Ongoing Events in China

Foreign ministers of China, Japan, South Korea to hold talks amid trade, history tensions
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attend the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ East Asia Summit Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand August 2, 2019. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

Top diplomats of South Korea and Japan plan to meet their Chinese counterpart in Beijing next week amid a flare-up in tension over trade and history, Seoul's foreign ministry said on Friday.

Amid crises, frayed U.S. ties give China's Xi political cover at home
FILE PHOTO: China's President Xi Jinping waits ahead of their bilateral meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump  during the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

To the outside world, China's ruling Communist Party - faced with an expanding trade war crimping an already slowing economy and spiraling protests in Hong Kong - is confronting some of its strongest political and economic headwinds in decades.

China warns it could quell Hong Kong protesters; Trump urges Xi to meet them
Servicemen walk past military vehicles in the parking area of the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center in Shenzhen across the bay from Hong Kong, China August 16, 2019.  REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Hong Kong braced for more mass protests over the weekend, even as China warned it could use its power to quell demonstrations and U.S. President Donald Trump urged his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, to meet with the protesters to defuse weeks of tensions.

Hong Kong on brink of recession as trade war, political protests escalate
FILE PHOTO: A general view of the financial Central district in Hong Kong, China July 25, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu /File Photo

Hong Kong is on the verge of its first recession in a decade as increasingly violent anti-government protests scare off tourists and bite into retail sales in one of the world's most popular shopping destinations.

Trump says does not want to see a violent crackdown by China in Hong Kong
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One at Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, New Jersey U.S. August 15, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would not want to see China violently suppressing protesters in Hong Kong and that President Xi Jinping could resolve the situation quickly if he met personally with protest leaders.
 
Trump, Trudeau discussed developments in Hong Kong, Canadians held in China
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., June 20, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau discussed the Hong Kong protests and the ongoing detention of two Canadians by the Chinese government, a statement from Trudeau's office said on Friday.

Kazakh advocate of Muslim rights in China set free in plea bargain
FILE PHOTO: Kazakh rights activist Serikzhan Bilash walks outside a courthouse in Almaty, Kazakhstan, February 13, 2019.  REUTERS/Mariya Gordeyeva/File Photo

A Kazakh rights activist who campaigned against the detention of ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims in special camps in China has pleaded guilty to a hate speech charge in exchange for securing his freedom, his lawyer said on Saturday.

Building set on fire in protest against China's CNPC in Peru
A building in a northern Peruvian town was set on fire on Friday in a protest against China National Petroleum Corp that devolved into clashes between police and demonstrators who want the company to make pledges to help the local community, an industry source said.

Hong Kongers stage more anti-government protests, braving storms
Teachers protest against the extradition bill during a rally organised by Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union in Hong Kong, China August 17, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

Thousands of Hong Kongers including many teachers took part in more anti-government rallies on Saturday, braving thunderstorms to march past shops shuttered due to growing concern that police could adopt tougher tactics to drive activists from the streets.

Cathay CEO resigns amid Hong Kong protest blowback as more rallies planned
Protesters attend a Stand With Hong Kong, Power to the People Rally at the Chater Garden, in Hong Kong, China August 16, 2019. REUTERS/Ann Wang
The boss of Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific Airways quit on Friday, the highest-profile corporate casualty of unrest roiling the former British colony, after Beijing targeted the airline over staff involvement in mass protests.

Democratic and Republican lawmakers back $8 billion F-16 sale to Taiwan
FILE PHOTO: A U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter taking part in the U.S.-led Saber Strike exercise flies over Estonia June 6, 2018. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/File Photo

Congress should move quickly with an $8 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan as the self-ruled island faces pressure from China's increased military presence in the region, leading U.S. Democratic and Republican lawmakers said on Friday.
 
I find it disturbing that apart from angelburst29, until now there are only two others who have responded to this thread. Yeah there's a lot going on in the world right now. But why the silence?

China claims to be a peaceful country, but inters its own citizens in 're-education' camps. If that's how it treats its own people, why would they treat foreigners better?
 
China claims to be a peaceful country, but inters its own citizens in 're-education' camps. If that's how it treats its own people, why would they treat foreigners better?

Could it be that you missed the pretty apparent circumstance that US/Israeli interests have repeatedly engaged in efforts of regime change of the "color revolution" type in other countries all around the globe (open wars for "freedom" not even mentioned here) and that the latest events around Hong Kong/China seem to follow that exact same old pattern/script? If you haven't missed that, wouldn't you think it would be worthwhile to at least seriously question everything you think you know about China? It is easy to judge things and circumstances in a black and white manner, but it is harder to look at things as they are, keeping the specific circumstances, histories and nuances in mind. I think it is none of the business of anyone else than the Chinese people to handle what is happening in their country. Let the Chinese handle their business. Period.

I think interference has proven without a shadow of a doubt to be rather detrimental for all involved no matter how "good" the reasons behind it might appear. The point is not really "how China treats people" but the fact that other interests/countries think they have the right to impose their "morals" and "democratic values" on other countries such as China. Haven't we learned, without a shadow of a doubt, that this inevitable leads too much more chaos and suffering in the end, no matter how "justified" the reasons for the "outrage" and "humane interference" might have been in some cases? So, wouldn't it then also be logical for westerners to first and foremost bring their own house in order by questioning their own politics and leadership before engaging in hypocritical criticisms of other countries and systems and what "they should do"? Apparently though, for many people it isn't. So I'm curious, have you thought about why it is that you seem to be so concerned about "China" and the "Chinese people"? Could it be that a lot of it is based on what the media (be it mainstream or alternative) have said over the years "about China"?

China claims to be a peaceful country...

When was the last time China attacked another country or thought it had the right to impose their morals and habits on other countries? How does that record compare to a long list of "peaceful western countries" headed by the US/Israel? Notice a difference? If so, shouldn't that at least lead to serious reevaluations of your own thinking and motives behind your "concern" about the Chinese people?

Yeah there's a lot going on in the world right now.

Can you give us a summary of what you think is going on right now?
 
When was the last time China attacked another country or thought it had the right to impose their morals and habits on other countries?

Indeed, when was the last time. It's like the Tiananmen Square shenanigans, although presented to the world in the usual ways in the headlines, until years later the other story starts coming out from the journalists who peppered their original stories (or their editors did) to suit the imperial narrative of the day.

From SOTT:

The Tiananmen Square 'Massacre' - Facts, Fiction and Propaganda

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Matthew Ehret writes on Color Revolutions - in this newest (and old) case, China, yet not all revolutions, although they are interconnected at source.

A few years ago, very few people understood the concept behind color revolutions.

Had Russia and China’s leadership not decided to unite in solidarity in 2012 when they began vetoing the overthrow of Bashar al Assad in Syria- followed by their alliance around the Belt and Road Initiative, then it is doubtful that the color revolution concept would be as well-known as it has become today.

At that time, Russia and China realized that they had no choice but to go on the counter offensive, since the regime change operations and colour revolutions orchestrated by such organizations as the CIA-affiliated National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and Soros Open Society Foundations were ultimately designed to target them as those rose, orange, green or yellow revolution efforts in Georgia, Ukraine, Iran or Hong Kong were always recognized as weak points on the periphery of the threatened formation of a great power alliance of sovereign Eurasian nations that would have the collective power to challenge the power of the Anglo-American elite based in London and Wall Street.

Russia’s 2015 expulsion of 12 major conduits of color revolution included Soros’ Open Society Foundation as well as the NED was a powerful calling out of the enemy with the Foreign Ministry calling them “a threat to the foundations of Russia’s Constitutional order and national security”. This resulted in such fanatical calls by George Soros for a $50 billion fund to counteract Russia’s interference in defense of Ukraine’s democracy. Apparently the $5 billion spent by the NED in Ukraine was not nearly enough (1).

In spite of the light falling upon these cockroaches, NED and Open Society operations continued in full force focusing on the weakest links the Grand Chessboard unleashing what has become known as a “strategy of tension”. Venezuela, Kashmir, Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjian (dubbed East Turkistan by NED) have all been targeted in recent years with millions of NED dollars pouring into separatist groups, labour unions, student movements and fake news “opinion shapers” under the guise of “democracy building”. $1.7 million in grants was spent by NED in Hong Kong since 2017 which was a significant increase from their $400 000 spent to coordinate the failed “Occupy HK” protest in 2014.

The Case of China

In response to over two months of controlled chaos, the Chinese government has kept a remarkably restrained posture, allowing the Hong Kong authorities to manage the situation with their police deprived of use of lethal weapons and even giving into the protestors’ demand that the changes to the extradition treaty that nominally sparked this mess be annulled. In spite of this patient tone, the rioters who have run havoc on airports and public buildings have created lists of demands that are all but impossible for mainland China to meet including 1) an “independent committee to investigate the abuses of Chinese authorities”, 2) for china to stop referring to rioters as “rioters”, 3) for all charges against rioters to be dropped, and 4) universal suffrage- including candidates promoting independence or rejoining the British Empire.

As violence continues to grow, and as it has become an increasing reality that some form of intervention from the mainland may occur to restore order, the British Foreign Office has taken an aggressive tone threatening China with “severe consequences” unless “a fully independent investigation” into police Brutality were permitted. The former Colonial Governor of China Christopher Patten attacked China by saying “Since president Xi has been in office, there’s been a crackdown on dissent and dissidents everywhere, the party has been in control of everything”.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry responded saying “the UK has no sovereign jurisdiction or right of supervision over Hong Kong… it is simply wrong for the British Government to exert pressure. The Chinese side seriously urges the UK to stop its interference in China’s internal affairs and stop making random and inflammatory accusations on Hong Kong.”

The British have not been able to conduct their manipulation of Hong Kong without the vital role of America’s NGO dirty ops, and in true imperial fashion, the political class from both sides of the aisle have attacked China with Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell and Nancy Pelosi making the loudest noise driving the American House Foreign Affairs Committee to threatenuniversal condemnation and swift consequences” if Beijing intervenes. This has only made the photographs of Julie Eadeh, the head of Political Office at the American Consulate in Hong Kong meeting with leaders of the Hong Kong demonstrations that much more disgusting to any onlooker.
While both Britain and America have been caught red handed organizing this colour revolution, it is important to keep in mind who is controlling who.

The Foreign Origins of the NED

Contrary to popular opinion, the British Empire did not go away after WWII, nor did it hand over the “keys to the kingdom” to America. It didn’t even become America’s Junior Partner in a new Anglo-American special relationship. Contrary to popular belief, it stayed in the drivers’ seat.

The post WWII order was largely shaped by a British coup which didn’t take over America without a fight. Nests of Oxford-trained Rhodes Scholars, Fabians and other ideologues embedded within the American establishment had a lot of work ahead of them as they struggled to purge all nationalist impulses from the American intelligence community. While the most aggressive purging of patriotic Americans from the intelligence community occurred during the dissolution of the OSS and creation of CIA in 1947 and the Communist witch hunt that followed, there were other purges that were less well known.

As an organization which was beginning to take form which was to become known as the Trilateral Commission organized by Britain’s “hand in America” called the Council on Foreign Relations and international Bilderberg Group, another purge occurred in 1970 under the direction of James Schlesinger during his six month stint as CIA director. At that time 1000 top CIA officials deemed “unfit” were fired. This was followed nine years later as another 800 were fired under a list drafted by CIA “spymaster” Ted Shackley. Both Schlesinger and Shackley were high level Trilateral Commission members who took part in the group’s 1973 formation and fully took power of America during Jimmy Carter’s 1977-1981 presidency which unleashed a dystopian reorganization of American foreign and internal policy outlined in my previous report.

Project Democracy Takes Over

By the 1970s, the CIA’s dirty hand funding anarchist operations both within America and abroad had become too well known as media coverage of their dirty operations at home and abroad spoiled the patriotic image which the intelligence community then desired. While the internal resistance to fascist behaviour from within the intelligence Community itself was dealt with through purges, the reality was that a new agency had to be created to take over those functions of covert destabilization of foreign governments.

What became Project Democracy herein originated with a Trilateral Commission meeting in May 31, 1975 in Kyoto Japan as a protégé of Trilateral Commission director Zbigniew Brzezinski named Samuel (Clash of Civilizations) Huntington delivered the results of his Task Force on the Governability of Democracies. This project was supervised by Schlesinger and Brzezinski and presented the notion that democracies could not function adequately in the crisis conditions which the Trilateral Commission was preparing to impose onto America and the world through a process dubbed “the Controlled Disintegration of Society”.

The Huntington report featured at the Trilateral meeting stated: “One might consider… means of securing support and resources from foundations, business corporations, labor unions, political parties, civic associations, and, where possible and appropriate, governmental agencies for the creation of an institute for the strengthening of democratic institutions.”

It took 4 years for this blueprint to become reality. In 1979 three Trilateral Commission members named William Brock (RNC Chairman), Charles Manatt (DNC Chairman) and George Agree (head of Freedom House) established an organization called the American Political Foundation (APF) which attempted to fulfil the objective laid out by Huntington in 1975.

The APF was used to set up a program using federal funds called the Democracy Program which issued an interim report “The Commitment to Democracy” which said: “No theme requires more sustained attention in our time than the necessity for strengthening the future chances of democratic societies in a world that remains predominantly unfree or partially fettered by repressive governments. … There has never been a comprehensive structure for a non-governmental effort through which the resources of America’s pluralistic constituencies . .. could be mobilized effectively.”

In May 1981, Henry Kissinger who had replaced Brzezinski as head of the Trilateral Commission and had many operatives planted around President Reagan, gave a speech at Britain’s Chatham House (the controlling hand behind the Council on Foreign Relations) where he described his work as Secretary of State saying that the British “became a participant in internal American deliberations, to a degree probably never practiced between sovereign nations… In my White House incarnation then, I kept the British Foreign Office better informed and more closely engaged than I did the American State Department… It was symptomatic”. In his speech, Kissinger outlined the battle between Churchill vs FDR during WWII and made the point that he favored the Churchill worldview for the post war world (And ironically also that of Prince Metternich who ran the Congress of Vienna that snuffed out democratic movements across Europe in 1815).

In June 1982, Reagan’s Westminster Palace speech officially inaugurated the NED and by November 1983, the National Endowment for Democracy Act was passed bringing this new covert organization into reality with $31 million of funding under four subsidiary organizations (AFL-CIO Free Trade Union Institute, The US Chamber of Commerce’s Center for International Private Enterprise, the International Republican Institute and the International Democratic Institute) (2).

Throughout the 1980s, this organization went to work managing Iran-Contra, destabilizing Soviet states and unleashing the first “official” modern color revolution in the form of the Yellow revolution that ousted Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos. Speaking more candidly than usual, NED President David Ignatius said in 1991 “a lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA”.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the NED was instrumental in bringing former Warsaw Pact nations into NATO/WTO system and the New World Order was announced by Bush Sr. and Kissinger- both of whom were rewarded with knighthoods for their service to the Crown in 1992 and 1995 respectively.

Of course, the vast web of NGOs permeating the geopolitical terrain can only be effective as long as no one says the truth and “names the game”. The very act of calling out their nefarious motives renders them impotent and this simple fact has made the recently announced China-Russia arrangement to formulate a proper strategic response to color revolutions so important in the current fight.
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(1) Undoubtedly President Trump’s gutting of NED funding by two thirds in 2018 only re-enforced Soros’ accusations that Putin is the guiding hand in America while pouring millions into anti-Trump regime change operations in America. While neocons such as Bolton, Pompeo and Senate leader Mitch Mcconnell have taken a hardline stance against China in support of the color revolution, it should be noted that Trump has continuously taken an opposite line Tweeting on August 14 that “China is not our problem” and that “the problem is with the FED”.
(2) At the beginning of 1984, a similar re-organization had occurred in Canada under the guidance of Privy Council Clerk/Trilateral Commission member Michael Pitfield who created CSIS when the RCMP’s “dirty operations” during the FLQ crisis were made known in a series of newspaper reports.

Edit: added link/fixed text
 
MikeJoseph82 said:
China claims to be a peaceful country, but inters its own citizens in 're-education' camps. If that's how it treats its own people, why would they treat foreigners better?
Could it be that you missed the pretty apparent circumstance that US/Israeli interests have repeatedly engaged in efforts of regime change of the "color revolution" type in other countries all around the globe (open wars for "freedom" not even mentioned here) and that the latest events around Hong Kong/China seem to follow that exact same old pattern/script?
Indeed, and that's why I decided not to spend much time on it. In the past, I have written hundreds of posts about the whole Ukraine business, all the ins and outs over a few years, mostly in the first three years (2014-2017), if you go to the thread you will see some are still posting, and I occasionally do. In the process of getting to know this one situation in details, I became intensely familiar with all the suffering of people, still going on, and all the similarities to other "revolutions" Libya, Egypt, Syria, Iran, Venezuela, Yugoslavia, --- the NGO connections, how they are connected, who controls them and on it goes. If anyone is out of ideas of how to do unconventional or irregular warfare then download a manual: and add the knowledge available about all the possibilities for influencing the minds of people that are not mentioned in the manual. China is perhaps not mentioned, but does it fit? Apart from all the actors with an agenda for power and money, there are sometimes forces or even people that just like to see suffering, because that is where they get their nourishment.
 
I find it disturbing that apart from angelburst29, until now there are only two others who have responded to this thread. Yeah there's a lot going on in the world right now. But why the silence?

China claims to be a peaceful country, but inters its own citizens in 're-education' camps. If that's how it treats its own people, why would they treat foreigners better?

You'll find the 're-education' camps discussed here. In short, they're not the kind of 'reeducation' camps your post seems to imply. And, while there are frequent articles regarding China on SOTT, the one posted below seems to be a worthwhile read providing insight into the mindset of the Chinese. There are also links at the end of the article by informed and more objective journalists should you wish to do anymore reading:

Chinese exceptionalism: Morality, not law, is sacrosanct


George Yeo
South China Morning Post
Sun, 04 Aug 2019 13:25 UTC






chinese calligraphy
© Shutterstock
Two thousand years ago, with only loose translations available, it was difficult to employ the rule of law.

The following is an edited excerpt from a speech given by Yeo to a school in Singapore
Rudyard Kipling said in his famous ballad: "East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet." Whether we like it or not, the twain are meeting again, and creating and opening a new chapter in history. When we read about the trade war and Huawei, and we read about the anti-China - and increasingly anti-Chinese - sentiment in the United States, one recalls Kipling's famous line. But for him the East was not China. For him East was South Asia, where he spent many years of his life.

For my address this morning, I would like to confine the East to the realm of the "chopsticks people". There is a reason for this. There is a coherence to the culture of the chopsticks people.

It is not possible to understand the history of Vietnam, Korea or Japan without reference to the great drama on the Chinese mainland. Japan was the first to peel off from the Asian mainland to address the challenge of Western imperialism. By the time of the second opium war, any Japanese ship landing on the Asian mainland would be inspected by the Europeans, probably a Briton, and Japan knew it was only a matter of time before she would suffer the same humiliation.

Japan
© Reuters
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga unveils 'Reiwa' as the name of the new emperor's era. For the first time, Japan decided not to draw the name from the Chinese classics, but from an ancient Japanese poem.
This led to the Meiji Restoration and a top-to-bottom overhaul of Japanese society to the point where she became an imperial power ravaging the Chinese mainland. But when we read about the quarrels between Japan and Korea, the roots are in the encounters of East and West.

This year, when the new Japanese emperor ascended the throne, the Japanese had to find a title for his reign. This is an old Chinese tradition. Historically the reign titles have composed of two characters drawn from the Chinese classics. But for the first time they decided not to draw from the Chinese classics, but from an ancient Japanese poem. They chose the characters ling he, or reiwa . Ling has a double meaning. The ordinary meaning is of course "to order", but they have said: "No, that's not the meaning. The meaning is beautiful."

This is an obscure meaning and is how they interpret it. This is Japanese culture - the chopsticks people can instinctively understand this double meaning - which they like.

Shinzo
© Reuters
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will from now on be known as Abe Shinzo. Japan is 're-Asianising'.
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At about the same time, an instruction was sent out that henceforward, instead of calling the prime minister Shinzo Abe, he would be called Abe Shinzo. As a result of the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese decided to go Western and inverted when they dealt with the world outside, but he will now be Abe Shinzo. Japan is therefore re-Asianising, but is very conscious that in the process, it should not become a satellite of China. This is a long process. You find equivalent processes happening in Korea - North and South - and in Vietnam.

But to understand all these things, we have to understand China.

Governing by law vs etiquette

The reason the May Fourth Movement happened was because there was such deep inertia in Chinese society. That period from the opium wars to Taiping Tian Guo (the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom regime) and Xinhai Geming (Xinhai Revolution of 1911) - all the way to the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution, and finally, Deng Xiaoping and now Xi Jinping - it is the greatest revolution in human history. It is the greatest revolution because the Chinese people are the most homogeneous among human beings on Earth. And this is the result of centuries of social evolution.

If you are small, the change can come quickly. If you are big, it takes a long time to change internal systems.
Each of us has a brain, and the brain is probably the most complex assembly of molecules, of atoms, in the known universe.

And our ability to create civilisation is because we have a collective brain, which means we are networked together to one another and to our history, to our ancestors. These operating systems linking us all together are our culture.

Artificial intelligence (AI) may be able to replicate what goes on in an individual brain. But I don't see AI replicating what is in the collective brain because the collective brain is much more complicated.

What is it about Chinese civilisation that gives it its homogeneity? China today is over 90 per cent Han - and has been for a long time. Is this because Chinese empires were not able to colonise neighbouring countries, incorporate them and therefore reduce the Han proportion? That's not the reason.

The reason is something that happened 2,000 years ago when Emperor Qin Shihuang, by force, united the Warring States. It was a system based on legalist principles, ruled by strict laws. It was so tough that the Qin dynasty did not survive his son. People were happy to get rid of him, and for a long time after that, until the modern era, he was cursed - for burying scholars, for destroying ancient books, for his brutality and vulgarity.

Governing by law vs etiquette

The Han, when they took over, decided on a different organising principle of Chinese society based on
li - li mao de li [politeness and etiquette].

[British biochemist, historian and sinologist] Joseph Needham once wrote that it is not that China had no law, no legislation, but in fact, if you look at history, China had a greater corpus of legislation than the Western world.

But in China, when it comes to the emperor, does the emperor decide on the basis of fa [law] or li? It has to be on the basis of li.

So fa can be an instrument, a way of regulating large numbers, but ultimate decisions, especially ultimate moral decisions, are based on li. This is very different to the Western world.

Many of us watched the hearing confirming Brett Kavanaugh as the Supreme Court justice in the US. It was almost a struggle to the death.

Kavanaugh
© AP
Brett Kavanaugh.
Today [Donald] Trump has appointed two conservative Supreme Court judges. If he appoints one or two more - if he gets a second term - the final interpretation of law in the US will be fixed for the next few decades. In a sense, this is much more important than any congressional or presidential election in shaping the direction and evolution of US society in this century.

But these are the rules, and the Americans fight according to the rules. Like hell. So Robert Mueller, the "four horsewomen of the apocalypse" [congresswomen Ayanna Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar], impeachment exercises - in the end everything goes back to the law.

The chopsticks people view all this with a combination of disdain, astonishment and awe. How could a system operate like this? How could the leader of a country be subject to all these pressures and still be in a position to govern?

This almost punctilious adherence to legal principles is quite alien to the chopsticks people. For them, for the Chinese, you have got to look at the overall picture.
Should you or should you not? If you should, then you find a way to do it.

The advent of paper and parallels with modern tech


So East is East, and West is West. And why has this been so enduring?

I've been mulling over this for a long time and one reason is paper technology. The Chinese had paper for over 2,000 years. According to the books, it was Cai Lun [who invented paper], but the Chinese probably had earlier forms of paper before that.

Paper required ink. Ink was based on carbon black. Carbon black is made from soot. The particles are nano-sized, and the ability to spread the soot on the paper using water was a complex process. But it enabled the Chinese to store data and to manipulate data on a scale and volume unmatched by anybody else.

The Chinese had this advantage for centuries. It was only after the eighth century, after a big war in Central Asia, when the Tang army was defeated by the Abbasid army, when Chinese prisoners were captured and paper technology went to the Islamic world. Within a short time, paper mills were established in Bukhara, Damascus and Baghdad.

This transformed Islamic civilisation, and eventually it was the Muslim scholars who brought the classics from Greece through Muslim Spain into Europe, and that began the process of European revival.

You know, today when we read about Huawei, they want to deny Huawei the use of Android. Android is not just an operating system but it also means all the apps which are latched onto Android.

They say the Android ARM's central processing unit architecture is proprietary and can be denied to China. It may take China a few years to overcome these setbacks.

Language and control

But you can imagine, China had an advantage in paper for centuries. The programmers back then were the scholars because they were able to master the brush, which requires years of education. The brightest people were chosen by examination to be the software experts and they kept detailed records.

I've been stealing time the last two weeks to watch a video on my iPad. It is called The Longest Day in Changan and is right now all the rage in China. It will be China's No 1 drama this year.

It is about one day in Changan [in Shaanxi province] during the Tang dynasty. It combines drama with intrigue. But the care with which the makers were accurate to the history, the architecture, the dress, the food, the behaviour of the people, the make-up, is fascinating. But the aspect which fascinated me the most was the record-keeping in Changan, and who had access to those records and the database. All control in the end came to this - who had control over the database.

China had this advantage, and whether by design or by accident, a writing system which was not phonetic. If a language is phonetic, then the words change all the time. It is very difficult to read [Geoffrey] Chaucer as the English of the time was different because the pronunciations have since changed. But Chinese characters are digitalised. The icon has a fixed value.

The context might have changed, the meaning in context might have changed, but you can read a character and you know its meaning. For whatever reason, this has created a very cohesive civilisation, very conscious of itself, very conscious of what is within and without, and a civilisation wanting to keep the outside away so they can nurture what is within.


Comment: This is in marked contrast with the West, where insight is extremely rare. On the other hand, the West conquered, developed, changed almost everything 'without'. Even out into space!


Moral systems and the rise and fall of empires

It was the church - the Jesuits, when they went to China and wanted to convert China - who began to interpret China for the West, and they were astonished by the fact that China had a moral system without religion. In the West, they were looking for moral systems without religion because the encroachment of the church on all aspects of society was too tight.

So this led to the Protestant Reformation, it led to the Thirty Years' War, and finally, intellectuals like [French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher] Voltaire, who found in China a system that could operate morally without religion. This inspired a new generation of idealists [wanting to do away] with the church, away with clericalism - a new Western society. China helped to lay the basis of the French Revolution. But this removal of religion from European society is now creating new issues.

In America - which was founded a few years before the French Revolution - religion is still a very important part of society, and the big struggle in America today is between secularists and those who are believers in one religion or another. It is complex, I'm just simplifying, but in Europe today, if you go to the churches, they are mostly empty, and secularisation is creating a new age of confusion in Europe, but that's a different story.

What I want to conclude with is to say that as the I Ching [Book of Changes, an ancient Chinese divination text] teaches us, there are cycles within cycles. China may be on the way up today. One day it will peak, one day it will decline. Europe may be struggling now, but one day it will recover and come up again. The US is also going through a cyclical change.

There must be a humility in whatever stage of the cycle we are in - particularly if we are up, one day we will be down.
When we have that humility and see in another person an identity with a history like our own, who has his good points and his own wisdom from which I can learn and benefit, then we will have a better world.
About the author

George Yeo is a former Singaporean minister for foreign affairs, and is the chairman and executive director of Kerry Logistics Network. This is an edited excerpt from a speech given by Yeo at the Hwa Chong Institution, an independent school in Singapore



Comment: You get a sense of the longevity and cohesiveness of China when you consider that the modern designation of 'Han Chinese' as the dominant ethnic sub-group is in fact a 2,000-year-old political designation. 'Han' is not an ethnicity, just as someone resident in the EU today is not an 'EUan'. 'Han' can refer to any number of the many ethnicities who were united under the Han dynasty - and have substantially remained united ever since.

China is really a two-millennia-old 'United States of East Asia'.

See also:
 
I find it disturbing that apart from angelburst29, until now there are only two others who have responded to this thread. Yeah there's a lot going on in the world right now. But why the silence?

China claims to be a peaceful country, but inters its own citizens in 're-education' camps. If that's how it treats its own people, why would they treat foreigners better?

I for one follow this thread regularly since I live in Taiwan and it’s interesting to see what others think of the situation in the region. In the past I’ve probably been more concerned about earthquakes than the 2000 Chinese missiles pointed my way. Since the KMT (pro China party) lost power, China’s tone towards Taiwan has changed a lot. Due to Chinese pressure Taiwan has lost diplomatic allies, there has been increasing pressure on international companies to stop referring to the island as it’s own country, Taiwan and rather as a state of China. The concern I harbor is not for myself, I’m a foreigner and if China invades I get to escape. It’s my friends, students, colleagues and neighbors that I think about. The majority of them think of Taiwan as their country but they rarely speak of independence because peace and stability for their families is more important than independence. This is changing with the youth though, all they’ve ever known is democracy and they’re becoming more vocal about standing up to China. It’s such a weird and complicated situation and for outsiders to just read media articles and think they have a grasp of what’s really going on is merely scraping the surface of the truth. I’ve lived here 12 years and I’m still confused.
 
China's State Council calls for Shenzhen integration with Hong Kong, Macau
FILE PHOTO:Chinese paramilitary vehicles are parked at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center in Shenzhen near the border with Hong Kong, China August 18, 2019. REUTERS/Martin Pollard

China's State Council has called for greater development of the southern city of Shenzhen and the integration of its culture and economy with neighboring Hong Kong and Macau.

Chinese embassy tells Canada to stop meddling in Hong Kong affairs
FILE PHOTO: Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland at a news conference following a meeting with Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, August 6, 2019.  REUTERS/Moe Doiron/File Photo

China's embassy in Ottawa warned Canada on Sunday to stop meddling in Hong Kong affairs a day after the country issued a joint statement with the European Union in defense of the "fundamental right of assembly" for Hong Kong citizens.

Hong Kong protesters throng streets peacefully in pouring rain
Anti-extradition bill protesters march to demand democracy and political reforms, in Hong Kong, China, August 18, 2019. REUTERS/Aly Song

Hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters rallied peacefully in Hong Kong on Sunday, filling major thoroughfares under torrential downpours in the eleventh week of what have been often violent demonstrations in the Asian financial hub.

Hong Kong readies for further protests after huge, peaceful rally
Riot police officers detain an anti-extradition bill protester during a demonstration in Tsim Sha Tsui neighbourhood in Hong Kong, China, August 11, 2019. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Hong Kong is gearing up for further protests this week after hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators braved heavy rain to rally peacefully on Sunday, marking a change to what have often been violent clashes.
 
Pence urges China to respect Hong Kong laws amid protest
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Vice President Mike Pence gestures to supporters at a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Cincinnati, Ohio. U.S., August 1, 2019.   REUTERS/Bryan Woolston

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence urged China on Monday to respect the integrity of Hong Kong's laws and repeated President Donald Trump's warning that it would be harder for Washington to make a trade deal with Beijing if there was violence in the former British territory

Washington cannot influence China's decisions on Hong Kong: Global Times tabloid
The United States cannot influence China's decisions in handling the situation in Hong Kong, China's influential state-controlled tabloid Global Times said late on Monday.

Twitter, Facebook accuse China of using fake accounts to undermine Hong Kong protests
FILE PHOTO: A 3D-printed logo for Twitter is seen in this picture illustration made in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina on January 26, 2016.  REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Twitter Inc <TWTR.N> and Facebook Inc <FB.O> said on Monday they had dismantled a state-backed information operation originating in mainland China that sought to undermine protests in Hong Kong.

Factbox: Track Facebook's fight against disinformation campaigns in 2019
FILE PHOTO: Stickers bearing the Facebook logo are pictured at Facebook Inc's F8 developers conference in San Jose, California, U.S., April 30, 2019.  REUTERS/Stephen Lam

Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc said on Monday they had dismantled a state-backed information operation originating in mainland China that sought to undermine protests in Hong Kong.
 
Could it be that you missed the pretty apparent circumstance that US/Israeli interests have repeatedly engaged in efforts of regime change of the "color revolution" type in other countries all around the globe (open wars for "freedom" not even mentioned here) and that the latest events around Hong Kong/China seem to follow that exact same old pattern/script? If you haven't missed that, wouldn't you think it would be worthwhile to at least seriously question everything you think you know about China? It is easy to judge things and circumstances in a black and white manner, but it is harder to look at things as they are, keeping the specific circumstances, histories and nuances in mind. I think it is none of the business of anyone else than the Chinese people to handle what is happening in their country. Let the Chinese handle their business. Period.

Yeah I did consider those things; living in Hong Kong in the late 2000s was also helpful in understanding and experiencing that part of the world, and from a different perspective.


When was the last time China attacked another country or thought it had the right to impose their morals and habits on other countries? How does that record compare to a long list of "peaceful western countries" headed by the US/Israel? Notice a difference? If so, shouldn't that at least lead to serious reevaluations of your own thinking and motives behind your "concern" about the Chinese

It'd be hard to find any country in the world that doesn't attempt to engage in malicious clandestine activities. The definition of attack is broader in the digital age.

You'll find the 're-education' camps discussed here. In short, they're not the kind of 'reeducation' camps your post seems to imply. And, while there are frequent articles regarding China on SOTT, the one posted below seems to be a worthwhile read providing insight into the mindset of the Chinese. There are also links at the end of the article by informed and more objective journalists should you wish to do anymore reading:


Great, thanks for the links.
 
Britain concerned at reports HK consulate worker held in China
Britain said on Tuesday it was extremely concerned by reports that a staff member at the consulate in its former colony of Hong Kong had been detained in mainland China. Megan Revell reports.

Britain said on Tuesday it was "extremely concerned" by reports that a staff member at the consulate in its former colony of Hong Kong had been detained in mainland China.


Hong Kong leader says she hopes non-violent protest puts city on road to peace
Embattled Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday she hopes a non-violent weekend protest that saw hundreds of thousands take to the streets in an anti-government rally was the beginning of efforts to restore peace in the Chinese-ruled city.

People in protest-hit Hong Kong eye Malaysia's second-home program
FILE PHOTO: A view of the Kuala Lumpur city skyline in Malaysia February 7, 2018. REUTERS/Lai Seng Sin

A Malaysian program to attract wealthy foreigners to live in the Southeast Asian nation has drawn 251 applications from Hong Kong residents this year, compared with 193 approved last year from the Chinese-ruled city, a government official said.

Hong Kong leader says dialogue and 'mutual respect' offer way out of chaos
Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam holds a news conference in Hong Kong, China, August 20, 2019. REUTERS/Ann Wang

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday she hoped a peaceful weekend anti-government protest was the start of efforts to restore calm and that talks with non-violent protesters would provide "a way out" for the Chinese-ruled city.
 
On Reddit.com, you can ask questions of any kind and see what people are saying.

The question here is: Men and women who served in the military - what’s the biggest misconception of war?

I want to share the following answer:

That all these stories you read online about the Chinese ships getting super aggressive with US ships in the south China sea are mostly bullshit. I’ve seen us tease/ poke and prod the Chinese Navy over bridge to bridge radio until they start to get aggressive. We get within 12 nautical miles of their coast in the name of ‘’freedom of navigation’’, and then act super surprised when they get mad about it. We also didn’t even sign the agreement mandating freedom of navigation that the Chinese signed, then act like they’re somehow evil for it. I don’t support the Chinese government, their style of government, or their policies, but we start shit with them CONSTANTLY and we should just leave well enough alone

Moreover, morale seems pretty low under US service men. Not only that, what is the real reason nowadays why people sign up?

According to my retired Marine co-worker: The majority of people sign up because it’s a practically guaranteed job, or they want benefits, or they want a college grant, not to serve their country

With a US color revolution under way, I'm starting to wonder what side the US Military will take if any.
 
U.S. warship sails in disputed South China Sea amid trade tensions
FILE PHOTO: The USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG-108) Arleigh Burke-class Destroyer sits docked in San Diego, California, April 12, 2015. REUTERS/Louis Nastro/File Photo

A U.S. Navy destroyer sailed near islands claimed by China in the South China Sea on Wednesday, the U.S. military said, a move likely to anger Beijing at a time of rising tensions between the world's two largest economies.

The busy waterway is one of a growing number of flashpoints in the U.S.-Chinese relationship, which include an escalating trade war, American sanctions on China’s military and U.S. relations with Taiwan. Reuters reported on Tuesday that China had denied a request for a U.S. Navy warship to visit the Chinese port city of Qingdao.

The U.S. Navy vessel Wayne E. Meyer, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, carried out the operation, traveling within 12 nautical miles (14 miles/22 km) of Fiery Cross and Mischief Reefs, Commander Reann Mommsen, a spokeswoman for the Japan-based U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet, told Reuters.

The operation was conducted “to challenge excessive maritime claims and preserve access to the waterways as governed by international law,” Mommsen added.

The U.S. military operation comes amid an increasingly bitter trade war between China and the United States that sharply escalated on Friday, with both sides leveling more tariffs on each other’s exports.

The U.S. military has a long-standing position that its operations are carried out worldwide, including areas claimed by allies, and are separate from political considerations.

China and the United States have traded barbs in the past over what Washington has said is Beijing’s militarization of the South China Sea by building military installations on artificial islands and reefs.

China’s claims in the South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes each year, are contested by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

China has called its construction as necessary for self-defense and has said the United States is responsible for ratcheting up tensions by sending warships and military planes close to islands that Beijing claims.

China’s 2019 defense spending will rise 7.5 percent from 2018, according to a budget report. Its military build-up has raised concerns among neighbors and Western allies, particularly with China becoming more assertive in territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas and over Taiwan, a self-ruled territory Beijing claims as its own.

The U.S. military last year put countering China, along with Russia, at the center of a new national defense strategy, shifting priorities after more than a decade and a half of focusing on the fight against Islamist militants.

In addition, Vice President Mike Pence, in a visit to Iceland next week, will have talks about “incursions” into the Arctic Circle by China and Russia, a senior Trump administration official said on Wednesday.

Slideshow (2 Images)
U.S. warship sails in disputed South China Sea amid trade tensions

Exclusive: China denies Qingdao port visit for U.S. warship amid tensions
FILE PHOTO - Trucks transport containers at a port in Qingdao, Shandong province, China July 11, 2019.  REUTERS/Stringer

China has denied a request for a U.S. Navy warship to visit the Chinese port city of Qingdao in recent days, a U.S. defense official told Reuters on Tuesday, at a time of tense ties between the world's two largest economies

Pence, in visit to Iceland, to discuss 'incursions' into Arctic Circle by China, Russia: official
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Vice President Mike Pence gestures to supporters at a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Cincinnati, Ohio. U.S., August 1, 2019.   REUTERS/Bryan Woolston

Vice President Mike Pence, in a visit to Iceland next week, will have talks about 'incursions' into the Arctic Circle by China and Russia, a senior Trump administration official said on Wednesday.

As maritime rows resurface, Duterte readies to raise ruling with China
FILE PHOTO: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping before the meeting at the Great Hall of People in Beijing, China on April 25, 2019.  Kenzaburo Fukuhara/Pool via REUTERS

When Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte visits China this week, he'll need to salvage something from a "pivot" to Beijing that has left him empty-handed, and exposed his neighbors to a new level of brinkmanship in the South China Sea.

Chinese-owned nickel plant spills waste into Papua New Guinea bay
Waste from a nickel plant in Papua New Guinea owned by Metallurgical Corporation of China is seen in the waters of the adjacent Basamuk Bay, according to Reuters sources, in Basamuk, Mandang, Papua New Guinea August 24, 2019 in this picture obtained from social media. Picture taken August 24, 2019. NIGEL UYAM /via REUTERS      THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.

Waste from a nickel plant in Papua New Guinea owned by Metallurgical Corporation of China spilled into the adjacent Basamuk Bay over the weekend, three sources told Reuters on Wednesday.
 
After long gap, China's ruling elite to gather for October conclave
FILE PHOTO: Party members are reflected on a party emblem of the Communist Party of China (CPC) as they gather to attend a weekly group study at Tidal Star Group's party activity room in Beijing, China, February 25, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Top officials of China's ruling Communist Party will hold a key meeting in October to discuss improving governance and "perfecting" the country's socialist system, state media said on Friday, more than a year after the last was held.

China denies credentials to Wall Street Journal reporter
China has not renewed journalist's credentials for a reporter of the Wall Street Journal, the newspaper's parent company said on Friday, effectively kicking him out of the country.

China, Japan, South Korea to step up cultural ties despite rows
The culture and tourism ministers of South Korea, Japan and China agreed on Friday to step up cultural, sports and people-to-people exchanges despite tensions over trade and their shared history.

Senior Chinese diplomat to visit North Korea next week
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) listens to Minister for the Office of the State Counsellor of Myanmar Kyaw Tint Swe (not pictured) at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China August 27, 2019. How Hwee Young/Pool via REUTERS

The Chinese government's top diplomat, State Councilor Wang Yi, will visit North Korea next week, the foreign ministry said on Friday, at a time of international concern about a series of missile launches and tests by Pyongyang.

Chinese troops in Hong Kong won't 'sit on hands' if situation worsens: China Daily
Troops are seen by a row of over a dozen army jeeps at the Shek Kong military base of People's Liberation Army (PLA) in New Territories, Hong Kong, China August 29, 2019.  REUTERS/Staff

Chinese soldiers stationed in Hong Kong are not there merely for symbolic purposes and they will have "no reason to sit on their hands" if the situation in the city worsens, an editorial in the China Daily newspaper said on Friday.

China says troops will defend Hong Kong's prosperity ahead of planned pro-democracy march
Troops are seen at the Shek Kong military base of People's Liberation Army (PLA) in New Territories, Hong Kong, China August 29, 2019. REUTERS/Staff

China brought fresh troops into Hong Kong on Thursday in what it described as a routine rotation of the garrison, days before protesters planned to hold a march calling for full democracy for the Chinese-ruled city after three months of demonstrations.

No need yet for Hong Kong to use emergency powers: senior parliamentary official
An injured demonstrator reacts as he is detained during a protest outside a police station in Hong Kong, China August 29, 2019. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

Hong Kong is a long way from having to declare emergency powers or to ask the Chinese military to intervene, a senior official with China's parliament and pro-Beijing Hong Kong politician told Reuters, as months of protests show no sign of abating.

Exclusive: Amid crisis, China rejected Hong Kong plan to appease protesters - sources
A Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldier guards the entrance to the PLA Hong Kong Garrison headquarters in the Central Business District in Hong Kong, China, August 29, 2019. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis

Earlier this summer, Carrie Lam, the chief executive of Hong Kong, submitted a report to Beijing that assessed protesters' five key demands and found that withdrawing a contentious extradition bill could help defuse the mounting political crisis in the territory.

Hong Kong activists arrested including Joshua Wong in crackdown on protests
Pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow leave the Eastern Court after being released on bail in Hong Kong, China August 30, 2019. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis
Hong Kong police arrested a number of prominent pro-democracy activists including Joshua Wong and three lawmakers on Friday, seeking to rein in protests that have plunged the city into its worst political crisis for decades.

Exclusive: Messaging app Telegram moves to protect identity of Hong Kong protesters
FILE PHOTO: Protesters check their phones as they take part in a protest inside the Yuen Long MTR station, the scene of an attack by suspected triad gang members a month ago, in Yuen Long, New Territories, Hong Kong, China August 21, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

Telegram, a popular encrypted messaging app, will allow users to cloak their telephone numbers to safeguard Hong Kong protesters against monitoring by authorities, according to a person with direct knowledge of the effort.

Hong Kong police fire tear gas as march turns into violent chaos
Smoke engulfs a street after anti-extradition bill demonstrators set a barricade on fire during a protest in Hong Kong, China, August 31, 2019. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis

Hong Kong police fired tear gas and water cannon on Saturday and pro-democracy protesters threw petrol bombs in the latest in a series of chaotic clashes that have plunged the Chinese-ruled city into its worst political crisis in decades.

American Firms in China Say Trade War Hurting Their Business
Most US companies operating in China say they've been hurt by the trade war between the world's two biggest economies but do not plan to exit the profitable Chinese market, according to a new survey by a prominent lobby group for US multinationals.

Some 81 percent of American companies reported being affected by trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, up from 73 percent last year, the US-China Business Council (USCBC) said in its annual survey, World News reported.

Nearly half of US companies, or 49 percent, say they've lost sales because of tariffs China has imposed on US products in retaliation for American import taxes, said the trade group, which represents more than 220 US companies ranging from Boeing to Archer Daniels Midland and Hewlett Packard.

“While no mass exodus from China is expected, continued tensions in the US-China relationship, an unlevel playing field, and simmering retaliatory actions by Chinese authorities against American companies are creating an increasingly uncertain commercial environment,” the group added.
 
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