3 ms·

G8 meetings in western cities regularly draw hundreds of thousands of protestors that are dispersed with tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets? Not that G

G8 meetings in western cities regularly draw hundreds of thousands of protestors that are dispersed with tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets? Not that G8 summits don't draw protests, but I'd hardly say they look similar.

luckylion 7y ago
> G8 meetings in western cities regularly draw hundreds of thousands of protestors that are dispersed with tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets? No, they draw smaller protests and violent police oppression with mass arrests and the occasional dead protestor.
- scottLobster 7y ago
  So just like Hong Kong, only smaller and with less tear gas? Would seem to undermine your point that the Chinese are "soft by western standards". There's also a key difference in that crackdowns on G8 protestors are police protecting/facilitating an international summit, and arguably the right of the summit participants to peacefully assemble. By contrast in Hong Kong an authoritarian regime is attempting to suppress human rights through semi-soft force (for the moment), with military forces conspicuously conducting exercises nearby and threats of "Anyone who attempts to split any region from China will perish, with their bodies smashed and bones ground to powder." You're comparing a foothill to a mountain and calling the mountain smaller.
  - luckylion 7y ago
    > So just like Hong Kong, only smaller and with less tear gas? Would seem to undermine your point that the Chinese are "soft by western standards". If you have 3 people instead of 30, yeah, you're going to use less tear gas. I get, China bad, West good and all that, but still "if it happens in Genua, the police are just upholding the right of the politicians to assemble" vs "if it happens in HK, it's just an authoritarian regime".
rjzzleep 7y ago
Actually yes that's precisely what happens[1]. Governments are very careful not to repeat the case of shooting of carlo giuliani in 2001[2] I'm not even sure why you ask about the tear gas and water canons though. Water cannons are frequently used as crowd control in German protests precisely to avoid live ammunition. Here's one example of an old guy getting blinded during the Stuttgart 21 demonstrations in Germany [3] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/27th_G8_summit#Protests https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/27th_G8_summit#Protests [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Carlo_Giuliani https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Carlo_Giuliani [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_Wagner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_Wagner

luckylion 7y ago

> G8 meetings in western cities regularly draw hundreds of thousands of protestors that are dispersed with tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets? No, they draw smaller protests and violent police oppression with mass arrests and the occasional dead protestor.

scottLobster 7y ago
So just like Hong Kong, only smaller and with less tear gas? Would seem to undermine your point that the Chinese are "soft by western standards". There's also a key difference in that crackdowns on G8 protestors are police protecting/facilitating an international summit, and arguably the right of the summit participants to peacefully assemble. By contrast in Hong Kong an authoritarian regime is attempting to suppress human rights through semi-soft force (for the moment), with military forces conspicuously conducting exercises nearby and threats of "Anyone who attempts to split any region from China will perish, with their bodies smashed and bones ground to powder." You're comparing a foothill to a mountain and calling the mountain smaller.
- luckylion 7y ago
  > So just like Hong Kong, only smaller and with less tear gas? Would seem to undermine your point that the Chinese are "soft by western standards". If you have 3 people instead of 30, yeah, you're going to use less tear gas. I get, China bad, West good and all that, but still "if it happens in Genua, the police are just upholding the right of the politicians to assemble" vs "if it happens in HK, it's just an authoritarian regime".

rjzzleep 7y ago

Actually yes that's precisely what happens[1]. Governments are very careful not to repeat the case of shooting of carlo giuliani in 2001[2] I'm not even sure why you ask about the tear gas and water canons though. Water cannons are frequently used as crowd control in German protests precisely to avoid live ammunition. Here's one example of an old guy getting blinded during the Stuttgart 21 demonstrations in Germany [3] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/27th_G8_summit#Protests https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/27th_G8_summit#Protests [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Carlo_Giuliani https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Carlo_Giuliani [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_Wagner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_Wagner