70 years is a blip in history, particularly Chinese history. Maybe I'm just being idealistic, but I don't think any government that is focused on controlling the minds of their population is destined for longevity, not in today's information age. The Soviet Union couldn't do it and they were extremely oppressive and that was pre-internet. Today is Taiwan National Day and my friends are celebrating on group chat. Even the ones from China are saying "It's a good thing we aren't saying this on WeChat!" Even in jest, I can tell they're happy that they can say whatever they want over here. There is no party line to tow. When the economy stops expanding the CCP will have an incredibly hard time keeping 1.4 billion people in line.
There is no way other than a shrewd coup or invasion, and I just cannot endorse that. What would be your plan? Kidnapping Xi wouldn’t help, I bet there is another Xi in line. I guess there are at least 800 million estimate who can fight.
A coup or invasion is impossible and would not be beneficial for anyone. What I'm talking about is a cultural shift, which happens in every country except for one as completely locked down as North Korea. Do you think internal reform is off the table even if the economy slows? China is already different now than it was 30 years ago, they are a major presence on the world stage. If not for that Hong Kong would have seen a Tienanmen Square level response by now. I'm not sure if China would be willing to do that again at this point. The backlash worldwide would erode a good chunk of the foreign influence they've built up.
But it's exactly that rise in presence on the world stage that has many Chinese overlooking the problems of their government. It goes back to the way US politicians frame things in a campaign: "Are you better off now than you were ___ years ago?" For most Chinese citizens, the answer is probably yes. Of course, that doesn't give their government license to do whatever it wants, but it definitely colors the way in which the populace views that government, especially when the state-controlled media doesn't allow anyone to see the wrong being perpetrated against some citizens.
I’m really starting to get annoyed with China and their belief system. If DM resigns I’m going to be pissed
I value your own opinion, YallMean, but disagree with much of your take in this instance. My applause for the bipartisan letter from members of Congress is more for seeing a bipartisan effort with regard to foreign policy than for the exact content of the letter directed at the Chinese government. Although I support the gist of what it says, I certainly understand the concern about Congress poking its nose into the business of the NBA. I wish we saw more bipartisanship in Congress, instead of the bitter party against party partisanship we now see everyday. It didn’t use to be remotely this bad. I’m old enough to have voted against Nixon after Watergate was exposed, but before many people believed it. While I argued with a close relative that Nixon was guilty of what he was accused of doing by Woodward and Bernstein of the Washington Post as we were walking up to our respective voting booths (they had the real thing back then), it was a friendly argument, one without the animus it would very likely produce today. So I have, perhaps, a broader view of the current political climate than some might have here. I disagree that the letter “is making it worse and worse towards a point of no return.” I think this “crisis,” as I said in my post, has been created by the Chinese government over a single retweeted “Tweet” by Daryl Morey that was quickly removed after Morey was deluged by thousands of tweets obviously produced by “bots,” in my humble opinion. A tweet that cannot be legally seen in China due to Chinese governmental censorship. So remove my mention of the congressional letter and focus on the rest of my post. What do you disagree with? I’ll add that I could care less about MacDonald’s. I never eat there. ;-)
If I was DM, I would resign -- with a big Middle Finger to Fertita, Silver, Harden, and anyone else that is siding with China. That said, he's smart enough not to do anything rash. But I think the Rox will be looking for a new GM after this season, whether they usher him out the door or he leaves of his own accord. One interesting thing to watch is whether this is something that gets "quiet" over time -- or whether this just keeps building in controversy as the year goes on.
What about Boeing or GM or Microsoft. Deck, the very first post I spoke about this issue is that I understand the core values and principles this very nation is founded on. What is at issue is a challenge of it from another superpower. I totally get that perception. However, I echo what Stephen A said on this issue - You leave that stuff to Mike Pompeo and you don't fight with China over something you (Morey) don't fully understand, let alone they are your biggest customer outside the US. He said this - does every Busines executive have to say publicly what might be bothering him against their customers and not receiving consequences. In this context, to me, it is foolish to keep fighting about this ideological nonsense. If your customer is upset about you, do you get into the business demanding them to understand you and to respect? No, you keep quiet if you want to keep the business. This situation is no different from that. It is only different because of the politicians and others muddy it up, making it more and more difficult for Morey and the Rockets to get out of this ugliness. Be smart about the business you are an executive of, and don't let dubious people take advantage of it. That's all I am saying. You let Mike Pompeo fly the flags for the US, not at expense of Morey, Rockets and NBA.
Oh definitely, as China has become a world power they have solidified their support from the population. They can now project their influence internationally too, as we can see with Hollywood and the NBA, in this case. Their influence is only economic though, not cultural. The Soviet Union was an existential threat, a legitimate superpower and even with them, you could see that their guns were pointed inward as well as outward. They had to keep their people from escaping to the West, not the other way around. While China can flex their growing economic power they’re not influencing anyone to take up their style of totalitarian government. We don’t need to ban or censor Chinese media. I have read the Communist Manifesto without fear of reprisal from the government. Their state controlled media needs to control Western influence indefinitely. How long can that keep up? When economic turmoil hits, as it does with every country, will the population stand united behind the party? With my colleagues from China territorial disputes about Taiwan and Hong Kong are truly third-rail issues, we’ll never see eye to eye on them. They will always be culturally Chinese, but they value the freedoms they have while they are here. We can watch whatever we want and not have our messages monitored by government officials. They don’t want the government to have that level of control here. What they feel is good for China is limited only to China. Western ideals will breakthrough there before Chinese views breakthrough here.
