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Comment by goodbyesf | Hacker News Reader

Spies or people tied to spies. When canada arrested or kidnapped the chinese huawei executive a few years ago on US orders, the chinese government held canadian spies in return. Tit for tat. Of course we whine about it endlessly and push propagnada to make the chinese look like the bad guys.

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Spy accusations are common but rarely have merit.

When Australian politicians said some firm things about China there was a spate of Australian reporters of Chinese origin being detained, this spread to Australian reporters in general.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-31/australian-detained-i...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-08/bill-birtles-mike-smi...

> the chinese government held canadian spies in return

So they claimed; I don't think this was ever substantiated.

It is really easy to break national security laws in China. Just taking a picture at the front of zhongnanhai in Beijing is technically a violation, or a million other places you would never guess were military installations. It isn't like San Diego where even Chinese tourists can take pictures of American military ships in port. (note: the national security laws are considered state secrets under the same national security laws, so even publishing these laws is a violation, so you know...)

But these laws are rarely enforced, except when they need someone for an example.

everyone is a bad guy.

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