> When we do it: Realpolitik

I haven’t encountered a monolithic opinion in the United States on rendition, mostly disgust and self loathing except amongst the most terminally committed to the “war on terror.” I’ve found many friends in considering it a criminal activity.

The people who think china doing this is bad are generally the same people who think the USA doing the same thing is bad also.

What is a State, if not a sophisticated gang operating on a large scale?

The US does not threaten to kill or arbitrarily imprison family members of those they wish to extradite, and does not clandestinely do even remotely such things with US citizens unless there are huge issues of national security, aka a US Passport Holder running a terrorist camp in some place, plotting to blow up buildings.

The moral equivalence argument with China is tiring, and it's actually part of their horrible communications strategy.

The equivalent would be: 'nobody' US citizen 'Joe Smith', living in Paris, mocks Joe Biden on Facebook. As a result, FBI in USA threatens family with prison for arbitrary reasons with fabricated evidence, and clandestinely threatens US citizen in Paris to come home and 'face justice'.

So please.

yet again unjustifiably both-sidesing the actions of America and china. i don't like when America does it but it isn't relevant and i'm a lot less worried about her expanding power than china.

spoiler: most of us actually don't like the bullshit war on terror/war on drugs tactics.

and is there evidence we've threatened American citizens at home to get to expats?

1. The US doesn’t actually do what’s described here.

2. Even if it did, that would also be bad and it wouldn’t make what China does good.

These tu quoque arguments always crop up in threads describing whatever horror out of China’s genocidal, inhumane government.