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Xi Jinping is fighting a new enemy – Genghis Khan

filistine 6y ago
Xi's name, along with that of Genghis Khan, now appears on the shortlist of most-despised dictators. First he imprisoned hundreds of thousands of muslim Uighurs for "reeducation" and left their unprotected families and wives to be raped by Han men in Xinjiang province and now he attempts to erase the historical record of a near-mythical figure that everyone in the Western and Eastern worlds knows of. But certainly Xi has read the poem "Ozymandias"? Xi's killing, although qualifying as genocide, is paltry compared to that of Genghis Khan, who killed more people on some days than Xi has killed in a lifetime. Perhaps Xi is jealous.
- diffrinse 6y ago
  Xi is exacting specific cultural violence as an administrator, neither the Mongols nor the Romans were as ridiculously obsessed with building an ethno-state as Xi once conquest was largely complete. Somehow, antiquity, immensely cruel and violent as it was, understood cultural/religious tolerance as an administrative principle better than a number of governments do today Grouping Xi and Ghengis Khan is also an affront to the way in which modern state violence is exacted, we're comparing a confederation of nomadic horse warriors already habituated to raiding as a lifestyle vs a rational state organizing targeted cultural purgation
  - filistine 6y ago
    A big "Yes!" to your first paragraph. And a remarkably clear observation that holds and is worth investigation in many other regions of the world (e.g., the Levant prior to the existence of the modern state of Israel). But I am unclear what you're trying to say in your second paragraph.
vmception 6y ago
What is up with constitutions in that part of the world? Does anyone know why articles for maintaining state unity, conflicting with and undermining all rights in those constitutions, appear do commonly? At one point I thought China had a rational history of dis-unity to support its constitution, but neighboring countries are the same. Is it the derivative of stage I communism that requires it and it just stays there as the country integrates a market based economy?
- arcticbull 6y ago
  A constitution anywhere is just a piece of paper. What matters is not what's written, but rather that folks in power choose to abide by it. Xi is a totalitarian, and he has his plans, and no piece of paper or law will stand in his way. Extremist states have ways of retrospectively crafting laws that justify what they've done.
  - vmception 6y ago
    > Extremist states have ways of retrospectively crafting laws that justify what they've done. That's the same anywhere. When you are playing the "rule of law" game, you look at the tools available - laws written - and rationalize how what you want to do conforms to it.
    - arcticbull 6y ago
      Yep, agreed completely.
  - AnimalMuppet 6y ago
    > What matters is not what's written, but rather that folks in power choose to abide by it. And whether the other folks can make them abide by it. Take Trump, for example. He seems to be an authoritarian at heart, and has several times tried to be. The difference is that the court system didn't roll over for him, and society (and the power structure) followed the courts rather than Trump. So even if Trump wanted to be a dictator for life, the levers of power existed independent of him, and were enough for his opposition to prevent him from doing so. In China, the levers of power are all held by the Communist Party. And the Communist Party will do whatever Xi says. There are no non-Xi-controlled levers of power for any opposition to use to block what he wants. (I suppose there may be limits to how far the Communist Party will follow him. And there may be limits on how far the people can be pushed before they will revolt against the Communist Party. But those are the only limits on his power. No independent judiciary, no opposition party that controls one house of the legislature.)
disown 6y ago
I just don't get it. There are legitimate issues you can bring up about china. Crazy silly propaganda pieces aren't going to cut it. What happened to the ughyur propaganda nonsense? Did that get aged out of the propaganda cycle? Did the "nazi genocide" turned into "cultural genocide" turned into camps turned into reeducation centers not work out too well for you? Now we are on to the mongols? Can't get John Oliver to do another propaganda piece? Bitter winter is an anti-china propaganda organization created just 2 years ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CESNUR#Bitter_Winter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CESNUR#Bitter_Winter The funny bit here is that just a few months ago these same propagandists were calling Xi the new genghis khan or was it new xitler? All this propaganda does is make it blatant obvious that western actors are trying to destabilize china. It actual works in china's favor. Edit: And of course the only comment with sources pointing out the obvious propaganda gets flagged.
- Judgmentality 6y ago
  > There are legitimate issues you can bring up about china. If you don't consider those other things you discredit to be sensible, I am very curious what issues regarding China you do think are legitimate.
  - AYBABTME 6y ago
    Grand parent seems to have a stream of comments where they are critical of anti-China propaganda, but from a western perspective. I'm curious exactly what mental model of the world the GP has. I don't agree with the dismissive attitude GP portrays, but in the USA vs. China situation we appear to be stepping in as a planet, I can't help but recognize that there's something going on, some war for the minds via public influence campgains, and it's probably not being done by only one side of the equation. In this way, I'm a bit disappointed that GP is being down-voted to oblivion: how can we see dissenting voices if they're being hidden because they come across as shocking/incendiary? We say that HN isn't a platform to discuss politics, and yet "Xi Jinping is fighting a new enemy – Genghis Khan" is clearly a political piece. Of course all this would be easier to discuss if GP wasn't attacking everyone. Anyways, food for thoughts.
  - 6y ago
geowwy 6y ago
Be careful of sites like this. There are a lot of NGOs set up solely to propagandise against China. If you want a laugh follow the link to the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center, where they show a bunch of kids playing dress up in historic PLA uniforms and claim China is giving first graders army training.
- throwawaybutwhy 6y ago
  I'm not an expert, which Type is the uniform [0]? Don't really care either way about kids' training - if it's propaganda, I fail to see its impact. Genghis Khan played a huge part in human history (and genetics). Curious the link has been flagged. [0] https://www.smhric.org/images/Hos-Hel/20201015/Bairin-First-Graders-Military-Training-1.JPG https://www.smhric.org/images/Hos-Hel/20201015/Bairin-First-...
zerof1l 6y ago
Winnie the Pooh is at it again...

Xi's name, along with that of Genghis Khan, now appears on the shortlist of most-despised dictators. First he imprisoned hundreds of thousands of muslim Uighurs for "reeducation" and left their unprotected families and wives to be raped by Han men in Xinjiang province and now he attempts to erase the historical record of a near-mythical figure that everyone in the Western and Eastern worlds knows of. But certainly Xi has read the poem "Ozymandias"? Xi's killing, although qualifying as genocide, is paltry compared to that of Genghis Khan, who killed more people on some days than Xi has killed in a lifetime. Perhaps Xi is jealous.

diffrinse 6y ago
Xi is exacting specific cultural violence as an administrator, neither the Mongols nor the Romans were as ridiculously obsessed with building an ethno-state as Xi once conquest was largely complete. Somehow, antiquity, immensely cruel and violent as it was, understood cultural/religious tolerance as an administrative principle better than a number of governments do today Grouping Xi and Ghengis Khan is also an affront to the way in which modern state violence is exacted, we're comparing a confederation of nomadic horse warriors already habituated to raiding as a lifestyle vs a rational state organizing targeted cultural purgation
- filistine 6y ago
  A big "Yes!" to your first paragraph. And a remarkably clear observation that holds and is worth investigation in many other regions of the world (e.g., the Levant prior to the existence of the modern state of Israel). But I am unclear what you're trying to say in your second paragraph.

vmception 6y ago

What is up with constitutions in that part of the world? Does anyone know why articles for maintaining state unity, conflicting with and undermining all rights in those constitutions, appear do commonly? At one point I thought China had a rational history of dis-unity to support its constitution, but neighboring countries are the same. Is it the derivative of stage I communism that requires it and it just stays there as the country integrates a market based economy?

arcticbull 6y ago
A constitution anywhere is just a piece of paper. What matters is not what's written, but rather that folks in power choose to abide by it. Xi is a totalitarian, and he has his plans, and no piece of paper or law will stand in his way. Extremist states have ways of retrospectively crafting laws that justify what they've done.
- vmception 6y ago
  > Extremist states have ways of retrospectively crafting laws that justify what they've done. That's the same anywhere. When you are playing the "rule of law" game, you look at the tools available - laws written - and rationalize how what you want to do conforms to it.
  - arcticbull 6y ago
    Yep, agreed completely.
- AnimalMuppet 6y ago
  > What matters is not what's written, but rather that folks in power choose to abide by it. And whether the other folks can make them abide by it. Take Trump, for example. He seems to be an authoritarian at heart, and has several times tried to be. The difference is that the court system didn't roll over for him, and society (and the power structure) followed the courts rather than Trump. So even if Trump wanted to be a dictator for life, the levers of power existed independent of him, and were enough for his opposition to prevent him from doing so. In China, the levers of power are all held by the Communist Party. And the Communist Party will do whatever Xi says. There are no non-Xi-controlled levers of power for any opposition to use to block what he wants. (I suppose there may be limits to how far the Communist Party will follow him. And there may be limits on how far the people can be pushed before they will revolt against the Communist Party. But those are the only limits on his power. No independent judiciary, no opposition party that controls one house of the legislature.)

disown 6y ago

I just don't get it. There are legitimate issues you can bring up about china. Crazy silly propaganda pieces aren't going to cut it. What happened to the ughyur propaganda nonsense? Did that get aged out of the propaganda cycle? Did the "nazi genocide" turned into "cultural genocide" turned into camps turned into reeducation centers not work out too well for you? Now we are on to the mongols? Can't get John Oliver to do another propaganda piece? Bitter winter is an anti-china propaganda organization created just 2 years ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CESNUR#Bitter_Winter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CESNUR#Bitter_Winter The funny bit here is that just a few months ago these same propagandists were calling Xi the new genghis khan or was it new xitler? All this propaganda does is make it blatant obvious that western actors are trying to destabilize china. It actual works in china's favor. Edit: And of course the only comment with sources pointing out the obvious propaganda gets flagged.

Judgmentality 6y ago
> There are legitimate issues you can bring up about china. If you don't consider those other things you discredit to be sensible, I am very curious what issues regarding China you do think are legitimate.
- AYBABTME 6y ago
  Grand parent seems to have a stream of comments where they are critical of anti-China propaganda, but from a western perspective. I'm curious exactly what mental model of the world the GP has. I don't agree with the dismissive attitude GP portrays, but in the USA vs. China situation we appear to be stepping in as a planet, I can't help but recognize that there's something going on, some war for the minds via public influence campgains, and it's probably not being done by only one side of the equation. In this way, I'm a bit disappointed that GP is being down-voted to oblivion: how can we see dissenting voices if they're being hidden because they come across as shocking/incendiary? We say that HN isn't a platform to discuss politics, and yet "Xi Jinping is fighting a new enemy – Genghis Khan" is clearly a political piece. Of course all this would be easier to discuss if GP wasn't attacking everyone. Anyways, food for thoughts.
- 6y ago

geowwy 6y ago

Be careful of sites like this. There are a lot of NGOs set up solely to propagandise against China. If you want a laugh follow the link to the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center, where they show a bunch of kids playing dress up in historic PLA uniforms and claim China is giving first graders army training.

throwawaybutwhy 6y ago
I'm not an expert, which Type is the uniform [0]? Don't really care either way about kids' training - if it's propaganda, I fail to see its impact. Genghis Khan played a huge part in human history (and genetics). Curious the link has been flagged. [0] https://www.smhric.org/images/Hos-Hel/20201015/Bairin-First-Graders-Military-Training-1.JPG https://www.smhric.org/images/Hos-Hel/20201015/Bairin-First-...

zerof1l 6y ago

Winnie the Pooh is at it again...