Is just such a shock from being in China. Just got harassed and essentially threatened for being a socialist. They searched my bags and commented on my China flag and my little red books and my copy of Blackshirts and Reds. Fucking police state. The security in China is strict, but they don’t give a fuck about your thoughts, whereas this guy was very aggressive about “consequences” for being a socialist.

    • @ExotiqueMatter@lemmygrad.ml
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      453 months ago

      Random person: tell what they experienced during their trip in China

      Smug lib: “Are you sure you really experienced what you say you did? Me (who has never been to China) think you are mistaken.”

      • @nxdefiant
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        -273 months ago

        There’s a huge difference between “I experienced this” and “I’m extrapolating a huge generalization from my tiny shred of experience”.

        • @ExotiqueMatter@lemmygrad.ml
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          I have heard plenty of first hand accounts from people who were born there, who live there, and elsewhere who go back to visit family often, that say otherwise.

          There’s a huge difference between “I experienced this” and “I’m extrapolating a huge generalization from my tiny shred of experience”.

          You managed to contradict yourself in consecutive comments, I’m impressed.

          • @nxdefiant
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            -253 months ago

            I just asked if they were sure. Questions make you mad I guess?

            • @ExotiqueMatter@lemmygrad.ml
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              You sure come across as confrontational and smug for someone who’s just asking questions, and that doesn’t negate the fact that you contradicted yourself.

            • @RedClouds@lemmygrad.ml
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              123 months ago

              “Im just asking questions” is what fascists say to inquire about why the “globalists” have so much control over banking.

              Sure, you’re “just asking questions”, buddy. Sure…

        • @deathtoreddit@lemmygrad.ml
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          I have heard plenty of first hand accounts from people who were born there, who live there, and elsewhere who go back to visit family often, that say otherwise.

          Also you

          here’s a huge difference between “I experienced this” and “I’m extrapolating a huge generalization from my tiny shred of experience”.

          When did he claim that, eh?

          Yeah, nah, I’m just gonna do a whataboutism on you and ask you about their experiences… for all I know, these people are affiliated with National Endowment for Democracy and other western NGOs, because that would explain a lot

          You seem like pro-regime changer, so I guess agree to disagree…

          • @nxdefiant
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            “Their security” is a bit broad, no? I mean, what are the error bars on that? One airport? That’s the bar (I think?) from the American side, so I’m guessing it’s the same for the Chinese side.

            • @Bartsbigbugbag@lemmy.mlOP
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              223 months ago

              Multiple airports, train stations, subway lines, bus stations. But, I can only really speak for northern China and Beijing, I’ll give you that.

              • @ghost_of_faso2@lemmygrad.ml
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                153 months ago

                Ive been to Shenzhen before from the UK, most intense security was in the UK.

                I will say Chinese people do get survailled, but its usually in the case of them studying abroad, they will ask people to check in to a local embassy infrequently to make sure they arent fleeing there VISA, which most countires actually ask you to do lol.

                • @Bartsbigbugbag@lemmy.mlOP
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                  43 months ago

                  That didn’t happen to my wife or her family despite her living abroad for a decade and her dad for more than two decades. Not to say it doesn’t happen now, or at all, just that the people I know haven’t experienced that.

            • @Bartsbigbugbag@lemmy.mlOP
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              73 months ago

              So…. Just come in, shit all over, and then leave without even responding to me once? I’ll be sure to remember your username in the future so I don’t waste time on bad faith arguments from you. Cheers!

    • @REEEEvolution@lemmygrad.ml
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      Pooh isn’t banned (just look up Disney Land Shanghai) and I am pretty sure neither is “tank man”, because PRC television showed the riots live.

      There was precisely one Pooh image that was taken down, and that was because of its racist conotations. Not against Xi, he was just compared to Pooh, but against Obama who was compared to Tigger. The text to the image read “Xi is Pooh, Obama is a Tigger.”, I think you get the intention, it’s one letter.

      Western propaganda, as usual, left out half the story. Common technique used in the west.

      • @sinovictorchan@lemmygrad.ml
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        313 months ago

        The Hong Kong rioters frequntly use the Xinnie Pooh insult to mock Xi for his skin color and East Asian appearance which expose their anti-Chinese racism and their identity as European diaspora. When I questioned their racist connotation with the Winnie Pooh stereptype, they tried to make irrational excuses or change the topic. The interesting fact is that the self-proclaimed Hong Kong independence advocate used the ban on the Xinnie Pooh racism as the only example of Chinese media censorship. There is also other obvious evidence that the alleged Hong Kong independence movement is an attempts to return Hong Kong under British authoritarian rule like the refusal to talk about the life under British rule, the false association of British colonialism to independence and democratic utopia, the lack of awareness that all their activities in Hong Kong that they openly publicized in media could only exist under a democratic government, and their claim that Hong Kong belongs to sinophobic British people that are rude to Hong Kongers.

        • @Weyland@lemmygrad.ml
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          203 months ago

          There are tons of anti-CPC arguments one can make, especially by looking at past mistakes and ignoring the subsequent work that has gone into rectifying those mistakes. Heck there are various one issue movements in China that push back against some of what the CPC does.

          But, seeing as HK protestors cling onto Pooh memes: it’s 100% obvious that it’s a foreign op.

          • @DamarcusArt@lemmygrad.ml
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            123 months ago

            But actually arguing against CPC policy requires knowledge of that policy, westerners have none beyond “Evil! Bad! Muh Freezepeach!”

    • @Bartsbigbugbag@lemmy.mlOP
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      Yep. I am. My wife is Chinese, I just spent weeks there, and I’m friend with a rather vocal dissident Chinese citizen, to the point I would even call him an anti-communist. He’s just fine. That is a pretty typical bullshit article. Winnie the Pooh is advertised on tv dude.

      • @Weyland@lemmygrad.ml
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        243 months ago

        As a Westerner that attends public events I attract these people indoctrinated by Western propaganda like flies. IF China was an dystopian authoritarian police state they would’ve hired me by now to supply them with names.

      • @RedClouds@lemmygrad.ml
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        103 months ago

        Notice how that commenter responded to others but not back to you haha

        These liberals have never been challenged a day in their life on their synophobic bullshit. The moment they do, they’re immediately unable to properly respond without sourcing lies and disinformation.

      • @nxdefiant
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        -153 months ago

        this is lemmygrad? I legit thought I was banned here. did someone clear the banlist or something?

        • @DamarcusArt@lemmygrad.ml
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          153 months ago

          We like to do temp bans for people who say silly things, but aren’t completely reprehensible. The mods are actually pretty forgiving.

          • @Omega_Haxors@lemmy.ml
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            My favorite example of Lemmy leniency was that one antisemite that got a 3 day ban from a single comm. The only comms/instances who perm ban (except accounts who spam or post CSAM, they get purged) are the nazi ones, and they’ll usually do it at the drop of a hat.

            • @DamarcusArt@lemmygrad.ml
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              133 months ago

              Yeah, the mods are big on using bans as a warning, not as a way to perpetuate the “echo chamber” or whatever libs are accusing us of.

              • @Omega_Haxors@lemmy.ml
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                The nature of the federation is that there’s a huge incentive not to just moderate like a fucking cop, because if you do it will make your comm/instance look like a nazi shithole. Perfect example of this is blah’s 196, their modteam has to PRwash like crazy because of all the obscene abuses of power that show up in their modlog including blatant examples of banning people for arguing with the mods and removing people for “being a tankie” It got so bad that hexbear literally defederated from the entirety of blaj because their anticommunism was borderline noncery and the admins weren’t doing fuck all about it.

                On reddit if you get mod-abused you have no option for accountability; the admins shut down the form you used to be able to use to contact them, and their TOS forbids you from making subs for places you got banned from (under harassment rules) which is a site-bannable offense. Best you can do is make a thread on your /u which nobody but your most dedicated followers will even get a chance to see. Is it any surprise that you can routinely get banned there for petty reasons, and/or almost always for political (“anti white racism”) reasons?

                • charlie [any]
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                  Just a point of clarification,

                  It got so bad that hexbear literally defederated from the entirety of blaj because their anticommunism was borderline noncery and the admins weren’t doing fuck all about it.

                  Hexbear defederated not because of their anti-communism, but because of their egregious moderation failures that made Hexbear users feel unsafe.

                  …we have come to the conclusion that the 196 community on lemmy.blahaj.zone has made the fediverse an unsafe space for our queer, disabled, neurodivergent, non-western, and other marginalized comrades on this forum, and we will be defederating from lemmy.blahaj.zone until we can be confident that this will not continue to be an issue.

                  https://hexbear.net/post/369410

                  I remember a lot of discussion about the “paradox of tolerance” when that was ongoing, basically the idea that if you tolerate Nazi’s in your bar, you’ll quickly have a Nazi exclusive bar.

                  • @Omega_Haxors@lemmy.ml
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                    I know all about their moderation failures, they banned me for calling out someone quoting a (now outed) pedophile. Like, beyond reprehensible behavior and the fact that the admins just want to bury it shows where their intentions are as an instance.

                • 新星 [they/them/🏳️‍⚧️]
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                  63 months ago

                  the admins shut down the form you used to be able to use to contact them

                  BTW Reddit mods are still able to contact the admins and get responses when they need stuff.

                  Source: Got a privilege escalation from them in 2024

                  • @Omega_Haxors@lemmy.ml
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                    Cool, didn’t know about that. Though not helpful when the mods are the ones who are the problem.

        • @Omega_Haxors@lemmy.ml
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          43 months ago

          You’re probably thinking of hexbear. I’ve had problems with them too, not exactly the most well-behaved instance.

    • @Weyland@lemmygrad.ml
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      143 months ago

      Here I was thinking that you were talking about books, and wanted to talk about how Chinese bookstores with dedicated English non-fiction sections shelve the same alt-right tech-bro fiction you find in the US.

      But, no. It’s just Pooh and Tank man memes, and thus I’m kind of disappointed.

      • @Bartsbigbugbag@lemmy.mlOP
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        123 months ago

        Yeah I was saddened to see so many Elon and Bill Gates books at Sysiphe. But, they also had Camus, so…. We’ll call it 50:50 haha

        • @Weyland@lemmygrad.ml
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          73 months ago

          Camus

          Going by the political section of his Wikipedia entry, he doesn’t seem too much of a leftist. Then again, I know only of the name, not his content.

          • @Bartsbigbugbag@lemmy.mlOP
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            He’s a mixed bag, for sure, but he hung out with some interesting people who I would consider more left philosophers, and he was basically the motorcycle jacket wearing, cigarette smoking philosopher prototype. He became a pretty sharp anti-com later in life, and it broke him from his friendship with Sartre. I thought he also knew Le Guin, but I might be imagining that part looking again now.

      • ☭ Comrade Pup Ivy 🇨🇺
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        43 months ago

        TOS -> TNG -> DS9 -> VOY -> ENT I never could get into TAS but it only like half counts any way. If we count the Orville place it right before TNG, and there are no there are no other star trek shoes that have ever been made ever.