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The Chinese government is not China any more than the US government is America or the Kremlin is Russia. Having a go at authoritarian demagoguery and secret po

The Chinese government is not China any more than the US government is America or the Kremlin is Russia. Having a go at authoritarian demagoguery and secret police is one thing, have at it. But doubling down on the casual false equivalence between a people, a country, a government, and a person, just reinforces the point. Oh, and when you find a free country, do let me know. I haven’t seen one yet. So far, from Australia to Zimbabwe, all governments coerce and murder their citizens.

eloff 6y ago
The OP was not taking about the Chinese people, he was taking about China the Chinese government. It was very clear to me reading that, I'm not sure why you're all confused.
- inopinatus 6y ago
  It is no better an assumption than assuming the OP is a man.
  - eloff 6y ago
    Again with the false equivalence. You're just doubling down on being wrong. I'm out of this conversation.
    - inopinatus 6y ago
      I’m doubling down on identifying the fundamental category error of all casual bigotry, so this was a useful and interesting conversation for me.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- strogonoff 6y ago
  Too often it seems like the more precision matters, the easier it is to choose the wrong word. In this context IMHO the choice of words matters quite a bit. I do my best to never write “China” if I’m in fact referring to the entity commonly identified as “CCP”. (I understood OP’s point though, probably because I used to make the same mistake—perhaps still inadvertently do with some other countries.)
- heidar 6y ago
  The wumao and supporters of the CCP have been pushing this racism nonsense for a while now to try to divert criticism against the CCP. It’s unfortunately very common.
  - eloff 6y ago
    I have seen people doing this and it's deeply annoying to reframe criticism of the CCP as racism. Not everything is about race. I'm deeply annoyed by how much race is becoming a thing in general - that seems like it's going to end up being counterproductive to ending racism. I'm not going to go so far as to say it's purposeful by the CCP. But it could be.
  - inopinatus 6y ago
    Calling out casual bigotry does not equate to sticking up for dictators. On the other hand, calling racism "nonsense", in any context, that's some Oswald Mosley shit.
- inopinatus 6y ago
  The difficulty with this alleged "clarity" is there is no single entity called "the Chinese government" either. See also: Using "China" but assuming .hk and .mo are included Using "China" but assuming .hk and .mo are excluded Using "China" to mean the area administered by the ROC Using "China" to mean the area administered by the PRC Using "China" to mean the area claimed by the ROC Using "China" to mean the area claimed by the PRC Using "China" to mean any area historically associated with the rule or influence of the Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han, Xin, Wei, Shu, Wu, Jin (1st/2nd), Sui, Tang, Wu Zhou, Liao, Song, Yuan, Ming, or Qing dynasties and their associated interregna and feudal periods. Using "Chinese government" to mean the CCP, but not the State Council, the NPC, or the PLA Using "Chinese government" to mean the CCP, the State Council, the NPC, and the PLA Using "Chinese government" to mean Xi Jinping. Using "Chinese government" to mean the KMT or DPP. Using "Chinese government" to mean any and all the above, except the KMT, DPP, or PFP. Using "mainland China" to try to be more specific (it still isn't, and now you've started a war) Using "Greater China" to name your regional offices. Looking at you, Apple. (no such thing, it's a western fabrication, like General Zuo's chicken) Referring to the Chinese language (which one?) Referring to Chinese characters (hanzi? kanji? jiantizi? hanja??) Referring to "Chinese food" (this is like categorizing haggis with paella) Referring to "Chinese people" as though it's one ethnic group Calling anyone who you think looks Chinese, Chinese.
jimhi 6y ago
New Zealand? Denmark?

eloff 6y ago

The OP was not taking about the Chinese people, he was taking about China the Chinese government. It was very clear to me reading that, I'm not sure why you're all confused.

inopinatus 6y ago
It is no better an assumption than assuming the OP is a man.
- eloff 6y ago
  Again with the false equivalence. You're just doubling down on being wrong. I'm out of this conversation.
  - inopinatus 6y ago
    I’m doubling down on identifying the fundamental category error of all casual bigotry, so this was a useful and interesting conversation for me.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
strogonoff 6y ago
Too often it seems like the more precision matters, the easier it is to choose the wrong word. In this context IMHO the choice of words matters quite a bit. I do my best to never write “China” if I’m in fact referring to the entity commonly identified as “CCP”. (I understood OP’s point though, probably because I used to make the same mistake—perhaps still inadvertently do with some other countries.)
heidar 6y ago
The wumao and supporters of the CCP have been pushing this racism nonsense for a while now to try to divert criticism against the CCP. It’s unfortunately very common.
- eloff 6y ago
  I have seen people doing this and it's deeply annoying to reframe criticism of the CCP as racism. Not everything is about race. I'm deeply annoyed by how much race is becoming a thing in general - that seems like it's going to end up being counterproductive to ending racism. I'm not going to go so far as to say it's purposeful by the CCP. But it could be.
- inopinatus 6y ago
  Calling out casual bigotry does not equate to sticking up for dictators. On the other hand, calling racism "nonsense", in any context, that's some Oswald Mosley shit.
inopinatus 6y ago
The difficulty with this alleged "clarity" is there is no single entity called "the Chinese government" either. See also: Using "China" but assuming .hk and .mo are included Using "China" but assuming .hk and .mo are excluded Using "China" to mean the area administered by the ROC Using "China" to mean the area administered by the PRC Using "China" to mean the area claimed by the ROC Using "China" to mean the area claimed by the PRC Using "China" to mean any area historically associated with the rule or influence of the Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han, Xin, Wei, Shu, Wu, Jin (1st/2nd), Sui, Tang, Wu Zhou, Liao, Song, Yuan, Ming, or Qing dynasties and their associated interregna and feudal periods. Using "Chinese government" to mean the CCP, but not the State Council, the NPC, or the PLA Using "Chinese government" to mean the CCP, the State Council, the NPC, and the PLA Using "Chinese government" to mean Xi Jinping. Using "Chinese government" to mean the KMT or DPP. Using "Chinese government" to mean any and all the above, except the KMT, DPP, or PFP. Using "mainland China" to try to be more specific (it still isn't, and now you've started a war) Using "Greater China" to name your regional offices. Looking at you, Apple. (no such thing, it's a western fabrication, like General Zuo's chicken) Referring to the Chinese language (which one?) Referring to Chinese characters (hanzi? kanji? jiantizi? hanja??) Referring to "Chinese food" (this is like categorizing haggis with paella) Referring to "Chinese people" as though it's one ethnic group Calling anyone who you think looks Chinese, Chinese.

jimhi 6y ago

New Zealand? Denmark?