China is a authoritarian country, but it doesn’t have the resource and political will to capture and kill every person that doesn’t align with CCP.
Things can get pretty ugly (like death, torture, or removal of livelihood) for strong anti-governmental message, like bridgeman; significant public figure expressing dissent (even as a joke), like Bi Fujian, the host of the most popular variety show; or significant public event like wuyi (乌衣), Quanmei, and other activist in the chained woman incident.
But Chinese government is not going to kill someone for saying “I am so fucking overworked”. Arrest for telling the story to foreign media (which obviously is neither humane nor legal, I am not trying to defend CCP), maybe, but not worth any more serious punishment.
One of the things I learned reading Three Body Problem is that their police problems mirror the US a lot more than either country might realize. One of the characters is a cop who knows he’s supposed to act a certain way in investigations, but doesn’t give a shit. In other words, there’s an expectation that their police respect certain civil liberties, but they often don’t. Which is basically what happens in the US.
That book was originally published in 2008, though, and since then, Xi Jinping has been pushing things back to being more explicitly authoritarian. Oh, and the author has made some statements in support of that, so that’s great.
Um. In the U.S. I could still go for a walk outside, or out to the grocery store, or grab some fast-food at the drive-through. In China people were being boarded up in their homes… as in, literally boarded up with hammer and nails.
The anti-lockdown protest, later known as A4 revolution was triggered by Ürümqi fire where the firetruck was unable to reach the scene because no one dare to leave their residence to move their parked cars.
As a side note, A4 protest started as a single female student holding a piece of white paper in Nanjing Communication College for a entire day in solitude (the man in the picture is allegedly a teacher of the college, taking away her white paper)
and many other students joining her later in the night
Later the A4 (or “white paper”) symbolism extended to the entire globe as a pillar against oppression and censorship. We should all remember this brave young lady.
China is a authoritarian country, but it doesn’t have the resource and political will to capture and kill every person that doesn’t align with CCP.
Things can get pretty ugly (like death, torture, or removal of livelihood) for strong anti-governmental message, like bridgeman; significant public figure expressing dissent (even as a joke), like Bi Fujian, the host of the most popular variety show; or significant public event like wuyi (乌衣), Quanmei, and other activist in the chained woman incident.
But Chinese government is not going to kill someone for saying “I am so fucking overworked”. Arrest for telling the story to foreign media (which obviously is neither humane nor legal, I am not trying to defend CCP), maybe, but not worth any more serious punishment.
One of the things I learned reading Three Body Problem is that their police problems mirror the US a lot more than either country might realize. One of the characters is a cop who knows he’s supposed to act a certain way in investigations, but doesn’t give a shit. In other words, there’s an expectation that their police respect certain civil liberties, but they often don’t. Which is basically what happens in the US.
That book was originally published in 2008, though, and since then, Xi Jinping has been pushing things back to being more explicitly authoritarian. Oh, and the author has made some statements in support of that, so that’s great.
Schroedinger’s Communist:
It’s a fascist dictorship, and only as powerful as it’s enforcers are loyal.
If things get bad, it can collapse overnight.
“This polygon has three sides, but it’s still a triangle.”
More like:
Love how y’all hate anti lockdown protesters in USA but cheer them on in China.
Um. In the U.S. I could still go for a walk outside, or out to the grocery store, or grab some fast-food at the drive-through. In China people were being boarded up in their homes… as in, literally boarded up with hammer and nails.
And solders https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1703503427818
The anti-lockdown protest, later known as A4 revolution was triggered by Ürümqi fire where the firetruck was unable to reach the scene because no one dare to leave their residence to move their parked cars.
As a side note, A4 protest started as a single female student holding a piece of white paper in Nanjing Communication College for a entire day in solitude (the man in the picture is allegedly a teacher of the college, taking away her white paper)
and many other students joining her later in the night
Later the A4 (or “white paper”) symbolism extended to the entire globe as a pillar against oppression and censorship. We should all remember this brave young lady.
News with videos (google translate): https://chinadigitaltimes-net.translate.goog/chinese/690159.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp
Wikipedia article on A4 revolution also mentioned her: