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I don't buy the argument that economic sanctions/boycotts lead to overthrown governments, but I'll assume it does. The result of that strategy would be crippli
by boomboomsubban 5y ago
I don't buy the argument that economic sanctions/boycotts lead to overthrown governments, but I'll assume it does.
The result of that strategy would be crippling poverty for hundreds of millions of people, with results likely to last for decades.
- someperson 5y agoPreventing a totalitarian government that has destroyed Hong Kong's freedoms, and is actively calling for military take over of Taiwan's democracy needs to be met with firm economic sanctions. The Chinese Communist Party gains its legitimacy from it's economic achievements, so a global push to target that is reasonable. Getting wealthy by trading with the democratic world is a privilege, not a right.
- 2xpress 5y ago+1
- mytailorisrich 5y agoA big part of the Party's legitimacy is that they succeeded where the Nationalists failed: They kicked out foreigner powers from China and reasserted Chinese sovereignty. Getting HK back is a major achievement for them with the full support of the Chinese public (even for people sympathetic with HK's struggle to maintain its democratic rights). I think this is something overlooked in the West, if not purposely ignored, with Western media continuously trying to paint an image of China vs HK. HK is a Chinese city within China, inhabited by Chinese people. It just happens to have a special administrative status. The issue is the issue of democracy in China, and whatever will happen to that will be achieved by the Chinese people themselves (see Taiwan), not by foreigners with ulterior motives.
- ginko 5y agoAs far as I remember it was mainly the Chinese side that framed the HK democracy movement as secessionist.
- mytailorisrich 5y agoI'm saying this in general, not specifically about the democracy movement but about depiction in the media. In the media HK is almost always presented as "HK v China" like it's somehow a different country. This is an obvious rhetorical trick, IMHO. Now, regarding those protests, when demonstrators are filmed waving the HK colonial flag, the Union Jack, or the Star spangled banner they are handing a big stick to the central government to label them secessionists and puppets of foreign influence. Edit: Right now on the BBC there is an article titled "HK's year under China's controversial law", which makes it sound like HK is being occupied by a foreign country...
- dillondoyle 5y agoOn the other hand opening up economically to China didn't bring the Democracy we envisioned either.
- DistressedDrone 5y agoIt's almost like we can't force them to do things our way.
- MangoCoffee 5y agothe idea of democracy thru trade isn't to force CCP to do anything in anyway. its to have free flow of information that CCP might block which they did with firewall.
- eloisius 5y agoOr prevent them from forcing other people to do it their way.
- boomboomsubban 5y agoNobody really envisioned it would, people just wanted an excuse to interact with China so soon after the second red scare.
- 2xpress 5y agoEconomic sanctions and boycotts lead to overthrow of governments all the time, that's how USSR collapsed. And when hundreds of millions of people are living in what is effectively just a very large concentration camp that can harvest anybody's organs at anytime then that's the worst kind of "crippling poverty" there is.
- koonsolo 5y agoI agree, just look at North Korea.
- dismantlethesun 5y agoThis policy would simply shift the economic gains of China to India and Africa. Hundreds of millions of people living under more palatable governments are currently being denied the chance to lift themselves out of poverty because the default choice for investment is China.
- LW9ucKsYuvuVeBa 5y agoCrippling sanctions that killed over a million did not lead Iraqis to overthrowing Saddam. And CCP has more control over its subjects than he did.