Well, China legislated the death penalty for "separatists", a Chinese official said in June that Taiwan separatists will be “crushed to pieces”, and the Chinese ambassador to Japan said Japanese people would be dragged into the fire if they took part in forces plotting to support Taiwan's independence and "split China". Similar remarks came from Chinese ambassadors to other countries and other Chinese officials. You'll find more examples on the web.

@trevron, what is a good source of information regarding China?

So just name a source.

@BakerBagel@midwest.social The "American aligned entities" seek alliances because of China's aggression, and they do so by collaborating not just with America but also with each other, e.g., Japan, the Philipines, Australia, and others. These countries collaborates voluntarily with each other because of China's imperialistic behaviour in the region, not because China is "boxed in" by any Western "entity".

Beijing has been disputing a lot of its neighbours' sovereignty on land and at sea, including India's and Russia's, and neither India nor Russia are exactly what I would call "American aligned entities". As @Buffalox already said, even the single-party communist country Vietnam with a similar authoritarian system seeks stronger ties with the USA rather China.

Taiwan is of massive strategic value because it would allow Chinese vessels to access the Pacific Ocean unimpeded.

China has been accessing the Pacific Ocean unimpeded for decades now, no one questions that. The reasons why China wants control over Taiwan are manifold, one being Taiwan's prominent role in the global supply chain, another is that it would give China better access to the South China Sea and its estimated reserves of 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 11 billion barrels of oil.

I have been thinking the same. Maybe ghost.org's federation over ActivityPub can solve the problem?

I don't like the source either, and usually I never link to SCMP or other Chinese propaganda media. In that case, however, I made an excemption (maybe it wasn't a good idea, just let me know that) as the article doesn't promote China's official agenda. The article is highly critical of the Chinese health system, even citing ordinary citizens' posts, and it comes from a paper like SCMP.

You may have a particular perception of reality -a narrative- and then infer a claim. But it is a completely different thing if you have a claim and then seek to construct a narrative.

What this incident tells us is that the Chinese government doesn't know itself how to justify its claims, so it urges academics to find something to justify the claims of sovereignty over the sea (and the sea's estimated 11 billion barrels of untapped oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, btw) against a wide range of (non-Western) countries like the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.

The fact that China is pursuing its claims very aggressively makes this whole thing even worse (And, yes, other countries may do similar things, and it is bad too, but it doesn't justify China's move here.)

That's right. Done.

Epicenter Works is a digital rights organizations based in Austria.

Yeah, they work in a huge network mainly in Europe. As always, we should never trust blindly, but Epicenter appears to do a solid work. I have been disagreeing with what they said in the last years on some incidents, but all in all they do a good work. At least that's my opinion.

You are welcome 🤠

Yes, I fully agreed. Usually I don't post the SCMP as it is Chinese state-controlled media. I did it in that case (and in another post in this community) as it provides a glimpse into Chinese propaganda planning. This is why I posted it here, but please let me know if you think I am mistaken.

Don't know of Moon claims, but it's any dictator's playbook. It's worth reporting on things like that to remind us what's going on.

Yeah, as you mention Vietnam: the interesting bit here maybe is that Vietnam -a single-party country with a similar totalitarian approach like China- appears to seek closer ties to the U.S. rather then to Beijing, at least that's my interpretation of the country/'s political moves over the last year or so.

They must earn their 50 cents ...

Sorry, it's corrected now (and thanks@DocMcStuffin)

The 'cyberspace' is designed to be decentralized, exactly the opposite of what you describe. China is trying to 'lead the way' into an Orwellian dystopia, and that's among the least things we need.

Chinese cars aren’t even made in Xinjiang.

First, your statement is outright false, one example being the plant operated until recently by a subsidiary of SAIC-Volkswagen near Urumqi, the capital of China's Xinjiang Region. Volkswagen had to leave the joint venture with SAIC exactly over forced labour allegations.

And second, even if true it wouldn't matter as forced labour in China doesn't just take place in Xinjiang alone. There are many other examples across the country.

[Edit typo.]

@Viking_Hippie First your are claiming that Chinese cars aren't manufactured in Xinjiang. When I provide evidence that this is false, you say "even so" and repeat your opinion. It seems whatever one says, no matter if evidence proofs otherwise, you "know" it better, continuing with your false narrative and spreading your opinion. Some may find such conversations funny, I say it is waste of time.

Your points in your statement above are false again.

What a rubbish! It's awful that the enslaved Chinese workers in Xinjiang and elsewhere in China actually are bearing the burdens of Chinese cheap cars.