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[nenjin]

I dunno. The bedrock of China's economy seems to be deception. It's all about presenting a strong face to the world and its own citizens, and they cut a lot of corners to do that. It's why you find out things like farmers spray painting their fields green to look healthy in fly overs, or spray painting their pigs black because they're a more desirable breed. Recycling their cooking oil from communal waste disposal while charging high prices for quality cuisine. If the ethical backbone of your economy operates like that, the same mentality likely exists in the more advanced sectors of the economy too.

While he has been criticized as existing solely to bash China, I've found serpentza's channel on Youtube pretty informative. No country or populace is all good or all bad....but China definitely seems to say one thing and be another pretty regularly where you go beyond what they choose to show.

[Maximum Spin]

I dunno. The bedrock of China's economy seems to be deception. It's all about presenting a strong face to the world and its own citizens, and they cut a lot of corners to do that. It's why you find out things like farmers spray painting their fields green to look healthy in fly overs, or spray painting their pigs black because they're a more desirable breed. Recycling their cooking oil from communal waste disposal while charging high prices for quality cuisine. If the ethical backbone of your economy operates like that, the same mentality likely exists in the more advanced sectors of the economy too.

While he has been criticized as existing solely to bash China, I've found serpentza's channel on Youtube pretty informative. No country or populace is all good or all bad....but China definitely seems to say one thing and be another pretty regularly where you go beyond what they choose to show.

The thing is, that's also part of what China wants to show the West. It's not like they don't know we see that.

It is absolutely true that China, like Russia, is endemically culturally corrupt to a degree that boggles westerners. The important takeaway from, in fact, this entire war is that that doesn't stop them from being a huge problem.

[zhijinghaofromchina]

I dunno. The bedrock of China's economy seems to be deception. It's all about presenting a strong face to the world and its own citizens, and they cut a lot of corners to do that. It's why you find out things like farmers spray painting their fields green to look healthy in fly overs, or spray painting their pigs black because they're a more desirable breed. Recycling their cooking oil from communal waste disposal while charging high prices for quality cuisine. If the ethical backbone of your economy operates like that, the same mentality likely exists in the more advanced sectors of the economy too.

You might talk about the Great Leap Forward Movement, which is considered to be a mistake by the official. I still remember the ridiculous comics and slogans in history class, such as "母猪赛大象'' (the female pig is as large as an elephant). We might not paint the fields green, but the villagers will gather corps together in one field to create the illusion of a bumper harvest to deceive officials .Recycling oil from the waste is the"地沟油''problem in Chinese,which is an old problem for more tha 10 years ago, food problems are always the heated topic in China , but the up-to-date one is the 'duck neck or the mouse head problem', which might be even more interesting and ironical than you could imagine, however we are always trying to improve food safety, at least I have confidence in my government.

China's official speech neutral to the war in Ukraine, the government might help Russia, but in my opinion, China may want to get an example to prejudge the chance of getting Taiwan island back.

[ChairmanPoo]

I honestly think that, rhetoric aside, the most important asset of Taiwan would not survive an invasion, and the Chinese goverment knows it, so the posturing is more about getting concessions (perhaps up to a takeover) without actually engaging in open warfare

[Maximum Spin]

Yeah, I'd argue that China is unlikely to invade Taiwan, and much more likely to buy it.

[zhijinghaofromchina]

无论如何，我都希望我们政府能够和平解决台湾问题，前几天的军事演习看上去更像是在吓唬台湾当局。如果真的爆发战争，那么整个国家都会被拖入战争中无法脱身，人民的生活会像俄罗斯人和乌克兰人一样困苦不堪。
Sorry for using Chinese, I’m going to sleep, tomorrow l will give a presentation in front of my class. Good night!

[anewaname]

@Maximum Spin

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[generally]

Yes, agreed. In the west, the zeitgeist is this deeply schizophrenic view of China where it's evil and threatening, but also backward and losing. But the truth is, China isn't losing at all - it's setting itself up for the future possibly better than any other country. Allying with the region's top energy *and* agricultural exporter, both of which they need to support their massive population, is a crucial part of that.

Okay, so what parts in that post do you disagree with? Or, are there implied contexts that you disagree with?

@nenjin

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

While he has been criticized as existing solely to bash China, I've found serpentza's channel on Youtube pretty informative. No country or populace is all good or all bad....but China definitely seems to say one thing and be another pretty regularly where you go beyond what they choose to show.

Yeah, I've watched a dozen of his videos in the last few of years. There were other vids showing the large junkyards of EV mopeds/cars in China. It is the side-effect of administrators being more interested in moving up in their political system than in actually administering. Some community will be healthy but poor and with limited education, then the government subsidizes a capitalist/kleptocract administrator, who puts polluting industry into that region, and their government bosses only see the short-term profit/loss/goal data. Local pollinators and birds die horribly, farmland and rivers get poisoned, etc, etc. It happens globally, but to different degrees in each country and region.

[Strongpoint]

Russia-China gas pipeline deal stalls over Beijing’s price demands (Financial Times)

I hope Russians love their status of a resource colony that is forced to sell their stuff for cheap.

[Strongpoint]

Meanwhile, Ukrainian special forces fight Russian mercenaries in Syria

[EuchreJack]

Another 200 IQ move from Russia: They have signed a defensive pact with North Korea.

South Korea suddenly has decided they might be willing to sell some of their massive arsenal of older US armaments to Ukraine.

[Strongpoint]

1) Go on a summer vacation to Crimea, a literal war zone
2) Once there, go to a beach that is ~2km away from an active military air base
3) Ignore the air defense warning and keep relaxing on the beach
4) Have a missile that targets the aforementioned base shot down above your head
5) Get explosive falling debris on your head ending dead, injured, or, if you are lucky enough, full of bright memories
6) Be used in Russian propaganda as an innocent victim of Ukrainian fascists

What do you know about extreme vacations?
I only pity children who got idiot parents.

[anewaname]

From PBS interview, the US is clarifying Ukraine can use US weapons within Russia anywhere Russia is coming over the border. A small step up from just being able to use the weapons cross-border near Kharkiv.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Query: Does the agreement that you have made with Ukraine to allow Ukraine to fire American weapons just over the border into Russia at Russian forces that are about to attack into Ukraine, does that extend beyond the Kharkiv region, including into the Sumy region, where Russian forces have also been targeting Ukraine?

Reply: It extends to anywhere that Russian forces are coming across the border from the Russian side to the Ukrainian side to try to take additional Ukrainian territory.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Query: Of course, Russia is attacking Ukraine from all parts of Russia. Why draw the line there? This week's bilateral security agreement obliges the U.S. to — quote — "support Ukraine's efforts to win today's war." How do you expect Ukraine to win if it can't attack Russian forces that use Russia itself as a sanctuary?

Reply: Well, first, we are permitting Ukrainian forces to attack Russian forces using Russia as a sanctuary in the areas where on the battlefield they are attacking from inside Russia with artillery, with other ground-based munitions. Second, we have made clear — and we have seen over the course of the past two years Ukraine do this — that they can use air defense systems, including those supplied by the United States, to take Russian planes out of the sky, even if those Russian planes are in Russian airspace, if they're about to fire into Ukrainian airspace.

[martinuzz]

In Dagestan, gunman have assaulted an othodox church and a synagogue, and a police station, killing at least 20 and injuring dozens.
One of the dead is a 66-year old priest and local celebrity. All guards were killed, and most of the other dead are police officers.
The attacks started sunday evening in Russia's oldest city, Derbent, at a church and synagogue, and an hour later at the police station in the regional capitol Machatsjkala.
According to the authorities, all 5 attackers have been killed. The head of the republic, Sergej Melikov, has announced a manhunt that will last until all members of all sleeper cells, 'which have undoubtedly been aided by foreign nations' have been found.

The attack has not been claimed yet, but internet accounts loyal to IS have congratulated their brothers in the Kaukasus for showing that they are still strong and capable.
Two of the killed assailants were the sons of a local government offical of the Kremlin party United Russia. Their father, Magomed Omarov, has resigned and has been thrown out of the Kremlin party.

The head of the FSB has decided that there will be multiple large scale anti terrorist operations in Dagestan.
Expect ethnic cleansing of salafists.

I guess that's what you get when you recruit, train and arm muslim fanatics to fight in Ukraine. They come home well trained veterans, and can kill a lot of police before being taken out.

[heydude6]

Wait, so these mass murderers were originally fighting for the Russians against Ukraine? Well, I guess that's the consequence of scraping the bottom of the barrel to acquire manpower. Perhaps its a sign that Russia is reaching a soft limit on how many men they can send to the meatgrinder before destabilizing the nation, but I'm not holding out too much hope until more stories come out.

Our enemy is the Russian army and government, not their civilians. There is nothing to cheer for here.

[martinuzz]

I don't know but that would not be very surprising, considering that compared to most of the rest of Russia, percentually a lot of recruits are from the Dagestan region (lots of poverty).