6 ms·

Why do so many people on HN hate on China? What's your relationship with Chinese people in your personal life?

by richard___ 4y ago

FooBarWidget 4y ago
As a Chinese I want to say thank you for posting this. It's really ridiculous...
- oska 4y ago
  More than ridiculous, it's often outright bigotry (the original comment here being firmly in that category).
Gil-galad 4y ago
It's not the Chinese people, they are in general awesome people. It's the CCP.
TotoHorner 4y ago
Hating the CCP != hating Chinese people. Amazing that this needs to be said...
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- burntbridge 4y ago
  And when there is a war?
iwillbenice 4y ago
m4jor 4y ago
Because China is the number one threat to democracy and the US. They also are responsible for stealing hundreds of billions of dollars of IP from the US every single year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegations_of_intellectual_property_theft_by_China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegations_of_intellectual_pr... And masters at stealing R&D and tech from US companies for their own use https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_spy_cases_in_the_United_States_of_America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_spy_cases_in_t... https://www.cbsnews.com/news/chinese-hackers-took-trillions-in-intellectual-property-from-about-30-multinational-companies/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/chinese-hackers-took-trillions-...
- paxys 4y ago
  USA is the number one threat to democracy in the USA. There's no point continuing to blame China, Russia or whoever else for domestic problems.
  - m4jor 4y ago
    Nation-state hackers from Russia and China are certainly running active campaigns in US elections to disrupt or manipulate them. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/10/17/chinese-hackers-are-scanning-state-political-party-headquarters-fbi-says/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/10/17/chinese-h... Best evidence of this is the previous 2020 elections.
    - paxys 4y ago
      And the USA is doing the same to other countries. It is a given that this happens, and will continue to happen. You measure how strong a democracy is by how well they can resist such campaigns. If some random Russian bots can trigger a coup in the strongest and richest country in the world then, well, that's on us.
      - e-clinton 4y ago
        “the US is doing the same to other countries” Source? “If some random Russian not can trigger a coup” It’s still an act of aggression regardless of whether the US is equipped to deal with it. While I agree that the US does lots of shitty things, we have way more checks and balances than our key enemies. For one, it is the people who elect those who represent us.
        vetinari 4y ago
        > “the US is doing the same to other countries” > Source? Not even hiding it: https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19960715,00.html https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19960715,00.htm...
        4y ago
socialdemocrat 4y ago
I just have an issue with the CCP and their apologists. That is primarily who people refer to when they say China. It is pretty common speech. Same when talking about America doing something, we refer to the US government primarily, not its people.
- boxed 4y ago
  The heros in the story of Chinas amazing numbers of people lifted out of poverty is Deng Xiaoping and his successors. They've been basically thrown out with Xi. So modern China is unfortunately on the totally wrong trajectory. It's ok to say "China was going the right direction between years X and Y" without being an "apologist".
  - ohiovr 4y ago
    Deng was a heck of alot better than the guy before him.
- DiogenesKynikos 4y ago
  The problem is that many people who say, "I just hate the CCP" go on to say things like, * "China steals everything" (which essentially labels Chinese people as thieves). * "Chinese scientists created CoVID-19 and then lied about it" (alleging that Chinese scientists have no integrity). * "China only copies" (implying that Chinese people aren't creative). * "Chinese numbers are all fake" (implying that millions of Chinese people are in on some conspiracy to fake everything). In other words, in my experience, many people who say they just hate the CCP actually hold a huge number of negative stereotypes about Chinese people, and have a very conspiratorial view of the country. One fact that everyone here should take into consideration is that the Communist Party has a very broad base of support in China, and is fairly popular. Most people actually approve of the central government, not in everything, but in general. If the Communist Party were as comically evil as people in the West tend to think, it wouldn't have this level of support, and it would lose power pretty quickly. And one can't explain its popularity by claiming that Chinese people don't know what's going on - they tend to be far better informed about happenings in China than 99% of commenters in your average English-language internet forum. If you can't imagine why people in China would support the government, just consider the fundamental transformation that hundreds of millions of people have gone through in the last few decades. People who did not even have running hot water in their homes or reliable electricity are now wealthy enough to fly to Paris for a week. I'm not trying to paint a rosy picture of the Chinese government or the Party, but I'm just pointing out that things are significantly more nuanced than most people here think.
dabernathy89 4y ago
"Why do so many people hate brutal, authoritarian governments?"
roflc0ptic 4y ago
My relationship with Chinese people is great. I have a chinese ex, whose mom is hyper critical of the CCP and hates communism. They’re not Han chinese, they’re one of the less desirable ethnicities, and they didn’t feel well treated. Anyways. Authoritarian regimes are bad. The fact that this authoritarian regime has mongoloid/asiatic facial features is irrelevant. I hated GWB’s expansion of the security state and two senseless middle eastern wars, I hated Obama killing American citizens without trial, and I hated Trump’s… everything, basically, but admittedly withdrawing from Afghanistan was p cool. Stopped clocks etc. Anyways it’s totally consistent with wanting a just world to also hate the largest authoritarian regime in that world. This “but what if it’s because you’re racist?!?!” line is an absurdity
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
bergenty 4y ago
It’s the exact opposite. I don’t think anyone hates the Chinese people, just the CCP and primarily because it’s authoritarian and fast becoming the US’ main rival.
_zamorano_ 4y ago
It's the double standards, you know. Not being able to vote, and so... While the US and its war machine has lost track of destroyed countries in this last decades in an Orwellian permanent conflict. But the bad guys are the chinese, who hasn't been involved in a war in 40 years.
richard___ 4y ago
Raise your hand if you hate the CCP and you have a Chinese ex. There is already one guy who said as much in this thread.
mensetmanusman 4y ago
The CCP is not China, they have actively destroyed ancient Chinese culture bulldozing over historical sites to build strip malls…

Why do so many people on HN hate on China? What's your relationship with Chinese people in your personal life?

FooBarWidget 4y ago

As a Chinese I want to say thank you for posting this. It's really ridiculous...

oska 4y ago
More than ridiculous, it's often outright bigotry (the original comment here being firmly in that category).

Gil-galad 4y ago

It's not the Chinese people, they are in general awesome people. It's the CCP.

TotoHorner 4y ago

Hating the CCP != hating Chinese people. Amazing that this needs to be said...

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
burntbridge 4y ago
And when there is a war?

iwillbenice 4y ago

m4jor 4y ago

Because China is the number one threat to democracy and the US. They also are responsible for stealing hundreds of billions of dollars of IP from the US every single year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegations_of_intellectual_property_theft_by_China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegations_of_intellectual_pr... And masters at stealing R&D and tech from US companies for their own use https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_spy_cases_in_the_United_States_of_America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_spy_cases_in_t... https://www.cbsnews.com/news/chinese-hackers-took-trillions-in-intellectual-property-from-about-30-multinational-companies/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/chinese-hackers-took-trillions-...

paxys 4y ago
USA is the number one threat to democracy in the USA. There's no point continuing to blame China, Russia or whoever else for domestic problems.
- m4jor 4y ago
  Nation-state hackers from Russia and China are certainly running active campaigns in US elections to disrupt or manipulate them. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/10/17/chinese-hackers-are-scanning-state-political-party-headquarters-fbi-says/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/10/17/chinese-h... Best evidence of this is the previous 2020 elections.
  - paxys 4y ago
    And the USA is doing the same to other countries. It is a given that this happens, and will continue to happen. You measure how strong a democracy is by how well they can resist such campaigns. If some random Russian bots can trigger a coup in the strongest and richest country in the world then, well, that's on us.
    - e-clinton 4y ago
      “the US is doing the same to other countries” Source? “If some random Russian not can trigger a coup” It’s still an act of aggression regardless of whether the US is equipped to deal with it. While I agree that the US does lots of shitty things, we have way more checks and balances than our key enemies. For one, it is the people who elect those who represent us.
      - vetinari 4y ago
        > “the US is doing the same to other countries” > Source? Not even hiding it: https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19960715,00.html https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19960715,00.htm...
      - 4y ago

socialdemocrat 4y ago

I just have an issue with the CCP and their apologists. That is primarily who people refer to when they say China. It is pretty common speech. Same when talking about America doing something, we refer to the US government primarily, not its people.

boxed 4y ago
The heros in the story of Chinas amazing numbers of people lifted out of poverty is Deng Xiaoping and his successors. They've been basically thrown out with Xi. So modern China is unfortunately on the totally wrong trajectory. It's ok to say "China was going the right direction between years X and Y" without being an "apologist".
- ohiovr 4y ago
  Deng was a heck of alot better than the guy before him.
DiogenesKynikos 4y ago
The problem is that many people who say, "I just hate the CCP" go on to say things like, * "China steals everything" (which essentially labels Chinese people as thieves). * "Chinese scientists created CoVID-19 and then lied about it" (alleging that Chinese scientists have no integrity). * "China only copies" (implying that Chinese people aren't creative). * "Chinese numbers are all fake" (implying that millions of Chinese people are in on some conspiracy to fake everything). In other words, in my experience, many people who say they just hate the CCP actually hold a huge number of negative stereotypes about Chinese people, and have a very conspiratorial view of the country. One fact that everyone here should take into consideration is that the Communist Party has a very broad base of support in China, and is fairly popular. Most people actually approve of the central government, not in everything, but in general. If the Communist Party were as comically evil as people in the West tend to think, it wouldn't have this level of support, and it would lose power pretty quickly. And one can't explain its popularity by claiming that Chinese people don't know what's going on - they tend to be far better informed about happenings in China than 99% of commenters in your average English-language internet forum. If you can't imagine why people in China would support the government, just consider the fundamental transformation that hundreds of millions of people have gone through in the last few decades. People who did not even have running hot water in their homes or reliable electricity are now wealthy enough to fly to Paris for a week. I'm not trying to paint a rosy picture of the Chinese government or the Party, but I'm just pointing out that things are significantly more nuanced than most people here think.

dabernathy89 4y ago

"Why do so many people hate brutal, authoritarian governments?"

roflc0ptic 4y ago

My relationship with Chinese people is great. I have a chinese ex, whose mom is hyper critical of the CCP and hates communism. They’re not Han chinese, they’re one of the less desirable ethnicities, and they didn’t feel well treated. Anyways. Authoritarian regimes are bad. The fact that this authoritarian regime has mongoloid/asiatic facial features is irrelevant. I hated GWB’s expansion of the security state and two senseless middle eastern wars, I hated Obama killing American citizens without trial, and I hated Trump’s… everything, basically, but admittedly withdrawing from Afghanistan was p cool. Stopped clocks etc. Anyways it’s totally consistent with wanting a just world to also hate the largest authoritarian regime in that world. This “but what if it’s because you’re racist?!?!” line is an absurdity

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

bergenty 4y ago

It’s the exact opposite. I don’t think anyone hates the Chinese people, just the CCP and primarily because it’s authoritarian and fast becoming the US’ main rival.

_zamorano_ 4y ago

It's the double standards, you know. Not being able to vote, and so... While the US and its war machine has lost track of destroyed countries in this last decades in an Orwellian permanent conflict. But the bad guys are the chinese, who hasn't been involved in a war in 40 years.

richard___ 4y ago

Raise your hand if you hate the CCP and you have a Chinese ex. There is already one guy who said as much in this thread.

mensetmanusman 4y ago

The CCP is not China, they have actively destroyed ancient Chinese culture bulldozing over historical sites to build strip malls…