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Comment by coliveira | Hacker News Reader

You're completely right, but it's not going to stop the campaign against China, because human rights are not the issue. If it was, people would be out in the streets protesting all day against business done with Saudi Arabia. And people would also protest daily against the human rights violations perpetrated by the US around the world (the UN hasn't lift a finger about that either). The whole goal of the campaign is to raise popular support for a commercial campaign and maybe even a war against China.

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Plenty of people are protesting against business with Saudi Arabia. The reason you see so much anti-China sentiment is likely a result of China having managed to become a part of the lives of people in western countries.

Oil states play a huge role in the lives of people who follow football due to UAE/Qatar having ownership of large clubs, similarly, there have been a lot of protests with regard to the 2022 FIFA World Cup which will take place in Qatar.

Another example is the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi.

I'm waiting for when western countries will start to protest against the US.

Already happened many times. A recent example is the BLM protests that took place all over the world. There has also been a lot of protests against Trump, including the famous baby balloon that was seen during his UK visit.

You are mistaken, BLM around the world is not a protest against the US, it is a protest for better treatment of black people everywhere. People in the occident don't have guts to protest the US, unless it is coming from some left wing party that is then viewed as extremist.

I’m afraid you’re mistaken. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Lives_Matter. There are also many western countries that don’t have a problem with police brutality and racially motivated violence against black people who still took the streets to show solidarity with the African-American people.

It’s also ridiculous to believe other western countries don’t have the guts to protest the US considering the largest protests in recent years (in western countries) have involved USA (primarily BLM and Trump) rather than China.

So, when are these countries going to start boycotting the US government? Maybe still during this millennium? I wouldn't hold my breath. These are the same countries that sat down watching while the US practiced apartheid until the 60s.

When are these countries going to start boycotting China? USA under Trump is quite frankly the only western country that has taken meaningful action to stand up to China.

USA also benefits from the fact that it’s a democracy (admittedly a very flawed one, especially compared to e.g. the Scandinavian countries), so if they elect a madman then other countries only have to endure 4-8 years (and his/her power is significantly restricted compared to Xi Jinping and other dictators).

Right, I'll just vote Democrat and they'll surely end the War in Afghanistan.

>It’s also ridiculous to believe other western countries don’t have the guts to protest the US considering the largest protests in recent years (in western countries

Name one "western" country that has elected an anti-US government. Places like Venezuela and Bolivia have, and the response has been US coup or US coup attempts.

Name one western country that have elected an anti-China government and say why you think their opinion/action towards China had any influence on them willing the election.

I’m guessing you can’t, because quite frankly, USA is the only western country that have done something meaningful to stand up to China. If Trump gets re-elected then I’ll agree that his anti-China stance and actions won him a significant amount of votes (enough to be deciding factor in him beating Biden), but unless that happens then you’ll have a hard time convincing anyone that a western government rose to power as a result of their anti-China stance.

>Name one western country that have elected an anti-China government and say why you think their opinion/action towards China had any influence on them willing the election.

Every non-Russia UN security council state from the 50's to the mid 70's. Because they were "fighting back the forces of Communism."

Or, as you mention, the Chinese menace has been a constant selling point of the Republican party for thirty years, though Bush did not aggressively pursue it. McCain was openly racist towards China, his coments are truly disgusting.

That you can make this post without mentioning the continued US/Saudi war on Yemen largely proves their point. People care when oil states are involved in a sport they follow or a US residents life. What is happening to millions of people in Yemen doesn't register.

I would say it proves my point. Most people couldn’t care less about what happens outside their borders unless the country responsible also do things that impact their life. No on gives a damn when North Korea starve its citizens to death, subject them to hard labor and execute them left and right. But the western world care a lot when they imprison/torture a western citizen.

Similarly, no one cares about China kidnaping girls from neighboring countries to force them into marriage/prostitution in China. But people care a lot when China force gaming companies to censor their games and ban western citizens playing western games in a western country because they write “Free Hong Kong” in the chat.

I will remind you that this thread is about what is happening with the Chinese Uighurs, a group that has no impact on Western lives.

>Most people couldn’t care less about what happens outside their borders unless the country responsible also do things that impact their life

The US is the country responsible here. US military commanders have said that the war in Yemen would end tomorrow without US assistance, and the US declared war on Afghanistan.

It does because these Uyghurs are subjected to hard labor where they’re producing goods for Nike, Gap, H&M, Amazon, Puma, etc. It’s a lot harder to look past these things when you know they’re happening (similarly to how it’s hard for football fans to look past the slave labor used for the World Cup in Qatar). The fact that their treatment feels equivalent to the holocaust makes it even worse.

It also adds great frustration/anger when western companies fight for human rights in USA while they stay silent on China’s human rights issues (and even censor western citizens voicing support for them).

> does because these Uyghurs are subjected to hard labor where they’re producing goods for Nike, Gap, H&M, Amazon, Puma, etc.

I have not heard these allegations of slave labor surrounding these internment camps. Maybe you're thinking of US prisons.

>The fact that their treatment feels equivalent to the holocaust makes it even worse

I'm still not defending China here, but their actions seem limited to cultural genocide not actual genocide. The US treatment of Muslims in Yemen is far worse.

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