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Comment by libertine | Hacker News Reader

This reminds me of a story a teacher of mine told in a Advertising class, about a retailer that put pressure on a soda maker to lower prices, or they wouldn't give them share of shelf.

Well the soda maker didn't agree, so they pulled the inventory out.

Weeks later the retailer came back to invite them in at the same rates. Apparently the customers weren't happy that their favorite soda wasn't available, and made sure to let the staff know.

If China starts to pull the plug on unique products and services, I believe there's going to be a ripple effect. I'm pretty sure there are millions of people in China that still enjoy the NBA, despite NBA's stance on what ever the subject is.

This will add up. Maybe the fear of instability through Western propaganda should be matched by the instability that the actualization of censorship is alive and well, via the ban of content people like.

Maybe not.

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I want to point it out it is not only Chinese government, but also Chinese people, the people were enjoying the NBA, are abandoning it. This actually hurts the feeling of the fans.

Only because they are brainwashed by saturation lifelong propaganda.

Also hello to the MSS sockpuppet accounts joining the debate.

They maybe brainwashed, but so does a lot of other people.

but so are a lot of other people comrade xlc0212

They're abandoning anyone and everyone who hurt their feelings because of blind/toxic nationalism. Just take a look at this Weibo poll (there are no wrong answers):

https://twitter.com/rhokilpatrick/status/1181591094473052160

Let's not kid ourselves that there's any such thing as a genuine poll on a Chinese government communication poll. Give me a break.

One of the big problems I find with people supporting the Chinese position on something is that - are they really supporting it, or is this propaganda? Given the level of control on the media and internet there, it is impossible to know.

As I mentioned above, the Chinese are undoubtedly extremely sensitive about HK (I would argue due to propaganda but that’s irrelevant to the question). There is some amount of authenticity this (definitely at least 50%) and the HK protests are truly almost universally very unpopular in the mainland. That said, the degree to which this particular outrage is manufactured by Beijing vs organic is extremely difficult to determine.

for the nba case, i'm pretty sure its organic.. moreover, its chinese netizen pushes the gov to take action. the very first discussion happens probably on diba (sth like 4chan). then the screenshot of the tweet spread virally with outrage of netizens. after that the gov notices it and takes action

While this definitely exists, I’m not completely convinced the true intensity of the Chinese exactly matches the front that Beijing allows forth. I’m confident that most Chinese are unhappy (maybe very unhappy) with the comments, but an entirely organic nationwide boycott seems a little farfetched to me. Chinese aren’t robots; there’s significant variance of opinions and eagerness about politics among them just like all other humans.

However, if the government chooses to grease the wheels of fury or even light the flame via astroturfing while simultaneously censoring dissenting opinions, they look mighty unified.

Remember, this tweet was on _Twitter_. Twitter is banned in China, which raises the question of how this became such a mainstream issue there organically. Sure, I suppose it’s possible that an expat reshared it on Weibo and the entire country went bananas but that seems a like a bit of a stretch to me.

Why are you confident about Chinese? Do you have any evidence directly from mainland Chinese to support your arguments, or only speculations?

I am also confident that the Chinese aren't robots. Sadly I have no evidence directly from mainland China, you could say it's simply speculation.

If every western luxury disappeared from China overnight, I think they'd struggle to come up with domestic replacements quickly enough.

I recommend that Western people who get their facts about China from various mainstream media supplement that with subscribing to YouTube channels of Westerners who actually live there.

This guy is a regular every day Canadian with a Chinese wife who's lived there on and off for 13 or so years, and he has a very unbiased opinion.

This episode is about Chinese Patriotism, very thought provoking.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hPovk2CNKHM

I'm also a fan of SerpentZA, LaoWhy86, and their shared channel ADVChina. Same thing as your link, guys that have been living there for over 10 years, married to chinese women, read and speak the language, and can provide a lot of insight into not only every day life, but also the views of chinese people within mainland china.

I agree, however they have had quite a distinct change in tone recently since leaving China. Not that what they say is untrue, but it feels at least somewhat to have an "unfair" anti-China bias at this point, at least to me.

The reality is though, no singular opinion is "correct", best to consume a wide variety of opinions with an open mind, and resist forming any strong conclusions about particulars. Usually, the correct answer is "well, it depends".

It seems reasonable to filter your views and appear more pro-China while living in China.

Agreed. The question is, what is True? Who shall we believe? There are MANY varied and inconsistent characterizations in play. I choose to believe none of them with any confidence, but I suspect I'm fairly rare in this respect.

I wish that worked by my anecdata says otherwise. Walgreen got rid of lots of branded items and replaced them with their cheaper "Nice!" brand products. 7/11 here in Japan has been working on getting rid of brands. They no longer carry branded tea. They are working on getting rid of branded coffees.

Both companiese "seem" to be doing fine AFAICT. Most people I've asked seem not to care. I'd love it if they did care since the store branded products are not as good IMO.

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