China has upset many countries in the Asia-Pacific region with its release of a new official map that lays claim to most of the South China Sea, as well as to contested parts of India and Russia, and official objections continue to mount. What is the map, and why is it upsetting people so much?
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It seems significant, then, that Beijing chose to release the map on the heels of a late August meeting of the BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – and just before China is to participate in top-level meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Group of 20 rich and developing nations.
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In releasing the map now, Beijing is widely seen as signaling it has no intention of backing down on any of its claims and is making sure that its positions are fresh in the minds of other countries in the region.
In the far northeastern corner of China on the border with Russia, it shows Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island, an island at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri rivers, as Chinese territory, even though the countries signed an agreement nearly 20 years ago to split the island.
Actually pretty funny given that Russia can’t do shit about it. That said, I expect the US will continue to sail through international waters and dare China to find out.
I live in a country in that South China Sea region and I hope mainland China magically disappears or something.
Just follow the example and make your own map :]
Oh no. Now Russia is going to be the fourth strongest army in Russia.
Some related discussion on this topic: https://lemmy.world/post/4191806
They’re just doing what America has been doing since WW2. Why should America be the only power in the world?
Yes. This could be considered a whataboutism. But that’s not always a bad thing. See here. Context matters. This article puts China in a negative light. I’m not defending China’s actions. I think it is inflammatory. But I also felt obligated to relay the hypocrisy of America.
It might even be that the whataboutism serves a function in forcing the speakers to both recognize a common, underlying factor to both sides of the argument.
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The comment they are replying to mentioned the us.
The Independent published the article. They are based in the UK. It is in their interest as part of the capitalist hegemony, led by America to make China look bad (the enemy). I just pushed back against that narrative. It was not my intention to highjack the discussion.
China is making China look bad.
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They don’t pay us money silly. We get a bonus ration on our food card. Dependent on what the commissar deems acceptable, and what resources are available. Usually rice or bread, but never eggs. I miss eggs.
Yeah well for one: China and America are NOT the same. The USA has a lot of flaws and fucks up a lot but I’d have then a hundred times over China.
The USA at least has the possibility of remaining a democracy. China is an authoritarian vicious dictatorship that kills or jails dissidents, the same as Russia does.
Exactly my point. The US has many flaws but I’m not so dumb as to say that it should go be replaced by china or Russia.
The current population of the United States of America is 340,304,529 as of Friday, September 1, 2023, based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest United Nations data
The current population of China is 1,425,587,668 as of Friday, September 1, 2023, based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest United Nations data.
I’m sure some of those people would say China has a lot of flaws and fucks up a lot but I’d have them a hundred times over America.
Stop being egocentric.
So what you’re saying is that you’re fine with a dictatorship? You’re fine with millions of people being rounded up, tortured, and killed? You’re okay with genocide? You’re okay with mass censorship and mass surveillance?
Say yes. Because if you say no you’d go against your previous reply.
I mean I don’t agree with them but they could easily really with: “You’re fine with restricting women’s rights? You’re fine with a country controlled by corporations? You’re fine with police summarily killing people in the streets? You’re fine with a media that intentionally lies to manipulate parts of the population into attempting a coup? You’re fine with a small ghetto of inflected officials making arbitrary decisions on laws that take away fundamental rights based purely on religious and political ideology?”
A better argument would be to point to statistical data that shows that the US is still a better place to live than China. e.g. the US scores a 8.73 ^1 on the Freedom indeed while China only scored a 5.57 ^1.
Or direct to each country’s amnesty report. ^2 ^3
^1 https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/freedom-index-by-country
^2 https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/east-asia/china/
^3 https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/americas/north-america/united-states-of-america/
Sure but where would they prefer to live? Where do their kids live?
They prefer to live where they prefer to live. 1,425,587,668 people. 1,000,000,000 more people than the US. You’re deluding yourself if you think they are all prisoners.
Oh no, they’re not ALL prisoners. The Han Chinese especially. Maybe you should ask the Uyghurs what they think about the Chinese government? I mean, I’d tell you to ask them, but you really can’t now, as you very well know.
Also reminds me of this interview with a Dutch doctor who was brought to china as a transplant specialist. When there he asked about the source of the transplant he was told that the prisoner would be executed soon. He left without performing the transplant, which is good.
You presume that I defend China, I do not. Just because America genocided Native Americans, and carried out extrajudicial executions in Vietnam and Iwo Jima, doesn’t mean that they are evil. The same metric should be applied to China. Maybe both countries are bad. Don’t limit your understanding. I’m rooting for you.
You talk about two VERY different things here.
One is attrocities committed by the military, which are horrible, should not happen, and those responsible should be punished. Also some of these attrocities you mention are over 200 years ago…
The other is (current) governments and government policies.
China is a dictatorship. America is a (very falwed and at this point maybe even a failed, but still hanging on) democracy. Do I really need to spell out the practical differences here?
They are NOT the same.
If I were in China right now, just for writing this part above, I’d likely be jailed, and likely somewhat tortured just for good measure.
The USA has a host of issues, but at least it isn’t government policy to jail and torture it’s own citizens for whatever reason they deem fit.
You cannot be that naive not to understand that these are not the same.
I guess you didnt see all those videos during covid when people had their front doors nailed shut by the government so they couldn’t leave, or the travel bans between cities. Or maybe your definition is different from mine or maybe the citizens prefered being dragged to a covid facility because someone in their household tested positive.
China’s zero COVID policy saved lives. source So, unless you love death, that’s not a good argument. I’m fact, I wish America had been more disciplined during the pandemic, which is not over. But the wheels of the economy must turn.
China is definitely more disciplined. Like when that Chinese doctor first discovered covid he was disciplined by the Chinese government, the coverup might have worked if covid was less dangerous but it was allowed to spread throughout Wuhan. When the world suspected something was wrong and wanted to close their border with China the CCP called it a over reaction. As things got worse the CCP finally admitted their was a problem and decided to stop travel out of Wuhan but gave everyone 24 hours notice, by than tens of thousands were able to flee to other parts of China and the world. blah blah blah and finally the step where other countries could have done something to stop the spread of covid happens. Yes, the USA should have been more disciplined and they could have been more effective at slowing down covid but by that point China had made it impossible to stop covid. None of this was the Chinese covid policy, just general cover your butt policy. Since China was so proud it created sinovac the CCP could not admit mRNA vaccine was more effective, how many more lives could have been saved if Chinese policy could admit to making mistakes? Sure, a high number of people in the west died doing stupid things like taking horse deworming medicine to fight a virus, but it was their choice. Unlike all the other people who took the necessary precautions and still died or the countless people in China who died from covid or they starved to death because they couldn’t get food - countless because the CCP covered up the number of cases and deaths. Check the WHO website for worldwide covid deaths. USA had 100 million confirmed cases (probably too low) and 1 million deaths (too low). China has four times the population but also has 100 million cases and only 120 thousand deaths. You are right, the CCP hates death - that’s why their made up number is so laughably low. If we assume deaths are 1% of cases than China deaths are 8 times less than what they should be. BTW my parents would agree with you 100%, my mom watches countless mainland media and my dad has dementia and even they would never want to live in China.
Heh? I would think you’re commenting on the wrong message but you quoted me so… What are you trying to say?
The Chinese feel the same about America as you feel about China.
Most Chinese feel exactly what they are told to feel by the government. That is not acceptable in my book.
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Does the US actively commit genocide? Do they keep one particular part of their population in work and concentration camps?
Do they suppress every opinion you have? Do they arrest you for those opinions?
Get the fuck out of here with your whataboutism. Living under China, if you are not chinese is a death sentence, you might just live in nazi germany as a non german. I’d much rather be under the US.
Does the US actively commit genocide?
I meaaaannnn
Elaborate.
You lived in China? Tell us about your experience.
Way to change the subject. I like China and Chinese people, I’m even learning Mandarin right now for work, but I won’t defend the Chinese government.
You keep bringing up bad things the US did in the past which no one can defend but is that really relevant to the present?
The US tries to set up voting systems around the world so that governments are run by the people. China is actively working in the opposite direction, they want everyone under their control.
For the record, I’m Taiwanese and American and think it’s cool you’re learning Mandarin and have an appreciation for Chinese people! I similarly disapprove of the CCP for obvious reasons.
However, your statement about the US is complete whitewashing – and I don’t blame you; it’s what we were falsely taught to believe. The US has a notorious legacy of destabilizing foreign governments to suit its own agenda (sometimes then installing sockpuppet US-friendly leaders or just leaving the country in chaos). And then this is all done in the very nicely PR-rebranded effort of “democracy” while US imperialism is well-known and well-documented throughout its history.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_involvement_in_regime_change
And it’s not just history; it’s still ongoing. Look at the sockpuppet US-backed South Korean government and public utilities, or the ongoing US-facilitated destruction of the Middle East that started decades ago. Or its weird Zionist segment that continues to blindly support Israel despite Israel committing apartheid against Palestinians, following the US playbook.
I’m aware that the US is not doing everything as purely as I said and it has screwed up a lot of countries, I can’t defend that. But the US is not claiming ownership of these countries and running them with authoritarian power. China literally just released a new map claiming additional territories of its neighbors.
Have you lived in China? I like Mexico and Mexican people, but I have never lived in Mexico. So I really shouldn’t make judgements about their government without knowing that it is true.
I’ve seen enough perspectives of people who did live in China and seen enough people (even some of my friends) disappear to make a judgement.
If you want to such Xi cock so hard, please shut the fuck up and move there, tankie scum
Forgive me if I don’t trust your anecdotal evidence. You’ve had friends disappear? Insult’s won’t help me to see your perspective. I am not, nor will I ever be, a tankie. I choose not to have a narrow minded view of the world.
“America bad” is not wrong, but not open-minded.
And it doesn’t count as a real personality trait either.
I’m American. I live there. I’ve studied it’s history and lived it. I’m allowed to have views of my own country. Americans aren’t bad. The government is.
Based on the wrong information you spout, I’m pretty sure your version of “studying history” is looking at ML memes online.
Americans aren’t bad. The government is.
The “government” is just an organization of Americans so this statement is self-contradictory.
If you are not a tankie, how can you possibly defend China? If you do, you are a tankie, or you are fucking stupid.
If my “anecdotal evidence” supports the reality, does it matter that it’s anecdotal? There is so much fucking evidence of their evil actions yet you blindly follow their propaganda.
And you talk about a narrow view of the world. Wake the fuck up, for your own sake
It’s a map. Not the Boxer Rebellion. Criticizing America is not defending China. I don’t defend China or their propaganda. Your mad about a map article posted on the internet. Take a break.
The freedom of other nations should be of concern, no matter who is the imperialist country.
Care to provide any examples?
_gestures at the world _ source Another one
Maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t see any territories that have been incorporated into the US since WWII. The military interventions and soft power stuff hasn’t added any territory.
Yes, the Chinese are perfect and never did anything wrong. They never invaded anywhere, never committed atrocities, never waged war…
I didn’t say that. I’m just pointing out they are no different than America.
If you really believe that China is the same as the USA then you’re either lying or ignorant.
For all its flaws and horrible fuckups, I’m pretty sure the USA has never organized genocide, for one. China has, and still does.
Torture still is a big discussion at least in the US, and mostly isn’t used, whereas in China and other dictatorships it’s just an obvious tool to be used.
Try raising your voice in China. Just go outside and say “fuck Winnie the pooh” and see how much America and China differ
Come on, don’t be THAT naive.
For all its flaws and horrible fuckups, I’m pretty sure the USA has never organized genocide
is this… is this bait? The USA has organized a handful of genocides.
Unfortunately you’re right, I guess I should add there “in the last 100 years” or so.
I think it’s fair to say that the USA currently or recently hasn’t been engaged in genocides
How do you know of life in China? Have you lived there? Your sources are from Western media that has a vested interest in making China the bad guy. Maybe they are. But I’m gonna remain skeptical. You should to.
Not every western media is like in the US where you can just lie your ass off. Some journalists actually are (and are required to be) good and honest and responsible.
Just because the Chinese state censorship buro didn’t tell you how you should think, doesn’t mean it’s not true.
If China tells you how something is, you can pretty much assume it’s that what the government wants you to believe, not what is.
Oh you mean like the 19th century, when there were several European powers carving up Africa, Asia, and the Pacific?
we should let several countries do bad things, and shouldn’t hope to fix or deter one, only all of them at once or none
uh?
