China

By free trade wt China, did we supply the rope by which they will eventually hang us with economical

  • Yes

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • No

    Votes: 4 33.3%

  • Everything goes in cycles. It may be China's turn to be top dog.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • The USA is just too storng and balanced economically and will remain the prime economic power in the

    Votes: 8 66.7%
  • Total voters
    12
Interpol chief Meng Hongwei vanishes on trip to China

France has opened an investigation into the disappearance of Meng Hongwei, the Chinese head of the international police agency Interpol.

Meng Hongwei's disappearance seems to fit in with a now familiar pattern among China's senior Communist Party officials. The official in question suddenly drops out of the public eye and an alarm is raised that the person is "missing", usually by members of the public.

Eventually, the party issues a terse statement that the official is "under investigation", the official is then booted from the party for "disciplinary infractions" and - eventually - a prison sentence is announced. Since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, well over a million party officials have been disciplined in some way.
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Moiraine said:
I have a Chinese friend and I'm afraid to even text her right now because she's over there getting her visa renewed and she told me she's worried they'll stop her from coming back here.
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I think my friend might be incredibly naive about her own country, which makes sense since it's China so she's pretty limited in what she knows of its history and what's currently going on. She's in her early 20's. She texted me telling me they are doing an administrative review of her visa and so the whole process is delayed by a month and she's stuck in China. Then she proceeding to send me like 10 more texts about China's relationship with America and asked if I had heard Mike Pence's speech. It seems to have not occurred to her that they can see what messages she's sending. I'm not sure how to tell her to stop talking to me without telling her to stop talking to me. I told her I hadn't heard it but that he's an idiot. Maybe that will help her get back here...

 
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The Chinese leader is trying to repress all things not culturally Chinese.  He is cracking down on religious faith of all kinds.

Recently a very well known pastor was arrested along with 100 church members. 

This is the type of leader Trump is dealing with. 

http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2018/december/christians-standing-in-the-way-of-chinas-xi-jinpings-totalitarian-rule

It was 40 years ago this week that China opened its doors to the world and launched a series of ambitious reforms that would create one of the world's largest economic engines.

"China is now the world's second largest economy, the biggest manufacturer, top trader of goods, and the second largest consumer of goods and recipient of foreign investment," Chinese President Xi Jinping said during a speech in Beijing celebrating the 40th anniversary of the landmark reforms.

"December 18, 1978, was an important day to be remembered in the history of the Chinese nation," Xi added, saying that it marked the "start of a great journey of reform, opening-up and socialist modernization." 

But unlike Deng Xiaoping, who helped launch the country's reforms 40 years ago and wanted to reduce the power and influence of the Communist Party over civil society, China's current leader believes in the absolute power of the Party and wants his government to exert control over every aspect of Chinese life.

Since coming to power in 2012, Xi has severely cracked down on human rights, religious freedom and freedom of expression. Christians are experiencing some of the worst persecution in decades.

"Under President Xi, the government has further tightened control over Christianity in its broad efforts to "Sinicize" religion or "adopt Chinese characteristics," Human Rights Watch said in a statement.  "In other words, to ensure that religious groups support the government and the Communist Party."

Christians are not alone. Muslims, Buddhists and other faith groups are also coming under intense scrutiny.

"The Chinese government has also ratcheted up restrictions over Buddhism in Tibetan areas and imposed unprecedented control over religious practices in the predominantly Muslim region of Xinjiang," Human Rights Watch added.

The recent arrest of a prominent church pastor underscores the level of persecution against Christians.  

On December 9, authorities in the city of Chengdu, in China's southwestern Sichuan province, arrested pastor Wang Yi, along with his wife and 100 members of Early Rain Covenant Church.

Authorities shut down the church and charged pastor Wang with "inciting subversion of state power."
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Mr. Fengang, who once predicted that China could become the world's largest Christian nation, says the government, headed by Xi Jinping, views Christianity as a threat to the party's long-term political aspirations.

"Christians are the remaining NGO's (non-governmental organization) in the shrinking civil society in China," Wang warned. "Under Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party, they are really trying to establish a totalitarian rule of Chinese society and the Christians are standing in the way of totalitarianism, so that's why they've become a target."
 
Pictures shared on Early Rain's Facebook page claim to show that police physically abused some of those arrested after they were taken into custody.

Foreseeing his possible arrest, pastor Wang wrote a letter titled "My Declaration of Faithful Disobedience" with instructions that it should be published if he went missing for more than 48 hours.

In it, Wang vowed to use non-violent methods to stand against Chinese laws he believed were against the Bible and God.

"My saviour Christ also requires me to joyfully bear all costs for disobeying wicked laws," Wang wrote.  "I am filled with anger and disgust at the persecution of the church by this Communist regime, at the wickedness of their depriving people of the freedoms of religion and of conscience," he added.

Wang is boldly pushing back against the government's harsh treatment of Christians.

"As a pastor of a Christian church, I must denounce this wickedness openly and severely," Wang wrote. "The calling that I have received requires me to use non-violent methods to disobey those human laws that disobey the Bible and God."

"Separate me from my wife and children, ruin my reputation, destroy my life and my family – the authorities are capable of doing all of these things," Wang warned. "However, no one in this world can force me to renounce my faith; no one can make me change my life, and no one can raise me from the dead."   

Wang is no stranger to authorities. He was once one of China most prominent civil rights lawyers and intellectuals. In 2005, he had an encounter with Jesus Christ and decided to convert to Christianity.
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Interesting op-ed

https://thediplomat.com/2020/04/did-xi-jinping-deliberately-sicken-the-world/

Clearly, downplaying the disease wasn’t working and it was time for the Party to get serious. But how serious? Would it provide full cooperation to the international community? Would being seen as the source of this virus hurt its international image? Beyond these, there was a darker dimension: the more Beijing cooperated, the less the disease stood to affect other countries. This includes countries China sees as a threat to its existence, like the United States. Why should China suffer the effects of a pandemic while others stayed safe — and increased their strength relative to China — based on China’s own costly experience?

Such a question is of course inimical to human decency. And yet we must consider that Xi Jinping has produced the greatest program of ethnic cleansing in the world today. He has curtailed freedoms in China severely and is the father of the panopticon state. His incessant military buildup threatens neighbors while using economic and other subversive means to erode the sovereignty of countries around the world. We should not assume it was beyond his imagining to withhold a degree of support from the international community to ensure that China would not suffer alone.

Strong evidence supports this idea. Hearing the World Health Organization (WHO) repeat and praise the Party line while giving short shrift to health advice until quite recently has alarmed many. Seeing Beijing sell defective wares and claim it as humanitarian aid has angered many more. Spreading disinformation during the crisis and hinting at using life-saving goods for leverage (original here) — while denying even the faintest hint of wrongdoing — I suspect have ruined China’s reputation for some time to come. In short, China’s good offices have been reserved almost entirely for burnishing its image at the world’s expense, while calling it “the greatest kindness and good deeds.”

None of this can prove whether or when Xi made a deliberate decision to withhold information in order to imperil others. However, as a long-time student and admirer of China, it is with great sadness I must concede that such a state — and its increasingly paranoid leader — might very well provide less than full cooperation to stem the pandemic of the century in the crass pursuit of its own interests. This may constitute biological warfare. But even if it doesn’t Xi should be brought to account for his other crimes against humanity.
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Issues with China are heating up.  China is doing what they can to form alliances with other authoritarian countries.  They and Russia plan on building a moon station together.  Biden wants to counter the Chinese infrastructure program in other countries with one of our own. 

The old saying from the 1950s - 60s cold war - "USA would give the communists the rope to hang us with" is in play here.  With all of the purchases of 'Made in China" goods we have helped to finance the growth of the Chinese military as well as their economy as a whole.  They once were a backwards country, now they are a challenge on all fronts.

https://dnyuz.com/2021/03/29/an-alliance-of-autocracies-china-wants-to-lead-a-new-world-order/

 
Insightful article on would could happen if China invaded Taiwan.  One of my company's sales engineers is Taiwanian.  I've asked him how he feels about the constant threats from China.  He responded with the statement that it is something that is constantly in the back of their minds.   It remined me of growing up in the late 60s and 70s and the constant threats of the Cold War.   Something we haven't had to deal with for 30 years until Russia invaded Ukraine.  In the same way, China could be provoked into 

responding wt nukes if we aggressively defended Taiwan. 

Wt Russia and China rising to exert their power, the elections in the USA over the next decade will be extremely important.  Do we want an inexperience person like Harris as President - I don't think so.  And we don't for sure want a lose cannon like Trump or a trump-want-to-be.  Time for leaders to step up in both parties.  

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/could-happen-china-invaded-taiwan-222333836.html

 
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