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Thread: Back to the future, China's ideological warfare

  1. #1
    Council Member AdamG's Avatar
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    Default Beijing versus the Christians

    From January -

    Chinese Police Dynamite Christian Megachurch

    HONG KONG — Chinese police officers demolished one of the country’s largest evangelical churches this week, using heavy machinery and dynamite to raze the building where more than 50,000 Christians worshiped.

    The Golden Lampstand Church in Shanxi Province was one of at least two Christian churches demolished by the authorities in recent weeks, part of what critics describe as a national effort to regulate spiritual life in China.

    Under President Xi Jinping, the government has destroyed churches or removed their steeples and crosses as part of a campaign that reflects the Communist Party’s longstanding fear that Christianity, viewed as a Western philosophy, is a threat to the party’s authority.
    https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/01/1....facebook.com/
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 10-15-2018 at 08:12 PM. Reason: Merged into main thread x3 posts
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    Council Member AdamG's Avatar
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    From February -

    Chinese Christian churches face new threats as state religious code is revised
    Shocking images of a church dynamited by government officials in China, the second to be demolished in recent weeks, may foretell a deeper crisis for Christianity in China today.
    The state-run Global Times newspaper said that the gigantic Golden Lampstand Church was “secretly built” in violation of building codes and demolished as part of a citywide campaign “to remove illegal buildings.” It added that eight members of the church had been jailed in 2009 for “illegally occupying farmland” and “disturbing traffic order.”
    http://www.heraldmalaysia.com/news/c...vised/41128/14
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 10-15-2018 at 08:12 PM. Reason: Merged into main thread x3 posts
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    Council Member AdamG's Avatar
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    While Hong Kong’s pastors are not allowed to proselytize, sermonize or establish churches in mainland China without official permission, many defy these prohibitions to cultivate a network of underground “house churches” in homes and workplaces.

    Hong Kong has historically served as the springboard for evangelizing on the mainland. But as President Xi Jinping kicks off a renewed crackdown to bring Christianity under state control by instituting new religious regulations, pastors in Hong Kong — since 1997 a semi-autonomous Chinese territory — are finding themselves in the crosshairs.
    http://time.com/5166220/china-christ...kong-churches/
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 10-15-2018 at 08:12 PM. Reason: Merged into main thread x3 posts
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    Default Back to the future, China's ideological warfare

    After years of claiming it will not interfere in the politics of other countries, China has openly changed the game. During China's 19th National Congress last October, Xi basically assumes the role of dictator (ruler for life), and integrates Xi's thought into the Communist Party Constitution. Xi's thoughts includes endorsing Marxism with 21st Century characteristics. He has dismissed democracy as a failed system in subsequent public statements. Unfortunately for those of us that hope for peace, history tells us that any nation that has embraced Marxism as a national ideology has aggressively attempted to impose political control over their neighbors and in the case of the USSR, they attempted to establish Marxist based proxy governments globally. At least since 2008, China has interfered in the internal affairs of other countries despite claims to the contrary. China is now openly using a range of coercion and economic incentives to strongly influence, if not out right control, the decisions other countries make regarding their economy and security decisions. In short, they're eroding their sovereignty. For a nation that claims to be promoting peace, those words ring hollow when one examines how China is militarizing the South China Sea, militarily attempting to resolve border disputes with India and Bhutan, and militarily threatening Taiwan.

    The following article is interesting.

    https://edition.cnn.com/2018/05/17/a...ntl/index.html

    At the height of his power, China's Xi Jinping moves to embrace Marxism
    A slickly produced five-episode educational show titled "Marx Was Right" was broadcast on television screens across China. While in Germany, Beijing gifted a giant statue of Marx to his hometown in Trier.

    The Chinese government's Marxism push comes at a time when they are trying to simultaneously portray themselves as the defenders of capitalism, including in several high-profile speeches by Xi at international economic forums.
    I suspect China will stumble over its contradictions as it continues to overreach with its coercive activities around the globe. Either China will modify how its employs its power, or sadly push it to the point of armed conflict. Armed conflict could range from a regional spat to a major world war. Part of me suspects China seeks a minor military engagement to test its military, but that could prove embarrassing for a military that hasn't seen combat in decades.

    "He sees an opportunity to assume global leadership and needs a theoretical foundation for writing new rules of a world order -- but shockingly he chose the Marxist banner."
    The comment below is probably an accurate assessment,

    "China's 'free trade' is based on building a wall around itself and then takes advantage of freedoms in other countries," he said.
    Also sadly true,
    "Here you have a Chinese strongman who just secured lifelong tenure, asserting influence not only through the so-called Belt-and-Road global trade scheme but also taking on the Western model as whole," he said.

    "But whatever China is doing is overshadowed by Trump... whose actions are taking pressure off of China -- as everyone is trying to decipher his next tweet," he added. "It's a very fragmented West -- I don't think there is reflection, let alone a united response to an ideological challenge from Xi."
    We can't tweet our way through troubled seas. Three of the world's superpowers are ruled by egomaniacs, and at least two of them of have an aggressive strategy to remake the world order. Emotion could over rule reason when push come to shove for any of the three leaders. We're cursed to live in interesting times. The BBC article below points out China is not backing down, and this has implications.

    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-43507448

    South China Sea: Vietnam 'scraps new oil project'

    Vietnam has cancelled a major oil project in the South China Sea for the second time in a year, in the wake of Chinese pressure, the BBC has learned.
    Multinational companies in Spain and Malaysia supporting this effort will lose millions of dollars based on this decision.

    China is likely to regard this move as a significant victory. The Vietnamese decision seems to demonstrate that the recent show of force in the South China Sea by the United States has not changed Vietnam's strategic calculations.
    What used to work in the way of deterrence and dissausion, no longer works, why? Has China's confidence increased to the degree it is willing to risk armed conflict now? Do they perceive the U.S. and its security partners to be too weak to stop China from asserting their illegal claims on other countries?

    Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines are all coming under pressure from China to concede "joint development" in areas where the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) gives them sole rights. So far all the South East Asian states have resisted the pressure.

    Vietnam has chosen to try to develop its fields alone and the result has been military threats from China and, now, a second climb-down, raising questions over Vietnam's offshore potential.
    I also recommending reading the most recent issue of "The National Interest" with its New Cold War cover. In addition to other articles, there are two articles on the state of the U.S. Navy due to under investment that is telling. There is no overnight fix either. Each article presents a different approach to fix it. One focuses on expanding the number of ships, while the other argues this isn't sustainable, so we must simply accept China's new role as a regional hegemon. I think there are a range of other options not discussed, but it is clear that almost two decades of GWOT has put our nation at significant risk, and we have little to show from 17 plus years of counterterrorism.
    Last edited by Bill Moore; 05-20-2018 at 08:31 PM.

  5. #5
    Council Member AdamG's Avatar
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    China is waging a 'quiet kind of cold war' against US, top CIA expert says

    Beijing doesn't want to go to war, a top CIA expert on Asia said, but the current communist government, under President Xi Jinping, is subtly working on multiple fronts to undermine the U.S. in ways that are different than the more well-publicized activities being employed by Russia.

    "I would argue ... that what they're waging against us is fundamentally a cold war -- a cold war not like we saw during THE Cold War (between the U.S. and the Soviet Union) but a cold war by definition," Michael Collins, deputy assistant director of the CIA's East Asia mission center, said at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.
    https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/21/us-c...gainst-us.html
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    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Adam,

    Isn't there a big difference between these two 'Cold War' situations. In the first 'war' between the USA and USSR, the USA at times had considerable trade with the USSR, notably supplying wheat when crops failed in the late 70s & early '80s and the USSR had IIRC very little trade with the USA.

    In the second 'war' China is a huge exporter to the USA, notably in consumer goods - as we found two years ago in several stores e.g. Walmart. Yes the USA does trade with China, but not on the same scale. is it not hard to be at war when this situation applies? Not to ignore Chinese investments and the purchase of US Treasury bonds.
    davidbfpo

  7. #7
    Council Member AdamG's Avatar
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    ‘We Cannot Afford This’: Malaysia Pushes Back Against China’s Vision
    A country that once courted Chinese investment now fears becoming overly indebted for big projects that are neither viable nor necessary — except to China.

    KUANTAN, Malaysia — In the world’s most vital maritime chokepoint, through which much of Asian trade passes, a Chinese power company is investing in a deepwater port large enough to host an aircraft carrier. Another state-owned Chinese company is revamping a harbor along the fiercely contested South China Sea.

    Nearby, a rail network mostly financed by a Chinese government bank is being built to speed Chinese goods along a new Silk Road. And a Chinese developer is creating four artificial islands that could become home to nearly three-quarters of a million people and are being heavily marketed to Chinese citizens.

    Each of these projects is being built in Malaysia, a Southeast Asian democracy at the heart of China’s effort to gain global influence.

    But where Malaysia once led the pack in courting Chinese investment, it is now on the front edge of a new phenomenon: a pushback against Beijing as nations fear becoming overly indebted for projects that are neither viable nor necessary — except in their strategic value to China or use in propping up friendly strongmen.
    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/20/w...-malaysia.html
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    China's internal ideological warfare to promote correct thinking and love the f'd up communist party.

    https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/08/22...-end-in-sight/

    China’s Mass Internment Camps Have No Clear End in Sight
    Around 1 million Uighurs have disappeared without trial. Worse may come.

    It is not surprising, then, that the most common officially cited purpose for the internment camps is to purify people’s thoughts, “eliminating extremism” and instilling a love for the party. A recorded announcement leaked this month from Xinjiang’s Communist Party Youth League, designed to calm rampant fears about the re-education camps, explained that camps “treat and cleanse the virus from their brains.” The names used for camps have varied widely, both for the same camp over time and from one camp to the next, but most have included the word “transformation”—for example, “concentrated education transformation center.”
    This is the real Chinese Communist Party, as ugly as it have ever been. Mass internment, a youth league that reminds me of Mao's atrocities when he used youth leagues to conduct mass murder of teachers and others who didn't have the correct political views. Much of the world today turns a blind eye not only to pursue a superficial Chamberlain peace in our time with the Nazis outcome, but also in hope in of gaining economic benefit. There is a point when the illusion must end.

    The content of the indoctrination reflects a new emphasis on nationalism throughout the PRC. State media outlets tout the party as China’s savior as they always have, but “China” is now more tightly linked to the culture of the ethnic majority, the Han Chinese. In this view, religions deemed foreign, for example Islam and Christianity, are seen as threats, as is the purportedly Chinese religion of Buddhism when it is practiced by non-Han people such as Tibetans. More than any leader since Mao Zedong, Xi Jinping has promoted the idea that he himself is the embodiment and protector of the Chinese nation. In some camps, inmates are required to replace the common Islamic blessing before meals, bismillah, with thanks to Xi Jinping
    .

    It isn't just Uighers, but CCP also suppresses other religions such as Tibetan Buddhists and Christians. The state has destroyed numerous churches, and put large pictures of Xi in the churches left, as though he is supposed to be viewed as a superior to Jesus Christ. Despite this the Pope recently reached out to China to reach some sort of accommodation.

    There is no limit to the CCP's stupidity

    The strangest of these were the coerced line-dancing competitions that spread across the region in 2014. These were supposed to move people away from “extremist” forms of Islam that forbid dance. In other places they pushed children to sign promises not to believe in God and arranged public ceremonies for pledging loyalty to the CCP.
    This is not wild speculation, there is historical evidence that lends credibility to this argument:

    Local officials have already expressed dehumanizing outlooks on the role of the re-education camps as “eradicating tumors” and “spraying chemicals on the crops to kill the weeds.” Should authorities decide that forced indoctrination has widely failed, much of Xinjiang’s minority population will be framed as irredeemable. And with the state-controlled Global Times claiming, in response to the recent U.N. condemnation of China’s racial policies in Xinjiang, that “all measures can be tried” in the pursuit of China’s “stability,” mass murder and genocide do not look like impossible outcomes.
    Hyper-nationalism promoted by the CCP, rapid expansion of its military which it uses to coerce other nations, illegal expansion of its territory, and a return to mass internment camps and youth leagues to enforce "correct thinking." The trade war should be the least of our concerns.

  9. #9
    Council Member AdamG's Avatar
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    Default Operation Red Sea

    Entering the realm of Rotten Tomatoes, this looks to be a decent movie.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QlBzI5-kNQ

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbrl7drJzxs

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Red_Sea

    ... but more to the point Beijing is establishing parity with the US among it's own people first ( then the rest of the world ) with "Look, we can do Operator Tacticool Stuff too" movies like this.

    BRCC boyz better stay on their toes.
    A scrimmage in a Border Station
    A canter down some dark defile
    Two thousand pounds of education
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    Default Vice President Pence Comments on China

    This post could easily fit into a number of threads on China, or strategy in the 21st Century, but I'm parking it here for now.

    https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings...-toward-china/

    T
    oday, China has built an unparalleled surveillance state, and it’s growing more expansive and intrusive – often with the help of U.S. technology. What they call the “Great Firewall of China” likewise grows higher, drastically restricting the free flow of information to the Chinese people.

    And by 2020, China’s rulers aim to implement an Orwellian system premised on controlling virtually every facet of human life — the so-called “Social Credit Score.” In the words of that program’s official blueprint, it will “allow the trustworthy to roam everywhere under heaven, while making it hard for the discredited to take a single step.”

    And when it comes to religious freedom, a new wave of persecution is crashing down on Chinese Christians, Buddhists, and Muslims.
    Last month, Beijing shut down one of China’s largest underground churches. Across the country, authorities are tearing down crosses, burning bibles, and imprisoning believers. And Beijing has now reached a deal with the Vatican that gives the avowedly atheist Communist Party a direct role in appointing Catholic bishops. For China’s Christians, these are desperate times.

    Beijing is also cracking down on Buddhism. Over the past decade, more than 150 Tibetan Buddhist monks have lit themselves on fire to protest China’s repression of their beliefs and their culture. And in Xinjiang, the Communist Party has imprisoned as many as one million Muslim Uyghurs in government camps where they endure around-the-clock brainwashing. Survivors of the camps have described their experiences as a deliberate attempt by Beijing to strangle Uyghur culture and stamp out the Muslim faith.
    As history attests though, a country that oppresses its own people rarely stops there. And Beijing also aims to extend its reach across the wider world.
    The world is waking up to the threat the Communist Party of China poses.

  11. #11
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Moderator at work

    I have just merged in a 2018 thread, x3 posts, entitled 'Beijing versus the Christians', with 4.8k views, into this thread as they share a common theme.
    davidbfpo

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