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This was an inevitable conclusion, I grew up in Hong Kong and we left in 1996 during the handover along with many other ex-pats. We saw the writing on the wall

This was an inevitable conclusion, I grew up in Hong Kong and we left in 1996 during the handover along with many other ex-pats. We saw the writing on the wall as did many others based on how horrible the handover was going. It is a true shame what is happening to Hong Kong now but I don't see China relenting to pressure as that would only embolden other cities to do similar protests. I worry for my friends who are still there as the only way this is going to end is in a continued escalation of violence. As someone who visited Tiananmen Square in the early 90s, it was amazing how quickly the country moved on and refused to discuss it. I worry that is what is going to happen in HK.

germinalphrase 7y ago
The ability to suppress discussion/political action in response to such a significant event (such as Tiananmen Square) would seem more difficult now with ubiquitous cameras. Many records can be made, but can they also be shared widely enough to maintain political pressure? Maybe not, if the population is dependent on government controlled internet infrastructure. This makes Starlink more interesting. How do you prevent your population from using foreign built satellite internet if that country should choose to make it freely available to your citizens? Do you simply lose control? Do you try to rebuild/force roll out a proprietary, non-interoperable telecommunications system? After seeing the impact of telecommunications and social media propaganda on recent world events (for instance, the Arab Spring) - I’m sure there are smart people thinking about how to plug populations into the internet against the desires of the home country. Satellite based internet seems like an obvious solution, but maybe it’s not even as complicated as that.
- Macross8299 7y ago
  Hate to be "that guy", but public blockchain technologies are another strong tool that people have for resisting censorship [0]. It's much, much harder to nullroute blockchain traffic as opposed to nullrouting a website with information you want to censor. It's also very clear that the CCP is afraid of such technologies [1] The rub is of course, this censorship-resistance being predicated on the consensus mechanism of a blockchain not being concentrated in one country. [0]: https://theconversation.com/chinese-internet-users-turn-to-the-blockchain-to-fight-against-government-censorship-111795 https://theconversation.com/chinese-internet-users-turn-to-t... [1]: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-blockchain/china-imposes-blockchain-rules-to-enable-orderly-development-idUSKCN1P41FX https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-blockchain/china-im...
- PakG1 7y ago
  >> Do you try to rebuild/force roll out a proprietary, non-interoperable telecommunications system? Honestly can see that happening. It's happened in the past for economic reasons, no reason why a government wouldn't force it for political reasons. It would be a natural progression from filtering.
tedivm 7y ago
This is something I've always been confused about- what's the difference between an "expat" and an "economic immigrant"? Is it just the origin country or color of skin?
- kmonsen 7y ago
  I think it is also about how rich you are? (Coming from an expat/economic immigrant)
- jtuente 7y ago
  Expat says nothing about why a person is living somewhere other than their homeland.
- ngcc_hk 7y ago
  Expat supposedly not staying and not called the place home. Immigrant is really moving in. You add the economic adj the response is by another - expat has money ei no
- ajudson 7y ago
  Legal status in the country also probably, economic migrant is a euphemism
  - jacobush 7y ago
    euphemism for what?
- computerfriend 7y ago
  It's a word that immigrants use so they can continue to hate immigrants.
  - tedivm 7y ago
    Or at the very least distinguish themselves from the immigrants everyone else hates.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
estherv 7y ago
The Yellow Vest protests across France, often very violent, have been going on for more than half a year now. Yet tourists still visit Paris... life goes on... same for HK?

germinalphrase 7y ago

The ability to suppress discussion/political action in response to such a significant event (such as Tiananmen Square) would seem more difficult now with ubiquitous cameras. Many records can be made, but can they also be shared widely enough to maintain political pressure? Maybe not, if the population is dependent on government controlled internet infrastructure. This makes Starlink more interesting. How do you prevent your population from using foreign built satellite internet if that country should choose to make it freely available to your citizens? Do you simply lose control? Do you try to rebuild/force roll out a proprietary, non-interoperable telecommunications system? After seeing the impact of telecommunications and social media propaganda on recent world events (for instance, the Arab Spring) - I’m sure there are smart people thinking about how to plug populations into the internet against the desires of the home country. Satellite based internet seems like an obvious solution, but maybe it’s not even as complicated as that.

Macross8299 7y ago
Hate to be "that guy", but public blockchain technologies are another strong tool that people have for resisting censorship [0]. It's much, much harder to nullroute blockchain traffic as opposed to nullrouting a website with information you want to censor. It's also very clear that the CCP is afraid of such technologies [1] The rub is of course, this censorship-resistance being predicated on the consensus mechanism of a blockchain not being concentrated in one country. [0]: https://theconversation.com/chinese-internet-users-turn-to-the-blockchain-to-fight-against-government-censorship-111795 https://theconversation.com/chinese-internet-users-turn-to-t... [1]: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-blockchain/china-imposes-blockchain-rules-to-enable-orderly-development-idUSKCN1P41FX https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-blockchain/china-im...
PakG1 7y ago
>> Do you try to rebuild/force roll out a proprietary, non-interoperable telecommunications system? Honestly can see that happening. It's happened in the past for economic reasons, no reason why a government wouldn't force it for political reasons. It would be a natural progression from filtering.

tedivm 7y ago

This is something I've always been confused about- what's the difference between an "expat" and an "economic immigrant"? Is it just the origin country or color of skin?

kmonsen 7y ago
I think it is also about how rich you are? (Coming from an expat/economic immigrant)
jtuente 7y ago
Expat says nothing about why a person is living somewhere other than their homeland.
ngcc_hk 7y ago
Expat supposedly not staying and not called the place home. Immigrant is really moving in. You add the economic adj the response is by another - expat has money ei no
ajudson 7y ago
Legal status in the country also probably, economic migrant is a euphemism
- jacobush 7y ago
  euphemism for what?
computerfriend 7y ago
It's a word that immigrants use so they can continue to hate immigrants.
- tedivm 7y ago
  Or at the very least distinguish themselves from the immigrants everyone else hates.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

estherv 7y ago

The Yellow Vest protests across France, often very violent, have been going on for more than half a year now. Yet tourists still visit Paris... life goes on... same for HK?