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> Making a second Tiananmen Square painful for Beijing is not That would be in no-one's interests. Immediately after the Tiananmen Square events in 1989 the U

> Making a second Tiananmen Square painful for Beijing is not That would be in no-one's interests. Immediately after the Tiananmen Square events in 1989 the US sent a high ranking general to Beijing to reassure the Chinese that this changed nothing. The situation has changed because now China is seen as a real rival but the US and the West still have zero interests in going down that route. Not least because China is not a small country, it's the second economy on Earth. I think the events in HK are being spinned and that some people are really losing their sense of proportion. Bluntly speaking: The events in HK are irrelevant globally and are regional news at best. They are not a global issue that deserve international involvement. At the same time, it is very difficult to understand the message and aim of the protesters, and their violence made them lose a lot of credibility.

pimmen 7y ago
Wouldn't China being the second largest economy in the world make it more interesting to make a second Tiananmen Square costly? Because democracy is very important for the stability of the West and having a powerful dictatorship steamroll a democratic movement while we just watch looks really bad for us and the credibility of our governments. And, it also gives the West less credibility internationally. The US has been very clear that it was behind "one China, two systems" since the 80s a dramatic policy change would make every other country think "ok, so why should we expect that any treaty we or alliance we form with the US will hold?". If countries don't trust the West they stop working with the West and that reduces its power by orders of magnitude.
- underthebus 7y ago
  "One country, two systems" is a domestic policy of China. It's not any other country's business. People seem to be outraged by vague allegations of Russian meddling in other countries' affairs but China should be treated like a colony by the West... That's highly hypocritical (if not racist).
  - pimmen 7y ago
    ”One country, two systems” is originally an agreement between the UK and China before the handover. Violating a treaty with another country makes it an international affair.
    - speedplane 7y ago
      > ”One country, two systems” is originally an agreement between the UK and China before the handover. That agreement was predicated on a belief that over time, China would open up and become more democratic and Hong Kong would smoothly merge cultures. Unfortunately, that assumption was entirely false. It's been 20 years since the handover, and China has not at all moved towards freedoms generally considered a pre-requisite to social society in the west. Hong Kong has completely different values than mainland China. Even if the current events fade away, they are on an unavoidable collision course.
      - pimmen 7y ago
        Absolutely, I would say they’ve already collided, and I’m arguing it’s time for the West to acknowledge that fact and act, such as making Tiananmen Square 2.0 more costly in order to protect our core values such as rule of the people and fair trials. I think that would be well within our interests. I’m Swedish, a person with the same passport as me was kidnapped from Thailand and imprisoned in China probably after hours of torture because of something he published and his democracy activism in Hong Kong. The sentiment in Sweden is that it would’ve been nice for China to not say that Hong Kong would be under ”one China, two systems” if that’s not how things would turn out. Kidnapping Swedish citizens in Thailand for something they are legally allowed to do in Hong Kong doesn’t look like a domestic issue to me.
    - underthebus 7y ago
      The British handed back HK to China and China said they would keep it largely autonomous for 50 years. That's what happening and I don't remember that the Chinese government tried to renege on this. But again, ultimately this is a domestic issue. Britain is out of the picture.

pimmen 7y ago

Wouldn't China being the second largest economy in the world make it more interesting to make a second Tiananmen Square costly? Because democracy is very important for the stability of the West and having a powerful dictatorship steamroll a democratic movement while we just watch looks really bad for us and the credibility of our governments. And, it also gives the West less credibility internationally. The US has been very clear that it was behind "one China, two systems" since the 80s a dramatic policy change would make every other country think "ok, so why should we expect that any treaty we or alliance we form with the US will hold?". If countries don't trust the West they stop working with the West and that reduces its power by orders of magnitude.

underthebus 7y ago
"One country, two systems" is a domestic policy of China. It's not any other country's business. People seem to be outraged by vague allegations of Russian meddling in other countries' affairs but China should be treated like a colony by the West... That's highly hypocritical (if not racist).
- pimmen 7y ago
  ”One country, two systems” is originally an agreement between the UK and China before the handover. Violating a treaty with another country makes it an international affair.
  - speedplane 7y ago
    > ”One country, two systems” is originally an agreement between the UK and China before the handover. That agreement was predicated on a belief that over time, China would open up and become more democratic and Hong Kong would smoothly merge cultures. Unfortunately, that assumption was entirely false. It's been 20 years since the handover, and China has not at all moved towards freedoms generally considered a pre-requisite to social society in the west. Hong Kong has completely different values than mainland China. Even if the current events fade away, they are on an unavoidable collision course.
    - pimmen 7y ago
      Absolutely, I would say they’ve already collided, and I’m arguing it’s time for the West to acknowledge that fact and act, such as making Tiananmen Square 2.0 more costly in order to protect our core values such as rule of the people and fair trials. I think that would be well within our interests. I’m Swedish, a person with the same passport as me was kidnapped from Thailand and imprisoned in China probably after hours of torture because of something he published and his democracy activism in Hong Kong. The sentiment in Sweden is that it would’ve been nice for China to not say that Hong Kong would be under ”one China, two systems” if that’s not how things would turn out. Kidnapping Swedish citizens in Thailand for something they are legally allowed to do in Hong Kong doesn’t look like a domestic issue to me.
  - underthebus 7y ago
    The British handed back HK to China and China said they would keep it largely autonomous for 50 years. That's what happening and I don't remember that the Chinese government tried to renege on this. But again, ultimately this is a domestic issue. Britain is out of the picture.