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LP97S posted:I'm not surprised about the opiates but I am surprised by the "harmless" drugs. I figured it would be more like Korea or Japan and have a huge stigma even on weed (while drinking like fish in Korea or secretly taking meth in Japan). I would say there is a major stigma on marijuana, socially. I mean, when celebrities get caught using marijuana is seems to be a significantly bigger deal there, and a lot of people seem to lump it in with all other drugs. But according to what I just found, if I'm not misreading, you need to be in possession of pretty serious quantities of marijuana (I've already forgotten the amount, but I think it was in the 60-70 lbs. range!) before you start getting into sentences lasting years. Of course, that's only if there is no proof that you're smuggling or selling it, and quantity might be considered proof enough.
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Feb 17, 2012 02:36
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By the way, I just wanted to point out for anyone who didn't know, since the OP didn't, that the tub of guts at the top of the post is Mao's grandson. Looks like someone needs to take a couple of Long Marches, har har.
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Feb 17, 2012 05:09
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french lies posted:
Yeah, that's the really funny/sad thing. I read a thing or two he wrote (and saw some of his handwriting) and he comes off as near-retarded. His Ph.D. is about as legit as that of his comrade is near-retardation Kong Qingdong.
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Feb 17, 2012 18:53
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Ronald Spiers posted:If one wants to seek somewhere that resembles martial law, I suggest Tibet or Xinjiang. http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2012/02/tibetans-and-han-are-one-family/ US forces rolling into Iraq under the figurative banner of "Operation Iraqi Freedom" was bad enough. China, on the other hand, doesn't even bother with keeping it figurative.
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Feb 17, 2012 18:59
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In the short-medium term, I'm less concerned with whether or not the Chinese get to vote for their president than weakening/eliminating the influence of party ideology in settings like universities and the media. I'm not under any illusions that the Chinese would suddenly start thinking like westerners and see eye-to-eye with us on everything tomorrow if the Central "Publicity" Department were eliminated, but I have to think that a powerful China would be easier to get along with if people weren't being force-fed single views on certain issues. Unlike the government, I think that China is cohesive enough to not completely fall to pieces with freer media and universities. These things could only improve the "suzhi" that the Chinese supposedly lack for democracy, and would in most cases be good for everyone else too. I mean, if China attacked Vietnam tomorrow over the Spratley Islands or whatever they're fighting over lately, I believe that while maybe not everybody would be completely gung-ho about it, you would be extremely unlikely to see any kind of anti-war protests,* which I find a bit scary. Things might be otherwise if territorial integrity wasn't practically pushed as the state religion in schools, newspapers, etc. Hopefully my point is somewhat coherent, even if I haven't exactly laid out a clear roadmap. *Okay, anti-war protests have not exactly done a lot to deter the US from taking military action, but I just find the idea of a country that could go to war with no significant/visible opposition disconcerting. I don't know, maybe I need to read more Southern Metropolis Daily and less Global Times to balance myself out. I guess I just enjoy getting pissed off.
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Feb 21, 2012 21:58
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Pro-PRC Laowai posted:Nope, but what it will do is help put an end to a lot of the random bullshit that pops up out of nowhere... That is probably true, but are you seriously saying that this won't have any significant chilling effect on speech that is not "random bullshit?" That sounds a bit optimistic, to say the least.
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Feb 26, 2012 19:09
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Deceitful Penguin posted:I dunno if this is the place to ask though, but what's up with the "Confucius Foundation", is it an international org or what? They're mostly in charge of the Chinese classes in my Uni and they're good people, but is it a bigger thing? What is the purpose of it? Is there a Confucius Foundation? I assume you're talking about the Confucius Institute. It is not an international organization, it is a Chinese government-controlled organization, intended to be a soft-power tool. Most schools that have them seem to agree that despite their affiliation they are not exerting undue pressure over aspects of Chinese studies that they don't like in those schools, but you can bet that their materials are going to follow the government line. Not, of course, that early non-CI Chinese classes are or should be particularly edgy and political. Fiendish_Ghoul fucked around with this message at 17:55 on Mar 18, 2012 |
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Mar 18, 2012 17:41
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Pro-PRC Laowai posted:while in reality the place will most likely be redeveloped long before it becomes an issue, in which case there is typically massive compensation for it in the form of multiple new apartments and cash. Really? Because my family had their spacious house torn down on the orders of the local government with promises of help getting a loan (a loving LOAN) to rebuild. Which they then reneged on.
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Mar 26, 2012 19:01
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So, Bo Guagua has surfaced and might get political asylum in the US? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...-officials.html Not sure why we would give him asylum as he is almost undoubtedly complicit in corruption. I don't suppose he would be likely to get a fair trial in China though.
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Apr 14, 2012 18:42
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You forgot her real money quote: her contemptuous dismissal of the idea that in America, a man can be charged with raping his wife. Oh, and would you mind breaking down for me which if any parts of your post are sarcastic? Because I'm having a hard time telling. Fiendish_Ghoul fucked around with this message at 01:51 on Apr 15, 2012 |
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Apr 15, 2012 01:46
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Fangz posted:Dude, we're talking about a mass media that painted the Lord's Resistance Army as a heroic movement for religious tolerance, What the gently caress are you talking about.
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Apr 17, 2012 21:07
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Ronald Spiers posted:I just can't believe Chinese people risk execution just to make an extra buck. And yet Chinese people swear up and down that they need the death penalty as a deterrent.
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Apr 22, 2012 08:43
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Pfirti86 posted:Guagua Bo put out a statement through the Harvard Crimson (http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/4/24/bo-guagua-statement-to-the-crimson/): I have never driven a Ferrari! (it's a Porsche, you ignorant peasants). My studies are funded by scholarships! (By companies based in the city where my dad was mayor, as if this wasn't a well-known form of graft in China). I maybe have some tiny bit of sympathy for him, but at best he's Carmella Soprano, willfully overlooking where his good life comes from. Fiendish_Ghoul fucked around with this message at 21:11 on Apr 27, 2012 |
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Apr 27, 2012 21:09
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TheBuilder posted:I can't see the US getting involved here for our blind friend. Sweden or Norway would seem more likely as foreign embassy safehavens. I wonder if the government of Norway would be eager to do something that would actually legitimately piss China off (not that it isn't the right thing to do) after China's little tantrum after Liu Xiaobo got the Nobel Peace Prize. They still aren't over that.
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Apr 27, 2012 21:14
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Looking forward to seeing if they think they can keep this quiet or go on the offensive to try to paint him as a running dog of western imperialists. Unfortunately, it could very well be the latter, as he has apparently received some kind of foreign funding: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/07/AR2006070701510_2.html?sid=ST2010090903263 The fact that 99% of Chinese people will probably never have heard of him until the People's Daily and Global Times come out blustering about the US harboring a CONVICTED CRIMINAL who received funding from HOSTILE FOREIGN FORCES will probably let the propaganda apparatus smear him fairly effectively with a lot of people.
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Apr 27, 2012 22:38
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Fandyien posted:I don't really understand Chinese government enough to suss that out myself, but it is it possible Beijing wasn't directly involved in the initial stuff, at least? Oh, of course they weren't involved in the "initial stuff." The problem is that it seems so blatantly unjust and has been so highly publicized and actively hushed up that they can't possibly say "oh, we didn't know." I have read (from real sources) that CGC has received some overseas money, but I don't know why we should give any particular credence to some online wumao hit piece. Frankly, while I don't know if it's productive, I don't think it's even wrong for the CIA, NED or whoever to interfere in China. I want China to 1. Change or 2. Failing that, stumble. I do not want China to be like it is now but immensely powerful, because I find the government's values vile.
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May 3, 2012 02:18
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What stands out to me about that quote is that it every Chinese living in American but defending China in all things is spouting that exact same line. Who would've expected that from Hidden Harmonies!
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May 3, 2012 08:50
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Modus Operandi posted:I'm not directly comparing him with Madoff i'm just saying that China could turn around and screw the U.S. in much worse ways by allowing truly reprehensible characters asylum. There's little to be gained from giving Chen asylum from a geopolitical point of view. How would that screw us exactly? It would just make the Chinese look like babies, like the Confucius Peace Prize.
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May 4, 2012 03:50
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Bottom line is, money and/or a green card is an easier motive for many Chinese people to buy than a person actually trying to do good.
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May 4, 2012 04:09
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Kaal posted:I went to go check out the mural today, and the owner of the restaurant was outside watering his plants. He told me that the painting was actually based on real photographs. I made sure to shake the guy's hand. It's like four blocks from my house. So glad we got the chance to Hurt the Feelings of the Chinese People.
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Sep 13, 2012 16:39
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Kaal posted:Yeah, and I was really amused by the implication that somehow this mural will lead to serious ramifications to our economic relationship. The Chinese government has been known to blacklist schools that, for example, invite the Dalai Lama to speak. The fact that this has nothing to do with OSU wouldn't stop them. The question nobody's been asking is how did they find about this in the first place? Some kind of internet data-mining software that looks for affronts to Chinese sovereignty? Or, more likely, some fuerdai shitbird at OSU? In that case, I say boycott away, I don't want snitches for the Chinese government in my community.
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Sep 13, 2012 21:20
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Some Guy TT posted:For what it's worth, I find a lot of the same kind of naivete and clueluessness about current conditions in Western culture when I read expat takes on Korea. But I have no good perspective on China, so I'd like to know what you all think. Yeah, I think you don't have a good perspective. Everybody who hears this stuff for the first time says "what, America isn't all about money and acquisition of material goods?" No, not compared to China it isn't. If you haven't spent time there you won't understand.
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Sep 15, 2012 07:14
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Bloodnose posted:In my experience, Han people will try to speak English to Uyghurs because they don't expect them to speak Chinese at all. Really? How much have you seen that? I'm surprised that they would expect them to speak English if they couldn't speak Chinese. Are you sure they weren't taken for foreigners? Almost every non-blond foreigner has at least one story of being taken for a Uyghur.
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Oct 1, 2012 07:38
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Bloodnose posted:I think people in most places treat 'foreigners' like that. I remember when I was studying in Beijing, we all had Chinese roommates. My western classmates consistently thought of them as children. We're all university students over 20, but one of our more motherly western classmates would chastise us for mentioning any 'adult' topics like sex or drugs because the Chinese are so naive and really don't know about this kind of stuff. I'm sorry but is this really so wrong? Keeping them sheltered is silly, but honestly, most Chinese college students I've met have seemed, on average, about 6 years younger than they really were. When she was 22, my now-wife turned out to not actually know how babies were made, and while she was the only one I forced to admit that, I definitely got the idea that she wasn't uniquely ignorant on the subject. And I'm not saying that being a promiscuous pothead is the only way to be "mature," either. The one time I was arm-twisted into teaching at a university (more accurately, teaching university-age kids; turns out the whole thing was some kind of scam with the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications renting out a building to some fly-by-night operation. Oh China, what won't you fake?) I had students teasing each other about the opposite sex like a bunch of grade-schoolers. A lot of Chinese students spend so much time preparing for tests that they really don't get a chance to "grow up" much, and it shows.
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Oct 2, 2012 15:18
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Thank you for doing what I was too lazy to Arakan. This is a problem that is acknowledged in the official Chines media. Just because it is born out by personal anecdotes doesn't mean that's all there is.
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Oct 3, 2012 06:49
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bad day posted:Whenever China starts saber rattling you should look for whatever is happening internally that they don't want Chinese people to think about, is my point. I sort of agree with the steam valve theory, but I try to shy away from saying that anti-foreign outrage is always cooked up to "distract" people. Why? Because I always see professors quoted in Chinese articles (and sometimes people commenting on articles) saying that some politician's tough-on-China rhetoric is just an attempt to distract Americans from, for example, the lousy economy- and it makes me laugh my rear end off, because most people really aren't paying as much attention to China as the Chinese would like to think, and it certainly wouldn't "distract" anyone from their own economic woes. So I can't help but wonder if it sounds just as stupid and clueless to the Chinese when we say say the same things about them. Although I do think it is more plausible in China because there is, after all, centralized government department in charge of the media.
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Oct 6, 2012 21:41
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Fall Sick and Die posted:Please don't do this stupid 'Americans only have 200 years of history compared to China's 5000' it's so, so stupid. Do Chinese people seriously think America just sprang out of the ground one day without history or culture? Not to mention that Chinese people like to choose between 5,000 and 60 as it suits their particular argument.
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Oct 6, 2012 21:42
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Grand Fromage posted:Multiple generations have passed. Everyone who was involved with decision making during the days of Imperial Japan is dead. It's over. A 25 year old Japanese person who grew up in a pacifist society with parents who also grew up in a pacifist society whose grandparents were, at best, children during the war is not responsible for what Imperial Japan did. To continue being angry at that 25 year old is ridiculous and stupid. The Chinese have taken all the wrong lessons from WW2. So many Chinese seem to believe that the Japanese are just born evil; I can't count how many times I've read things like "the little Japanese devils have perversity and evil in their very bones!" And MY WAIFU's best friend in the US is Japanese, but she can still say the most vile things about the Japanese when something flips the crazy-switch that Chinese education has implanted in her for the rest of her life. The real lesson that should be taken from what the Germans and Japanese did is that people from ANY group that allow themselves to get caught up in mob mentality and an ideology that devalues the lives of members of out-groups are capable of doing horrible things. If China took their own history seriously instead of mostly downplaying a period in living memory where teenagers beat intellectuals and landlords to death, maybe China's youth would understand this better. Instead, the standard narrative which a good many people seem to buy into despite all evidence to the contrary is that the Japanese and other imperialist countries did bad things simply because they ARE bad, while Chinese have been victimized because they are innocent and peace-loving. I think this kind of thinking is EXTREMELY dangerous.
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Oct 6, 2012 21:58
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Baby Huey Newton posted:How you don't see the contradiction between making a sweeping generalization about "the Chinese" and condemning sweeping generalizations about "the Japanese" takes a truly remarkable mind. I thought about preempting this obvious line of attack, but I assumed most people could see the difference between statements about general trends within a society at a given point in time and immutable assertions about the immutable, inborn traits of a race of people over generations. And no, sorry, I don't agree to meeting the standards you want to set. The fact that I sometimes throw out a single anecdote as an example doesn't mean it's all I've got. I've done my share of academic reading about China, but I don't have perfect recall and don't consider posting in D&D to be on the same level as, say, writing a thesis. So sometimes I toss off an anecdote that happens to jibe with what I've read or that seems in line with large numbers of other anecdotes I've heard or experiences I've had. I think I include enough qualifiers and hedges in most of my posts to make it obvious that I don't think that every last person in mainland China is a certain way based on one thing that a single person said to me. So no, I am not going to feel bound to conduct exhaustive research before I express any kind of opinion on anything or explicitly state that I don't know everything. After all, nobody does.
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Oct 6, 2012 23:08
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Arglebargle III posted:That thing about 命 reminds me why I never want to read another word of classical Chinese, especially not with a 14 volume paper dictionary! gently caress classical Chinese, I refuse to believe that it was ever a medium for clear communication.
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Dec 19, 2012 17:36
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Wibbleman posted:Except those comments were for Australian's as he said he was directly warning them, and wanted the comments to be passed on to Julia Gillard (the Aussie Prime Minister), which shows remarkable arrogance for a Colonel. I also assumed they were for domestic consumption until I double-checked; the trademark chest-thumping and absurd similes are certainly there. American officials say all kinds of things that don't go down well abroad, but at least we don't have communication problems practically built into our language.
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Jan 24, 2013 19:29
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A big flaming stink posted:I mean, you say that plutocrats know that wars are against their long term interest, but when do they ever act in favor of long term interest if a short term benefit is available? The Chinese have long memories and see the bigger picture. They see much further than we can. Chinese people aren't working for tomorrow or next year, but for future generations. [/Orientalist bullshit]. I love how people who know nothing about China still spout this when for every example of smart long-term planning in China there's at least as many (to be kind) of extreme myopia.
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Jan 24, 2013 19:50
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Charlz Guybon posted:Just saw an incredible stat in the New York Times. Makes you wonder what's going to happen now that China is pushing for more college graduates than ever. It seems that expectations are far outstripping reality for a lot of people already. They'd better hope that they succeed in their project to move up the value chain or they are going to have a lot of discontented grads on their hands.
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Jan 25, 2013 23:05
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whatever7 posted:Are you sure about this part? Whats that person's name? 郑筱萸 Zheng Xiaoyu. I had to look it up because I remember that too. Seems that was part of the earlier formula scandal, though. Really don't know why the general public in China still believes that the death penalty is a deterrent. Hasn't it been pretty well established to have a negligible effect on crime? Yet I saw people responding to the news of public executions in Iran saying "China should learn from this." You would think that people who live in a country that executes people for corruption yet believe virtually all officials to be corrupt would understand that the death penalty doesn't deter poo poo.
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Jan 26, 2013 18:14
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whatever7 posted:Well according his en/ch wiki, he was nailed for "poisonous Armillarisin A injection" that resulted in 10+ deaths. Agreed, we need to focus on the real issue here: do Chinese people constantly poo poo in the streets or not?
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Jan 26, 2013 18:42
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french lies posted:Speaking of that, on the latest Sinica they had a middle-aged, American expat based in Thailand submitting one of the questions. That wouldn't be you, ReindeerF? Probably that guy Godfree something who regularly sucks off China in the comments sections at various news sites and blogs. Don't know why he lives in Thailand if China's so amazing and getting everything right.
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Jan 27, 2013 23:08
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I remember a poll a few years ago where something like 50-60 percent of Hong Kong parents didn't want their kids to go to school with South Asians, for whatever that's worth.
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Feb 19, 2013 16:36
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CIGNX posted:The case that started it all was the Peng Yu Incident in 2006, where a man took an elderly woman to the hospital after she had fallen and was in turn sued by the woman and forced to pay by the courts. Chinasmack has some background info on the case. It was subsequently discovered in 2012 that the man actually was at fault and not some victimized good samaritan. But at this point, the damage had been done and people were weary of helping strangers for fear of being sued. It's bad enough that even state-run papers run opinion pieces lamenting the state of Good Samaritan laws in China and even calling for the Chinese government to follow the example of the US. [1][2][3] More like the case that started the widespread use of this excuse for inaction. The behavior goes back a bit further, I wouldn't venture to say how far.
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Feb 27, 2013 00:58
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[quote="hitension" post="413018034"] Uhh no there's a Chinese term for it and Chinese people use it all the time to complain about the same thing:腐敗 "You don't understand our unique culture" should be the Godwin's law of internet arguments about China, or anywhere in Asia really. Humans are humans [/q] I think when people talk about "fubai" or "tanguan" they are usually talking about people who have gone too far in some way. If you want to talk about corruption permeating China top to bottom, though, it would probably include all kinds of little cheats, shortcuts, and gifts that a lot of people in China probably wouldn't think twice about, so long as they were the ones benefitting.
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Mar 1, 2013 21:30
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Modus Operandi posted:Taiwan's political corruption can be really questionable at times though. Especially the whole debacle with the former PM Chen Shui Bian who probably faked his own assassination attempt to get elected then proceeded to loot the coffers with wild abandon once he was in power. I'd say Taiwan still follows the old Chinese cultural hierarchy but the difference here is that it doesn't seep into every level of daily life of the average citizen introducing highly inefficient grey economics into the equation. Plus Taiwan actually threw its former PM into jail for a pretty lengthy term which is much more than I can say for most wall street bankers who have stolen way more. In China and much of SEA looting and pillaging according to feudal hierarchies is still a way of life. The average person either gets with the program or gets steamrolled by it. What's the evidence that CSB faked the assassination attempt? I remember people saying that when it happened ("He hardly even reacted!" What, like he shouldn't try harder to make it look like what TV tells us somebody getting shot looks like if it were a setup?), but I basically chalked it up to Chinese cynicism. Did more info come to light?
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Mar 2, 2013 18:50
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