That's an interesting point, but it's really difficult when you talk to a Chinese person and they flatly deny tiananmen square, or that their government is suppressing their own freedom.
When you go to prove it on the internet, it still seems like they just do not want to believe. I find that very difficult to deal with.
I'm not going to win friends here, but it's much like talking with an Israeli.
>I'm not going to win friends here, but it's much like talking with an Israeli.
Or an American, for that matter.
Americans still believe they are a "progressive" and model nation for freedom.
Segregation was merely 40 years ago. People go to jail for decades for procession of marijuana. They execute teenagers. They execute (period -- almost all western countries have stopped this shit). People still are told (and ...believe!) that Truman dropped nuclear bombs on civilians "to end the war" and that "his hands were tied". The number of incarcerated people is record breaking for any nation on earth -- and the vast majority of them are black. Plus -- people still believe they have the right (or even ...obligation) to intervene, that is invade, other countries, either to "bring democracy" or because they have "strategic interests" there.
>Americans still believe they are a "progressive" and model nation for freedom.
Not all Americans. Look at HN or any semi-educated social circle.
A lot of your points just bring up tit-for-tat historical talking points. Yes a lot of countries have done a lot of terrible things throughout history, especially the west, but we're talking about now. 2013.
Today I just read an article describing how the Chinese have just sent 12 escaped North Koreans back to NK to be welcomed by torture and generations the same fate.
2013 China is a disgusting example of a modern and humane country.
But the tit-for-tat is totally relevant! At least for things happening in the present day. Most people's countries are doing things you disagree with: but within a country, even if you oppose someone doing something, you can usually sympathize with the rationale behind it. When the media deflects attention to those evil people with different color skin across the ocean, it's very easy to simplify things.
Case in point: those escaped North Koreans weren't merely refugees but defecting soldiers who had shot their superior officer. Do you think China liked being in that situation? You can either cause a major international row with a nuclear-equipped rabid dog who for historical reasons is sitting a couple hundred miles away from your capital, or you can send a rebellious military unit back for certain execution.
What would you have done? And let's make this sharper: what would your country's military bureaucracy have done?
Why not let people who have actual local knowledge and care about changing things focus on what local people's actual priorities are and the real pain points for human wellbeing?
When you go to prove it on the internet, it still seems like they just do not want to believe. I find that very difficult to deal with.
I'm not going to win friends here, but it's much like talking with an Israeli.