Ongoing Events in China

[ishiki]

Did you read what you quoted about the law? How do you think people would react if there were barriers in the US to black people marrying white people? Is there any controversy about English proficiency to graduate from US high schools? Where does it say they would be assimilated into Han culture? Was the US melting pot idea a Zionist plot?

I was trying not to go too deep into this topic, as it might not have fit this thread and could be viewed more as a language/culture thing in general. However, it seems that my idea of “oversharing isn’t caring” isn’t making the cut. Nonetheless it gives us the opportunity to interact with each other, so I am happy to share my thoughts and answer your questions. However, your reaction initially did come across hostile and a belittling, as it seems/feels that you made some assumptions about my view and how my opinion came to be, instead of asking to elaborate on them. I also don’t get your question about the US melting pot being a Zionist plot, so I won’t provide a substantive reaction to that.

Before I start I want to make sure we have a consensus on the definition of assimilation. According to the Cambrigde dictionary assimilation means: “the process of becoming a part, or making someone become a part, of a group, country, society, etc.”. It is a form of adaption and conformation to a group. For example, you start to work at a company and that company works with a project management tool you don’t want to use (for whatever reason). But not using it, would mean that the people you are working with cannot work with you efficiently and it will create friction in your work. In this case assimilation would be a good thing.

According to the above definition and explanation, China is forcefully assimilating existing cultures into their main culture, which is the Han culture. As shown on the map in my post, the Han culture correlates with the Mandarin language, which is a focus point in the article.

Reading between the lines, I hear you say you are a US citizen, or at least US biased. I am not. I grew up in the Netherlands in Western Europe and therefore have a different cultural background. What I tried to convey was that forceful assimilation of existing cultures in a main culture almost never goes without a sense of losing belonging and/or tragedy. The US had it’s own assimilation problems with the Native Americans who were first banned to specific regions, driven into poverty and later had to assimilate into the broader general American culture. It didn’t go well and (correct me if I am wrong) a lot of Native Americans have a negative view on the “white” people with power.

We also see internal conflicts when this happens. Like in Ukraine , Spain which banned the use of Catalan/Basque/Galician languages and symbols to force Castilian assimilation or the Anglicization of Ireland.

Also, your point of view that everybody has to speak the same language in a country does not hold up. There are many countries with more than one main language. Take Switzerland for example, they have four national languages (French, German, Italian and Romansh). Government officials are expected to write reports in their native language, which are being translated in some form or way and, apparently, it is expected that members of the council of States can at least speak German and French, so during debates no translation is being offered.

In the Netherlands we also had a period of ‘aggressive’ assimilation of regional cultures in the 1800s, when schooling became mandatory. Children all over the country had to learn the same language, which was done by replacing regional folklore with the stories of the great hero’s of the 1600s and a ban of the use Saxon dialect. This had an impact on rural regions which were already exploited due to their resources such as peat, coal or human labor. Even to this day people in these area’s tend to view the Hollanders (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht) negatively.

So with the above as a background story, Here is my answer:

Yes I did read what I quoted about the law. I did not focus on the whole marriage thing, because that law was already established during the 1950s. I do not think that there is any controversy about English proficiency to graduate from US High schools, as the US has a different cultural background as many different cultural people (but mostly from the Anglo-Saxon regions) came to US and they had to live to together, which led to cultural exchange and change in the main culture, it grew naturally. I also view that outsiders moving to a different country should learn the main the language and assimilate or at least adapt to the main culture. Based on the definition stated about, it is in my opinion assimilation.

 

[ishiki]

The US is busy in Iran and cannot protect Taiwan well at the same time.

I don't know how exactly how military operations and reassignments work, but I did read that some troops are being sent to the middle east including an F-35 plane. So the US is making some shifts, so the presence in the area is weakening.

China has Russian oil and gas, including pipelines from Siberia. Plus, Iran will probably allow Chinese ships to pass. Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and others are facing a much larger energy crisis.

I never really knew how much oil and gas they imported from Russia, so I checked it out. Is was around 15% of their import in 2024, which probably grew in 2025. Australia is also high on the list though as is UAE. So I am not so sure if they can safely pass through. But you are probably right about the surrounding countries facing bigger energy crises.

I guess we'll have to wait and see if China is indeed as powerful as they proclaim they are and/or wants Taiwan badly enough to take it by force. Apparently Taiwanese people wouldn't be very happy with a Chinese takeover as 58% of respondents to a survey conducted by The Institute of European and American Studies, "would be willing to resist a Chinese invasion “at all costs,” even if the US does not deploy forces to help."

 

[daddycat]

China is forcefully assimilating existing cultures into their main culture

How do you arrive at this assimilation conclusion. Is this that this law says Mandarin is to be included along with a minority language?

The US had it’s own assimilation problems with the Native Americans who were first banned to specific regions, driven into poverty and later had to assimilate into the broader general American culture. It didn’t go well and (correct me if I am wrong) a lot of Native Americans have a negative view on the “white” people with power.

Yes I did read what I quoted about the law. I did not focus on the whole marriage thing, because that law was already established during the 1950s. I do not think that there is any controversy about English proficiency to graduate from US High schools, as the US has a different cultural background as many different cultural people (but mostly from the Anglo-Saxon regions) came to US and they had to live to together, which led to cultural exchange and change in the main culture, it grew naturally. I also view that outsiders moving to a different country should learn the main the language and assimilate or at least adapt to the main culture. Based on the definition stated about, it is in my opinion assimilation.

So it was bad that the Native Americans were assimiliated by the conquerors, and now that the US conquerors are established, other people should assimilate with the US conquerors?

Wouldn't the same apply to China, that it was bad that the Chinese minorities were assimiliated by the Han conquerors, and now that the Han conquerors are established, other people should assimilate with the Han conquerors?

 

[daddycat]

The head of Taiwan’s Kuomintang KMT visited China's President in Beijing.

Xi tells Taiwan opposition leader people on both sides of strait are Chinese in rare meeting

Cheng Li-wun’s visit to Beijing has sparked controversy in Taiwan, with critics accusing her of being too close to China

www.theguardian.com

Xi tells Taiwan opposition leader people on both sides of strait are Chinese in rare meeting
Cheng Li-wun’s visit to Beijing has sparked controversy in Taiwan, with critics accusing her of being too close to China

Amy Hawkins in Beijing
Fri 10 Apr 2026 01.06 EDT

In a rare meeting with Taiwan’s opposition leader, China’s leader Xi Jinping declared people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are Chinese and want peace.

Friday’s meeting in Beijing between Xi and Cheng Li-wun, the chair of Taiwan’s Kuomintang (KMT), is the first such contact in a decade. The visit has sparked controversy in Taiwan, with Cheng’s critics accusing her of being too close to China, a country that many in Taiwan see as a threat.

Cheng has previously said that it is a “very natural thing” to identify as Chinese – a stance that is increasingly at odds with mainstream opinion in Taiwan where polling suggests that two-thirds of people see themselves as being primarily Taiwanese.

Meeting Xi in Beijing, Cheng said that Taiwan should “no longer be a flashpoint for potential conflict” and should instead become “a symbol of peace jointly safeguarded by Chinese people on both sides of the strait.”

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Cheng arrived in China on Tuesday and has visited several cities on her way to Beijing, including Nanjing, a former capital of China when it was ruled by the KMT before the Chinese Communist party (CCP) took power in 1949.

After their defeat by the CCP, the KMT fled to Taiwan. The self-governing island has since been the subject of intense debate between its local rulers and the CCP in Beijing, which claims it as part of Chinese territory.

The visit comes as China has increased military pressure around Taiwan. Xi sees “reunifying” China and Taiwan as an important part of his legacy and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve that aim.

Cheng, who was elected as KMT chair last year, is a divisive figure in Taiwan. She has advocated much closer ties with Beijing and has even been nicknamed by some Chinese internet users as the “goddess of unification”.

Taiwan’s last three elections have been won by the Democratic Progressive party (DPP), a pro-sovereignty outfit detested by Beijing. The CCP has particular disdain for Lai Ching-te, the DPP’s leader who was elected as Taiwan’s president in 2024. Chinese state media has portrayed Lai as a parasite being roasted over a flaming Taiwan.

Cheng has argued that Lai’s strained relationship with Beijing creates more risk for Taiwan than her approach.

Since the DPP took power in 2016, China has increased its military activity around Taiwan, including excursions that look like rehearsals for a blockade.

Before she departed for China, Cheng described her tour as a “peace trip” and said that it would show “the sincerity and determination of the Chinese Communist party to engage in peaceful dialogue and exchanges across the Taiwan Strait”.

The trip comes at a time when Taiwan’s domestic politics is bogged down in a quagmire over a $40bn special defence budget that Lai’s party is trying to push through the legislature. Opposition parties including the KMT have blocked the budget, saying that it is too big and too vague.

Cheng has denied accusations from the DPP that her party tried to block the budget ahead of her meeting with Xi. The KMT has proposed a smaller special defence budget of $12bn that is focused on specific military items approved for sale by the US.

In hosting Cheng, Beijing “seeks to cast doubt in Taiwan over the Lai administration’s focus on self-defence and to strengthen voices in Taiwan calling for closer cross-strait ties. Beijing seeks to keep Taiwan divided over the question of how best to secure its future,” said Amanda Hsiao, China director at the Eurasia Group thinktank.

Hsiao added that growing scepticism of the US in Taiwan may bolster Cheng’s argument that the KMT, which leans towards Beijing more than Washington, is better equipped to maintain cross-strait peace.

China strongly objects to US arms sales to Taiwan. Xi told US president Donald Trump in a phone call in February to be “prudent” about such deals.

William Yang, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, said that China hoped to use Cheng’s meeting with Xi “to show Trump that its ally in Taiwan is in lockstep with Beijing” when it comes to key policies. Beijing could “potentially use this impression to influence Trump’s position on US arms sales to Taiwan, which is one of the major issues that Xi will likely put on the table when the two leaders meet,” Yang said.

Xi and Trump are expected to meet in Beijing next month in a highly anticipated summit that was delayed from April because of the war in Iran.

Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Taiwan, and a former US defence official responsible for China and Taiwan, said that Cheng’s position does not represent the majority viewpoint in Taiwan. Taiwanese people “are clear that the source of military threats is not emanating from the DPP or President Lai. It’s emanating from Beijing,” Thompson said.

Additional research by Yu-chen Li and Lillian Yang