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Kenya is part of China's belt and road initiative. I wonder if this is aided by China to lay the groundwork to push the country to be authoritarian. Just like h

Kenya is part of China's belt and road initiative. I wonder if this is aided by China to lay the groundwork to push the country to be authoritarian. Just like how ZTE helps Venezuela tighten the control of her citizens. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/venezuela-zte/ https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/venezuel...

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
thefounder 8y ago
Or like US is helping authoritarian governments(i.e Saudi Arabia) or like US companies (i.e Cisco?) are helping China gov to censorship its people. It's all about the money. US is no different. Spreading freedom and democracy is secondary for the US just like spreading communism is for China.
- cltsang 8y ago
  I don't doubt that money is one of the major driving motives of almost everything we do. My point is I fail to see how your comment, regardless of its truthfullness, adds value to the discussion. If there already exist murderers, is it okay for you to become a murderer? What the article suggests is without proper checks and balances in-place, the new system could easily be used against Kenya people. And I totally agree. But to stop it, we need to find out the root cause of the problem.
  - drankula3 8y ago
    The post adds value because it puts the China post into perspective. There's a trend right now to make China the political Boogeyman, when the geopolitical reality is more nuanced.
- everdrive 8y ago
  Yes, everything bad that happens is just like something bad the US did. Not only are they the same, but two wrongs also make a right.
- secfirstmd 8y ago
  It's worth pointing out that in the Snowden documents the NSA refers to surveillance of biometrics in African elections as something it was targetting. It was one of the parts I was surprised that didn't get more attention.
- KorematsuFred 8y ago
  The big exception is that trade with China has vastly benefited these countries and continues to benefit. US political aspirations on other hand have destroyed south american countries and middle east. Authoritarian governments are a strictly better alternative to the current conditions in many societies. Some form of government is better than completely feudal civil war. Who can today say that Saddam Hussein was worse for Iraq than the current US led mess the country has been into ? More people have died, more children dead, more women raped and more wealth destroyed for US attempts to throw away dictator and put democracy in order.
  - thefounder 8y ago
    All the changes come with a price. U.S had its own civil war. Compare South Korea with North Korea. I believe the Iraq story went so bad because the invasion was based on a lie so once Saddam was killed there was nothing left to do(based on the initial plan). Even so in the long run it might prove to be a good thing for Iraq. As far as I'm concerned all dictators must die. People have the right to be free. We should just make sure the price is not too high and take more responsability to handle things once the top dog is put down. Iraq and most of the middle east was already is a big mess. Look at the rate of illiteracy in Afganistan. These people live in tribes. They execut/ed people in public markets. You can't expect them to organize themselves as soon as the ruler is out. They need leadership and infrastructure(i.e education, jobs) that the U.S never planned to provide.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

thefounder 8y ago

Or like US is helping authoritarian governments(i.e Saudi Arabia) or like US companies (i.e Cisco?) are helping China gov to censorship its people. It's all about the money. US is no different. Spreading freedom and democracy is secondary for the US just like spreading communism is for China.

cltsang 8y ago
I don't doubt that money is one of the major driving motives of almost everything we do. My point is I fail to see how your comment, regardless of its truthfullness, adds value to the discussion. If there already exist murderers, is it okay for you to become a murderer? What the article suggests is without proper checks and balances in-place, the new system could easily be used against Kenya people. And I totally agree. But to stop it, we need to find out the root cause of the problem.
- drankula3 8y ago
  The post adds value because it puts the China post into perspective. There's a trend right now to make China the political Boogeyman, when the geopolitical reality is more nuanced.
everdrive 8y ago
Yes, everything bad that happens is just like something bad the US did. Not only are they the same, but two wrongs also make a right.
secfirstmd 8y ago
It's worth pointing out that in the Snowden documents the NSA refers to surveillance of biometrics in African elections as something it was targetting. It was one of the parts I was surprised that didn't get more attention.
KorematsuFred 8y ago
The big exception is that trade with China has vastly benefited these countries and continues to benefit. US political aspirations on other hand have destroyed south american countries and middle east. Authoritarian governments are a strictly better alternative to the current conditions in many societies. Some form of government is better than completely feudal civil war. Who can today say that Saddam Hussein was worse for Iraq than the current US led mess the country has been into ? More people have died, more children dead, more women raped and more wealth destroyed for US attempts to throw away dictator and put democracy in order.
- thefounder 8y ago
  All the changes come with a price. U.S had its own civil war. Compare South Korea with North Korea. I believe the Iraq story went so bad because the invasion was based on a lie so once Saddam was killed there was nothing left to do(based on the initial plan). Even so in the long run it might prove to be a good thing for Iraq. As far as I'm concerned all dictators must die. People have the right to be free. We should just make sure the price is not too high and take more responsability to handle things once the top dog is put down. Iraq and most of the middle east was already is a big mess. Look at the rate of illiteracy in Afganistan. These people live in tribes. They execut/ed people in public markets. You can't expect them to organize themselves as soon as the ruler is out. They need leadership and infrastructure(i.e education, jobs) that the U.S never planned to provide.