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I find this a really fascinating instance of micro-propaganda. CCP could evoke associations with "CCCP", but CPC might remind Americans of the Congressional Pro
by alisonatwork 6y ago
I find this a really fascinating instance of micro-propaganda. CCP could evoke associations with "CCCP", but CPC might remind Americans of the Congressional Progressive Caucus or Canadians of the Conservative Party of Canada. It could be that neither acronym is especially neutral, not after surfacing the accusation that using one is implicitly biased. I have to admit to having used both acronyms in the past, but it was never for any malicious reason, it was just to try create continuity with other people in the discussion.
The funny thing is that people in China use neither of these acronyms, they just refer to "the government" or "the party". This is probably the safest terminology to avoid being seen as biased one way or the other.
What's so interesting to me, is that even your choice of a three letter acronym, which literally means the exact same thing just with a different word order, is considered to be taking a side. It goes to show just how fraught conversation on China has become that it's even considered important.
- elif 6y agoIt is not "my choice" of a three letter acronym. It is the party's choice for its English language representation. I'm not making any political statements here. I am suggesting that we use common nomenclature while pointing out a hazard of a specific instance of dated terminology.
- hartator 6y ago> It is the party's choice for its English language representation. Maybe OP disagrees on the party authority to define language including naming itself.
- alisonatwork 6y agoI think you misunderstood my usage of "your choice". I was using it as an indefinite pronoun, i.e. "one's choice". My point was that turning one's choice of synonymous terminology into a marker of political bias is itself an interesting comment on how difficult it is for people to engage in curious discussion about China. Given that at HN we are expected to assume good faith, I think it's fair to assume that most people who use CCP (or CPC) are not deliberately trying to take a side, they are just using a convenient acronym.
- elif 6y agoConsider that the scope of discussion here is that a WHO scientist received a summary of 174 covid cases rather than a full version of the data, and himself "couldn't comment. Whether it's political or time or it's difficult... But whether there are any other reasons why the data isn't available, I don't know. One would only speculate." Yet the comment I sacrificed Karma to inform of "potentially unconscious bias of language" was willing to offer nothing more than postulation that a political party is responsible for "hiding the data", and the repetition of the CCP identification.
- mr_toad 6y ago> It is the party's choice for its English language representation. Maybe you should have led with that?