Twitter locks account of Chinese Embassy in U.S. | Hacker News Reader

Twitter locks account of Chinese Embassy in U.S.

cbc.ca

55 pointsempressplay29 comments

I commented on this asymmetry before, Chinese propaganda operating freely in the west on western platforms, while western propaganda being filtered in Chinese platforms is a real foreign policy conundrum since both parties are following relevant local regulations. Hard to see how west can match without adopting similar (anti)values. Didn't take long, this only validates Chinese filtering model and plays in China's favour. I'm sure there's going to be much rationalization and wank over differences between private and government control. But IMO it's perfunctory and doesn't change the underlying effect of political censorship, in the end that's the only validation China needs.

I think access to media markets should be treated similarly to trade restrictions. I don't think the Chinese government or Chinese companies should have access to the US media market without appropriate reciprocity.

There's a partial list of the people the Chinese government has announced sanctions on here: https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/25...

It's unsurprising to see firebrands like Bannon on the list, but Pottinger seemed like a relatively middle of the road hawk.

The worrying part is that the announcement not only bans these people from entering China, but their family members too - which means it goes further than the recent sanctions the US placed on a few CCP officials. The vagueness around "companies and institutions associated with them" also being banned really seems to up the pressure on Americans even outside of politics to toe the line. Doesn't really bode well for improved relations in the Biden administration.

Pottinger is the architect of current China containment policies that's fairly coherent if not for Trump going off script. There's likely continuity going into Biden's China policy. He's arguably more dangerous to Chinese interest than Pompeo. I don't think there's going to be much movement towards improving relations until Biden sorts US out for a couple years and there's some semblance of where Trump/Pompeo/Hawks/Republican party is heading for next election. Sanctioning Pompeo probably a gift for his presidential aspirations anyway. Otherwise it looks pretty reciprocal, China doesn't have SWIFT levers, so have to inconvenience another way.

It's pretty clear to me that China intends for it to be, and look like, an escalation, even if ambiguously so.

They're posturing on the new admin, knowing that the Whitehouse really doesn't want to escalate. A China flex without a comparable US (escalated) response would be huge for China's superpower aspirations right now.

If it backfires, then China can fall back to the position that they intended it to be reciprocal in order to save face.

A couple factors:

Wait until "doomsday clown" Pompeo out of the office, to mitigate damage.

Biden invited Taiwan's "ambassador" to inauguration, a first. I don't know which event proceeds what, but this might call for separate response. There's no space for face-saving on Taiwan redline. Off to a rough start.

It's somewhat frightening how much political control social media has. Their ability to silence political ideas, people, or entities they disagree with is a lot of power for them to wield.

I'm not debating justification of their action, merely the responsibility and power they hold.

I do at least partially share your concerns, but the Chinese Embassy can always just release the same information through a press release from their website. Anyone interested (including news agencies) can still get that information. They're not really being silenced.

This is not really because of that tweet specifically, but because the USA has now accused China of genocide against the uighurs

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/us-china-genocide-declaration-...

This has been widely reported in the west for almost two years... What took you so long?

Widely reported, yes. But only officially recognized very recently.

And it's not because the USA cares, it's about the trade war and the superpower piss match.

I'd argue it's the reverse: If anything, trade concerns have prevented/deterred the US from being able to speak up sooner.

Trade concerns ruled then, trade concerns ruled now.

Then not speaking was "good for trade", now speaking is "good for the trade war".

The only reason we have "trade concerns" in the first place is because we don't want to be beholden to jerks.

We tolerated it for a little bit (i.e. the last decade and a half) while there was still some delusion that they might stop being jerks but those days are over.

If China wasn't bullying everyone it thinks it can and wasn't engaging in domestic ethnic cleansing and wasn't trying to create 1984 we'd have no problem being economically joined at the hip with them. But they are. So we got beef.

>The only reason we have "trade concerns" in the first place is because we don't want to be beholden to jerks.

No, it's because the US don't want to be beholden to anyone, period. It's about keeping control (and profit, greed, and other less high ideals), not about moral contempt for the CCP.

>and wasn't engaging in domestic ethnic cleansing and wasn't trying to create 1984 we'd have no problem being economically joined at the hip with them.

Somehow that was never a problem with people from Pinochet to Suharto and from Nicaraguan death squads to Saddam (when he was still a handy ally), or when there are "homemade" bombs doing the killing...

>If China wasn't bullying everyone it thinks it can

This is beyond ironic. The US has been bullying and strong-arming the whole globe for over century, toppled democratic regimes (from Mossadeq to Allende and on), had supported countless dictators in their countries with funds and arms, treated Latin American countries as banana republics, has invaded and occupied four countries just in the last 20 years (plus countless bombings), keeps torture camps (from Abu Graib to Guantanamo), and maintains hundreds of army bases all over the world, not to mention global surveillance. It's only the only country that used nuclear bombs in wars ever (on civilians non the less).

It's only the idea that their shit doesn't stink, and the belief in some "manifest destiny" of the US to carry the light and lead the rest 96% of humanity (in need of guidance), that gives people in the US the gal to dare to criticize another country...

It's more the case of a pitch black pot calling a new and upcoming black kettle black, case...

I'm not sure that the value of trade vs value of the trade war/ calling-out-genocide has changed, so much as the cost of calling them out was quickly approaching "inevitable."

It's not like Trump would have had a problem escalating the situation years ago. And if anything, it would have had more political value for him to do it pre-election.

I read it instead as the outgoing president determining that the cost to him of making this call had dropped to zero.

Maybe- but that didn't change in the days leading up to inauguration. Or even since the pandemic began.

I haven't seen anyone in media seriously attack the claim itself. Which shows that political cost wasn't really a concern (even if the Biden admin didn't like the timing of the statement).

Again, if it was personal / selfishness, pre-election or earlier would have made more sense.

Even as far back as being a distraction from the (1st) impeachment would have been high benefit, low/no cost.

People are quick to presume the worst with Trump's motives for a particular action, without necessarily thinking what the preferred/likely action would be, given a particular motive.

I hope they also block American accounts because of what they have done... all over the world.

I’m sure Biden will restart all wars in the Middle East, will use Twitter to send messages to justify them (or lie about them), and Twitter will do nothing about it.

A lot of other communist Chinese government rep accounts dehumanize Uighurs. They haven’t been banned yet. Also Ayatollah who is fervent anti-Semite is still on Twitter.

There has not been a public outcry. And most of those that would even make a cry, are now banned.

So.. Just welcome your new Chinese overlords and shut up.

Not quite sure why you are being downvoted. Just yesterday we were reading history books about Nazis and Soviet Russia building concentration camps and we were appalled thinking this won't ever happen again, while the history repeats itself again and nobody seem to care,not at least to a larger degree.

> and we were appalled thinking this won't ever happen again,

Abu Ghraib, Bosnia, Guantanamo

Did that account proclaim the Uighur women were no longer "baby making machines"?

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