Sadly that is no surprise.
Similar scenes were seen in Australia when the Hong Kong protests were going in back in 2019 - and then the chinese had the cheek to claim victimhood when they got called out for it.
Itâs a global story which will dominate the narrative this century
Big Brother would be proud
âNo nations has friends only interestsâ - Charles De Gaulle.
and your point is?
Surely that Charles de Gaulle was no politician. 
I was responding to the discussion you had with @gasband. I agree it is a very complex issue and the only way for this to be resolved is for the west to allow China to have part of the pie for global dominance.
Both the US and China are looking to have control over the worldâs affairs. The US and its allies currently accomplish this in two ways. One, through the setup of worldwide organisations like the IMF and the UN, which they have a controlling stake in. Two, make use of their media to cast doubt over their rivals or on those who do not toe the line. Take the COVID-19 situation for example. In my opinion, the western media used every opportunity to deflect the attention onto China, so as to cover up the (mis)management in their own countries. China now wants a share of the pie, or at least, a greater say in things. So, they are trying to use their growing influence to force countries to choose sides. For example, offering to build infrastructure in other countries thereby indirectly having a stake in that country. Not too dissimilar from how the IMF charges high interest rates to countries who borrow from them.
It would be best if both sides can treat each other as âfriendsâ but as the quote I posted mentioned, it is the interests that takes precedence.
You forgot the 3rd (and by far the most devastating) way which is by destroying the economies of countries that donât tow the line, look at central and South America, I shouldnât mention Africa as is such a shit storm still reeling from coloniseation (even after all this time)!
EDIT: is it really any wonder that China and India are avanciong so well?
Things are warming up around Taiwan.
Thereâs no doubt that the US has been guilty of many crimes, from Hiroshima to Guantanamo, Vietnam to Cuba. Both internally and externally there are huge areas of concern for anyone who believes in freedom and democracy. However, we are able to debate all this, we can have this conversation. That is not possible in China, and will become less and less possible as China grows in strength. This is a crucial difference and means that, no matter how critical we can be about the US, the alternative is worse. As an example, just this week the Chinese expert responsible for Covid policy admitted that the Chinese vaccine is not very effective. He was immediately shut down and will, no doubt, disappear from public view. Dr Fauci in the US has been hugely critical of government policy, but has been given a voice and has kept his job. Authoritarian regimes do not tolerate dissent and thus truth is destroyed. Iâm not a fan of the US, but I fear a world dominated by China more.
Unsurprising. After Hong Kong, Taiwan would be the next natural target.
I get your point @Bekloppt. Democracy is chaotic, itâs flawed, itâs even deceptive. But it does offer the opportunity, however slim, to make yourself heard, to even make a change.
The Western Block has advocated democracy and freedom for last seven decades. But they have actually done fuck to ingrain democracy & rule of law in countries that were in their sphere of influence. These nations grew up inherently authoritarian and now have become natural associates of China. The Philippines, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan.
Authoritarian China is unacceptable, but it was inevitable. Thereâs no short & sweet way for the West.
I am really reluctant to go too far in defending the US and its allies. As I said, they have committed atrocious crimes all over the world. They have attempted, often clumsily, to create democratic regimes without huge success in general. When they attempt this theyâre accused of meddling, if they donât, theyâre accused of neglect. What is the right amount of interference/encouragement?
You got me wrong. I wasnât stressing the point that US and allies propped-up autocratic regimes to their ends.
What I want to say is; if we want to stop the rise of China, US and allies now have to start supporting democratization, sincerely and selflessly. Democratic governments are accountable to their people and they will not able to tow the Chinese line blindly.
Each country will debate/question the Chinese projects/interests in their countries and that will stall/hinder those projects. China will be more occupied with sorting up the mess rather than picking up another piece.
Same goes with human rights. If US and allies shows proper conviction for Palestine, Rohingya or Kashmir, then their concern for Uighurs will get real traction.
I hope you understand what Iâm trying to say.
They did it again on Monday.
People are sheep, blithely put. Ruling governments are often made up of a relative handful of individuals that control the beurocracy, military etc. In authoritarian governments this number of individuals is less than in democracies and dictatorships obviously just the one and invariably his family. Thus you have billions of people controlled by a relative handful and that handful then controls policy, militaries etc.
Letâs take your average Israeli pilot. Is he a bad guy? Probably not, probably has a family who loves him, friends who think highly of him. Said pilot is ordered to bomb Palestine, kills some kids in the mayhem, goes home and continues being a generally good guy but has just committed an utterly horrendous thing in the name of ânational interestâ . Your average person pretty much anywhere are generally made up of okay people whether they serve in the Chinese military or Taiwanese, British, French Yada Yada Yada. Yes youâre going to get some pretty awful people serving as well but by and large, mostly fairly decent. Our governments, however, have differing policies, ideologies, âspheres of influenceâ, economic systems etc that invariably pit one against the other.
Wars are fought, young men die, populations displaced and dying and for what? Its pathetic. Iâm with @cynicaloldgit, the sooner we fuck off the better.
Very well said in the main
Apart from the âsooner we fuck offâ comment
Iâm pretty sure your not old, but cynicaloldgit I assume is of an age nearer to retirement.
Itâs such a prebelant additude for boomers that if they canât fix it then itâs better off broken.
How about if the generation in power wonât fix it( and the canât and wonât) what about just you lot fucking off and letting the next gen have a goâŚ
Gotta be worth a tryâŚ
Sounds good in theory, but thereâs one major problem: human nature doesnât change.