This is just my opinion but it's crazy to think Congress can work together on another countries problem when we have so many domestic issues that need to be addressed here. I wish you guys the best and keep fighting for Democracy.
As far as I know, the Act is already on the table and has a bipartisan support so there's a good chance it will get passed, hopefully sooner rather than later. I completely understand your point of view, but I just think the U.S. can't let China get away with everything when they time and time again break promises. The international community must take firmer stance against China. Not to mention there are 85,000 American people living in Hong Kong and thousands of U.S. companies doing business here, their interest needs to be protected as well.
Well first, this is an example of the police state, not the nanny state, if anything. Although the two go necessarily hand in hand, in general. Secondly, since 9/11, there are probably any number of stupid policies that a number of the world's governments have imposed at airports. So, I'm not sure of the point you were making. Were you attempting to contradict my statement of Singapore being a "free market city" with this airport policy (?) Because if so, I'm not sure this is a refutation of that point. As I said, lots of airports have doubled down on stupid in the wake of 9/11. [Side rant: the TSA are a bunch of crooks who steal stuff out of your checked bags.] Or perhaps I am missing the point you are trying to make.....
Basing your legitimacy on massively improving quality of life, and conditioning the public that it is the case is a double edged sword for a gov - when you define success so narrowly, any perceived missteps in this one area will jeopardize that legitimacy. It becomes hard to use other issues to distract the public and your opponents from this metric - there is little to no debate on the left right divide, abortion, gun laws, gay rights because bread and butter issues are what people are most interested in. I'd argue it's less political tribalism and more what have you done for me lately. PAP experienced a warning scare in the 2011 elections when they had the lowest share of the popular vote since independence when the gov was perceived to underperform in delivering public transport, affordable housing and cost of living. The PM publicly apologized as the opposition drew huge crowds at rallies which dwarfed the PAP's in turnout. All this despite the economy still performing well relative to it's neighbours and government influence over the media narrative. As the Chinese economy matures, it will be interesting to see if CCP can continue with this type of system or if it deviates to even more nationalism to distract when the cracks become more obvious.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/new...ousing-affordability-youths-own-rent-11879250 @ashleyem do you agree with the premise of the article, + would the protests have stopped by now if the HK gov delivered on affordable housing and education? Stuff like this takes a long time to fix, if true these protests could fester a lot longer.
This is the biggest load of bullshit. The Chinese government does not give a damn about the Chinese people. It is a dictatorship and the censor for the same reason every other totalitarian or dictatorship does... they know if their people see the basic freedoms the rest of the world has, they will want those same freedoms as well. Also the idea that PRC is special because if you love “the state” then you love the people is absurd and base level Chairman Mao garbage that always defied reason. The USA and Europe are far from perfect, you can talk about cultural insensitivity toward Muslims or any other group in the West and there are issues... but the way China handles it is with concentration camps and more forced indoctrination. Also the level of arrogance and “beaten dog syndrome” in the idea that Hong Kong should just embrace China and they have no control over self determination or basic choice demonstrates how brainwashed some are.
How about the Iraq war on Muslims? Is killing half million Muslims the 'cultural insensitivity'? That was a serious war crime, not your ****ing 'issues'. What happened in those concentration camps? ........ no terrorist attacks in 3 freaking years. never happened before. that's like 100 lives being saved. so you prefer killing million Muslims by making up powder lies? Your brain is filled with white bullshit.
Obviously a lot of people are discontent with housing but I don't think it is the main cause of the protest. A lot of protesters are teenagers and university students who have not reached the age of starting a families or buying homes and their motive are very pure. They hate China and want a government who can stand up against China. Also, Hong Kong is a structural problem. You can't solve the housing and other social problems without changing the structure. The business sector controls the election of CE and the parliament and under this structure all government policies favor the business sectors over ordinary citizens.
lol exact reference I was thinking of. "This is your brain. This is your brain on Chinese state propaganda."
I'm posting this for info and discussion about what's going on in HK. I'm not advocating that the protesters take this route as I think the more the protesters reach out for foreign especially US support the more this will threaten the PRC and pro-Beijing HK residents. Especially with National Day coming up. That said I still believe the PRC needs to recognize the treaty in full and allow for truly free elections in HK as promised.
protected from what? fwiw, there are over 85K Americans living in China; there are a lot more US companies doing business in the PRC
Nope. I’ve lived a number of places in this world. I’ve been to HK and China a number of times. China is ran by a totalitarian dictatorship that censorship and fear.
iirc, based on ur posts, u claimed to have lived in china in 1990s, more than a generation ago, years before a majority of these HK protesters were born, the handover of HK PRC had any bullet trains, now it has 55 pairs HK and China had monorail systems, GM, VW, Boeing, AirBus had JVs in China Starbucks started doing business in the PRC , now it has > 5,000 franchises there the concept of a cross-border stock/bond trading system was ever conceived such a system has been operational for almost a decade China's admission to the IMF w SDR North Americans/Europeans can buy / sell PRC-issued dim sum bonds, as well as trading chinese stocks and currency
The extradition bill is just a tip of the iceberg. The national security/anti-seduction bill are also coming up in the future which would allow the HK Government to snatch anyone whom they deem "political dissidents". The Chinese Government in the past has already send operatives to kidnap HK citizens in HK soil. The are also installing Xinjiang-esque facial recognition towers/CCTV cameras all over the city. The " 1 country, 2 systems" is gradually fading and that eventually could imperil the safety of the US people living in Hong Kong. And what are you trying to say? I really don't get your logic. Just because there are US companies doing business in China so the US should support China in stealing US intellectual properties, abduct American citizens etc.? The closer tie between US and China is exactly why the US should take a firmer stance against China and push them to become a responsible member of the international community. And FYI, there are more Americans living in Hong Kong than China and the reason why Hong Kong can still enjoy its fortune nowadays is mostly because both foreigners and mainlanders trust HK's system more. The US and the west should push China to become more like HK, not the other way around!
