The China Thread

[jimmy olsen]

Looks like Beijing is high on its own supply and legitimately thought they were going to gain seats in the Hong Kong election. 

https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/11/25/hong-kong-election-beijing-media-delusions-victory/

[Sheilbh]

Beijing: "Which civil servant wrote this briefing about the silent majority?!"
Mono:

[DGuller]

Looks like Beijing is high on its own supply and legitimately thought they were going to gain seats in the Hong Kong election. 

https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/11/25/hong-kong-election-beijing-media-delusions-victory/

I don't think there is an autocratic power structure anywhere that figured out how to scare people into obedience without putting itself into an information bubble.

[Sheilbh]

I think parts of mainland China could be heading that way. There was an excellent piece in the LRB on the Chinese internet.

But if you have an autocratic state, plus a consumer economy with state access to the underlying internet infrastructure and data of an Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook and the tools to analyse that then you'll be closer to an autocratic state plus good information that's been achieved.

It won't be perfect and there could still be surprises, but it's a world away from relying on a "Liaison Office" or the party plus secret police.

Edit:
LRB piece:
https://www.lrb.co.uk/v41/n19/john-lanchester/document-number-nine

[Monoriu]

If you look at the election data, there is good reason for the pro-Beijing camp to believe that it will win the election.

Overall, pro-Beijing parties won more than 50% more votes than the last election.  Most pro-Beijing candidates won more votes than they did last time. 

You also need to understand how they do electioneering on the ground.  They don't rely much on advertisements.  Instead, it is a vast network of personal relationships.  They have lots of staff who personally know every voter, cater to their needs, help them apply for welfare, jobs and schools, give them gifts, free legal and health advice, day in, day out, over many years.  They know almost exactly how many votes they will get before each election.  They know they'll get 50% more votes than last time. 

50% more.  That is enough margin to win anything, right? 

Turns out the pan-democrats won like 200-300% more votes. 

So I don't think this is a case of believing its own propaganda.  It is a case of underestimating the opposition. 

[jimmy olsen]

That explanation actually makes sense. Interesting.

[Monoriu]

The next election will be the legislative council election next year.  The district council election that just took place is first past the post.  The legislative council election is proportional representation. 

You know what, under HK's proportional representation system, knowing exactly how many votes you'll get gives you a huge advantage. 

Say it takes about 40k votes to win a seat.  The pro-Beijing camp nominates three candidates.  The pro-democracy camp nominates five candidates.

Pro-Beijing #1 = 41k votes
Pro-Beijing #2 = 43k votes
Pro-Beijing #2 = 42k votes

All 3 candidates are elected.  So 126k votes to gain 3 seats.

Pro-democracy #1 = 70k votes
Pro-democracy #2 = 10k votes
Pro-democracy #3 = 50k votes
Pro-democracy #4 = 30k votes
Pro-democracy #5 = 60k votes

So candidates 1, 3 and 5 are elected.  That's 220k votes to gain 3 seats.

[Syt]

https://www.pcgamer.com/star-soccer-player-mesut-ozil-removed-from-pes-2020-in-china-over-tweets-criticizing-the-government/

Star soccer player Mesut Ozil removed from PES 2020 in China over tweets criticizing the government

Mesut Ozil tweeted about China's detention and mistreatment of Uighurs and other Muslims in the Xinjiang province

Arsenal star Mesut Ozil caused a stir last week when he criticized the alleged ongoing human rights abuses and persecution of Uighur Muslims by the Chinese government, and the failure of Muslims globally to adequately respond. As translated by The Guardian, he wrote, "[In China] Qurans are burned, mosques were closed down, Islamic theological schools, madrasas were banned, religious scholars were killed one by one. Despite all this, Muslims stay quiet."

The tweet sparked a backlash among Chinese Arsenal fans, and Arsenal's predictable effort to distance itself from its player—"As a football club, Arsenal has always adhered to the principle of not involving itself in politics"—failed to calm the outrage. Angry comments were posted, jerseys were burned, and China's state broadcaster canceled a planned airing of a game between Arsenal and Manchester City.

Now the backlash has also spread to videogames, as Ozil has reportedly been cut from PES 2020 in China. According to the BBC, publisher Netease has removed Ozil from all three editions of the game available in China, saying in a statement that his comments "hurt the feelings of Chinese fans and violated the sport's spirit of love and peace. We do not understand, accept or forgive this."

Earlier this year, 23 nations including the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, and Japan issued a joint statement at the United Nations condemning the Chinese government's detention and mistreatment of Uighurs and other Muslims in camps in the Xinjiang province. Shortly after that, Belarus issued a statement on behalf of 54 nations, including Russia, Egypt, Bolivia, and Serbia, in support of China's "counter-terrorism" program, describing the detention camps as "vocational education and training centers."

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo came out in explicit support of Ozil, saying on Twitter that "the truth will prevail."

The reaction to Ozil's criticism reflects an increased willingness by China's game industry to flex its muscles in support of the government, as seen previously in response to expressions of support for Hong Kong from Hearthstone grandmaster Chung "blitzchung" Ng Wai and Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey.

In both cases, corporate interests moved quickly to mollify Chinese audiences—Blizzard suspended Blitzchung and two casters involved in the incident, while the NBA issued a de facto apology on Morey's behalf—and as grotesque as it is, it's not hard to understand why: As we said in October, the Chinese market is simply "too lucrative to piss off."

And while cutting a real person from a videogame because they were critical of the Chinese government feels like an escalation, it's not at all out of character: China actively censors videogames and other forms of entertainment media, and maintains policies that ensure foreign companies can do very little about it.

Somewhat oddly, given his apparent support for human rights, Ozil is also a known supporter of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has imposed an increasingly authoritarian regime on the nation since becoming president in 2014 and recently launched an ethnic cleansing campaign of his own against Kurds in Syria. Erdogan actually served as a witness at Ozil's wedding earlier this year; Helge Braun, chief of staff of German Chancellor Angela Merkel (Ozil is German), said Erdogan's presence as a witness "makes one sad."

A Konami rep declined to comment on Ozil's removal from PES 2020 in China. I've reached out to Netease for more information, and will update if I receive a reply. Resident Arsenal fan Tim Clark would also like to hear Ozil's thoughts on why the team's season currently resembles a slow motion shuttle crash, but alas we are out of time.

[garbon]

China sounds so lovely...

[Eddie Teach]

Anyone able to comment on the slow motion shuttle crash?

[Josquius]

I hope more players will show solidarity and speak out. Will be interesting to see how the Chinese react with the whole league cut off. Hell. Let's make it international.
Finally the Chinese leagues time is here.

[Sheilbh]

Scandal in the UK:

Tesco says it has suspended production at a factory in China alleged to have forced foreign prisoners to help make charity Christmas cards and also withdrawn them from sale.

The allegations came to light after the Sunday Times reported that Florence Widdicombe, aged six, from Tooting, south London, opened a box of charity Christmas cards from the supermarket and discovered a plea for help inside one of them.

The message read: "We are foreign prisoners in Shanghai Qinqpu prison China. Forced to work against our will. Please help us and notify human rights organization."

[celedhring]

I once found a card with something in Chinese scribbled on it, inside a bowl I bought at BB&B. I wanted to take it to a Chinese friend for translation, but I misplaced it.

Now I'm worried I let somebody die inside a Chinese salad bowl factory 

[Josquius]

I recall reading a similar story last year.
Seems a common occurrence

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-45976946

If I was a Philippine factory owner (or someone else cheap but non-slavey) I'd advertise myself as guaranteed slave labour-free.

[viper37]

China sounds so lovely...

of course it is lovely.  Only madmen and criminals would disagree, and no one should associate with these anyway...