4 ms·

There's a big difference between: - Expelling people back to their home country where they are still free as a form of diplomacy versus - Imprisoning, tortur

There's a big difference between: - Expelling people back to their home country where they are still free as a form of diplomacy versus - Imprisoning, torturing and passing the death sentence as a form of diplomcy.

mytailorisrich 6y ago
That's besides the point. The point is that this is tit-for-tat retaliation that targets specific people whom we don't know the whole story about (You can try to set up a business at the border with North Korea and to get to know Kim Jung Un like one of the Canadians arrested... I doubt you'll get far). This does not tell you anything about life in China as a Canadian. Edit in response to jlokier below: I think everyone with a bit of common sense understands what "making waves" means when travelling abroad, and especially when travelling to China (or any country with an authoritarian regime). Be respectful, don't challenge officials, don't get involved in politics, don't make strong political statements on sensitive topics. When you're a guest somewhere, behave like one.
- jlokier 6y ago
  The point is that the retaliation is life-destroying levels of severe, and "making waves" is extremely vague. Something nobody knows if they themselves are thought to be doing. I visited china about 10 years ago, on a working trip. Nothing to do with government, just a very mundane bit of electronics we were collaborating on. While there I asked what I thought were innocent questions about ordinary life and politics, and it became clear that people there did not feel safe answering some of those questions. To this day I don't know if that counts as "making waves". These days, I would not feel safe returning to China for work. I recently turned down an excellent job opportunity that would require very occasional trips to China, because it seems just that bit too much of a risk at the moment.
ideals 6y ago
Imprisoning, torturing and passing the death sentence as a form of diplomcy. Which brings up a good point, why is Guantanamo Bay still a thing. Why are those people still denied their rights. Gitmo has gotten really bad now with Covid

mytailorisrich 6y ago

That's besides the point. The point is that this is tit-for-tat retaliation that targets specific people whom we don't know the whole story about (You can try to set up a business at the border with North Korea and to get to know Kim Jung Un like one of the Canadians arrested... I doubt you'll get far). This does not tell you anything about life in China as a Canadian. Edit in response to jlokier below: I think everyone with a bit of common sense understands what "making waves" means when travelling abroad, and especially when travelling to China (or any country with an authoritarian regime). Be respectful, don't challenge officials, don't get involved in politics, don't make strong political statements on sensitive topics. When you're a guest somewhere, behave like one.

jlokier 6y ago
The point is that the retaliation is life-destroying levels of severe, and "making waves" is extremely vague. Something nobody knows if they themselves are thought to be doing. I visited china about 10 years ago, on a working trip. Nothing to do with government, just a very mundane bit of electronics we were collaborating on. While there I asked what I thought were innocent questions about ordinary life and politics, and it became clear that people there did not feel safe answering some of those questions. To this day I don't know if that counts as "making waves". These days, I would not feel safe returning to China for work. I recently turned down an excellent job opportunity that would require very occasional trips to China, because it seems just that bit too much of a risk at the moment.

ideals 6y ago

Imprisoning, torturing and passing the death sentence as a form of diplomcy. Which brings up a good point, why is Guantanamo Bay still a thing. Why are those people still denied their rights. Gitmo has gotten really bad now with Covid