4 ms·

> This makes me wonder more at the pro-Chinese position of a lot of western media, particularly the New York Times. Its fairly telling that Taiwan is most often

> This makes me wonder more at the pro-Chinese position of a lot of western media, particularly the New York Times. Its fairly telling that Taiwan is most often described as a "renegade province" as opposed to a "peaceful high-income democracy", for example. The original article is usually something like this "China considers Taiwan to be a renegade province, while the self-governing island Ms. Tsai leads traces its roots to the formation of the Republic of China in 1911 that overthrew the last Chinese dynasty, only to lose the Chinese civil war to the Communists in 1949." https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/11/world/asia/taiwan-tsai-china-national-day.html?_r=0 https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/11/world/asia/taiwan-tsai-ch... This is pretty standard description covering both side that I see in various news media (BBC usually calls it break-away province). > Having talked to a lot of English speaking, wealthy, educated, overseas Chinese people I am always disturbed at how many of them take communist party positions, despite being able to google "Tiananmen Square". More disturbing when they weren't even born in China. That's an entirely different issue all together. I think part of the reason is that they (myself included) are sick of seeing all the negative coverage of China 24/7 so they are just trying to balance things out. I myself recently did this on Hacker News: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13398849 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13398849 Also I read from some research that this is quite a common phenomenon among overseas Chinese to defend China because they boost their national pride and at the same time have nothing to lose anyway since they are not living in China.

lacampbell 10y ago
The original article is usually something like this "China considers Taiwan to be a renegade province, while the self-governing island Ms. Tsai leads traces its roots to the formation of the Republic of China in 1911 that overthrew the last Chinese dynasty, only to lose the Chinese civil war to the Communists in 1949." No mention of the dramatically different standards of living (Taiwan has a higher PPP per capita than any PRC province, including Tianjin). No mention of the fact that the ROC declared the civil war over in the 1991. There is one aggressor and agitator here. That's an entirely different issue all together. I think part of the reason is that they (myself included) are sick of seeing all the negative coverage of China 24/7 so they are just trying to balance things out. I myself recently did this on Hacker News: Might I suggest voting with your feet and repatriating yourself back to the motherland? Wealthy chinese are often upset at hearing criticism of a communist dictatorship with an atrocious human rights record - but they don't want to live there themselves if they can avoid it. Clearly the benefits of western civilisation are wasted on them. They can go back to the unfairly slandered land they love, and the rest of us might be able to afford a house in our own country again.
- paradite 10y ago
  > Wealthy chinese are often upset at hearing criticism of a communist dictatorship with an atrocious human rights record - but they don't want to live there themselves if they can avoid it. Yes. I agree with this part. I try not to "waste benefits of western civilization" by engaging in meaningful discussions on topics like this. Unfortunately I have my own circumstances that forbid me from going back. Also, I find your tone quite intimating. Since you already figured out that these "wealthy Chinese" people are hypocrites, why not accept the fact for what it is and move on with your own life. It is not like they are going to follow your call to action.
  - lacampbell 10y ago
    Why is wealthy chinese in scare quotes? You have to be very wealthy by PRC standards to relocate in a western country to study or work. Think about what percentage of Americans (3.5-4 times the GDP per capita of china) could afford to relocate to relocate to a country with a much higher cost of living like Australia. My call to action is not intended for overseas chinese. It is to make westerners think about the reality of the situation.

lacampbell 10y ago

The original article is usually something like this "China considers Taiwan to be a renegade province, while the self-governing island Ms. Tsai leads traces its roots to the formation of the Republic of China in 1911 that overthrew the last Chinese dynasty, only to lose the Chinese civil war to the Communists in 1949." No mention of the dramatically different standards of living (Taiwan has a higher PPP per capita than any PRC province, including Tianjin). No mention of the fact that the ROC declared the civil war over in the 1991. There is one aggressor and agitator here. That's an entirely different issue all together. I think part of the reason is that they (myself included) are sick of seeing all the negative coverage of China 24/7 so they are just trying to balance things out. I myself recently did this on Hacker News: Might I suggest voting with your feet and repatriating yourself back to the motherland? Wealthy chinese are often upset at hearing criticism of a communist dictatorship with an atrocious human rights record - but they don't want to live there themselves if they can avoid it. Clearly the benefits of western civilisation are wasted on them. They can go back to the unfairly slandered land they love, and the rest of us might be able to afford a house in our own country again.

paradite 10y ago
> Wealthy chinese are often upset at hearing criticism of a communist dictatorship with an atrocious human rights record - but they don't want to live there themselves if they can avoid it. Yes. I agree with this part. I try not to "waste benefits of western civilization" by engaging in meaningful discussions on topics like this. Unfortunately I have my own circumstances that forbid me from going back. Also, I find your tone quite intimating. Since you already figured out that these "wealthy Chinese" people are hypocrites, why not accept the fact for what it is and move on with your own life. It is not like they are going to follow your call to action.
- lacampbell 10y ago
  Why is wealthy chinese in scare quotes? You have to be very wealthy by PRC standards to relocate in a western country to study or work. Think about what percentage of Americans (3.5-4 times the GDP per capita of china) could afford to relocate to relocate to a country with a much higher cost of living like Australia. My call to action is not intended for overseas chinese. It is to make westerners think about the reality of the situation.