Fair points I guess, but I’d like to point out that a lot of these were made as defensive measures against outside interference and aren’t actually all that different from stuff NATO countries are doing right now. Their mass surveillance isn’t driven by corporations trying to extract every last penny off of you, which is more than what any NATO country can say. You can also just get a VPN in China and access the outside internet relatively easily. And what Xi Jinping image cult? I’m pretty sure that ended with Mao. There are also other political parties in China BTW, although they only serve advisory positions to the CPC. Not saying any of this stuff is good, of course, just that it’s not that much worse, or in some cases even better, than rival countries. Maybe someone more knowledgeable about China can explain this better.
Yeah, I’m not saying that NATO or the US are better, but I’m trying to push back against the polarized, totally pro-China folks who are only following a “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” rhetoric, thus becoming blind to all of China’s major issues.
For example, another point is that the entire economic boom in China is driven by an enormous working class that is heavily overexploited by the State yet rendered invisible for convenience, and that is barely compensated with less than the cost of a piece of candy for that labor.
You can also just get a VPN in China and access the outside internet relatively easily.
I wouldn’t be so sure. You need much more than that (as far as I remember, a specific form of DPI bypass, sometimes the use of multiple VPNs at once [which are hard to find and download because their sites are blocked within China’s territory], sometimes even Tor or another overlay network or mixnet [such as Nym, I2P, Hyphanet, or Freenet], and a lot more stuff that I don’t recall precisely because it’s far beyond my current technical knowledge).
…there are more parties…
Can you name a few? I’m asking honestly, not out of malice or to be combative; I’d like to know more about that, tbh, because it’s hard for me not to be skeptical about that claim.
And what Xi Jinping image cult?
Do you remember the whole thing with the Winnie the Pooh picture? Well, sort of that. Only a person who is egocentric, egolatrized, and narcissistic enough to instigate a cult of personality would actually ban something like that, and do it the way he did it. Also, you don’t have to go that far — look at the streets and you’re going to see photos and pictures of Jinping everywhere.
And yeah, I know that it’s quite normal for a politician to display photos of himself in public areas, but not on that scale. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about; I’m from Venezuela, and both Chávez and Maduro had (and Chávez still has) a huge cult of personality, and everything aligns with Jinping’s imagery.
Fair points I guess, but I’d like to point out that a lot of these were made as defensive measures against outside interference and aren’t actually all that different from stuff NATO countries are doing right now. Their mass surveillance isn’t driven by corporations trying to extract every last penny off of you, which is more than what any NATO country can say. You can also just get a VPN in China and access the outside internet relatively easily. And what Xi Jinping image cult? I’m pretty sure that ended with Mao. There are also other political parties in China BTW, although they only serve advisory positions to the CPC. Not saying any of this stuff is good, of course, just that it’s not that much worse, or in some cases even better, than rival countries. Maybe someone more knowledgeable about China can explain this better.
Yeah, I’m not saying that NATO or the US are better, but I’m trying to push back against the polarized, totally pro-China folks who are only following a “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” rhetoric, thus becoming blind to all of China’s major issues.
For example, another point is that the entire economic boom in China is driven by an enormous working class that is heavily overexploited by the State yet rendered invisible for convenience, and that is barely compensated with less than the cost of a piece of candy for that labor.
I wouldn’t be so sure. You need much more than that (as far as I remember, a specific form of DPI bypass, sometimes the use of multiple VPNs at once [which are hard to find and download because their sites are blocked within China’s territory], sometimes even Tor or another overlay network or mixnet [such as Nym, I2P, Hyphanet, or Freenet], and a lot more stuff that I don’t recall precisely because it’s far beyond my current technical knowledge).
Can you name a few? I’m asking honestly, not out of malice or to be combative; I’d like to know more about that, tbh, because it’s hard for me not to be skeptical about that claim.
Do you remember the whole thing with the Winnie the Pooh picture? Well, sort of that. Only a person who is egocentric, egolatrized, and narcissistic enough to instigate a cult of personality would actually ban something like that, and do it the way he did it. Also, you don’t have to go that far — look at the streets and you’re going to see photos and pictures of Jinping everywhere. And yeah, I know that it’s quite normal for a politician to display photos of himself in public areas, but not on that scale. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about; I’m from Venezuela, and both Chávez and Maduro had (and Chávez still has) a huge cult of personality, and everything aligns with Jinping’s imagery.