Open Thread Friday 5-15-2020

Submitted by studentofearth on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 6:27am

A Look at China Part Four

China's Century of Humiliation is generally considered from the first British Opium War to Mao Zedong declaring its end in 1949 with the establishment of the People's Republic of China.

Chiang Kai-shek considered the end in 1945 after the defeat of Japan and China's place among the Big Four in the victorious Allies of World War II. Chiang Kai-shek had regained control of the the concessions made to the French after the Boxer Rebellion. United Kingdom and the United States had given up Extraterritorial jurisdiction.

The Manchurians had been governing China since the 1636 invasion and the establishment of the Qing Dynasty. Prior to the first Opium War China accounted for one-third of the worlds gross domestic product (GDP) and was home to 450 million citizens.

The ensuing century scarred the Chinese psyche, whose prestige as the Celestial Empire was damaged by a series of brutal invasions by the era’s Great Powers. Great Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, and the United States of America all vied for a chunk of the Chinese empire; China lost 1/3 of its territory and tens of millions Chinese perished. The Chinese suffered 35 million casualties during WWII, and were the first to fight in 1937 against Japanese expansionist aggression. In addition, the propagation of Christianity into China was partly responsible for the brutal Taiping rebellion in 1850 by Hong Xiuquan, who claimed to be the younger brother of Jesus Christ and launched a brutal revolt against the ruling Qing dynasty; even modest estimates place the death toll around 20 million.

The following century was period of constant turmoil, disruption effecting all segments of society and reparations to various nations.

Defeat in the First Opium War (1839–1842) by the United Kingdom
The Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864)
Defeat in the Second Opium War (1856–1860) and the sacking of the Old Summer Palace.
Sino-French War over Vietnam (1884–1885)
Defeat in the Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) by Japan
Defeat of Boxer uprising (1899–1901) by The Eight-Nation Alliance
British expedition to Tibet (1903–1904)
End of the Qing Dynasty (1912)
Warlord control major portions of China
Republic of China (ROC) (intermittent 1912-1927)
Republic's first president, Sun Yat-sen
Empire of China (1915–1916)
The Twenty-One Demands (1915) by Japan
Treaty of Versailles granting province of Shandong to Japan (1919)
Japanese invasion of Manchuria (1931-1932)
World War II (1937–1945)
Chinese Civil War (intermittent 1927-1949)
both Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek declared themselves heir to Sun Yat-sen policies

We will take a look next week on the People's Republic of China and Republic of China on Taiwan and governance of their populations.

________

"Wolf Warrior" has become a popular phrase in recent articles to describe more forceful Chinese actions and diplomacy. I do not understand the brilliance of Western press using a phrase referring to a movie with a plot line that includes the possibility of germ warfare directed at Chinese genetics. It may sound good for an American audience who have not seen the film, but continually reminds Asians of theoretical conspiracies.

(Wikipedia) Meanwhile in southeast Asia, crimelord Min Deng is apprehended by authorities but rescued by group of foreign mercenaries led by ex-US Navy SEAL 'Tom Cat' (Scott Adkins). It is revealed that Min Deng is the older brother of Wu Ji, the drug smuggler slain by Leng Feng in 2008. Min Deng re-hires Tom Cat and his group to assassinate Leng Feng, but warns them not to underestimate the strength and resolve of the People's Liberation Army.
...
Meanwhile the rest of the PLA force engages Tom Cat's other mercenaries, who stage a fighting retreat but are eventually overwhelmed and killed one by one. At base, Long Xiaoyun and the other PLA commanders deduce that Ming Deng himself is also in the training area to take possession of a smuggled cache of biotechnology, which could allow the creation of a genetic weapon that could target Chinese people exclusively.

May 14, Reuters, article discussing Coronavirus and Chinese pressure on

In a campaign of increasingly assertive and at times aggressive diplomacy, China has sought to pressure European countries that criticise its handling of the outbreak, Reuters found. At a time when Europe’s ties with the United States are already strained by President Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ policy, the fallout from the coronavirus underscores how the EU is caught between two powers - needing both, but reluctant to side with either.

On the one hand, officials in Brussels and European capitals argue they need to show China that the European Union – the world’s largest trading bloc and a wealthy market of 450 million consumers – won’t be pushed around.
...
In China, the virus has compounded an already more pugnacious approach to international affairs - dubbed “Wolf Warrior” diplomacy in both Western and Chinese media - after two popular Chinese movies in which the action hero outguns and outsmarts nefarious U.S. special agents.

________

A Look at China Part One Potential Conflict with China
A Look at China Part Two Documentary Series on development of Chinese culture
A Look at China Part Three Timeline of Christianity in China beginning prior 100 AD

________

Open thread all discussions are welcome.

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Open Thread

China

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Comments

Submitted by Lookout on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 9:15am

Good morning

My sister took a teaching position in Taiwan starting this summer. They sure did handle COVID well. Kids have been at school for weeks...all wearing masks. The first SARS epidemic taught them well.

Growing up, Mao was always painted as a villain and Chiang Kai-shek the hero. I suspect that is just the opposite, but I'm not well educated about China. CB seems to know lots about China though.

Thanks for helping us learn more.

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by Steven D on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 9:42am

Both were monsters

@Lookout in my book.

—

"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 10:26am

Good morning Steven: You have now opened the little

@Steven D @Steven D

conundrum box with the "?" glyph on the top. To wit, which was the lesser evil? Perhaps something can be learned from a century or so of analyzing, though we, sadly, cannot re-run the experiment with Generalissimo Supremo Mximus Chiang ascendant and Mao burned at the stake somewhere on the US island air base and port of entry known as "territorial Formosa".

be well and have a good one.

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by studentofearth on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 2:31pm

Terrible events did happen under the leadership

@Steven D of both men. China was launched into a trajectory making it the country it is today.

—

Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Submitted by CB on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 3:51pm

The US has had it's fair share of "monsters"

@Steven D
killing hundreds of thousands in the last 100 years. Fortunately for us the majority killed were foreigners. Unfortunately for the foreigners it is still continuing.

I'm definitely happy that Mao is now dead and buried but probably not as much as the Chinese people are. Xi Jinping seems to be diametrically opposite to Mao don't you think?

Submitted by studentofearth on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 2:12pm

Watching the Asian response and

@Lookout experiencing the United States response has been disheartening. The nursing home deaths are unexcusable. The numbers do not include residential care facilities, assisted living facilities, group homes and foster care here a large number of health compromised people live.

Privately compiled data shows such deaths now account for more than half of all fatalities in 14 states, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Only 33 states report nursing home-related deaths.

Too many vulnerable populations have been ignored as the disease has been spreading.

Mao and Chiang Kai-shek were men of their times and moved China forward into the modern industrial economy. Neither was totally the good or bad guy.

—

Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 10:25am

Good morning soe. I'm glad to see you putting forth all

of this information about China,because the ancient received wisdom is "know your enemy" and our government and its propaganda arms are working double overtime to shift from Russia, Russia, Russia to China, China, China. Eastasia is is now the enemy of the decade and it behooves us to understand it lest we be subverted by its subtle and inscrutiable campaigns to undermine our economy and our way of life.

I also find it interesting that China's strife from 1839 to 1860 was all due to drugs supplied by the west, two opium wars and, sandwiched between them, an "Opiate of The Masses" war. Heh.

Confucius say: Beware of westerners bearing damn near anything and everything, including "Yankee Dollars".

be well and have a good one

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by lotlizard on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 10:47am

Many of the “best families” in the British and U.S. aristocracy

@enhydra lutris
made a large part of their fortunes in the opium trade.

Much like the Sackler family’s Oxycontin connection today.

https://lite.qwant.com/?q=sackler+oxycontin&client=opensearch

Submitted by studentofearth on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 12:17pm

Sackler Family originally made money marketing

@lotlizard Librium and Valium. Then moved onto Opioids and into the redemption of giving away money to the right places.

America’s great philanthropic dynasties. The Brooklyn-born brothers Arthur, Mortimer, and Raymond Sackler, all physicians, donated lavishly during their lifetimes to an astounding range of institutions, many of which today bear the family name: the Sackler Gallery, in Washington; the Sackler Museum, at Harvard; the Sackler Center for Arts Education, at the Guggenheim; the Sackler Wing at the Louvre; and Sackler institutes and facilities at Columbia, Oxford, and a dozen other universities. The Sacklers have endowed professorships and underwritten medical research. The art scholar Thomas Lawton once likened the eldest brother, Arthur, to “a modern Medici.” Before Arthur’s death, in 1987, he advised his children, “Leave the world a better place than when you entered it.”

—

Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Submitted by studentofearth on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 12:36pm

The actions to weaken the citizens of a strong country

@enhydra lutris are eerily similar.

—

Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Submitted by CB on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 11:02am

"Wolf Warrior" is the new term being used

to denigrate China's foreign policy initiatives as being overly aggressive when it stands up for itself.

The term 'wolf' is firmly embedded in the American people's psyche as something that is fierce, predatory, rapacious and hunts in packs. Also used to define men who habitually make aggressive sexual advances to women. The film, Wolf of Wall Street, is the story of someone engaged in rampant corruption and fraud on Wall Street.

The Chinese view wolves in a different light:

Poetic wolves and environmental imagination: representations of wolf in recent Chinese literature
Chengzhou He
Neohelicon volume 36, Article number: 397 (2009)

Abstract

During the last decade or so, the literary writings that portray the lives of the wolves and their relationship with the humans sprouted and prospered in China. These wolf writings all give very vivid and appealing portraits of wolves, their wild existence, their character, their relationship with men, and their role in the ecosystem. They have shaped our understanding of and attitudes towards animals and nature, which is of great value to the ongoing building of ecological civilization in China as well as in the world. In general, the Chinese wolf literature has inevitably been influenced and inspired by the long and rich traditions of the wolf myths and literature in the West, particularly those works of Jack London, Rudyard Kipling and other Western writers since the end of the 19th century. With due attention paid to the influence of the Western wolf literature, this essay will mainly analyze the three most important Chinese wolf novels—The Wolf Child, Remembering Wolves and The Wolf Totem, both separately and with reference to one another. It argues that the representations of wolves in them subvert the stereotypical hostile images of wolf in traditional Chinese culture, bring about fresh reflections on the cultural and spiritual symptoms of (post)modernity and globalization, and finally lead to a growing ecological consciousness and the call for balance between humans and nonhumans.

I've noticed that this descriptor of China is now being used in a concerted effort by US media.

It's first use was described in considerable detail at:

From Non-Interference to Wolf Warrior: Chinese Foreign Internal Defense - War on the Rocks
Jimmy Zhang April 24, 2020
...
"Jimmy Zhang is a policy analyst at the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Counterterrorism Policy, where he explores programmatic solutions to more effectively counter foreign adversaries and hostile nation states. He graduated magna cum laude from the College of William and Mary, holds a M.A. in security studies from Georgetown University, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree at an accredited Department of Defense institution. All statements of fact, analysis, or opinion are the author’s and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, any of their components, or the U.S. government."

Here are the news agencies that have picked up this ~~story~~ propaganda and run with it. I didn't get them all - I got tired of cut/paste but you can get the picture. The first to pick up this story was The Times of Israel one day later.

China's 'wolf warrior' diplomats show teeth in defending virus response - The Times of Israel
Chinese envoys show teeth in defending widely criticized response to COVID-19 outbreak - KTLA
As China pushes back on virus, Europe wakes to 'Wolf Warrior' diplomacy - Reuters
China's 'Wolf-Warrior Diplomacy' in Context - National Review
'Wolf warrior' diplomats reveal China's ambitions - The Financial Times
Coronavirus: China's 'wolf warrior' diplomats sink teeth into the West - The Times
China's 'Wolf Warrior' Diplomacy Prompts International Backlash - Voice of America
Braced for battle: China's 'wolf warrior' diplomacy goes global - The Irish Times
China's 'wolf warriors': Diplomats who ensure country's will is enforced worldwide - WION
Meet China's 'wolf warrior' diplomatic enforcers - macrobusiness.com.au
Beijing's 'Wolf Warrior Diplomacy' will fail in post coronavirus orld , says European expert - The Free Press Journal
As China pushes back on coronavirus, Europe wakes to 'Wolf Warrior' diplomacy - The Japan Times
INSIGHT-As China pushes back on virus, Europe wakes to "Wolf Warrior" diplomacy - Thomson Reuters Foundation
China's 'wolf warrior' diplomats show teeth in defending virus response - The Times of Israel

Submitted by studentofearth on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 12:42pm

Great round up of the attempt to create an emotional response

@CB @CB Reviews of the second movie in 2017 compared the second movie to the American Rambo series.

But watching "Wolf Warrior 2" with an at-capacity crowd on Sunday gave me an idea of what it was like to watch tripe like "Rambo II" back in the '80s.

The article you quoted suggests potential USA action. (Makes one rethink movie releases from the past.)
(my bold)

If a major terrorist attack against China’s overseas interests overwhelms local security forces, Chinese leaders may have strong incentives to launch a military intervention. A “Wolf Warrior-style” incursion may help preserve the Communist Party’s legitimacy and placate an increasingly hawkish Chinese public. However, currently, the PLA and People’s Armed Police are woefully unprepared for a major overseas counter-terrorism or foreign internal defense operation. In the worst-case scenario, without changes to its current kinetic counter-terrorism approach, China could find itself drawn into a long-term quagmire similar to what the United States and Soviet Union faced in Afghanistan. If this scenario were to unfold, Beijing’s miscalculation may present unprecedented strategic opportunities for the United States and its allies.

Our intelligence services has been trying to use the Afghanistan quagmire technique in Syria for Russia.

Washington now says it's all about defeating the Russians. While it's not the first time this has been thrown around in policy circles (recall that a year after Russia's 2015 entry into Syria at Assad's invitation, former CIA Deputy Director Mike Morell admitted in a TV interview he views that the US should be in the business of "killing Russians and Iranians covertly").

And now the top US special envoy to region, James Jeffrey, has this to say on US troops in Syria:

“My job is to make it a quagmire for the Russians.”

Ironically, Jeffrey's official title has been Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIL, but apparently the mission is now to essentially "give the Russians hell".

to denigrate China's foreign policy initiatives as being overly aggressive when it stands up for itself.

The term 'wolf' is firmly embedded in the American people's psyche as something that is fierce, predatory, rapacious and hunts in packs. Also used to define men who habitually make aggressive sexual advances to women. The film, Wolf of Wall Street, is the story of someone engaged in rampant corruption and fraud on Wall Street.

The Chinese view wolves in a different light:

Poetic wolves and environmental imagination: representations of wolf in recent Chinese literature
Chengzhou He
Neohelicon volume 36, Article number: 397 (2009)

Abstract

During the last decade or so, the literary writings that portray the lives of the wolves and their relationship with the humans sprouted and prospered in China. These wolf writings all give very vivid and appealing portraits of wolves, their wild existence, their character, their relationship with men, and their role in the ecosystem. They have shaped our understanding of and attitudes towards animals and nature, which is of great value to the ongoing building of ecological civilization in China as well as in the world. In general, the Chinese wolf literature has inevitably been influenced and inspired by the long and rich traditions of the wolf myths and literature in the West, particularly those works of Jack London, Rudyard Kipling and other Western writers since the end of the 19th century. With due attention paid to the influence of the Western wolf literature, this essay will mainly analyze the three most important Chinese wolf novels—The Wolf Child, Remembering Wolves and The Wolf Totem, both separately and with reference to one another. It argues that the representations of wolves in them subvert the stereotypical hostile images of wolf in traditional Chinese culture, bring about fresh reflections on the cultural and spiritual symptoms of (post)modernity and globalization, and finally lead to a growing ecological consciousness and the call for balance between humans and nonhumans.

I've noticed that this descriptor of China is now being used in a concerted effort by US media.

It's first use was described in considerable detail at:

From Non-Interference to Wolf Warrior: Chinese Foreign Internal Defense - War on the Rocks
Jimmy Zhang April 24, 2020
...
"Jimmy Zhang is a policy analyst at the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Counterterrorism Policy, where he explores programmatic solutions to more effectively counter foreign adversaries and hostile nation states. He graduated magna cum laude from the College of William and Mary, holds a M.A. in security studies from Georgetown University, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree at an accredited Department of Defense institution. All statements of fact, analysis, or opinion are the author’s and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, any of their components, or the U.S. government."

Here are the news agencies that have picked up this ~~story~~ propaganda and run with it. I didn't get them all - I got tired of cut/paste but you can get the picture. The first to pick up this story was The Times of Israel one day later.

China's 'wolf warrior' diplomats show teeth in defending virus response - The Times of Israel

Chinese envoys show teeth in defending widely criticized response to COVID-19 outbreak - KTLA

As China pushes back on virus, Europe wakes to 'Wolf Warrior' diplomacy - Reuters

China's 'Wolf-Warrior Diplomacy' in Context - National Review

'Wolf warrior' diplomats reveal China's ambitions - The Financial Times

Coronavirus: China's 'wolf warrior' diplomats sink teeth into the West - The Times

China's 'Wolf Warrior' Diplomacy Prompts International Backlash - Voice of America

Braced for battle: China's 'wolf warrior' diplomacy goes global - The Irish Times

China's 'wolf warriors': Diplomats who ensure country's will is enforced worldwide - WION

Meet China's 'wolf warrior' diplomatic enforcers - macrobusiness.com.au

Beijing's 'Wolf Warrior Diplomacy' will fail in post coronavirus orld , says European expert - The Free Press Journal

As China pushes back on coronavirus, Europe wakes to 'Wolf Warrior' diplomacy - The Japan Times

INSIGHT-As China pushes back on virus, Europe wakes to "Wolf Warrior" diplomacy - Thomson Reuters Foundation

China's 'wolf warrior' diplomats show teeth in defending virus response - The Times of Israel

—

Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Submitted by CB on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 12:36pm

The War on the Rocks article is a

@studentofearth
finely crafted propaganda hit piece against China that I'm not going to spend the whole day debunking. I'm surprised you have taken it to heart. It was written by Jimmy Zhang so that should tell you something.

is a policy analyst at the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Counterterrorism Policy, where he explores programmatic solutions to more effectively counter foreign adversaries and hostile nation states. He graduated magna cum laude from the College of William and Mary, holds a M.A. in security studies from Georgetown University, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree at an accredited Department of Defense institution. All statements of fact, analysis, or opinion are the author’s and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, any of their components, or the U.S. government.

Do you believe Assad gassed his own citizens for some devious and evil purpose? The following ~~article~~ propaganda should tell you where this web site is coming from. I assume you already have a backgrounder in the Syrian conflict:

The Military Logic Behind Assad’s Use of Chemical Weapons

When Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime uses chemical weapons, as it has done on at least four different occasions in the past five years (August 2013, March 2017, April 2017, and April 2018), conspiracy theorists and Russian propaganda outlets immediately kick into gear to begin denying it. They posit that the Syrian regime would never use chemical weapons because, after all, it is already winning the civil war. Instead, these outlets suggest, the anti-Assad opposition (working with external powers) stages “false flag” events to provide excuses for an American military strike aimed at toppling the regime.

These denials are absurd for a number of reasons, one of which is that there is an obvious – but often overlooked – rationale for the regime’s use of chemical weapons. The Syrian conflict has demonstrated the value of these weapons for Assad’s enemy-centric approach to counter-insurgent warfare, which is premised on the idea of using overwhelming force to punish local populations where insurgents are active. Rather than working to deliver services and stability to contested spaces to compel popular support, the intent is to re-establish central government control through naked aggression.

Conspiracy theorists who suggest that chemical weapons attacks are fabricated to invite U.S. intervention also ignore the fact that the United States faces a number of political constraints on the use of force in Syria. The regime concludes that, in certain instances, the value of using chemical weapons exceed the potential costs of external military intervention. The result is a decision to use these weapons as they were intended: to win wars and to terrorize a population into submission.

Including the "Wold Warrior" as written does your essay an injustice.

#3 #3 Reviews of the second movie in 2017 compared the second movie to the American Rambo series.

But watching "Wolf Warrior 2" with an at-capacity crowd on Sunday gave me an idea of what it was like to watch tripe like "Rambo II" back in the '80s.

The article you quoted suggests potential USA action. (Makes one rethink movie releases from the past.)
(my bold)

If a major terrorist attack against China’s overseas interests overwhelms local security forces, Chinese leaders may have strong incentives to launch a military intervention. A “Wolf Warrior-style” incursion may help preserve the Communist Party’s legitimacy and placate an increasingly hawkish Chinese public. However, currently, the PLA and People’s Armed Police are woefully unprepared for a major overseas counter-terrorism or foreign internal defense operation. In the worst-case scenario, without changes to its current kinetic counter-terrorism approach, China could find itself drawn into a long-term quagmire similar to what the United States and Soviet Union faced in Afghanistan. If this scenario were to unfold, Beijing’s miscalculation may present unprecedented strategic opportunities for the United States and its allies.

Our intelligence services has been trying to use the Afghanistan quagmire technique in Syria for Russia.

Washington now says it's all about defeating the Russians. While it's not the first time this has been thrown around in policy circles (recall that a year after Russia's 2015 entry into Syria at Assad's invitation, former CIA Deputy Director Mike Morell admitted in a TV interview he views that the US should be in the business of "killing Russians and Iranians covertly").

And now the top US special envoy to region, James Jeffrey, has this to say on US troops in Syria:

“My job is to make it a quagmire for the Russians.”

Ironically, Jeffrey's official title has been Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIL, but apparently the mission is now to essentially "give the Russians hell".

Submitted by studentofearth on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 1:22pm

Not identifying the messaging our Western media is

@CB using to shape public regarding China weakens the attempt to create a factual understanding of China.

The War on the Rock article is a finely crafted article to shape a negative opinion and emotional response toward China using the term "Wolf Warrior". It also provides a window into the thinking on Western propaganda and tactical techniques used towards other USA Government identified enemies, such as Russia.

The narrative of Assad gassing his own people has shown the abuse of United States using United Nations resolutions to justifying military attacks on other nation states. It has also discredited the of Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and showed how the investigation was compromised.

The OPCW’s investigation was triggered when extremist anti-Syrian government militants and Western states accused the Syrian army of dropping gas cylinders on two buildings in Douma, killing dozens of civilians. The U.S., France, and Britain bombed Syrian government targets days later, asserting their right to enforce the chemical weapons “red line.” After a nearly year-long investigation, the OPCW issued a final report in March 2019 that claimed “reasonable grounds” existed to believe that a chlorine attack occurred.

However, a trove of leaked documents has shown that the OPCW leadership suppressed and manipulated evidence that undermined the allegation against the Syrian military. The first of such leaks was an engineering assessment authored by Henderson that concluded that the gas cylinders in Douma were likely “manually placed.”

That conclusion suggested the incident was staged on the ground by the armed militants who controlled Douma at the time. Additional leaks later revealed that Inspector B protested the censorship of critical evidence and toxicology reports, as well as the manipulation of chemical samples and witness statements. Henderson and B also complained that OPCW leaders excluded all of the Douma investigators except for one paramedic from a so-called “core” team that wrote the organization’s final report.

My intent is to provide information on China and explore how our beliefs are shaped.

#3.1 finely crafted propaganda hit piece against China that I'm not going to spend the whole day debunking. I'm surprised you have taken it to heart. It was written by Jimmy Zhang so that should tell you something. is a policy analyst at the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Counterterrorism Policy, where he explores programmatic solutions to more effectively counter foreign adversaries and hostile nation states. He graduated magna cum laude from the College of William and Mary, holds a M.A. in security studies from Georgetown University, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree at an accredited Department of Defense institution. All statements of fact, analysis, or opinion are the author’s and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, any of their components, or the U.S. government. Do you believe Assad gassed his own citizens for some devious and evil purpose? The following ~~article~~ propaganda should tell you where this web site is coming from. I assume you already have a backgrounder in the Syrian conflict: The Military Logic Behind Assad’s Use of Chemical Weapons When Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime uses chemical weapons, as it has done on at least four different occasions in the past five years (August 2013, March 2017, April 2017, and April 2018), conspiracy theorists and Russian propaganda outlets immediately kick into gear to begin denying it. They posit that the Syrian regime would never use chemical weapons because, after all, it is already winning the civil war. Instead, these outlets suggest, the anti-Assad opposition (working with external powers) stages “false flag” events to provide excuses for an American military strike aimed at toppling the regime. These denials are absurd for a number of reasons, one of which is that there is an obvious – but often overlooked – rationale for the regime’s use of chemical weapons. The Syrian conflict has demonstrated the value of these weapons for Assad’s enemy-centric approach to counter-insurgent warfare, which is premised on the idea of using overwhelming force to punish local populations where insurgents are active. Rather than working to deliver services and stability to contested spaces to compel popular support, the intent is to re-establish central government control through naked aggression. Conspiracy theorists who suggest that chemical weapons attacks are fabricated to invite U.S. intervention also ignore the fact that the United States faces a number of political constraints on the use of force in Syria. The regime concludes that, in certain instances, the value of using chemical weapons exceed the potential costs of external military intervention. The result is a decision to use these weapons as they were intended: to win wars and to terrorize a population into submission. Including the "Wold Warrior" as written does your essay an injustice.

—

Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Submitted by QMS on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 2:12pm

which is very smart

@studentofearth

we, as a people, can deal with the differences in culture, religion and skin
by your bringing up the cultural issues, it is easier to consider a fellow race
striving to make this a better world, for all of us.. plainer seen
ignore the political attempts at dis-enfridgement (sp)
we are all in this together
winners and losers is not a sport game for humanity
think that's what Dr. MLK, JR was trying to get across

thanks soe for making us think about bigger pictures!

#3.1.1 using to shape public regarding China weakens the attempt to create a factual understanding of China. The War on the Rock article is a finely crafted article to shape a negative opinion and emotional response toward China using the term "Wolf Warrior". It also provides a window into the thinking on Western propaganda and tactical techniques used towards other USA Government identified enemies, such as Russia. The narrative of Assad gassing his own people has shown the abuse of United States using United Nations resolutions to justifying military attacks on other nation states. It has also discredited the of Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and showed how the investigation was compromised. The OPCW’s investigation was triggered when extremist anti-Syrian government militants and Western states accused the Syrian army of dropping gas cylinders on two buildings in Douma, killing dozens of civilians. The U.S., France, and Britain bombed Syrian government targets days later, asserting their right to enforce the chemical weapons “red line.” After a nearly year-long investigation, the OPCW issued a final report in March 2019 that claimed “reasonable grounds” existed to believe that a chlorine attack occurred. However, a trove of leaked documents has shown that the OPCW leadership suppressed and manipulated evidence that undermined the allegation against the Syrian military. The first of such leaks was an engineering assessment authored by Henderson that concluded that the gas cylinders in Douma were likely “manually placed.” That conclusion suggested the incident was staged on the ground by the armed militants who controlled Douma at the time. Additional leaks later revealed that Inspector B protested the censorship of critical evidence and toxicology reports, as well as the manipulation of chemical samples and witness statements. Henderson and B also complained that OPCW leaders excluded all of the Douma investigators except for one paramedic from a so-called “core” team that wrote the organization’s final report. My intent is to provide information on China and explore how our beliefs are shaped.

—

question everything

Submitted by CB on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 3:19pm

I think I may be misunderstanding you

@studentofearth
somewhat. I just wanted to point out, in no uncertain terms, that the "Wolf Warrior" angle was a very well engineered psyop to poison the well in relation to well founded responses from Chinese officials to the many false allegations now being directed at the Chinese government.

I do not understand the brilliance of Western press using a phrase referring to a movie with a plot line that includes the possibility of germ warfare directed at Chinese genetics. It may sound good for an American audience who have not seen the film, but continually reminds Asians of theoretical conspiracies.

I think this operation IS "brilliant", albeit in an evil, twisted way if you think of it's purpose. BOTH outcomes are desirable by the instigators. The TPTB want to stir up an adversarial conflict between both populaces. The worst outcome for them is for people in each nation to realize they have much in common with each other. The manipulation of emotion is a powerful technique of Edward Bernays' in the shaping of public opinion and the US has the best schooling in how to apply it. But, that advantage is steadily shrinking.

I'm confident the Chinese will know how to handle conflict with the US: “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” - Sun Tzu.

I might add one more Sun Tzu quote for the US to keep in mind: "There is no instance of a nation benefiting from prolonged warfare."

Donald Trump is playing checkers - Xi Jinping is playing Go, a game China has been playing for over 2,500 years.

#3.1.1 using to shape public regarding China weakens the attempt to create a factual understanding of China. The War on the Rock article is a finely crafted article to shape a negative opinion and emotional response toward China using the term "Wolf Warrior". It also provides a window into the thinking on Western propaganda and tactical techniques used towards other USA Government identified enemies, such as Russia. The narrative of Assad gassing his own people has shown the abuse of United States using United Nations resolutions to justifying military attacks on other nation states. It has also discredited the of Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and showed how the investigation was compromised. The OPCW’s investigation was triggered when extremist anti-Syrian government militants and Western states accused the Syrian army of dropping gas cylinders on two buildings in Douma, killing dozens of civilians. The U.S., France, and Britain bombed Syrian government targets days later, asserting their right to enforce the chemical weapons “red line.” After a nearly year-long investigation, the OPCW issued a final report in March 2019 that claimed “reasonable grounds” existed to believe that a chlorine attack occurred. However, a trove of leaked documents has shown that the OPCW leadership suppressed and manipulated evidence that undermined the allegation against the Syrian military. The first of such leaks was an engineering assessment authored by Henderson that concluded that the gas cylinders in Douma were likely “manually placed.” That conclusion suggested the incident was staged on the ground by the armed militants who controlled Douma at the time. Additional leaks later revealed that Inspector B protested the censorship of critical evidence and toxicology reports, as well as the manipulation of chemical samples and witness statements. Henderson and B also complained that OPCW leaders excluded all of the Douma investigators except for one paramedic from a so-called “core” team that wrote the organization’s final report. My intent is to provide information on China and explore how our beliefs are shaped.

Submitted by CB on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 12:07pm

Here are some of the wolf's 'teeth'

@CB
biting back at US misrepresentation of the situation:

China's Foreign Ministry: 24 lies coming out of U.S. over COVID-19
10-May-2020

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs published an article on COVID-19 in Chinese on Saturday, rebutting false claims from the U.S. on ties between COVID-19 and China.

In the article, China rebutted 24 untrue claims from the U.S., including calling the novel coronavirus "the Chinese virus" or "Wuhan virus" and claims that the Wuhan Institute of Virology created the virus.

The ministry said it will continue to rebut the false claims, as well as any new ones that come up.

Below are the 24 false claims and truths listed by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
...

The US could have got away with this when China was more inward looking but that has substantially changed in the last decade. The Chinese now know more about the world than an average American because they take a keen interest in it. They also have become tourists within their own country due to the great richness offered by their long history. Think of America's 50's, 60's and 70's on steroids with 1.4 billion people now entering a middle class lifestyle en mass.

The unstoppable rise of the Chinese traveller – where are they going and what does it mean for overtourism?
...
In less than two decades China has grown from travel minnows to the world’s most powerful outbound market, leapfrogging the US – and leaving it in its wake. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Chinese tourists overseas spent $277.3bn in 2018, up from around $10bn in the year 2000. Collectively, America’s globetrotters parted with a relatively paltry $144.2bn.
...

China is now responding to falsehoods promulgated by Washington quickly and publicly.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygodSg2bKFc]

I have been following CGTN for several years to see what is going on in China. I have found this government web site is more open and honest than some of their American counterparts. Lots of interesting and informative videos.

I'm dismayed by American aggressive behavior and attitudes against whatever country is on their current shit list. The US must eventually come to grips that it is slowly and inexorably losing it's vaunted position as world hegemon. The so-called American Century is being eclipsed. I'm hoping it won't go out with a violent struggle or cataclysmic event.

to denigrate China's foreign policy initiatives as being overly aggressive when it stands up for itself.

The term 'wolf' is firmly embedded in the American people's psyche as something that is fierce, predatory, rapacious and hunts in packs. Also used to define men who habitually make aggressive sexual advances to women. The film, Wolf of Wall Street, is the story of someone engaged in rampant corruption and fraud on Wall Street.

The Chinese view wolves in a different light:

Poetic wolves and environmental imagination: representations of wolf in recent Chinese literature
Chengzhou He
Neohelicon volume 36, Article number: 397 (2009)

Abstract

During the last decade or so, the literary writings that portray the lives of the wolves and their relationship with the humans sprouted and prospered in China. These wolf writings all give very vivid and appealing portraits of wolves, their wild existence, their character, their relationship with men, and their role in the ecosystem. They have shaped our understanding of and attitudes towards animals and nature, which is of great value to the ongoing building of ecological civilization in China as well as in the world. In general, the Chinese wolf literature has inevitably been influenced and inspired by the long and rich traditions of the wolf myths and literature in the West, particularly those works of Jack London, Rudyard Kipling and other Western writers since the end of the 19th century. With due attention paid to the influence of the Western wolf literature, this essay will mainly analyze the three most important Chinese wolf novels—The Wolf Child, Remembering Wolves and The Wolf Totem, both separately and with reference to one another. It argues that the representations of wolves in them subvert the stereotypical hostile images of wolf in traditional Chinese culture, bring about fresh reflections on the cultural and spiritual symptoms of (post)modernity and globalization, and finally lead to a growing ecological consciousness and the call for balance between humans and nonhumans.

I've noticed that this descriptor of China is now being used in a concerted effort by US media.

It's first use was described in considerable detail at:

From Non-Interference to Wolf Warrior: Chinese Foreign Internal Defense - War on the Rocks
Jimmy Zhang April 24, 2020
...
"Jimmy Zhang is a policy analyst at the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Counterterrorism Policy, where he explores programmatic solutions to more effectively counter foreign adversaries and hostile nation states. He graduated magna cum laude from the College of William and Mary, holds a M.A. in security studies from Georgetown University, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree at an accredited Department of Defense institution. All statements of fact, analysis, or opinion are the author’s and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, any of their components, or the U.S. government."

Here are the news agencies that have picked up this ~~story~~ propaganda and run with it. I didn't get them all - I got tired of cut/paste but you can get the picture. The first to pick up this story was The Times of Israel one day later.

China's 'wolf warrior' diplomats show teeth in defending virus response - The Times of Israel

Chinese envoys show teeth in defending widely criticized response to COVID-19 outbreak - KTLA

As China pushes back on virus, Europe wakes to 'Wolf Warrior' diplomacy - Reuters

China's 'Wolf-Warrior Diplomacy' in Context - National Review

'Wolf warrior' diplomats reveal China's ambitions - The Financial Times

Coronavirus: China's 'wolf warrior' diplomats sink teeth into the West - The Times

China's 'Wolf Warrior' Diplomacy Prompts International Backlash - Voice of America

Braced for battle: China's 'wolf warrior' diplomacy goes global - The Irish Times

China's 'wolf warriors': Diplomats who ensure country's will is enforced worldwide - WION

Meet China's 'wolf warrior' diplomatic enforcers - macrobusiness.com.au

Beijing's 'Wolf Warrior Diplomacy' will fail in post coronavirus orld , says European expert - The Free Press Journal

As China pushes back on coronavirus, Europe wakes to 'Wolf Warrior' diplomacy - The Japan Times

INSIGHT-As China pushes back on virus, Europe wakes to "Wolf Warrior" diplomacy - Thomson Reuters Foundation

China's 'wolf warrior' diplomats show teeth in defending virus response - The Times of Israel

Submitted by RantingRooster on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 11:38am

It's all about G.O.D.

Guns, Oil and Drugs.

—

C99, my refuge from an insane world. #ForceTheVote

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 12:39pm

Good morning CB, thanks. Quite a Klavern of

presstitutes pushing that propaganda meme there, though none are really surprising to see.

be well and have a good one.

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --