Miscellaneous News

H2O · Jul 6, 2023

emblem21 said:
Amazing at the sheer self righteousness of these replies on twitter, they can continue all they want but in the new world, these westerners will eventually find themselves at the bottom of the food chain and one day will eventually cry for the days they have freedom to mouth off like the uneducated shits they are. Cause when they finally start receiving the very same treatment that the Jews received at the hands of the Nazis, they will not have any where near the same amount of arrogance they have now.

I'd be very careful about many of the online comments made on various social media platforms. I was reading about one account that used AI generated pictures to give the audience the sense of authenticity. Various selfies were made and posted under the account in question. Yes, there are genuine 'asshats' out there and some of them are just 'trolling' for kicks.

And then there are government sponsored NGO's and actual government departments such as UK's 77th Brigade where Wired magazine described the brigade as a:

"psychological operations unit responsible for 'non-lethal' warfare that reportedly uses social media to "control the narrative", as well as disseminating UK government-friendly podcasts and videos".

It's going to be difficult moving forward as technology gets better at mimicking an individual where even photo-realistic videos can be auto-generated to fool the masses. Look no further than that Ukrainian General (forget his name) where a short clip posted on Twitter showing him standing there blinking but not saying a word. Many astute observers noted how that video clip was similar to those AI generated clips of bringing an old photo "back to life"; those black and white photos taken from last century.

I hope many here have hear of Adobe's little project several years back about auto-generating your voice based on a few short real samples of your voice. AND since governments have endless recordings of our voices stored in some data center, it's going to be difficult to separate fact from fiction. LET THAT SINK IN.

See below for details for one example:

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Matt Shuham
Wed, July 5, 2023

The supposedly “proud Democrat” that had become a favorite punching bag for right-wingers on Twitter is probably a fake account.

The account, “@ericareport” or “Erica Marsh,” which described itself as a “proud Democrat” in its bio and had racked up more than 130,000 followers, was suspended on Twitter recently amid suspicions about its authenticity.

Before anyone says I'm a liberal shill or whatever, those on the political "Left" can also do the same.

Biscuits · Jul 6, 2023

Bellum_Romanum said:
The authorities in China ought to examine what's going on here and why are these people choosing to leave the country opting for desperate measures to reach the U.S.

Is the economy in China that bad? The people in the countryside this idiotic, gullible and believe the news that America is still the land of milk and honey? The scammers who are also Chinese providing false hope and luxurious lifestyles to these hapless people only to realize that they're nothing but dishwashers and laborers adding to the already porous labour workforce in America? Or is the situation a combination of the above?

Simple answer: These are nearly all fake news, US is pushing the narrative hard, but even their domestic audience isn't really buying.

Last they they "repurposed" the photos of some Chinese backpackers that weren't even travelling anywhere close to USA.

So this is almost certainly something else again. Maybe a complete fabrication, or other types of migrants "repurposed" as supposedly Chinese.

The easiest route by far from China to US is plane. The visas are inexpensive and fast. Put it this way: it is extremely easy for Chinese to enter America vs for Indians to enter America, yet you haven't ever seen news of even a single Indian taking the "land route".

So that is all you need to read into these "news".

KYli · Jul 6, 2023

Witchhunter12 said:
And just a few weeks ago, I was getting an earful for suggesting that some Chinese expats in America despite geopolitical tensions may not necessarily feel like going back to China is worth it for the moment, due to the differences in living standards, economic situation, and career oppurtunities.

Oh please, another attempt by you to spread nonsense. The truth is 80% to 90% of mainland Chinese went back to China after getting their degrees or getting some jobs experience which is totally different from a decade or two ago when many of them would stay and work in the US and going back isn't an option.

Your refusal to accept this simple fact causing you to argue otherwise. Geopolitical tensions, racism and glass ceiling and even crimes all have great impact on why so many returned. It is not to say that there is anything wrong for many who decide to stay and raise their family in the West. But your attempt to belittle China and those returnees are unfair and unjustified and despicable. You made your choice and they made their.

coolgod · Jul 6, 2023

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My Plan to Preserve Peace in the Taiwan Strait

As Beijing ratchets up military and economic tensions, we can never take our democracy for granted.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1676765596942467072

God speed Mr.Lai, China's reunification by 2027 rests on your shoulders.

vincent · Jul 6, 2023

Witchhunter12 said:
And just a few weeks ago, I was getting an earful for suggesting that some Chinese expats in America despite geopolitical tensions may not necessarily feel like going back to China is worth it for the moment, due to the differences in living standards, economic situation, and career oppurtunities.

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Stierlitz · Jul 6, 2023

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Kuomintang (KMT) presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) said he is not against the government’s plan to extend compulsory military service to one year on Tuesday (July 4), just two days after he said he would keep it at four months if elected president in 2024.

Hou said his main objection was to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) “3+1” system, which allows university students to complete their undergraduate studies and military service in four years, per UDN. Taiwanese students commonly take four years to complete bachelor’s degrees.

Hou said that once he had achieved peaceful cross-strait relations, then Taiwan would return to four months' compulsory military service. He also said the U.S. is Taiwan’s strongest ally, and that he would continue to strengthen national defense through U.S. arms purchases if elected president.

Hou said he would roll back the planned extension to military service during a TV interview on Monday. President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) announced the planned increase in December 2022 and said Taiwanese men born after 2005 will be required to serve in the military for one year starting from January 2024, up from the current four months.

Recent polling from a government-funded military think tank shows high levels of public support for the extension of military service. Hou is polling third in the presidential race, behind Ko Wen-je (賴清德) and Lai Ching-te (賴清德).

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KYli · Jul 6, 2023

Bellum_Romanum said:
The authorities in China ought to examine what's going on here and why are these people choosing to leave the country opting for desperate measures to reach the U.S.

Is the economy in China that bad? The people in the countryside this idiotic, gullible and believe the news that America is still the land of milk and honey? The scammers who are also Chinese providing false hope and luxurious lifestyles to these hapless people only to realize that they're nothing but dishwashers and laborers adding to the already porous labour workforce in America? Or is the situation a combination of the above?

I don't think this is that big of a problem. Before the pandemic, tens of thousands of Chinese illegal immigrants got smuggled to the US or a few EU nations for making money. It isn't something new. A decade ago, people from Fujian would pay tens of thousands to smuggle to the US. People from Wenzhou would go to EU or the US working for their relatives. As much as China has grow prosper, hardworking people can still earn a few times more in the US than in China through hard labor that require working 6 days a week and 12 hours a day.

There are hundreds of thousands of mainland Chinese that are working and living in the African and Latin American and many of them operate supermarkets in these countries. Chinese are all over the world and trying to get rich and taking risk and difficult jobs or risky business ventures. Many of them are not legal residents in these countries.

The only difference this time is that Douyin has instructed and inspired a bunch of naivete and morons to try their luck through this new way of traveling to the US. There are 3 main groups of people that took this journey. Political dissenters that want to leave China no matter what. Naive people that blindly believing that they could get rich easily in the US, and traditional illegal immigrants that take this route to save money.

The first group even if they can't stand the living standards in the US won't return to China due to the political reason. The second group has mostly returned to China. The third group is hardworking people that have expected the hardship and came here to make good money and their staying or returning depending on circumstance and opportunity.

Relative to its population, illegal Chinese immigrants are small number compare with many other countries. The reason there is so much coverage of this topic is solely to embarrass and humiliate the Chinese government and China.

I have posted a few articles about how two 50 plus years old couple that left their relative comfortable jobs in China and traveled to the US and couldn't face the hardship and fled from the US only DAYS after arrival. There was a young construction worker that was inspired by Douyin fairy tale and quit his job thinking he has little to lose but found out that living in the US is even difficult for people like him and left after a month. People are much more stupid than you think.

FairAndUnbiased · Jul 6, 2023

KYli said:
I don't think this is that big of a problem. Before the pandemic, tens of thousands of Chinese illegal immigrants got smuggled to the US or a few EU nations for making money. It isn't something new. A decade ago, people from Fujian would pay tens of thousands to smuggle to the US. People from Wenzhou would go to EU or the US working for their relatives. As much as China has grow prosper, hardworking people can still earn a few times more in the US than in China through hard labor that require working 6 days a week and 12 hours a day.

There are hundreds of thousands of mainland Chinese that are working and living in the African and Latin American and many of them operate supermarkets in these countries. Chinese are all over the world and trying to get rich and taking risk and difficult jobs or risky business ventures. Many of them are not legal residents in these countries.

The only difference this time is that Douyin has instructed and inspired a bunch of naivete and morons to try their luck through this new way of traveling to the US. There are 3 main groups of people that took this journey. Political dissenters that want to leave China no matter what. Naive people that blindly believing that they could get rich easily in the US, and traditional illegal immigrants that take this route to save money.

The first group even if they can't stand the living standards in the US won't return to China due to the political reason. The second group has mostly returned to China. The third group is hardworking people that have expected the hardship and came here to make good money and their staying or returning depending on circumstance and opportunity.

Relative to its population, illegal Chinese immigrants are small number compare with many other countries. The reason there is so much coverage of this topic is solely to embarrass and humiliate the Chinese government and China.

I have posted a few articles about how two 50 plus years old couple that left their relative comfortable jobs in China and traveled to the US and couldn't face the hardship and fled from the US only DAYS after arrival. There was a young construction worker that was inspired by Douyin fairy tale and quit his job thinking he has little to lose but found out that living in the US is even difficult for people like him and left after a month. People are much more stupid than you think.

there was even a guy who legally immigrated to New Zealand, got fired from his job within 1 week, and took his anger out on other Chinese in an axe attack.

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supersnoop · Jul 6, 2023

supercat said:
The reality on the ground in Taiwan is totally different from the delusion of America's neoconservatives.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1676685974129213447

What a difference a year makes.
Last year these Kuma and Forward Alliance guys were braying about the bravery of Ukrainians in the face of the Russians and how they will teach Taiwanese to be the same.

Now we find Taiwanese are questioning the point of bravely defending a pile of rubble that used to be your home. I guess it’s better to die fighting for “freedom a democracy” than living in the aftermath?

FairAndUnbiased · Jul 6, 2023

Witchhunter12 said:
Okay, what's the issue here then?

How am I belittling China? By pointing out statistics that the government themselves put out that the economic recovery from zero COVID and the private sector crackdown is losing steam, and that unemployment is high?

As for the returnees? In neither my OP nor any of the messages that followed afterwards, did I talk negatively of people who decided to rerturn to Mainland China. And if you're referring to that one user who accused me of labeling returnees as "losers," I already addressed it so need to go into that.

Be that as it may, none of this detracts from the issue raised in the OP I was responding to today, from a user who is willing to admit now, that there are economic difficulties in Mainland China and to hope the government can fix it.

this you?