4 ms·

> mainland Chinese citizen Which is a hugely touchy subject around here on its own, for some reason

throwaway4good 5y ago
- throwaway4good 5y ago
  And I am only slightly joking. YouTube is chuck-full of soft porn, so that is obviously not the problem here. Moderation and demonetarization of this sort is done by an (anonymous) human not by an algorithm. So why is mrs. Sexy controversial? Look at her twitter-profile and see where she is getting the most flak ...
  - throwaway4good 5y ago
    You can see an example of what I am referring to here: https://twitter.com/RealSexyCyborg/status/1483974791132762112 https://twitter.com/RealSexyCyborg/status/148397479113276211... Believe me, saying something like that is far more controversial, and will generate far more hate, than showing off some artificial boobies in a tech video.
- pjc50 5y ago
  Fairly sure she's already reported being visited by the police over the contents of her Twitter and youtube. In addition to being "outed". While you're suggesting that she do things that will result in her being silenced, for your own laughs.
  - throwaway4good 5y ago
    I realize the for-all-over-an-empty-set joke may be lost on some ...
Freak_NL 5y ago
From what I understand it is as often a problem with translation as it a clear political standpoint. What makes the phrase 'mainland China' problematic in English, is that it can mean a number of things. Someone from China using it may do so because: * They were taught to do so and simply understand it to mean 'someone from the People's Republic of China'. No political subtext intended. * They use it to mean that they are from the literal mainland of the People's Republic of China, but not Hong Kong or Macau. * They use it because they genuinely see Taiwan as 'that other part of China' that needs to be unified with the People's Republic of China, despite having been a sovereign democracy for over 70 years. When you say "I am from China" (or "I am from the PRC"), there is no chance of this having any deeper political meaning. When you say "I am from mainland China", there is a good chance that you do see Taiwan as a 'rogue province' and may support its 'inevitable' reunification by any means, including force. That latter sense is the one that is highly political and irks many people. Note: there is no need to get into the justness or wrongness of Chinese reunification here; it would be off-topic and not likely to be fruitful. I do think it is important that people understand that the phrase 'mainland China' is not bereft of connotations and may cause readers to form an opinion of the person using it that may not be in line with that person's actual intent.
- xenomachina 5y ago
  > They use it because they genuinely see Taiwan as 'that other part of China' that needs to be unified with the People's Republic of China, despite having been a sovereign democracy for over 70 years. Taiwan's official name is the Republic of China, so the folks I've heard use the "mainland" qualifier aren't saying "there are two parts of China" but rather that there are two countries that call themselves "China".
  - Freak_NL 5y ago
    People from the Republic of China (i.e., Taiwan) with English language proficiency don't refer to themselves as 'island China' or 'the real China' (barring fringe elements), but may call themselves (ethnically) Chinese. Generally though, they call their country Taiwan and themselves Taiwanese in English. Besides, if ambiguity is the concern for people from the PRC, the phrase "I am from the People's Republic of China" lacks any political subtext.

throwaway4good 5y ago
And I am only slightly joking. YouTube is chuck-full of soft porn, so that is obviously not the problem here. Moderation and demonetarization of this sort is done by an (anonymous) human not by an algorithm. So why is mrs. Sexy controversial? Look at her twitter-profile and see where she is getting the most flak ...
- throwaway4good 5y ago
  You can see an example of what I am referring to here: https://twitter.com/RealSexyCyborg/status/1483974791132762112 https://twitter.com/RealSexyCyborg/status/148397479113276211... Believe me, saying something like that is far more controversial, and will generate far more hate, than showing off some artificial boobies in a tech video.
pjc50 5y ago
Fairly sure she's already reported being visited by the police over the contents of her Twitter and youtube. In addition to being "outed". While you're suggesting that she do things that will result in her being silenced, for your own laughs.
- throwaway4good 5y ago
  I realize the for-all-over-an-empty-set joke may be lost on some ...

From what I understand it is as often a problem with translation as it a clear political standpoint. What makes the phrase 'mainland China' problematic in English, is that it can mean a number of things. Someone from China using it may do so because: * They were taught to do so and simply understand it to mean 'someone from the People's Republic of China'. No political subtext intended. * They use it to mean that they are from the literal mainland of the People's Republic of China, but not Hong Kong or Macau. * They use it because they genuinely see Taiwan as 'that other part of China' that needs to be unified with the People's Republic of China, despite having been a sovereign democracy for over 70 years. When you say "I am from China" (or "I am from the PRC"), there is no chance of this having any deeper political meaning. When you say "I am from mainland China", there is a good chance that you do see Taiwan as a 'rogue province' and may support its 'inevitable' reunification by any means, including force. That latter sense is the one that is highly political and irks many people. Note: there is no need to get into the justness or wrongness of Chinese reunification here; it would be off-topic and not likely to be fruitful. I do think it is important that people understand that the phrase 'mainland China' is not bereft of connotations and may cause readers to form an opinion of the person using it that may not be in line with that person's actual intent.

xenomachina 5y ago
> They use it because they genuinely see Taiwan as 'that other part of China' that needs to be unified with the People's Republic of China, despite having been a sovereign democracy for over 70 years. Taiwan's official name is the Republic of China, so the folks I've heard use the "mainland" qualifier aren't saying "there are two parts of China" but rather that there are two countries that call themselves "China".
- Freak_NL 5y ago
  People from the Republic of China (i.e., Taiwan) with English language proficiency don't refer to themselves as 'island China' or 'the real China' (barring fringe elements), but may call themselves (ethnically) Chinese. Generally though, they call their country Taiwan and themselves Taiwanese in English. Besides, if ambiguity is the concern for people from the PRC, the phrase "I am from the People's Republic of China" lacks any political subtext.