Miscellaneous News

Nevermore said:

What are you referring to? Is there any new information?

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News recently emerges suggesting that US will buy out 80% of Tiktok USA and also Tiktok's branding rights, Bytedance will only retain 20%, these conditions are pretty much close to confirmation according to every major news outlet. My opinion is that this deal is absolutely not acceptable as tiktok is a rare piece of Chinese soft power remaining that is this wide reaching and influential, and should be considered invaluable.

BillRamengod said:

Who are you exactly?

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I am just a commentor like you and I have every right as anyone here to discuss and give my opinions on current events.

Funny how so many of you guys like to upvote my comments when it is agreeable, but the moment you see something you don't like to hear then you guys aggressively want me to stfu. Should this forum just be an echo chamber of toxic positivity??? Please refrain from making such comments again. I only make logical and rational comments strictly pertaining to current events and never resort to personal attacks like some of you guys here.

Expert1324 said:

ABSOLUTELY disagree with the tiktok deal!!!

It should never be sold, I don't care if they are going to ban it. Tiktok should remain 100% under bytedance and nothing less.

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Why? Suppose there is no Trump and Bytedance sinencerely want to sell its shares in Tiktok to get a big fat profit, who are you to forbid that? You are just a mirrored version of Trump.

Expert1324 said:

This is huge blunder on our part.

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It is only your personal opinion. There is no "our", you should not equate your own desire with anybody else. Chinese government's only concern is the ownership of the algorithm, nothing else.

What you are doing is like "strawman tactic" or "Trumpian winning", set up, impose your own goal on China, then attack China for not meeting your goal, so China can be presented as always loosing.

Expert1324 said:

News recently emerges suggesting that US will buy out 80% of Tiktok USA and also Tiktok's branding rights, Bytedance will only retain 20%, these conditions are pretty much close to confirmation according to every major news outlet. My opinion is that this deal is absolutely not acceptable as tiktok is a rare piece of Chinese soft power remaining that is this wide reaching and influential, and should be considered invaluable.

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Try to think about this a little differently.

The US can ban Tiktok inside its borders or buy a license for it from Bytedance. They have been trying to force Bytedance to sell outright, and that is not happening. At the same time, Trump cannot afford to ban the app, as we have plainly seen.

From what we know/understand about the current deal, it seems that the idea is to spinoff a Tiktok USA version exclusively for the US, and have the company/joint venture license a version of Tiktok's algorithm from Bytedance.

This means that globally Tiktok will continue being a Bytedance product, and the company will retain full ownership and control of its algorithm. The licensed fork for the US market will be under separate control, and may or may not get updates from the main branch depending on the exact licensing deal.

We will have to see how this unfolds, but this sounds like the best possible compromise for everyone really. A rare win-win, not a zero sum game.

Expert1324 said:

News recently emerges suggesting that US will buy out 80% of Tiktok USA and also Tiktok's branding rights, Bytedance will only retain 20%, these conditions are pretty much close to confirmation according to every major news outlet. My opinion is that this deal is absolutely not acceptable as tiktok is a rare piece of Chinese soft power remaining that is this wide reaching and influential, and should be considered invaluable.

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I am just a commentor like you and I have every right as anyone here to discuss and give my opinions on current events.

Funny how so many of you guys like to upvote my comments when it is agreeable, but the moment you see something you don't like to hear then you guys aggressively want me to stfu. Should this forum just be an echo chamber of toxic positivity??? Please refrain from making such comments again. I only make logical and rational comments strictly pertaining to current events and never resort to personal attacks like some of you guys here.

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The branding rights question is key. Do they only get the branding rights in the US or globally as TikTok?

If they get it only in the US it is an absolute loss for them as everyone will know TikTok US is the knockoff version and original TikTok is still global. They'd also have to actively block Americans from jumping ship from the censored TikTok USA to alternatives.

If they get the global branding rights that is far worse.

zyklon said:

In the 1980s and 1990s — at the explicit direction of then French President Francois Mitterrand — French domestic intelligence surveilled and intimidated reporters and publishers to protect Mitterrand's long term mistress Anne Pingeot and their daughter from public exposure.

View attachment 161069
Francois Mitterrand with his long term mistress Anne Pingeot

Even though the existence of his "second family" was very much an open secret, President Mitterrand wanted to shield his loved ones from the indecencies of media attention. He wanted his daughter to grow up with some sense of normalcy and privacy, or whatever would be feasible for the child of a head of state.

In 2025, sitting French First Lady Brigitte Macron — wife and

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of French President Emmanuel Macron — is literally exposing herself to a foreign court to silence a black American conspiracy theorist and right wing internet pundit named Candace Owens accusing her of transgenderism.

Emmanuel Macron being "taught" by his wife Brigitte Macron

Not sure just where "things went wrong" for France, but a man who is unable to protect his woman from such absurd public indecency is clearly incapable of protecting or governing a country.

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Brigitte is truly the J-10C of First Ladies - might be a bit outdated by guaranteed to deliver the slap when it is necessary.

Dante80 said:

At the same time, Trump cannot afford to ban the app, as we have plainly seen.

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This is my main issue here. I am also of the same view as you that Trump does not ultimately dare to ban Tiktok and he will fold in the end, this is also supported by his actions and his deliberate silence when asked about the Tiktok ban. He knows that banning TikTok would be hugely unpopular among the public and also very detrimental to his own propaganda objectives. He knows the immense value Tikok brings even if not under his direct control. This is why I believe that even if a sale is not possible, and he is forced to choose between "banning tiktok outright" and "let's silently forget about this issue", he would rather choose the latter.

This means that this deal does not necessarily needs to be done and China still can fully preserve its most successful soft power asset it has. And an asset that is this influential is something extremely hard to replicate.

Dante80 said:

We will have to see how this unfolds, but this sounds like the best possible compromise for everyone really. A rare win-win, not a zero sum game.

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Agreed and this is indeed not the worst possible outcome, but as I explained, a "fully win - not win" outcome is quite achievable imo.

FairAndUnbiased said:

The branding rights question is key. Do they only get the branding rights in the US or globally as TikTok?

If they get it only in the US it is an absolute loss for them as everyone will know TikTok US is the knockoff version and original TikTok is still global. They'd also have to actively block Americans from jumping ship from the censored TikTok USA to alternatives.

If they get the global branding rights that is far worse.

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fully agreed, we can only wait and see. but I do hope that the deal does not go through, and trump pause another 90 days until the next administration.

Expert1324 said:

This is my main issue here. I am also of the same view as you that Trump does not ultimately dare to ban Tiktok and he will fold in the end, this is also supported by his actions and his deliberate silence when asked about the Tiktok ban. He knows that banning TikTok would be hugely unpopular among the public and also very detrimental to his own propaganda objectives. He knows the immense value Tikok brings even if not under his direct control. This is why I believe that even if a sale is not possible, and he is forced to choose between "banning tiktok outright" and "let's silently forget about this issue", he would rather choose the latter.

This means that this deal does not necessarily needs to be done and China still can fully preserve its most successful soft power asset it has. And an asset that is this influential is something extremely hard to replicate.


Agreed and this is indeed not the worst possible outcome, but as I explained, a "fully win - not win" outcome is quite achievable imo.



fully agreed, we can only wait and see. but I do hope that the deal does not go through, and trump pause another 90 days until the next administration.

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quietly forgetting about it is a constitutional crisis though, since TikTok ban is a federal law passed by US Congress. It would mean that the president can ignore any law that is inconvenient to enforce.

There's no win here other than scaring Bytedance into an unfair sale. Ban, fair sale or forgetting are all losses.

zyklon said:

In the 1980s and 1990s — at the explicit direction of then French President Francois Mitterrand — French domestic intelligence surveilled and intimidated reporters and publishers to protect Mitterrand's long term mistress Anne Pingeot and their daughter from public exposure.

View attachment 161069
Francois Mitterrand with his long term mistress Anne Pingeot

Even though the existence of his "second family" was very much an open secret, President Mitterrand wanted to shield his loved ones from the indecencies of media attention. He wanted his daughter to grow up with some sense of normalcy and privacy, or whatever would be feasible for the child of a head of state.

In 2025, sitting French First Lady Brigitte Macron — wife and

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

of French President Emmanuel Macron — is literally exposing herself to a foreign court to silence a black American conspiracy theorist and right wing internet pundit named Candace Owens accusing her of transgenderism.

Emmanuel Macron being "taught" by his wife Brigitte Macron

Not sure just where "things went wrong" for France, but a man who is unable to protect his woman from such absurd public indecency is clearly incapable of protecting or governing a country.

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I already posted in this thread but i guess this soft power is not easy to understand. Things were already wrong when MBS bought this property in 2017. It means he had comprehensive understanding of France (these are New Generation of Royals.) and this further interaction enable him to expel France from Africa and make it even poorer. They do alot of Programmes on there main stream media.

AndrewJ said:

Seems someone is desperate now...

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1968549803463180319

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That Cohen buffoon still don't know that it's a well known fact by now that the genocide in Gaza is real and the "genocide" in Xinjiang is completely trumped up.

Yup, it's a good thing, and China's Ambassador to the EU asked some good questions.

How many more innocent lives must be lost before a ceasefire can be achieved in Gaza?

How many more tragedies will it take before humanitarian aid can flow unimpeded?

How much longer do we have to wait before the Security Council the US regime fulfills its responsibilities?

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Trump to Add New $100,000 Fee for H-1B Visas in Latest Crackdown​

• President Donald Trump is expected to sign a proclamation to overhaul the H-1B visa program, requiring a $100,000 fee for applications.
• The proclamation restricts entry under the H-1B program unless accompanied by the payment and asserts that abuse of the H-1B pathway has displaced US workers.
• Trump also plans to order the Labor Secretary to revise prevailing-wage levels for the H-1B program to limit the use of visas to undercut wages that would otherwise be paid to American workers.

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The US regime refused to issue visas for Palestinian leaders.

taxiya said:

It is only your personal opinion.

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I've always said these are my personal opinions.

taxiya said:

There is no "our", you should not equate your own desire with anybody else. Chinese government's only concern is the ownership of the algorithm, nothing else.

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Nope, you got it all wrong.

Chinese government's only concern is to serve and expand China's own national interest, and an ownership of the Tiktok algorithm by sacrificing Tiktok as a soft power asset is just one of the methods to achieve this. And I do not have to agree with this method or agree that this is the best method that will bring the best outcome.

Also, my desire as a chinese fully aligns with the chinese government's concerns as I had pointed out above, so who are you to say there is no "we"?

taxiya said:

Why? Suppose there is no Trump and Bytedance sinencerely want to sell its shares in Tiktok to get a big fat profit, who are you to forbid that? You are just a mirrored version of Trump.

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You are just inventing a completely illogical and irrational scenario just for the sake of arguing. Why can't you just stick to the discussion of the topic in good faith?

Can you tell me why in a million years would profits ever be a prime consideration here for a Chinese made software that is arguably the most influential soft-power asset the world has ever seen? Do you even believe what you said is logical?

taxiya said:

What you are doing is like "strawman tactic" or "Trumpian winning", set up, impose your own goal on China, then attack China for not meeting your goal, so China can be presented as always loosing.

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Again, another completely groundless assumption and personal attacks about me. Can you stop this? Notice how I am still strictly discussing about this News and refuse to detract the argument to personal attacks. This is a low move.

If you are still going to continue the baseless assumptions and insult of others, then this will be my last reply to you. I am only here to seek a productive and genuine discussion of current events, like what I did with others.