Hotznplotzn

Hotznplotzn @lemmy.sdf.org 2d ago

Just stumbled upon this article by a scholar, "What is Shen Yun, the Chinese dance troupe connected to the bomb threat at the Lodge?", of someone is interested.

TL;DR: Shen Yun has been highly criticised by officials from China and has critics also abroad, but "the Chinese government’s sensitivity to Shen Yun reflects a broader strategic concern" as the article says:

Shen Yun is not simply performing culture. It is contesting China’s cultural authority. In Shen Yun’s performances, cultural authenticity is not created by the state. Instead, cultural authenticity is created by the diaspora and the people [...] Western cultural venues – and today, the Lodge – have become key battlegrounds in this contest.

Hotznplotzn @lemmy.sdf.org 3d ago

Modi has been hugging also Putin when they met in the last two years. Seems he should rethink his friendships ...

Hotznplotzn @lemmy.sdf.org 3d ago

Modi has been hugging also Putin when they met in the last two years. Seems he should rethink his friendships ...

Hotznplotzn @lemmy.sdf.org 3d ago

It's not only about the elite's children in the West. Not long ago, a leaked wedding video lays bare luxurious lives of Iran’s political elite and highlights hypocrisy of Islamic Republic:

A short video of a private wedding went viral in Iran recently, tearing away the country’s veil of piety and exposing hypocrisy and a seeming disregard for the rules by which the theocratic regime requires that most Iranians live their lives.

The wedding in question was that of Fatemeh Shamkhani, in mid-2024. She is the daughter of Ali Shamkhani, a close adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, at the luxurious Espinas Palace Hotel in Tehran.

She wore a low-cut strapless dress with a western-style bridal veil rather than the full head-covering mandated for Iranian women. Many wedding guests also wore modern western styles and a lot of the women went without head coverings [...]

Hotznplotzn @lemmy.sdf.org 3d ago

I didn't mean it that way, all good.

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Hotznplotzn @lemmy.sdf.org 3d ago

I am absolutely not a fan of any religious group, let alone of such 'cults' like Falun Gong or Scientology. But I think a bomb threat or similar criminal tactics are unlawful, no matter what.

We must also clearly say that the only reason why China frequently intimidates these groups is not their cult-like status but because they don't pledge loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party. The CCP has apparently no problem to collaborate, for example, with the Chinese mafias overseas as they protect each others interests, and the Chinese party-state heavily engages with criminal groups abroad to achieve its strategic objectives.

Weird alien stuff or not, there is no justification for a bomb threat in Australia or any other country.

Hotznplotzn @lemmy.sdf.org 5d ago

Israel Bans Chinese Vehicles from Military Bases, Citing Espionage Fears.

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Hotznplotzn @lemmy.sdf.org 5d ago

Israel Bans Chinese Vehicles from Military Bases, Citing Espionage Fears.

Hotznplotzn @lemmy.sdf.org 5d ago

Just look at the linked website and you will see that literally all articles by this author echo the Chinese government's propaganda narratives without providing verifiable and independent sources (OP's post history has the same propaganda spin).

Xi Jinping has been advocating against social welfare on many occasions arguing that it would make people 'lazy.' It comes as no surprise that China's social system is far behind compared to European countries, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and many others. Inequality has also been rising in China in the last 10 years and is much higher than in all Western countries.

There is also ample evidence that China's future for a fairer social system is bleak under the current regime as social and health policies are heavily skewed toward the urban, formal, and state sectors. As one report says,

In a system devoid of free elections, and where agriculture and rural areas have only a weak bureaucratic voice, farmers and migrant workers have minimal political clout and remain politically inactive at the national level. Consequently, social and health policies are heavily skewed toward the urban, formal, and state sectors, which are the loudest, best connected, and most articulate groups in Chinese society.

This bias is perpetuated by a political regime that places a high premium on maintaining stability ... Autocratic leaders deliberately uphold a social welfare regime biased toward government officials and urban employees in the state sector and providing only limited social welfare to other urban dwellers and rural workers in the informal sector [...]

Looking forward, as economic growth slows and the burden of providing the necessary social services for the elderly mounts, the expansion of the Chinese welfare state is likely reaching its limits.

And this report highlights just one major weakness of China so-called welfare system. Framing China as a welfare state, even if just better than the US, is a very bad joke.

1

Hotznplotzn @lemmy.sdf.org 5d ago

Well at gunpoint to choose one to live in, I’d sure pick China without much pondering.

Really? When do you leave?

Just look at the linked website and you will see that literally all articles by this author echo the Chinese government's propaganda narratives without providing verifiable and independent sources (OP's post history has the same propaganda spin).

Xi Jinping has been advocating against social welfare on many occasions arguing that it would make people 'lazy.' It comes as no surprise that China's social system is far behind compared to European countries, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and many others. Inequality has also been rising in China in the last 10 years and is much higher than in all Western countries.

There is also ample evidence that China's future for a fairer social system is bleak under the current regime as social and health policies are heavily skewed toward the urban, formal, and state sectors. As one report says,

In a system devoid of free elections, and where agriculture and rural areas have only a weak bureaucratic voice, farmers and migrant workers have minimal political clout and remain politically inactive at the national level. Consequently, social and health policies are heavily skewed toward the urban, formal, and state sectors, which are the loudest, best connected, and most articulate groups in Chinese society.

This bias is perpetuated by a political regime that places a high premium on maintaining stability ... Autocratic leaders deliberately uphold a social welfare regime biased toward government officials and urban employees in the state sector and providing only limited social welfare to other urban dwellers and rural workers in the informal sector [...]

Looking forward, as economic growth slows and the burden of providing the necessary social services for the elderly mounts, the expansion of the Chinese welfare state is likely reaching its limits.

And this report highlights just one major weakness of China so-called welfare system. Framing China as a welfare state, even if just better than the US, is a very bad joke.

[Edit typo.]

Hotznplotzn @lemmy.sdf.org 5d ago

'Welcome to CHINA' greets Philippine officials on trip to disputed South China Sea

Philippine officials visit Thitu amid Chinese presence
Roaming message says "Welcome to CHINA"
Filipino fishermen say China stops them fishing best waters
China claims most of South China Sea despite 2016 Hague ruling

Hotznplotzn @lemmy.sdf.org 5d ago

'Welcome to CHINA' greets Philippine officials on trip to disputed South China Sea

Philippine officials visit Thitu amid Chinese presence
Roaming message says "Welcome to CHINA"
Filipino fishermen say China stops them fishing best waters
China claims most of South China Sea despite 2016 Hague ruling

Hotznplotzn @lemmy.sdf.org 6d ago

China has been ramping up its military budgets for three decades, and its aggressive behaviour against practically all its neighbours in the Indo-Pacific is well-knownI would say.

Hotznplotzn @lemmy.sdf.org 6d ago

NZ is an important and very stable part of the democratic world, so they can't be left out, and they certainly have a lot contribute to a long-lasting peace and stability and their region and beyond imo.

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Hotznplotzn @lemmy.sdf.org 6d ago

Maybe even PHAUJANZUS?

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Hotznplotzn @lemmy.sdf.org 6d ago

Asking whether China, Russia, or the US will be the biggest threat to Australia,

31% say China is the biggest threat
17% say it is the US
5% say Russia
31% say all three are equal

Using the Trumpean decline into a dictatorship to whitewash China's genocidal policies - by calling Xi a "stable dictator" or even calling China a reliable partner as it is often done - is odd to say the least.

In that respect the title is highly misleading, but it aligns with OP's spin of spreading pro-China authoritarian propaganda narratives as their post history shows.