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This statement can be used to describe so many countries, it’s odd you’re just saying it about the Chinese govt.

belly_joe 6y ago
There are many reasons why China catches heat for this. China is big so when it does things like this it tends to have a larger impact than other countries' practices. Also it has been growing very fast, and we tend to notice things that are changing. China's assertiveness on the world stage also causes anxiety which has a halo effect on China's other actions/policies.
flyingfences 6y ago
...because the thread is about the Chinese fishing fleet?
sidlls 6y ago
No, what's "odd" is the tu quoque style arguments that come up any time even the mildest criticism of China comes up. As if any other country being bad excuses China's bad behavior, or is reason to not point out China's bad behavior.
throw51319 6y ago
They are just the latest and largest ever example of this age old strategy being deployed again. Classic nationalistic power grab.
zwaps 6y ago
China asserts its power to the detriment of neighboring countries in almost every aspect of life. Their disregard for others and for the environment is staggering and on a staggering scale. There are very few countries who can even come close to that - probably only the US qualifies. Even then, China has twice the CO2 emissions than the US, more than three times the emissions of the entire EU, and more than a magnitude more CO2 emissions than coal dependent countries like Germany. Furthermore, China's CO2 emissions are also higher than any other country in history. China fishes illegally and under false flags all over the world, using a government sponsored fishing fleet. This is all because the CCP needs to ensure progress in welfare which would be threatened by shortages in meat or fish. Otherwise, the Chinese citizens would perhaps not continue to accept the repressive regime. But do we smaller countries accept these transgressions? Fishing the territorial waters of smaller states empty should be considered an act of war - which it would be if it weren't for China's relative power distance compared to local neighbors. All of this is frankly unacceptable and needs to be called out. Small countries need to band together and present China with a strong opposition. This should and can not depend on the US. We need to learn from history. The increasing imperialism by the CCP should be a warning!
- ephemeralism 6y ago
  Are you in all honesty trying to argue that it would be fair and just if a Chinese person was only allowed to emit one tenth of that of a German person?
  - philipkglass 6y ago
    That would not be fair and just. As of 2018 China emits 8 tons of CO2 per capita while Germany emits 9.1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions_per_capita https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_di... I expect the per-capita gap to shrink further in the next few years. China's much higher absolute emissions are largely a function of its much larger population.

There are many reasons why China catches heat for this. China is big so when it does things like this it tends to have a larger impact than other countries' practices. Also it has been growing very fast, and we tend to notice things that are changing. China's assertiveness on the world stage also causes anxiety which has a halo effect on China's other actions/policies.

flyingfences 6y ago

...because the thread is about the Chinese fishing fleet?

sidlls 6y ago

No, what's "odd" is the tu quoque style arguments that come up any time even the mildest criticism of China comes up. As if any other country being bad excuses China's bad behavior, or is reason to not point out China's bad behavior.

throw51319 6y ago

They are just the latest and largest ever example of this age old strategy being deployed again. Classic nationalistic power grab.

zwaps 6y ago

China asserts its power to the detriment of neighboring countries in almost every aspect of life. Their disregard for others and for the environment is staggering and on a staggering scale. There are very few countries who can even come close to that - probably only the US qualifies. Even then, China has twice the CO2 emissions than the US, more than three times the emissions of the entire EU, and more than a magnitude more CO2 emissions than coal dependent countries like Germany. Furthermore, China's CO2 emissions are also higher than any other country in history. China fishes illegally and under false flags all over the world, using a government sponsored fishing fleet. This is all because the CCP needs to ensure progress in welfare which would be threatened by shortages in meat or fish. Otherwise, the Chinese citizens would perhaps not continue to accept the repressive regime. But do we smaller countries accept these transgressions? Fishing the territorial waters of smaller states empty should be considered an act of war - which it would be if it weren't for China's relative power distance compared to local neighbors. All of this is frankly unacceptable and needs to be called out. Small countries need to band together and present China with a strong opposition. This should and can not depend on the US. We need to learn from history. The increasing imperialism by the CCP should be a warning!

ephemeralism 6y ago
Are you in all honesty trying to argue that it would be fair and just if a Chinese person was only allowed to emit one tenth of that of a German person?
- philipkglass 6y ago
  That would not be fair and just. As of 2018 China emits 8 tons of CO2 per capita while Germany emits 9.1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions_per_capita https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_di... I expect the per-capita gap to shrink further in the next few years. China's much higher absolute emissions are largely a function of its much larger population.