would you classify Tencent on the same level as Huawei? And if so, does that mean most American youth are plugged into League Of Legends & Fortnite, a Chinese Surveillance system ? lol
Absolutely, but remember that they aren’t prevented from making money or conducting legitimate business just because they answer to the party officials. It’s not worthwhile to spy on teenagers wholesale, but they might pull the logs of a senator’s kid and we would never be the wiser. Also, owning some of Western popular culture is a decent geopolitical chip. Maybe it’s not as great as a nuke, but China can use popular video games to raise the next generation of kids to be more friendly to China. Just having the idea “I like the things that come out of China” in billions of brains can increase China’s share of global GDP and power.
K-pop is increasing South Korea's power worldwide, although it might not be a fair comparison since SK is not a totalitarian state like China. If people get too friendly with China we will eventually be reminded of China's bad track record with human rights.
Reading about the drone strikes on civilians does not make me dislike the US. Similarly, reading those links does not really affect how I feel about China.
Yea if you want to change the world, reach out to the next generation?
Remember all those other generations of people living in crazy societies with crazy ideas? People's values, behaviors and loyalties are basically imprinted on them during childhood. There is an Einstein quote where he talks about how 'most people can't even form their own opinions' and he is right.
I only doubt that to the extent that the American subsidiaries have independent org charts. If news came out that Tencent were removing the position of Riot CEO or had mandatory libraries that Riot programmers had to use, I’d be pretty concerned about that.
Nah. There are literally historical and current events you’re not allowed to talk about in China without being arrested and charged with a crime or even disappeared. That’s not an overestimation, that’s the very definition of authoritarian.
As someone who just came from China after living there for nine months, I think the better way to put it is this: you can talk about whatever you want, but if you make an effort to organize, initiate, or participate in a public discussion concerning a taboo topic, then you are putting yourself at risk.
It's the appearance of an organizing that is really taboo.
Of course please take my opinion with a grain of salt. I am a foreigner who was there less than a year.
A young girl (10? 12?) was a famous streamer than sung a line from the national anthem in a sing-songy way and was jailed for 'making fun of the nation anthem'. You can see the exact moment she realizes she messed up.
advchina/serpentza/laowhy86 are the canaries in the coalmine atm.
Absolutely a travesty, but still you're engaging in false equivalency. The difference in being jailed with or without some legal process is significant. Study up at https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/freedom-world-... and acknowledge that the US's score of 86/100 is a far cry from Canada's 99, but worlds ahead of China's 14.
Freedom House is a US charity though. Looking at any other report will still show China much lower in the ranking but the US also not really looking as good as the land of freedom might see itself.
How about a look at Reporters without borders, which ranks press freedom:
US #48 (behind Botswana, Child and Romania)
China #177 (of 180, so only ahead of Eritrea, NK and Turkmenistan)
After 350 years of economic and social terrorism, I would say it's fair to say most of the AA people in jail did not have a fair legal process, they couldn't afford it even if you ignore the combination of systemic/overt racism.
We have to remember there are two justice systems in this country and re-introducing slavery through the prison industrial complex was something we deliberately did without good reason.... not in response to dangerous extremism like in China.
For perspective, you can critique the US government(s) (state/federal) and say that this is a bad thing, and you won't disappear. I doubt you can critique the Chinese government about the re-education camps.
Here's a major presidential candidate on the topic:
> These camps are reportedly operated outside of the legal system; many Uyghurs have been interned without trial and no charges have been levied against them.
This is a fundamental difference (and yes, America has detained people indefinitely without trial, but I would condemn that _too_, and they are a small minority of prisoners).
Furthermore, there are ~2.3 million _people_ in prison, of which 40% are black (39% white, 19% Hispanic).
No. What's being floated in this thread is an absurd premise.
By that premise, Norway controls Microsoft and Apple because they own part of the companies via their sovereign fund. Microsoft by itself of course is worth as much as Norway's entire fund.
Snapchat is a publicly traded company, of which institutional money representing primarily US investors controls the dominant position in the company.
Reddit is minority owned by Tencent, they hold a small share of the company. If you own 5% of a company the size of Reddit, you have close to zero control over the company.
Tencent also does not own a controlling interest in Epic. Tim Sweeney all by himself is estimated to control more of Epic than Tencent does.
The only reason it seems absurd is because the level of interconnectedness in today’s society and the various entities in it is simply unprecedented.
While there may not be a grand conspiracy, it isn’t too far-fetched to suggest that organizations that specialize in espionage, sabotage and propaganda can figure out, or may already have figured out, how to pull the various levers at their disposal to achieve their goals.
>By that premise, Norway controls Microsoft and Apple because they own part of the companies
Even so, Norway's political/ideological/moral objectives are in line with the west's. There is a difference between the Norwegians having some influence in something, as opposed to the Chinese.
Norway is not s socialist state, it's a social democracy. Please do read up a bit on the difference as it's quite relevant to understanding politics today and in particular the confusion/conflation of concepts that are pushed in US discourse.
In a nutshell, the idea of social democracy is that you cannot have a democracy without ensuring all your citizens have the basics to live decently - food, healthcare, housing. It's a basic responsibility of the state that no one is left behind. This is very different from the concept of Socialism (as it is understood in the US context) which much more aims towards equalising.
