3 ms·

It has nothing to do with ability (it can), and everything to do with reasoning and motive. The government (and party) only acting in their self interest means

It has nothing to do with ability (it can), and everything to do with reasoning and motive. The government (and party) only acting in their self interest means they'd share and push any explanation that wasn't nefarious. No they don't have to do anything, but an innocent explanation is something they'd benefit from by disclosing.

lamontcg 5y ago
No. By addressing conspiracy theories in an Authoritarian system you give them credence through something more or less like the Streisand effect. If you have information control mechanism like the Great Firewall of China and you do not have a free press, then you can more effectively control your domestic population through information suppression. You don't have to explain anything if nobody talks about it in the first place. You're applying the logic of a democracy with a free press, which assumes people will talk about it. You also probably think that China worries about what you think and that they would care to address your concerns, when the 1.4 Billion Chinese citizens is of much greater concerns to them. This is the same delusion that Western intelligence agencies like the CIA had with Saddam Hussein. Everyone expected that his putting up a fight against the weapons inspectors was a very clear sign that he had something to hide. If he had nothing to hide why not let them in. After the fact we found out he didn't actually have a functioning weapons program. His failure to be open to the weapons inspectors seems deeply weird and irrational from the perspective of a Western Democracy. But he was running a strong-arm totalitarian state. He needed to stand up to the US and the rest of the world for domestic political points. China doesn't care what you think or what the US thinks. China cares what 1.4 billion Chinese think. China can better control what they think by flat-out suppression of information, because they've built those systems of control.
- aerosmile 5y ago
  Total nonsense. China is on the path of world domination, and they very much care about global alliances (as is clear from their global investments and collaborations, which were utterly lacking in Sadam's Iraq). Comparing China to a guy who was found hiding in a tunnel is highly misleading. China of 2021 is as sophisticated in diplomacy as anyone, and they only fall back to the 1970 version of themselves when it suits their interests - which is a brilliant strategy. They are very carefully playing their chess game when it comes to getting Taiwan back, but when it comes to Covid-19, suddenly we encounter a different face of the same regime.

lamontcg 5y ago

No. By addressing conspiracy theories in an Authoritarian system you give them credence through something more or less like the Streisand effect. If you have information control mechanism like the Great Firewall of China and you do not have a free press, then you can more effectively control your domestic population through information suppression. You don't have to explain anything if nobody talks about it in the first place. You're applying the logic of a democracy with a free press, which assumes people will talk about it. You also probably think that China worries about what you think and that they would care to address your concerns, when the 1.4 Billion Chinese citizens is of much greater concerns to them. This is the same delusion that Western intelligence agencies like the CIA had with Saddam Hussein. Everyone expected that his putting up a fight against the weapons inspectors was a very clear sign that he had something to hide. If he had nothing to hide why not let them in. After the fact we found out he didn't actually have a functioning weapons program. His failure to be open to the weapons inspectors seems deeply weird and irrational from the perspective of a Western Democracy. But he was running a strong-arm totalitarian state. He needed to stand up to the US and the rest of the world for domestic political points. China doesn't care what you think or what the US thinks. China cares what 1.4 billion Chinese think. China can better control what they think by flat-out suppression of information, because they've built those systems of control.

aerosmile 5y ago
Total nonsense. China is on the path of world domination, and they very much care about global alliances (as is clear from their global investments and collaborations, which were utterly lacking in Sadam's Iraq). Comparing China to a guy who was found hiding in a tunnel is highly misleading. China of 2021 is as sophisticated in diplomacy as anyone, and they only fall back to the 1970 version of themselves when it suits their interests - which is a brilliant strategy. They are very carefully playing their chess game when it comes to getting Taiwan back, but when it comes to Covid-19, suddenly we encounter a different face of the same regime.