On Eve of TikTok Ban, Chinese App RedNote Surges in Popularity, Delighting Chinese State Media (go.com) 98
Chinese social-networking site RedNote became the #1 most-downloaded app in America, reports the Associated Press, with some new users considering it a way to protest America's possible TikTok ban.
So what happened next? They were met with surprise, curiosity and in-jokes on Xiaohongshu — literally, "Little Red Book" — whose users saw English-language posts take over feeds almost overnight. Americans introduced themselves with hashtag TikTok refugees, ask me anything attitude and posting photos of their pets to pay their hosts' "cat tax." Parents swapped stories about raising kids and Swifties from both countries, of course, quickly found each other. It's a rare moment of direct contact between two online worlds that are usually kept apart by language, corporate boundaries, and China's strict system of online censorship that blocks access to nearly all international media and social media services... Xiaohongshu's 300 million monthly active users are overwhelmingly Chinese — so much so that parts of its interface have no English-language version... [Press reports suggest about a million of TikTok's 170 million users tried switching to RedNote this week...]
On the platform, two versions of the TikTok refugee hashtag have over 24 million posts, with related posts appearing at the top of many users' feeds. A large number of American users say they've received a warm welcome from the community, with #TikTokrefugee. "Welcome the global villagers" remains the top one trending topic on Xiaohongshu, with 8.9 million views on Thursday. Users from both countries are comparing notes on grocery prices, rent, health insurance, medical bills and the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Parents talk about what the kids learn in school in two countries. Some have already joined book clubs and are building up a community. American users asked how Chinese see the LGBTQ community and got warned that it was among sensitive topics, Chinese users taught Americans what are sensitive topics and key words to avoid censorship on the app. Chinese students pulled out their English homework, looking for help.
Chinese state media, which have long dismissed U.S. allegations against TikTok, have welcomed the protest against the ban. People's Daily [the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party], said in an op-ed about TikTok refugees on Thursday that says the TikTok refugees found a "new home," and "openness, communication, and mutual learning are the unchanging themes of mankind and the heartfelt desires of people from all countries."
Making the most of the moment is Jianlu Bi, who is apparently a senior content producer for Beijing's state-run China Global Television Network, which Wikipedia describes as "under the control of the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party". Friday Jianlu Bi crafted an article claiming "surprising" and "stark contrasts" were revealed: While the United States is often portrayed as a land of limitless opportunity, many American netizens have shared their struggles with high living costs, particularly in urban areas. One common theme is the exorbitant cost of healthcare. "I just got a simple bill for a routine checkup and it was over $500," shared one American user. "I can't imagine what a serious illness would cost! I feel like I'm constantly on the brink of financial ruin due to medical expenses." In contrast, Chinese netizens often express surprise at the affordability of many goods and services in their home country. For instance, the cost of housing, particularly in smaller cities, is often significantly lower in China compared to the United States.... This disparity is often attributed to factors such as government policies, economic development, and cultural differences...
Traditional media narratives often present simplified and often biased portrayals of China and the United States. For example, the U.S. is often portrayed as a land of opportunity with limitless possibilities, while China is sometimes depicted as a country with limited freedoms. Xiaohongshu, on the other hand, provides a platform for ordinary people to share their authentic experiences and perspectives... A Chinese student studying in the U.S. shared, "I was surprised to learn that many of my classmates are working part-time jobs to cover their tuition and living expenses. This is very different from the image of affluent American students I had in my mind. It really opened my eyes to the realities of life for many young people in the U.S."
"As social media continues to evolve, these platforms will undoubtedly play an increasingly important role in shaping global perceptions..." the article concludes.
Article suggested by long-time Slashdot reader hackingbear.
So what happened next? They were met with surprise, curiosity and in-jokes on Xiaohongshu — literally, "Little Red Book" — whose users saw English-language posts take over feeds almost overnight. Americans introduced themselves with hashtag TikTok refugees, ask me anything attitude and posting photos of their pets to pay their hosts' "cat tax." Parents swapped stories about raising kids and Swifties from both countries, of course, quickly found each other. It's a rare moment of direct contact between two online worlds that are usually kept apart by language, corporate boundaries, and China's strict system of online censorship that blocks access to nearly all international media and social media services... Xiaohongshu's 300 million monthly active users are overwhelmingly Chinese — so much so that parts of its interface have no English-language version... [Press reports suggest about a million of TikTok's 170 million users tried switching to RedNote this week...]
On the platform, two versions of the TikTok refugee hashtag have over 24 million posts, with related posts appearing at the top of many users' feeds. A large number of American users say they've received a warm welcome from the community, with #TikTokrefugee. "Welcome the global villagers" remains the top one trending topic on Xiaohongshu, with 8.9 million views on Thursday. Users from both countries are comparing notes on grocery prices, rent, health insurance, medical bills and the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Parents talk about what the kids learn in school in two countries. Some have already joined book clubs and are building up a community. American users asked how Chinese see the LGBTQ community and got warned that it was among sensitive topics, Chinese users taught Americans what are sensitive topics and key words to avoid censorship on the app. Chinese students pulled out their English homework, looking for help.
Chinese state media, which have long dismissed U.S. allegations against TikTok, have welcomed the protest against the ban. People's Daily [the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party], said in an op-ed about TikTok refugees on Thursday that says the TikTok refugees found a "new home," and "openness, communication, and mutual learning are the unchanging themes of mankind and the heartfelt desires of people from all countries."
Making the most of the moment is Jianlu Bi, who is apparently a senior content producer for Beijing's state-run China Global Television Network, which Wikipedia describes as "under the control of the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party". Friday Jianlu Bi crafted an article claiming "surprising" and "stark contrasts" were revealed: While the United States is often portrayed as a land of limitless opportunity, many American netizens have shared their struggles with high living costs, particularly in urban areas. One common theme is the exorbitant cost of healthcare. "I just got a simple bill for a routine checkup and it was over $500," shared one American user. "I can't imagine what a serious illness would cost! I feel like I'm constantly on the brink of financial ruin due to medical expenses." In contrast, Chinese netizens often express surprise at the affordability of many goods and services in their home country. For instance, the cost of housing, particularly in smaller cities, is often significantly lower in China compared to the United States.... This disparity is often attributed to factors such as government policies, economic development, and cultural differences...
Traditional media narratives often present simplified and often biased portrayals of China and the United States. For example, the U.S. is often portrayed as a land of opportunity with limitless possibilities, while China is sometimes depicted as a country with limited freedoms. Xiaohongshu, on the other hand, provides a platform for ordinary people to share their authentic experiences and perspectives... A Chinese student studying in the U.S. shared, "I was surprised to learn that many of my classmates are working part-time jobs to cover their tuition and living expenses. This is very different from the image of affluent American students I had in my mind. It really opened my eyes to the realities of life for many young people in the U.S."
"As social media continues to evolve, these platforms will undoubtedly play an increasingly important role in shaping global perceptions..." the article concludes.
Article suggested by long-time Slashdot reader hackingbear.
So stupid (Score:3, Interesting)
They're just gonna ban rednote. Stop selling out to governments that spy on you. If you don't like Facebook/Google/X then stop using their crap too!
Re: (Score:3)
I agree with you, but I am really tempted to create an account just to see what it is like. I'm so curious what an actual Chinese social media network is like. After all, our cultures are so different. OTOH, I wonder if there's a need to sandbox myself first? Maybe I'll install it on an Android emulator like Bluestacks instead of my phone and use false information for everything.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
They're walling off American users so that they can't influence the Chinese userbase. Without a really clever VPN, you'll never know. Chinese TikTok is vastly different though.
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https://www.ccn.com/news/techn... [ccn.com]
Re: (Score:2)
Other than TikTok doing the same thing?
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They're banning Americans for posting skin or gay stuff.
No tolerance for that inside China. You'll be ok with wholesome content.
They just arrested a woman in Turkey for a lewd online stunt too.
Pendulum swings back and forth.
Re:So stupid (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: So stupid (Score:2)
The Tencent production of Three-Body Problem was quite good. Not great, but on the whole a much better (closer) translation of the novel.
Re: (Score:1)
Not any different from the religious right in the government in this country.
Re:So stupid (Score:4, Interesting)
They're banning Americans for posting skin or gay stuff.
There's at least 19 states in the USA salivating at the idea of being able to do exactly the same thing. We've got far more in common with China than we'd like to admit. It's time to drop the high and mighty saviors of free expression act, because the mask just fell off and there's no Deus ex machina coming to save the day. We live in a country that banned foreign social media app because our leadership believes our citizens need to be coddled like children, which puts us firmly in the same club as... well... most likely a list that looks quite similar to the one of countries without socialized healthcare.
Re: So stupid (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
We (the West) are different. Here's what most people in America don't understand about China: They accept this authoritarianism willingly. The Chinese people, by and large, don't really have a big problem with the suppression of speech, the "harmonization", the cultural genocides, the invasion of Tibet, and so on as long as they're getting richer and the government isn't arresting too many of them. They accept it as part of the cost of soc
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As a Canadian, I actually don't see much difference.
A lot of Americans accept the book bans or INSTIGATE the book bans. They don't like diversity, they rail against DEI even when the policies in place are just to make sure that women and minorities get a fair shake. They LOOOOOVE bombing foreign countries, finding scapegoats, coming up with nonsense bathroom bans.
90% of what I see from American news--left OR right--is Americans kowtowing to authority while their quality of life goes down the toilet. They ju
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You seem to have trouble differentiating between the following:
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DEI is enabled by authoritarianism
I was under the impression DEI policies in the US are voluntary. Organizations are free to adopt or ignore them. Then they deal with their customers / clients / constituencies / shareholders / stakeholders / whatever reaction to that choice.
It does become authoritarian when the organization doing it is a huge monopolist, such as Visa/Mastercard basically dictating what culture should be (in America and in any country dependent on it, such as Japan, which is becoming increasingly pissed at it) and companies
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Citation?
One of the FIRST posts I saw on there was a Chinese woman saying there were plenty of LGBTQ+ people on the app, so post all the thirst traps you want. The app is half amazing cooking videos and 25% muscle mommies.
I read a comment from one (Chinese) woman to an American creator that was like, "we find all the other feminists and tell them that we don't accept comments that denigrate women or focus on male sex acts, so we don't say "I'll F*** your Mom," we say, "I'll castrate your Dad!""
The problem t
Re:So stupid (Score:4, Insightful)
One thing that caught my eye was the level of opulence of the surroundings compared to most major cities in the US (Las Vegas notwithstanding. A block off The Strip is barbed wire and vomit and needles), Even in the country. And it made me wonder...
WHERE THE HELL DOES ALL THE MONEY GO?
For being the wealthiest country ever in the history of the world, the US is a pretty shabby affair. And given how GDP is spread across over a billion people, where does the money go?
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Money in China is highly concentrated. Way more than the US and other Western countries.
There's a reason so much of our manufacturing was shipped to China: it's cheaper there, even after you include the cost of shipping back to the US. Why is it cheaper? Staff is a huge cost to every company and in most/many companies the highest cost. People there make less. A lot less than Westerners.
Certain things are cheaper in China but not everything. The average Chinese living in a city can get by, eat, have
fact check: False (Score:2, Interesting)
Re: So stupid (Score:1)
I think your views on China are a little outdated. The reason China is advantageous wrt manufacturing is little-to-nothing to do with low salaries, and increasingly skill, technologies and supply chain efficiencies. Maybe a decade or two ago...but not for a while.
Re: (Score:1, Interesting)
You're the idiot that claimed most Chinese don't even have electricity [slashdot.org]
I think it's safe to say you have no idea about China, its economy or the people who live there.
Money in China is highly concentrated. Way more than the US and other Western countries.
Wealth is less concentrated in China than America [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:3)
The money goes to Gates, Trump, Bezos, and their ilk. China redistributes and has slave labor. Some good, and a lot of bad.
Re: So stupid (Score:2)
A lot of what you're seeing is malinvestment, which is draining the Chinese economy of any dynamism and increasingly putting them at serious risk of collapse. Essentially, due to capital controls, housing became the one investment that people could put their money into. This created a massive housing bubble which now threatens to take down the economy. There are entire cities with skyscrapers and parks and really nice infrastructure, but they're ghost towns.
So, essentially all that great infrastructure (whi
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Where the hell does all the money go? (uncapitalized due to lameness filter fail)
Pick-up trucks.
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They're just going to segregate it like Tiktok was
Re:So stupid (Score:4, Interesting)
You must have missed the authoritarian developments in the past 5 or 10 years or so and how it switched into fully autocratic mode.
PR of China today is in a political state no better than the PRC of the Tian an men days. Economically and in terms of the direction for the future it is worse. That makes its full putinization in a few short years inevitable.
But be my guest, choose freely among one of the two little red books available: https://i.imgur.com/0HNuQnE.jp... [imgur.com]
For the US, you can pick any brown book you like.
Re: (Score:3)
Can't have foreign ideas polluting Xi's harmonious society!
Re: So stupid (Score:1)
Unfortunately, most of the prevailing opinion on "Tian'anmen" is still misinformation proliferated by western intelligence agencies and media. Hardly anyone has bothered to look up what actually happened, according people who were actually there, and even if they do, minds have been so indoctrinated that it is a challenge to read reports with an open mind, or ask oneself questions without having assumed the answer one way or the other.
Re: (Score:2)
what are the current administration afraid of?
From the little I gathered, they're afraid of revolts. Revolts, over all of Chinese History, including the last century, have been stupidly bloody. Massacres upon genocides upon more massacres. So every regime in power there does everything in their power to crush any possibility of revolts, no matter how tiny the risk might be. Which, ironically, is precisely what tends to drive the bloodthirstiness of the next big one when it invariably happens. But for a few decades to centuries tends to be "harmonious"
More stupid than you think (Score:2)
They're just gonna ban rednote.
It's stupid for that reason, yes, but to me seems even more stupid to jump from a platform that we all know sent as much info about you to China as it could, to a platform that probably collects even MORE data!
It's like people are thinking they are going to "stick it to the man" by giving away even more private data to China.
On a side note with access to all of these videos you have to wonder what kind of amazing social connection graph China is building just by running face
Re: (Score:2)
Young folks using Red Note are mostly doing it as a way to give Zuckerberg the middle finger.
No they are the same (Score:1)
As opposed to your own country's dark forces through X, Facebook etc.
They also collect all the same data, so what I am saying is why go to another app that just sends that data to China again? At least with a U.S. company hoovering all your data you may get some slight benefit like relevant ads or good coupons. :-)
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Chinese businesses can do nothing to you.
The US? Just imagine if you're an immigrant trying not to get deported.
Re: More stupid than you think (Score:1)
"we all know"
As soon as I read that, I know I can reliably ignore the rest of the message.
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China is building just by running face recognition on every single person seen in every person every appearing in the background of TikTok videos.
Ironically, since I live in Florida I've discovered that some porn sites are now doing face scans ostensibly as a means of determining age. Seems like a great way to build a database of people who are looking at porn, which I'm sure will never be used for nefarious purposes. Oh right, I forgot, when US-based companies shit all over your privacy that's just fine. Silly me.
Re: (Score:3)
They're just gonna ban rednote.
Well "they" can't exactly ban tiktok. The only thing "they" can do is order US companies to delist it from app stores. Which is an odd thing actually because these apps already violate the rules of said app stores, just the companies that run them selectively enforce their own rules. Regardless, you can still obtain the app any other way so long as you actually own the computer you're installing it on. Pretty much the only people who don't own their computers are apple users, even though they pay up the ass
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You can sideload it on Android devices but not on iPhone. Also with Oracle shutting down the back end services TikTok used, the app may slow to a crawl.
The web interface will probably still be usable. It may require a VPN.
Re: So stupid (Score:1)
Could you use a vpn (or roaming sim) to use the EU app store, to get updates from there (or a 3rd party store)?
I don't know why the US gov couldn't force Oracle to shut the services down, as well as the two app stores.
What about the other android stores?
Re: So stupid (Score:2)
Oracle has in fact turned them off.
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Possibly. Apple might geolock your Apple ID but I'm guessing at this point.
Re: So stupid (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
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Stick to government approved social media, citizen.
Ironically that's exactly what people accuse China of being like.
I've seen two stories about the influx to RedNote (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
https://www.thefp.com/p/jay-so... [thefp.com]
Of course TikTok is an apparatus of the PRC.
Re: I've seen two stories about the influx to RedN (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
1. It is a legally registered company in China.
When the Chinese government tells a company to do something they do it and they are not allowed to disclose that they were told to. If you don't your company will disappear, shortly after you disappear.
For businesses in China this is all just routine. You try to keep a low profile but if you come to their attention you do what is asked and then get back on with business.
Re: (Score:1)
Are you really such a brain washed idiot?
Did you actually ever had a brain?
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We have the same thing here, called National Security Letters.
Why do you think they don't do what we do?
Re: I've seen two stories about the influx to RedN (Score:1)
Why do you think they do what you do?
Imo, that's a common mistake of people in the USA, especially their government and security services.
Surely the Chinese gov can see the mess the USA has become and doesn't want to end up that way, and is very discerning what aspects to emulate and what to throw away as the crap it is.
Re: (Score:2)
Surely the Chinese gov can see the mess the USA has become and doesn't want to end up that way, and is very discerning what aspects to emulate and what to throw away as the crap it is.
AESHKFWEIfhwse;fhweK:fwehBABAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA
Collect your fifty cents at the door.
Re: (Score:2)
Why do you think they do what you do?
Because their law explicitly says they do:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
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Such a letter goes to everyone, and not a single company dictating her what to do.
Re: I've seen two stories about the influx to RedN (Score:2)
We are not even allowed to know about the letters, you think you know what the scope is@
Re:I've seen two stories about the influx to RedNo (Score:5, Informative)
If you do not understand that China is a communist country and as a citizen you have virtually no rights then to not travel there. If you are from the USA that does not make you special when you are there, start spouting off about your rights and you quickly find you have none. I actually generally enjoyed the 2 years I lived there, and most of the people I dealt with were great. However dealing with bureaucracy and the government was never fun and one of the reasons I refused to extend my contract past 2 years.
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And what rights that people in the USA have do you consider to be BS, and why?
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In the case of the raid and imprisonment I think the trigger was a Chinese company complaining about our company, a foreign competitor to them.
Regardless with your experience you m
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They would never force Meta to push anything. Meta will do it voluntarily, as will X, Google and all the major media outlets. I have not been to enough tropical islands filled with teenage girls to know how they accomplish this feat.
When was the last time you heard about a whistleblower about the government from inside China?
If there had been a whistleblower incident and the government handled it correctly, we'd never know. Media in the US generally doesn't cover Chinese internals, especially not news that make the Chinese government look good.
Re:I've seen two stories about the influx to (Score:1)
Oh, what has the nonsense you write now to do with your previous post?
How to tell if a Chinese company is an apparatus of the state:
1. It is a legally registered company in China.
And now this nonsense you write again?
What the funk do you think is happening to a Chinese in Europe or USA if his "paperwork is not okay"???
I know Germans that got detained at an US airport, because the officer did not believe the lady in question has 6 weeks holidays, and is visiting her cousins, and is NOT WORKING.
They put her i
Re: (Score:2)
The FBI got her out, when her cousins filed a case of kidnapping, because she knew she landed safely and assumed she got kidnapped.
Obviously she has rights here. You can't say the same about China.
If I come to the US, I have to follow the damn law there. Regardless what rights I have in my country.
What would they be? As a member of the Hauptschule caste, you're a third class citizen there. It's not as if you have the same privileges as everybody else in that country.
Re: I've seen two stories about the influx to RedN (Score:2)
China is not a communist country. At times, itâ(TM)s far more capitalist than the US is. It is an authoritarian and once again an increasingly autocratic country. Thereâ(TM)s a difference: most communist countries were/are authoritarian; not all authoritarian countries are communist.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: I've seen two stories about the influx to RedN (Score:2)
That comment was a waste of time. Typical waste of space from you. Are you so pathetic and insecure that you have to go around calling people idiots? Do you think that actually accomplished anything other than undermining yourself? How about trying to be an adult and post constructive comments? If you think theyâ(TM)re wrong, explain why and provide evidence. Otherwise, STFU.
What's that up in the sky? (Score:2)
What is that up in the sky? Is it a bird? A plane? No! It's the BAN HAMMER. Coming straight down on the next Chinese state social media operation to infest America.
Re: What's that up in the sky? (Score:1)
You lot pretend to like freedom, but actually prefer to be dictated to.
Re: (Score:1)
Your talking points would feel much better if wadded into nice tight (but BIG) ball and shoved all the way up your ass until they touch your tonsils. Get back to me when you have completed that assignment and I will give you another one.
YouTube says ... (Score:2)
"I am forgotten."
Re: (Score:2)
Re: YouTube says ... (Score:1)
Well, Google left, so they stopped serving China altogether. Don't blame China for that...totally Google's choice.
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On the other hand Microsoft was happy to comply. The difference was stark. Google maps worked really will in the Chinese city I lived if I used a VPN. Without a VPN if wouldn't load. Microsoft maps worked fine without a VPN. It showed the city I was in had two roads, the major highways that joined in at a T junction. The problem was the
Re: (Score:2)
over a decade since YouTube was banned in China
Who cares? US content creators can still post on YouTube for US audiences.
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Not if they are living in or visiting China
You are living in or visiting a totalitarian state. You abide by their laws. Did you ever even think that a communist government is going to put up with freely published content? Should have thought before you went over.
Re: (Score:2)
1. You wonder why YouTube is being left out of a discussion about a Chinese app.
2. You don't think it is relevant that YouTube is blocked in China.
3. You don't think US based content creators care if native English speakers can't view their content during their time in China.
"Did you ever even think that a communist government is going to put up with freely published content?" I had low expectations about this before moving there, but was h
Re: (Score:2)
3. You don't think US based content creators care if native English speakers can't view their content during their time in China.
I don't think its the business of the content creators to make sure their customers stay in touch at all times. If their customers need to do so, then they have to make the choice: Follow your stupid videos or go on vacation in China.
2. You don't think it is relevant that YouTube is blocked in China.
It's not. Because TikTok in China doesn't carry the same content that TikTok in the USA does. So either way (TikTok or YouTube), your followers can't see you.
Perhaps they went on vacation to get a break from stupid videos.
Re: (Score:2)
"I am forgotten."
Most of what's on YouTube shorts and whatever the hell it is that Facebook calls their TikTok clone, are just reposts from TikTok. Without TikTok, the well is probably gonna run dry.
Which propaganda do you want? (Score:2)
Re: Which propaganda do you want? (Score:1)
The Internet used to be based on protocols and the end client software was something you could choose. Nowadays, it's more like you get the whole thing and you get what you're given. It's not a good thing, imo.
Ooops Cold War 2 not gonna fly (Score:2)
Rednote Makeover (Score:1)
Re: Rednote Makeover (Score:1)
Iinm, they give people the option to filter out English language posts...well, I read such, but who can you believe?
Which part of the elephant? (Score:2)
There are unsurprisingly pros and cons for both the US and China. Also unsurprisingly, it makes a huge difference whether you are privileged or not, and this is the same for the US and China.
Healthcare is generally cheaper in China, but care and wait times for some services can be substandard. Job prospects for young people can be daunting in the US, but they can be soul crushing in China, especially for those who weren't privileged to go to the top schools or be networked to the right people or who happen
Re: (Score:2)
>Why does China need to censor speech? Because of Tiananmen Square incident! Before June 4, 1989, China was opening up steadily in both economy and political system. Yet the reward of that effort was the massive protest in Tiananmen that forced the government to forcible crackdown which subsequently led to major international sanction against then fragile Chinese economy. Tragedy of such magnitude must not be repeated. If another massive protest were to break out, the Chinese government could not afford (**) to crack down again because the USA is watching. Hey the US itself cannot avoid such massive protest ad its action is to open fire on the first days [wikipedia.org] to suppress the riots. And it is guarantee that nobody in the world can do a thing to sanction the US. That's the key difference between US and China. So what can China do to avoid cornering itself? The only logical choice is that contain any serious speech that could incite social unrest. And the only way to achieve that is through a strict enough censorship regimen.
(**) This can be shown during the 2019 Hong Kong riot: the Hong Kong police didn't kill a single rioter [wikipedia.org] in the half year long protest; if that happened, much much severe sanctions would be imposed by the US and Europe amid heighten geopolitical competition between the two superpowers.
Yes, the CCP was the real victim of the Tiananmen massacre. The government of China didn't want to crackdown violently on the civil rights protest. What happened wasn't the fault, of the government, it was the citizens at the protest made them do it. That's akin saying the Civil Rights Act was the wrong outcome of the protests and riots and violence that happened in America leading up to it. It wasn't the government that wanted to abuse black citizens, they were forced to do it. If they has just followed th
Re:Misrepresentation (Score:4, Informative)
Yet the reward of that effort was the massive protest in Tiananmen that forced the government to forcible crackdown
no, they were not "forced" to do that. They chose to do that, instead of a civil response to the demands of the protesters.
Re: (Score:2)
no, they were not "forced" to do that. They chose to do that, instead of a civil response to the demands of the protesters.
Do you they [wikipedia.org] chose to do that too, on the first day of a protest, instead of a civil response to the demands of the protesters?
They also chose to attack children [wikipedia.org], instead of a civil response to the demands of the protesters.
A mandate for any functioning government is to ensure people don't get killed. If rioters threaten the social orders with violence, then the government must choose, i.e. is forced, to use forceful means to maintain social orders. That's what governments, including Western ones, must do an
Xiaohongshu (Score:3)
literally, "Little Red Book"
Might as well call it "Mein Kampf".
The end of USA soft power (Score:2)
Forget about spying, security, etc. This is just the final nail in the coffin of America's decline. Social media was a powerful tool to project American culture into the world, and one of the last ones.
Jeans and rock 'n' roll? The Japanese do them better. TV? South Korea and Poland produce better stuff than the USA. Even saw an impressive Romanian show on Netflix. Non-American movies, boy bands, industrial design, cars... you name it, America no longer leads in any way.
Software and pizza were the holdouts,