China has upset many countries in the Asia-Pacific region with its release of a new official map that lays claim to most of the South China Sea, as well as to contested parts of India and Russia, and official objections continue to mount. What is the map, and why is it upsetting people so much?

It seems significant, then, that Beijing chose to release the map on the heels of a late August meeting of the BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – and just before China is to participate in top-level meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Group of 20 rich and developing nations.

In releasing the map now, Beijing is widely seen as signaling it has no intention of backing down on any of its claims and is making sure that its positions are fresh in the minds of other countries in the region.

  • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    They prefer to live where they prefer to live. 1,425,587,668 people. 1,000,000,000 more people than the US. You’re deluding yourself if you think they are all prisoners.

    • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      Oh no, they’re not ALL prisoners. The Han Chinese especially. Maybe you should ask the Uyghurs what they think about the Chinese government? I mean, I’d tell you to ask them, but you really can’t now, as you very well know.

      Also reminds me of this interview with a Dutch doctor who was brought to china as a transplant specialist. When there he asked about the source of the transplant he was told that the prisoner would be executed soon. He left without performing the transplant, which is good.

      • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        You presume that I defend China, I do not. Just because America genocided Native Americans, and carried out extrajudicial executions in Vietnam and Iwo Jima, doesn’t mean that they are evil. The same metric should be applied to China. Maybe both countries are bad. Don’t limit your understanding. I’m rooting for you.

        • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          You talk about two VERY different things here.

          One is attrocities committed by the military, which are horrible, should not happen, and those responsible should be punished. Also some of these attrocities you mention are over 200 years ago…

          The other is (current) governments and government policies.

          China is a dictatorship. America is a (very falwed and at this point maybe even a failed, but still hanging on) democracy. Do I really need to spell out the practical differences here?

          They are NOT the same.

          If I were in China right now, just for writing this part above, I’d likely be jailed, and likely somewhat tortured just for good measure.

          The USA has a host of issues, but at least it isn’t government policy to jail and torture it’s own citizens for whatever reason they deem fit.

          You cannot be that naive not to understand that these are not the same.

    • groupofcrows@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      I guess you didnt see all those videos during covid when people had their front doors nailed shut by the government so they couldn’t leave, or the travel bans between cities. Or maybe your definition is different from mine or maybe the citizens prefered being dragged to a covid facility because someone in their household tested positive.

      • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        China’s zero COVID policy saved lives. source So, unless you love death, that’s not a good argument. In fact, I wish America had been more disciplined during the pandemic, which is not over. But the wheels of the economy must turn.

        • groupofcrows@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          China is definitely more disciplined. Like when that Chinese doctor first discovered covid he was disciplined by the Chinese government, the coverup might have worked if covid was less dangerous but it was allowed to spread throughout Wuhan. When the world suspected something was wrong and wanted to close their border with China the CCP called it a over reaction. As things got worse the CCP finally admitted their was a problem and decided to stop travel out of Wuhan but gave everyone 24 hours notice, by than tens of thousands were able to flee to other parts of China and the world. blah blah blah and finally the step where other countries could have done something to stop the spread of covid happens. Yes, the USA should have been more disciplined and they could have been more effective at slowing down covid but by that point China had made it impossible to stop covid. None of this was the Chinese covid policy, just general cover your butt policy. Since China was so proud it created sinovac the CCP could not admit mRNA vaccine was more effective, how many more lives could have been saved if Chinese policy could admit to making mistakes? Sure, a high number of people in the west died doing stupid things like taking horse deworming medicine to fight a virus, but it was their choice. Unlike all the other people who took the necessary precautions and still died or the countless people in China who died from covid or they starved to death because they couldn’t get food - countless because the CCP covered up the number of cases and deaths. Check the WHO website for worldwide covid deaths. USA had 100 million confirmed cases (probably too low) and 1 million deaths (too low). China has four times the population but also has 100 million cases and only 120 thousand deaths. You are right, the CCP hates death - that’s why their made up number is so laughably low. If we assume deaths are 1% of cases than China deaths are 8 times less than what they should be. BTW my parents would agree with you 100%, my mom watches countless mainland media and my dad has dementia and even they would never want to live in China.