But factually speaking, just about every government on the planet is bad. I spent years of research and travel finding the right one to move to - there are not a lot of good choices. In fact only lesser evils. China is definitely one of the bad ones. China might conduct itself well in terms of foreign policy (again, outside of the Taiwan issue), but internally they run a police state. I have actually been to Tibet. Internet access there is HIGHLY CENSORED, much more so than Beijing and Shanghai where they were quiet open (at least prior to Xi, I cannot say after that). I can assume it is the same in the Muslim regions. In Llasa they have this big square dedicated to the Chinese Government that the people there ACTIVELY AVOID they hate the government so much. The people there locally joke about the Panchen Lama is a government stooge (they had a specific epithet, but I forgot it), because basically the choice is all but determined by the CCP.
See imathatis' links on this. In order to understand Tibet, I think you need the historical context.
As it so happens, I also was in Tibet, and lived in China for one year. I came away with a complete different view from yours. The locals were not hostile towards the Han, and they were perfectly bilingual, and able to preserve their culture. That is not something that happens everywhere, where ethnic minorities are just "disappeared", their languages banned, etc. At first I thought "this is horrible, internet censure", etc. But the more I understood the culture and their background, the more it made sense. Is it ideal? No. But I definitely don't think that what the West says about it is accurate, FWIW.
These are facts that anyone can verify by traveling there themselves. Does any objective person think that the government should be choosing religious leaders? Does anyone think they should be substantially blocking the information they have access to? How about the way they handled the lockdowns? The West restriction of freedom that we complained about was mild compared to China. And remember, did they or did they not lie to the international community early on about human transmission? Is that something a good government would do? Again these are just facts, not boogeyman stories.
But the Chinese government is straightforward about its goals quite often, and it is more honest to its people, whether you like and understand their tactics or not. The West just lies and brainwashes people with paramoralisms, while selling them the BS that they live in a democracy. You can't apply Western standards to understand China, I think.
If you were in a group accused of being a cult in China, what do you think would happen to you? Well we know the answer to that. Falun Dafa is a relatively benign practice that has been brutally persecuted. It is not even a political or religious movement. When I was there both 2007 and 2014, they had members prominently in the streets of Hong Kong making people aware of what was going on in the mainland - with photos on posters.
I met two members of the Falun Gong when in China. They were Westerners, and I could tell even without knowing much about them that it had nothing to do with the movement, but with having been told to hate and badmouth the Chinese government.
Again, see trails for funding and who may be behind it.
The Falun Gong is a reactionary cult centered around China and Chinese culture. It was founded in the early 1990s by Li Hongzhi, who is worshipped as a god by Falun...
en.prolewiki.org
Same with the Uygur issue.
Does repression happen? No doubt! But again, look at the society from the inside, and at the outside threat that is always trying to meddle with other countries. It's not so easy to separate them.
If China does invade the peaceful country of Taiwan (which I don't think actually happens unless the West does something stupid in the Ukraine very soon - which IS highly likely given what came out of the Polish air force recently) you will have your definitive answer on the Chinese boogeyman.
Again, look at America's meddling there. These are the same "people".
Just to be clear, I'm not saying that the Chinese government is great or impeccable. Just that if you want to understand it, it's best if you first pay attention to those who threaten it. Maybe that is one of the reasons why China and Russia get along? Both are "giants" geographically speaking, and have focused on national unity and defending from outside threats. Some may see that as repression, others as the best they can do in such vast territories to prevent Western powers from interfering.
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