Miscellaneous News

[manqiangrexue]

I'll have more to say about this later, but nothing of what I advocated is tyrannical or monstrous. You make it sound like I said China should go full Curtis LeMay if someone looked at it the wrong way. My entire argument is that China in the future should lower the threshold for the threat or use of force to include situations where vital but not strictly sovereignty-related interests were trampled on.

Was there some misunderstanding? Did you not advocate attacking or invading a country as they were acting within their sovereign rights? Because that's tyranny. But if not, then this argument is somewhere else and I don't know what you're saying. You can lay out your bottom line clearly here for what actions China can take on a Japan or Korea that will simply not break its military alliance with the US and we can go from there. My bottom line is to turn them into pariahs with broken economies, technologically inferior to the countries that follow China.

I am not going to derail the threat further.

It's hardly possible to derail the misc news thread.

All I am going to say you tunnel vision media and anime as only soft power. Those are rightfully laughable. There are more to soft powers. Reputation, prestige, and track record of being just is also very much soft power. I think you would agree with that. The same way hard power is not always about how many aircraft carriers you have.

Reputation/track record (depending on a reputation/track record of what), prestige are built with the successes achieved by hard power. The ability to break and remake alliances by economic, diplomatic and technological coercion, with a military to prevent interruptions to your success, are all hard power. Not turning into the exact kind of monster you wanted to destroy... that doesn't even qualify as any kind of power; it's just the normalcy of sanity and common decency.

 

[coolgod]

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Xi-Scholz talk highlights pragmatic cooperation

Win-win, meditating conflicts stressed as China-EU ties warm

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday held a video meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, during which he noted that China and Germany, both responsible major countries, should not only develop bilateral relations and serve as examples of win-win cooperation, but also defend the international order and multilateralism, and work together to address global challenges.

It is hoped that the German side will also adhere to a high level of openness toward Chinese enterprises seeking cooperation opportunities in Germany, Xi said.

Xi pointed out that to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the Ukraine crisis, it is necessary to think more deeply about security issues, adhere to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and promote the building of a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture.

Squeezing the security space of other countries and supporting one side while ignoring the legitimate demands of the other side will lead to regional imbalance and the expansion and escalation of conflicts, said Xi.

Looks like Scholz got a lecture, maybe the Europeans will think twice about launching a trade war with China.

Also can we stick on topic and discuss news instead.

 

[Chevalier]

There’s another tweet by Jackson Hinkler showing palestineans gathering the remains of palestinean children, and it real,y are just remains, bits and pieces of human beings, I can’t put it up because of the graphic gory nature of it but I came away with it, with such disgust at the barbarity of Israelis who, to this day, still justify their Genocide and war crimes.

The Israelis and their vassals in the west are hoping the world will forget, like they made the world forget Anglo atrocities.

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when this episode is over, I honestly believe Zionism should be treated as nazism is today. Outlawed and repressed.

 

[supercat]

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Israeli propaganda has changed tack and is now questioning the sincerity of people who object to the murder of Palestinians, they’re basically saying, “

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The other wars in which a large number of Muslims died were heavily contested by both sides and were prolonged. But in Gaza, the slaughter is utterly lopsided, on an industrial level, and occurred in a very short period of time.

and the second part to their tactic is that they say ”you’re not anti war, you’re just anti Israeli!!!”, and they shriek in pain as they strike you.

Instead of fighting hate crime, this bill would attempt to silence all students from expressing any negative sentiment against Israel.

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We only hate the Jewish regime, not the Jewish people! Oh yeah? You think you are being funny? No more free speech for your!

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1720470208895226151

Adrian Zenz is seething that Uyghurs are doing well, unlike those in Gaza.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1720444488420884611

China's economy is at an inflection point. Both change in outbound investment flow and trade with the Global South overtook those with the West.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1720378619229323266

It’s U.S. vs. China in an Increasingly Divided World Economy​

Trade and investment flows settle into new patterns around two rival power centers—with major risks​

China passed a significant milestone last fall: For the first time since its economic opening more than four decades ago, it traded more with developing countries than the U.S., Europe and Japan combined. It was one of the clearest signs yet that China and the West are going in different directions as tensions increase over trade, technology, security and other thorny issues.

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[Phead128]

Noooo of course not.

China asked SK not to allow the US to deploy it. They did, so China boycotted SK products. Samsung never recovered from that. China can go much further, even cutting off diplomatic relations with SK or arming NK and these would all be legitimate answers to a legitmate threat that SK caused, yet still acting within its sovereign rights. But what I was arguing against is the direct military invasion of SK being a legitimate response and my answer is no. As long as they stay within their sovereign rights, we have no right to invade or attack them.

The first answer should be yes, if you have a principled stance. Economic retaliation to a sovereign right to deploy non-lethal military assets is bullying and tyrannical.

Just because China reacted "proportionately" does not exempt them from bullying. Just because China didn't "kill" South Korea does not exempt them from bullying.

The key is, you aren't really consistent with your principled stance on what bullying is. It can be bullying without an invasion.

 

[ZeEa5KPul]

Did you not advocate attacking or invading a country as they were acting within their sovereign rights? Because that's tyranny.

I did, and I don't accept that as sufficient to constitute tyranny.

You can lay out your bottom line clearly here for what actions China can take on a Japan or Korea that will simply not break its military alliance with the US and we can go from there. My bottom line is to turn them into pariahs with broken economies, technologically inferior to the countries that follow China.

Sure. The bottom line is this.
Your position: China is within its rights to use any means up to military force to compel surrounding countries to sever military ties to the US.
My position: China is within its rights to use any means up to and including military force to compel surrounding countries to sever military ties to the US.

If your way works and they break their military alliance with the US, I'm perfectly fine with that. If not, you get off the bus and I take it one stop further.

 

[luminary]

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Stephen Chow, truly the theocratic Superstar of our time.

 

[A potato]

Noooo of course not.

China asked SK not to allow the US to deploy it. They did, so China boycotted SK products. Samsung never recovered from that. China can go much further, even cutting off diplomatic relations with SK or arming NK and these would all be legitimate answers to a legitmate threat that SK caused, yet still acting within its sovereign rights. But what I was arguing against is the direct military invasion of SK being a legitimate response and my answer is no. As long as they stay within their sovereign rights, we have no right to invade or attack them.

What Samsung and South Korea hears in their sleep. PVA veterans will be so proud.

 

[pmc]

I think it depends on where the conceptual line is drawn. If we only count armed force as being hard power then yes obviously soft power matters, but if we include the power to coerce other states via technology, trade, finance etc into the hard power category then I think it would be correct to say soft power is basically an academic meme.

you cannot separate armed force from soft power. when societies become wealthy it is hard to attract mentally and physically healthy recruits and it has become even more difficult post Covid. and than you need even more soft power to make armed force effective for prolong warfare.
5% of labor force is slashing GDP by 11%.

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[BoraTas]

My counter-conservative instincts scream me to condemn this. But I can't because it is based for some reason I don't grasp.