and visited the city of Jilin for more than ten years. When I first started visiting there were dozens of these stations all over the city. When the winter heating season was declared they started burning and pumping, and the city was immediately blanketed by filthy smoke. Now, they have all gone. I don’t think there is a single one left. Jilin has modernised and upgraded its old main station, and built at least two new ones. Every other city across northern China has been doing the same. These are the “new coal-fired power stations” you keep reading about in the western media. Are they perfect? No. But they are unarguably better and cleaner than what was there before. Nowadays it’s pleasure to be in Jilin in winter-time.
Have you ever heard any of that before? Has anybody ever explained it to you? No. You know nothing about it, because the people who run our society don’t want you to know. And the “journalists” they send to China to be their “China correspondents” are a bunch of smug, self-righteous, lying shits, all feeding off each other and vying with each other to be first with the next big “why China is no good” story..
I have seen similar use of waste heat and upgrading at a power station in Inner Mongolia. Incidentally, the UK makes very limited use of waste heat from power stations – though its use is expanding.
https://theconversation.com/time-to-tap-in-to-an-underused-energy-source-wasted-heat-38955
I know of no use of waste heat from power stations in Australia – which used to have the dirtiest power station (Hazelwood) in the world – but I may be wrong on that. Fortunately Hazelwood is now decommissioned, though other Latrobe Valley Power Stations are still there burning brown coal!
No-one is claiming that China has solved its energy and pollution problems, but it is making great strides in the right direction. Probably because it does not have a coal lobby:
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/comment-connections-between-australian-politics-and-coal-lobby-run-deep
Australian media have lots of “lying shits” though!
Many Japanese people are still unaware that the Fukushima (of nuclear fiasco fame) nuclear power plant dumped about 30% of its energy (“waste heat”) into the Pacific Ocean. That’s right: they just threw it away. That was when it was running properly.
Wired?! since when was Wired a reputable source for anything? You may as well stick a wikipedia link in there
The only thing ‘appalling’ is your Orientalist arrogance and ignorance.
Agree with most of what is written in the article but I just had to draw attention to the following sentence which whilst true in as far as it goes in my view ignores a possibly even more unpleasant truth: “And it has no colonies, or ‘neo’-colonies, being essentially an ‘internationalist’ state.” Whilst this may be literally true (because China utterly absorbs thise territories it has invaded and conquered and therefore considers them part of ‘China’ rather than being ‘colonies’), perhaps the native Tibetans who were invaded and have been suffering under Chinese rule would have a slightly different persepective on the lack of Chinese ‘colonies.’ Semantics aside, whether or not you call Tibet a ‘colony’ or call it (as the Chinese do) part of ‘China’ makes little difference to the native people. Also Taiwan for example which China insists is a republic of China. Apart from that one small quibble great article.
Tibet has been part of China or China has been part of Tibet for centuries and the Dalai Lama claims to head a government that includes three Chinese provinces in addition to Tibet proper. They are not and have never been separate. Because geography.
Far from suffering, they are more numerous, literate (in their own language), long-lived, healthy and prosperous than ever in their history. Don’t believe Western propaganda.
One must also take into account see eye ay interference in such instances.. yep.. they were there.. ‘meddling’.. Mr Lama’s bro’ was taking backhanders too apparently.. best to get all sides of a story.. ;>
Tibet has been part of China for about as long as Wales has been under the control of England.
GR – are you a wumao??
“They are not and have never been separate”
No. Just, no!
The Tibetan plateau has gone through a couple of thousand years of invasion and autonomy cycles – including being its own kingdom numerous times. To say Tibet has always been part of China is complete rubbish!
If you include being watched over by a constant military, not allowed to assemble in large groups, cameras everywhere, not allowing journalists free roam and access to locals, having spies everywhere, not allowed to voice your complaints about mistreatment by the military, and being forced to be ‘re-educated’ as “prosperous”, and having your ethnic history completely ignored – then yeah, life’s just peachy there!
One should also remember the not-so-holy buddhistas have been embroiled in their own numerous power struggles for a fair old while too.. ;>
And there are women in Tibet now.
Tibet has been part of China for most of its history. It became independent briefly in the early 20th century as China disintegrated under the rule of the warlords. There have been a lot of excesses under Communism, and we know all about them – but they applied equally to the rest of China. Tibet is a cause celebre for the pseudo Buddhist Hollywood liberals and the Neocons who want to destabilise China and see Tibet as another Ukraine that can be used as a springboard to attack China. The Dalai Lama has been on the CIA payroll for decades.
I went to the Bangalore Literary Festival this evening: there I noticed (again) something interesting. There were several books on Kashmir, written by “experts” on the state and its thirty blood-soaked years of rebellion. How many of those “experts” were Kashmiri?
That’s right. Zero. None.
Not a very different scenario, is it?
The Indian oppression and repression in Kashmir (aided by those masters of oppressing captive Moslem populations, Israel) is VASTLY worse than any so-called ‘oppression’ in Tibet.
Well, yes and no. The Kashmiris haven’t done themselves any favours over the years either by such acts as the expulsion of the Pandits and the kidnapping and murder of Muslim Kashmiri soldiers and policemen. As for India, and I’m Indian, it has always treated Kashmir as a colony that has to be kept subjugated by force. There’s the little problem also that Pakistan has betrayed the Kashmiris because in its estimation it’s better for India to endlessly bleed in Kashmir (and Kashmiris to bleed) than for India to lose the state once and for all.
The foremost nation pushing Western imperialism is the US with a secondary UK following behind. Have you looked at the US lately. It is the most dysfunctional, violent and dystopian society on the face of the planet. Why anyone would believe or want to live in such a nation is totally beyond me. Sure, it is rich and as such engenders jealousy in the hearts of poorer nations, but honestly, would you want to live where more than half the population lives from hand to mouth while the 1% are wealthier then the lower half all put together? Well would you? I fear to even step foot in that benighted country and am working diligently to get my family members out of it, before it is too late.
Here’s another positive note on China.
https://journal-neo.org/2018/10/26/laos-china-is-building-west-is-destroying-and-spreading-nihilism/
This is not propaganda – this is life in China, whatever your religious persuasion
http://www.chinaaid.org
…and this is not fantasy – China’s Surveillance State Should Scare Everyone
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/02/china-surveillance/552203/
There are no comparisons to be made between present day China – and Russia.
ChinaAid not propaganda? With partners like National Endowment for Democracy, Freedom House, Lantos Foundation (with concern about Khashoggi but not Yemen civilians, and the CIA’s ‘pastor’ in Turkey), and the board populated by individuals from the same outfits, I am pretty sure it is pro-US corporate policy through and through.
These sinophobes still don’t get it. What these people say about China, may or may not be true, the fact is, however, that in this Atlantic neck of the woods nobody gives a damn. What they do care about is normal trading relations – see US and Australian transnational corporations which are set up there – and normal diplomatic relations. Above all the Chinese authorities do not want the US navy staging provocation after provocation in the East and South China seas. And who can blame them? How would the US react to the Chinese navy swanning around of the coast of California or Chesapeake Bay. And most Chinese would be and are overwhelmingly in support of their government on this issue.
From the neo-conservative view China, like Russia, is authoritarian, which again, may or may not be true, but then comes the massive non sequitur, they must therefore be forced into a political shape which is acceptable to the Anglo-zionist empire, by force if necessary. A policy once described by Edward Kennedy’s view of the Wolfowitz doctrine as a ’21st century imperialism which no state could or should accept.’
There is something touchingly infantile and manichean about these bleatings; an inability to see how the world is run. The world has never been a particular pretty or peaceful place but has been characterised by the struggle of nations in pursuit of their own interests. I should say ruthlessly pursuing their own interests. The Treaty of Westphalia was designed to put an end to this. Under the Westphalian system, states existed within recognised borders, each state’ sovereignty was recognised by others. Principles of non-interference were agreed. Religious differences between states were tolerated. Permanent state interess of raison-d’etat was the organizing principle of international relations. War was not eliminated, yet it was mitigated by diplomacy and balance of power politiics. The object of the balance of power was to prevent one state becoming so powerful that it could conquer the others and destroy the world system.
Of course this is all hopelessly fuddy-duddy and passe according to the post-modern liberal imperlialism – a doctrine which in both practice and theory has brought about the present chaos in the world order. And our dear little liberals have almost certainly been egged on this process and financed by outside agencies, both state and non-state and done their little bit to promote conflict and war by their demonization of the current bogeymen.
The Atlantic!!?? Racist, Orientalist, fear-crazed garbage.
Maybe “China’s Surveillance State” has got a CCTV camera on every street corner. Maybe every telephone call, e mail, and internet search are monitored, recorded, and stored for ever. In which case they have a lot in common with the UK and US.
The bbc seem to be taking the credit for their series of reports on life for Muslims in China; apparently they are detained in huge camps and ‘re-educated’. Or so it’s claimed, the evidence as so often in these propaganda wars is non existent; but that just shows how devious the Chinese are in being able to ‘hide’ the abuse say the Spinners. It is presented as if the Chinese just happen to have a mean spot for Muslims. Because they’recnaturally Mean and Horrible. Yet do we ever see a comparison with Britain’s very own re-education programme for Muslims, known and hated as ‘Prevent’? Suggestions that there might be ‘radical’ Jihadis in China who need re-education or what we’d call ‘anti radicalism’ is never mentioned nor are the 10,000 Uighur fighters occupying a town in the South of Idlip where they have failed to move out of the DMZ and are currently shelling government areas, killing 3 civilians yesterday. They are said to be the most extreme of all the Jihadi terror groups and particularly hated by Syrians (although there may be a racist element to that). To mention any of these things would spoil the ‘Chinese cruel to ethnic minority’ story.
http://www.chinaaid.org
http://prntscr.com/lb5pt3 nice about details
Let’s look at CD’s links:
China Aid “appreciates and values” Freedom House “described as having a list of trustees ‘consisting of a Who’s Who of neoconservatives from government, business, academia, labor, and the press” (From Powerbase)
And The Atlantic “now widely regarded as a right-wing political editorial magazine with sections on other topics such as culture and economy. It is owned by multimillionaire David G. Bradley’s Atlantic Media Company and edited by James Bennet”. (Powerbase)
Alexanndar, according to your Link, China Aid Org publicly declares irs partnership with two U$ Orgs — National Endowment for Democracy, and Freedom House — both of which I believe Before God to be NGOs Of Criminal Intent, related to Public Christian No.1, George (Shrub) Bush, and his (fake Christian) Crusade Against Islamic Terror which has led to untold suffering, death and destruction in the Middle East. And are now aiming to unleash similar death and destruction against China and Russia.
Before God, I might believe that China Aid is not a U$ propaganda outlet if its Head Office were not in Texas, home of Prominent Public Praying Christians like George (Shrub) Bush, the murderer of a million Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan, who brought back Institutionalized Torture to the United $tates..
According, to my viewing the international version of a Chinal TV News, there lots of prison camps for the approximately 300,000 chinese’s islamic persons, who have revolted violently against the China State by acts of rebellion and extreme violence under the cruel guidance of US non-governmental charities ( abeit financed themselves by the USA government } and the purpose of these camps is to re-educate these rebels, who under present circumstances who could have been executed fior their crimes on the spot. But, instead their punishment is highly civilised as it hoped that the majority will be reformed by either the length of the custodial term, or a desire to play a reprehensible reformed lifestyle. And at the same time there are likely to be a minority of warped individuals, beyond redemption.
Of course, China was fully aware of how the mass executions would have lead to the western press falsely claiming the rebels were not given a fair trial and were basically innocent, etc ?
And it should be noted the Donald Trump at this moment is demanding those who rebel in the USA should be executed most quickly and without mercy, gassed, electrocuted, shot, or loose their lives by toxit chemicals ! !
I hold no brief for the Government of China, but I think if its tactic is ” re-education ” ?
Then that State is acting with more enlightment and intelligence than its Western Nations critics.
Any fact based evidence on these ‘300,000 persons’? (Fact, that is, that doesn’t come from one person in a US funded ngo)