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Bibliography:

* https://www.fluentu.com/blog/chinese/2017/10/16/chinese-number-slang/
* https://www.quora.com/What-does-126-and-163-mean-in-Chinese-language

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=== Personal questions about Ciro Santilli
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==== Has Ciro Santilli you ever lived in China?
Not as of 2019, he has only visited once in 2012, and it was <<does-ciro-santilli-hate-china,amazingly beautiful>>.
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.Ciro Santilli with a stone carved https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budai[Budai (布袋和尚)] in the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Maitreya_and_disciples_carving_in_Feilai_Feng_Caves.jpg[Feilai Feng caves (飞来峰)] near the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingyin_Temple[Lingyin Temple (灵隐寺)] in Hangzhou taken during his legendary 2012 touristic trip to China. Will he ever be able to go to China again to re-experience such marvelous locations? If the CCP falls before he dies, and if the statue hasn't been destroyed by the commies, Ciro will return to that exact spot and take a second picture. How will he look like?
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Ciro_Santilli_with_a_stone_carved_Budai_in_the_Feilai_Feng_caves_near_the_Lingyin_Temple_in_Hangzhou_in_2012.jpg[height=500]
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But he doesn't think it is a good idea for him to do that now, in case his Visa got accepted, because he is not interested in learning about the Chinese jail system! :-)
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He knows that if you don't mind contributing to making <<war,WW3>> deadlier and shut up and obey the CCP, China is already a fine place to live as much as any other developing country.
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===== Would Ciro Santilli like to live in China?
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If the dictatorship ends, <<ciro-santilli>> would like to <<does-ciro-santilli-hate-china,migrate to China>> if given a decent job to help China develop and become awesomer.
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Before the Dictatorship, Ciro likely won't be able to enter/it wouldn't be a good idea: <<would-ciro-santilli-be-able-to-visit-china-before-the-ccp-ends>>.
And it is immoral to help make dictatorships richer by working for their companies: <<what-should-western-countries-do-about-china>>.
===== Would Ciro Santilli be able to visit China before the CCP ends?
It would be interesting to apply for a VISA to find out.
But Ciro won't do it because it is too risky that it would be a waste of Ciro's precious <<better-to-do,time and money>>.
Firstly, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45812399[Jamal Khashoggi] taught us that walking into enemy into consulates of enemy countries is a bad idea.
Then, even if the VISA were accepted, Ciro could still be turned back on entering the country, thus wasting the flight time and money. This could either be a genius plot to waste the money of enemies of the state, or due to a crappy divided IT system between the border control and the VISA people.
Finally, even after the border, there is still the possibility that Ciro could be stopped in the country half-way through the visit and sent back, or be interrogated for a few days, or less likely murdered with poison.
Therefore, if you think that living in China is fundamental to understand it, please just explain what you think one can learn from the experience instead. Do you really need to live there to see its censorship machine working? It would arguably be harder to see it from the inside.
See also: <<what-should-pro-democracy-chinese-living-in-china-do-about-the-dictatorship>>.
Bibliography: https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship/issues/93
[[is-ciro-santilli-chinese]]
==== Is Ciro Santilli Chinese? 三西猴是中国人吗?
See: https://cirosantilli.com/#ciro-santilli
And it does not matter: <<not-chinese>>.
But <<why-does-ciro-santilli-love-china-so-much,his wife is>>.
[[does-ciro-santilli-speak-chinese]]
==== Does Ciro Santilli speak Chinese? 三西猴会说中文吗?
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As of 2019, oral enough for daily things, but not understand most natural casual dinner conversation or watch TV series, because they go too quickly into vocabulary subject areas that he doesn't know. And obviously, using <<slang,slangs>> just makes things really hard.
When it matters, and with some patience, he can make himself understood though with https://xkcd.com/thing-explainer/[some analogies] (https://web.archive.org/web/20190908144612/https://xkcd.com/thing-explainer/[archive]) and a dictionary.
From the HSK vocabulary list, he estimates that he is definitely HSK 3, but not quite HSK 4. This would likely equate A2/B1 in the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_European_Framework_of_Reference_for_Languages[European system].
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Phonetics wise, Ciro can't distinguish or produce a few sounds, notably `-ing` vs `-in` and his off-tone rate is high, but it tends to not matter at all compared to his lack of vocabulary. Except for his <<wife,mother-in-law>>, who sometimes does not understand it at all without correct tones!
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Ciro reads with link:https://www.perapera.org/[Perapera] when he wants to learn new words/has patience/something is very important, and can basically understand everything in that way. TODO perapera support stopped in 2021: https://www.perapera.org/plugins/ and since browsers don't have stable API's it very quickly stopped working for everyone. Alternatives asked at: https://softwarerecs.stackexchange.com/questions/78268/on-mouse-hover-pop-up-chinese-dictionary-browser-extension-alternative-to-perape/ https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/zhongwen-chinese-english/kkmlkkjojmombglmlpbpapmhcaljjkde[Zhongwen] worked, source at https://github.com/cschiller/zhongwen
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When he has no patience or for larger not very important chunks of text though, he reads with Google Translate as it tends to work, and then if there is an important sentence that was translated to garbage with Perapera.
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Ciro writes with a mixture of link:https://www.pleco.com/[Pleco], Google translate and Googling to see if Chinese actually say the sentences that way, never Google translate alone as it would be too imprecise.
Ciro really wishes he could learn more Chinese. Ciro really loves the Chinese language. But he has other more important endeavors at the moment. There simply aren't enough hours in a day.
Spoken Chinese is in Ciro's opinion a relatively easy language to learn from scratch, because word formation is so often logical:, e.g.:
* volcano = fire + mountain: 火山(huo shan)
* train = fire + car: 火车 (huo che), a reference to old https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_locomotive[steam locomotives]
and there is no useless crap like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_conjugation[verb grammatical conjugation], https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_gender[grammatical gender], https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plural[plural inflection], capitalization, etc. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latino_sine_flexione[latino sine flexione] anyone?)
Ciro <<characters,hasn't tried to learn characters>> because <<chinese-characters-are-insane,too much effort>>, but he did learn some of the most common ones without trying.
Ciro initially learnt from book that come with audio recordings in the first 6-months to 1 year in 2010, but that got impossibly boring afterward, so he later moved to just basically talking as much as possible non-important things to <<why-does-ciro-santilli-love-china-so-much,his wife in Chinese>>, and whenever he reaches one that he doesn't know that seems useful, he Plecos it up or just 怎么说 to his <<wife>> and then Pleco.
It should also be mentioned that Ciro also feels that it would be better if all countries more officially adopted English as an international language that everyone should learn for reasons explained at: https://cirosantilli.com/#having-more-than-one-natural-language-is-bad-for-the-world
[[chinese-characters-are-insane]]
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===== Chinese characters are insane (汉字是疯狂的)
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Maybe the commies for once <<richer,did something good>> by introducing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplified_Chinese_characters[simplified Chinese characters (简化字)]?
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But they should have gone further and reduced it to pinyin like the Korean and Vietnamese did, this will make your culture much easier to export.
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No foreign adult will every learn to read and write Chinese unless they are completely obsessed by the culture or need it as part of their jobs. And even then, they will avoid it at all costs, because life is just too short!

Japanese https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furigana[furigana] also comes to mind. The characters are so insane that you need a well specified and widely used phonetic reading aid!

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Yes, ideograms are:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_calligraphy[beautiful]
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* https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/2003/can-chinese-readers-scan-large-amounts-of-text-faster-more-accurately-than-their[maybe you can read faster]
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizontal_and_vertical_writing_in_East_Asian_scripts[vertical text (纵排)] is beautiful.
** the top to bottom aspect is obviously due to the binding of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo_and_wooden_slips[bamboo and wooden slips] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/简牍[简牍])
** TODO but why right to left? Left to right makes more sense as you don't put your hand on top of the most recent ink: https://www.quora.com/Why-are-Chinese-characters-individually-written-from-left-to-right-yet-in-ancient-times-sentences-of-Chinese-characters-were-written-and-read-from-right-to-left
** but is it more efficient? https://www.zhihu.com/question/22104723[Zhihu], https://www.quora.com/Can-literate-Chinese-people-easily-read-vertical-writing[Quora]).
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizontal_and_vertical_writing_in_East_Asian_scripts#Right-to-left_horizontal_writing also clarifies that traditional shop signs are also right to left, and it is just a sub-case of the usual right to left script, but with a single row
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* more historically stable, and you can still read/learn more or less quickly to read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Chinese_language[texts written more than two thousand years ago]
* it takes up way less horizontal space as Ciro noticed while adding bilingual captions to some of the images under https://gitlab.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship-media see e.g.: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship-media/master/Xidan_Wall.jpg
** on the other hand, you have to use slightly larger fonts for Chinese, because the characters are so dense that if they are not tall enough they become unreadable. Still, the area is much smaller without a doubt.
* single character emoticons like "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiong[囧]", before the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emoticons_(Unicode_block)[Emoticons Unicode block]! Yes, when your language has a character so useless that it becomes an emoticon, maybe you should start to worry that something went wrong somewhere... See also <<tank-man-emoticon>>.
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but they just take too much time for any sane person adult to learn, it's harder than {cpp}!

<<ciro-santilli>> smirked when he came across the character "蒄" in Pleco, and the translation was: "meaning unknown (herb mentioned in old books)". Yes, at the word level, the same like exists in phonetic systems, but that it takes up a modern dictionary and Unicode slot is still funny.

Posts that express similar ideas:
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* <<evil-chinese-characters-by-ted-chiang>>
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.The "fictional" Chinese character "Dou" from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncyclopedia[Uncyclopedia] is roughly translated as "Impossibly complex pictogram-based writing system that takes a person a thousand thousand years to learn." and illustrates well why pictograms are a bad idea. https://uncyclopedia.ca/wiki/File:Chinese_character_extreme.svg[Source].
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image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Chinese_character_extreme.svg[height=400]
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.The Sweet Brown https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ain%27t_Nobody_Got_Time_for_That[Ain't Nobody Got Time for That] meme (https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sweet-brown-aint-nobody-got-time-for-that[knowyourmeme]) fits perfectly into how Ciro feels about learning Chinese characters.
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Sweet_brown_chinese_characters_meme.jpg[height=500]
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.Translation of the above.
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Sweet_brown_chinese_characters_meme_zh.jpg[height=500]

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZcui85b4EE RARE Japanese Toshiba Typewriter. Types in Japanese, Chinese + English. Toshiba Typewriter Model BW-2112.
video::JZcui85b4EE[youtube,height=400,width=600]

.Commercial for IBM's Selectric Typewriter 1960's Contrast with the above.
video::vNUEUth7qjc[youtube,height=400,width=600]

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_cbW5JK9WM "The most complex Chinese character" by Vladimir Skultety does a reasonable analysis of which Chinese character is the most complex
video::t_cbW5JK9WM[youtube,height=400,width=600]
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[[seal]]
====== Seal (印章)

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* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_(East_Asia)
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/印章_(東亞)

Seals are also of course top to bottom right to left as in the traditional texts.

[[evil-chinese-characters-by-ted-chiang]]
====== 坏汉字 by Ted Chiang
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https://www.douban.com/group/topic/162835411/
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Ciro's <<does-ciro-santilli-speak-chinese>> was mentioned in a related Zhihu answer: <<zhihu-ted-chiang-answer>>.
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[[radical]]
==== Is Ciro Santilli a radical?
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Saying that someone is a radical is useless <<brainwashed-by-usa,ad hominem>>.
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If you want to say something useful, give specific reasons why you think one specific thing that <<ciro-santilli>> said is incorrect.
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Do you consider him a radical because it is unthinkable that China is not perfect?
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Or just because he's trying to <<keyword-attack,take down>> some more websites that your dictatorship still does not dislike enough to block: <<china-is-fine-as-it-is-stop-making-it-worse>>?
Don't you think that it is much more radical to <<intolerance,be put in jail for your beliefs>> and <<censorship,silenced if you disagree with anything the government says>>?
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Ciro doesn't think either China or West is perfect: <<western-media-has-exaggerated-reports-on-flg-for-propaganda-reasons>>.
He's just listing arguments why he thinks democracy is better, e.g.: <<richer>>, <<war>>.
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* <<preconceived>>
* <<bias>>
And Ciro never gets mad. Only a slightly sad or annoyed sometimes.
But maybe no radical ever considers themselves a radical? Hmmm...
Or maybe: link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efHCdKb5UWc[The Dark Knight - Some Men Just Want To Watch The World Burn]?
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==== Ciro Santilli is stupid

D E E P: https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship/labels/you-are-stupid-argument

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/訴諸人身

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Feel free to publish any proof of your own incredible intelligence.

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==== Is Ciro Santilli a SJW?
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SJW: there is a seed of SJW in <<ciro-santilli>>.
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One major difference between Ciro and the stereotypical SJW is that he never engage in lengthy discussions as per <<reply-policy>>.
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He limits himself to listening as much as he can to learn new arguments.
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So the rationale of his actions is no_ to convince anyone, but rather:
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* increase the monetary cost of censorship by binding politics to tech with <<keyword-attack>>
* group up like-minded people who don't like <<censorship>>
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See also: <<preconceived>>
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[[china-watcher]]
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===== Is Ciro Santilli a China watcher? (Pekingologist, 三西猴是观察中国者吗?, Intelligence Analyst)
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* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_watcher
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* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_analysis
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/情报分析
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Yup. https://twitter.com/BadChinaTake/status/1291401838022012931/photo/1[Nope]? Well, Ciro's what you'll get on <<github>> until someone better comes along.
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===== Are you a SJW?

Moved to <<is-ciro-santilli-a-sjw>>.

[[does-ciro-santilli-hate-china]]
==== Does Ciro Santilli hate China? 三西猴讨厌中国吗?
On the contrary. China has his favorite:
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* <<restaurants,food>>
* <<does-ciro-santilli-speak-chinese,language>>
* <<music>>
* history
* nature
* culture, notably:
** intense respect for older people. Whenever Ciro was with his <<ciro-santilli-mother-in-law-jail,mother-in-law>> and asked for help from young Chinese people, they were extremely nice.
+
It is hard to understand how the same people have not managed to speak up when <<flg-persecution,70 million old ladies were put into jail when Falun Gong was banned>>. Only the extreme fear of also going to jail could explain it. Living in China is living in constant fear if you can think for yourself.
** enormous importance given to education. One must not forget however: grades are useless, and all that matters is how much you improve society
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And because of that: <<would-ciro-santilli-like-to-live-in-china>>.
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As link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bjarne_Stroustrup[Bjarne] said:
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____
There are only two kinds of programming languages: those people always bitch about and those nobody uses
____
Ciro only focus here on negative things to provide content that will <<keyword-attack,activate the Great Firewall>>.
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A small poem:

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爱国恨党 +

Support the Chinese people, oppose the Party +
Love the country, hate the Party +
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The second sentence well known: https://www.reddit.com/r/HongKong/comments/e8g3qv/爱国恨党love_china_hate_ccp/

[[yuyuan-garden]]
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.Round gate at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu_Garden[Yu Garden] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/豫园[豫园]) in Shanghai. The large characters on top read (<<chinese-characters-are-insane,left to right>>) "流翠" TODO not sure about the second character, understand reference. <<ciro-santilli>> thinks that https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_garden[Chinese gardens] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/中國園林[中国园林]) are amazing!!! link:++https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shanghai_-_YuYuan_Gardens_and_Old_Town_(584867794).jpg++[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Yuyuan_garden_door.jpg[height=600]
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[[chinese-traditional-painting]]
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===== Chinese traditional painting (中国传统绘画)
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See also: <<museum>>.
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Some free online collections:
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* Smithsonian collection at a search for Paintings before 1800. Drill down further by "topic" e.g. "Mountains" or "scholar"
** https://collections.si.edu/search/results.htm?q=&fq=online_visual_material%3Atrue&fq=online_media_type%3A%22Images%22&fq=culture%3A%22Chinese%22&fq=object_type%3A%22Paintings%22&view=list&date.slider=300s%2C1800s
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."Plum, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum" (梅兰竹菊) painting by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zheng_Xie[Zheng Xie (郑燮)] representing the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Gentlemen[four gentlemen] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/花中四君子[花中四君子]). Ciro is a big fan of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird-and-flower_painting[traditional Chinese bird-and-flower painting (花鸟画)] like this. https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/315744623848820315/[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Four_gentlemen.jpg[height=600]
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===== Why does Ciro Santilli love China so much?
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<<ciro-santilli>> does not <<does-ciro-santilli-believe-in-or-practice-falun-gong,believe in reincarnation>>, but sometimes he's tempted to.
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It is interesting how different people get <<does-ciro-santilli-hate-china,different impressions>>!
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Of course, the fact that his wife is Chinese and <<flg-bias,does Falun Gong>> may or may not have played a role in it :-)
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It was like this: Ciro started getting interested in Chinese culture, then he started hanging out with Chinese people, and then he started hanging out with his wife!
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So yes, it is a chicken and egg type of thing. The fact that she is one of the most intelligent, morally upright, cute, and "never give up" person I know may have helped me choose too.
[[selfish]]
==== Ciro Santilli's China freedom campaign is selfish
* <<flg-bias>>
* <<throne>>
* <<harm-programmers>>
[[famous]]
===== Ciro Santilli is doing his China freedom campaign to become famous
No, he am a selfless human being, only concerned with the greater well being of humankind.
More serious answer:
* he believes in this. As evidence, it has limiting effects on his technological career: <<does-your-employer-support-this>>, and he doesn't think he can/wants to become a politician in China if the CCP ever falls
* the more famous Ciro is, the more impact he will have in the future
* the more famous Ciro is, the more feedback he have that what he's been doing has been working
Keyword: attention whore.
* https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship/issues/5
===== Ciro Santilli is doing his China freedom campaign because it makes him feel important
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===== Ciro Santilli is doing his China freedom campaign to vent off his anger
No, he is not angry at all, see also: <<harm-programmers>>.
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===== Is Ciro Santilli's china-dictatorship campaign funded or otherwise supported by some organization? 谁收买三西猴散布关于中国的谣言?

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Sure, the CIA sends Ciro 10 thousand USD checks from time to time, but that doesn't change at all what he would be doing.
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And sometimes the NSA, FBI, MI6, MI5, Mossad, Al-Qaeda and ISIS also pitch in a bit depending on their needs.

https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship/labels/funded-by-cia-argument

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A shady supporting organization might require that he does not disclose their support, so maybe the best answer is that you will never know for sure.
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Of course, a hidden support would represent a reputation hit for both such organizations and for me, which makes it less likely that I would have accepted or had such an offer.
Also consider Ciro's motivation. If your <<ciro-santilli-mother-in-law-jail,mother in law were put into jail unfairly for 15 days>>, for following the same religion that <<flg-bias,your wife follows>>, and if you had a social media presence, wouldn't you be tempted to do the same?
What about you, are you funded by the CCP?
See also: https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship/blob/48a95bf57a16b85619a6ae68702d18c9a5078797/FAQ.md#flg-has-been-funded-by-the-us-government-at-least-once-therefore-it-is-evil
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Label: https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship/labels/funded-by-cia-argument

==== Would Ciro Santilli be doing his China freedom campaign if he was in China?
Not with his real name attached to it, see also:
* <<what-should-pro-democracy-chinese-living-in-china-do-about-the-dictatorship>>
* <<not-chinese>>
===== Does your employer support this?
My employer has nothing to do with this.
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He doesn't approve or disapprove of the Chinese government or of my private actions.
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The only thing that my employer _does_ believe in is that employees can have their own political opinions, and that this should not affect hiring decisions.
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Obviously, this action limits my ability to lead high profile deals with China.
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Also I'm quite curious if this would limit my ability to go to China for business, but I haven't applied for a visa since I've started this. It likely wouldn't be a good idea for me to go to China :-)
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But my employer believes that inclusion and non-discrimination are more valuable.
I will always do my best to not let my personal opinions affect my professional decisions, as that would be unfair to my employer.
[[better-to-do]]
==== Doesn't Ciro Santilli have anything better to do than pissing off China?
In 1989, besides <<tiananmen>> and <<ciro-santilli>>'s birth, a beautiful thing called the World Wide Web was invented!
The Internet gives everyone the magic power of writing something, and having million people read it for free!
This is how much time Ciro spends on this project to give you an idea:
* every week or two, someone sends me a message, he reply with "read the FAQ", and usually update
* Ciro https://www.reddit.com/r/China amongst many other programming subs, and all major bad news show up there. See also: <<anti-ccp-info-sources>>
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* when something bad enough comes up, Ciro go to https://chinadigitaltimes.net/china/sensitive-words-series/ by <<china-digital-times>>and update <<keyword-attack,his keyword attack>>. He's only been updating it on Stack Overflow and GitHub these days.
Then Ciro just contributes to programming websites exactly as he would if he weren't making this campaign, and voila.
Edit: to be fair, the end of 2019 and start of 2020 was such as hot year with <<2019-hong-kong-anti-extradition-bill-protests>> and <<covid>> that Ciro might have spent a tiny little bit more ;-)
But Ciro did it only when his brain was too tired of technical stuff and unable to do more, or as a brain warm up routine in the morning.
Telling the CCP to fuck off is surprisingly relaxing, you should try it some time too. It uses a different part of your brain other than the programming one. It is, one could say, an art form.
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=== People in China have already considered democracy, and rejected it
OK, shall we put that to an anonymous vote just to make sure?
Dear sir or madam: do you want more control over your government? y/n
Oops, I forgot that <<most-chinese-people-like-their-dictatorship,proposing such a vote would put in you jail>>, nevermind.
[[violence]]
=== Would it be right to use violence to overthrow the CCP?
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In an ideal world, Ciro Santilli is of course "against violence".
But what if you could prevent a lot of future violence with some violence today?
Ah, the eternal question which only God can answer:
* https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-origin-of-the-quote-The-end-justifies-the-means "What is the origin of the quote 'The end justifies the means?'"
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consequentialism[Consequentialism]
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem[Trolley problem]
* link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonviolent_resistance[Nonviolent-resistance]
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Do you really think that the communists will step down if you ask them nicely enough? Even after <<tiananmen>>?
A quote from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_for_Vendetta_(film)[V for Vendetta (2005)] comes to mind:
____
Q: If they do, what do you think will happen [the people protest against their Government]?
A: What usually happens when people <<second-amendment,without guns>> stand up to people with guns.
[[v-for-vendetta]]
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=TcoBv6ibh8M V for Vendetta (2005) "What you think will happen" scene.
video::TcoBv6ibh8M[youtube,height=400,width=600]
How do you think the CCP or any other party got into power and maintained that power in the first place? Obviously https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Communist_Revolution[through violence]. And likely due to earlier <<not-chinese,Japanese invasions which weakened the Guomindang>>.
And the CCP actually uses "the ends justify the means" as an argument to justify its own actions: <<overlook-human-rights-for-profit>>.
The question of if anything is morally right or wrong makes no sense. All that matters is: what is the government that maximizes the happines of its own people, and who has the power to do what? <<richer,Getting richer,>> is part of the equation, but so is <<rule-of-law,not being constantly affraid that you will be randomly put in jail for no good reason>>.
If you do decide to strike though, <<what-should-pro-democracy-chinese-living-in-china-do-about-the-dictatorship,stay safe, gather your forces on the Internet, and only strike when victory seems certain>>.
For "violence is illegal" arguments, see also: <<follow-the-law>>.
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.One baby <<nazi,Hitler>> or 5 Million Jews https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem[trolley problem] illustrates well the moral dilemma of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consequentialism["the ends justify the means"].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Baby_Hitler_vs_5_million_Jews_trolley_problem.jpg[height=400]
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.Translation: What women think men want (a kiss). What men actually want (decapitating <<xi-jinping>>). The image from the left comes from the Japanese manga https://mangakakalot.com/manga/vm922794[Okaeri Alice] according to Reddit comments. The image to the right is based on an illustration of the decapitation of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XVI[Louis XVI] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/路易十六[路易十六]) during the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution[French Revolution] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/法国大革命[法国大革命]), but with Louis' head replaced by Xi Jinping's head. An original can be found at: https://castinet.castilleja.org/users/pmckee/frenchrev/violentphase.html[]. https://www.reddit.com/r/chonglangTV/comments/m8qwz4/真正的需要/[Source].
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image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/What_Chinese_men_really_want.jpg[height=400]
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[[second-amendment]]
==== Second amendment (美國憲法第二修正案)

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/美國憲法第二修正案

If China had the second amendment in 1989, the <<ccp>> would not be in power in 1990.

<<dictatorship-variability,It is better to have a bit of random shootings every day, than to have a full scale revolution every 20 years>>.

The availability of guns however only explains part of the problem of gun violence in the USA: the other huge thing that must be addressed is to <<western-society-is-extremely-unequal,reduce inequality>>.

A somewhat popular <<wumao>> criticism of gun violence in the USA (+ other problems) in song/poem form was brought up at https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship/issues/215

____
歌颂美国

自由美利坚, +
枪击每一天; +
白恨黑卑微, +
黑仇黄有钱。 +
世界第一强, +
川普再号强; +
新冠启示录, +
群体免疫法; +
比强还更强, +
世界一病夫。 +
如今五十万, +
耶稣爱美国, +
与民天国欢。 +
人命如草芥, +
不及股市贵; +
战火连中东, +
此乃真民主。
____

Related discussions:

* https://pincong.rocks/question/10360
* https://www.zhihu.com/question/346383581

TODO origin?

==== It is fine for the CCP to treat some of its citizens unfairly if the majority is better off
Basically same discussion as: <<violence>> but with the tables turned.
See also: <<uneducated-masses>>
[[dictatorship]]
=== Why does Ciro Santilli say that China is a dictatorship? 中国不是独裁!
Ciro is using the word in an slightly extended/joking sense.
Maybe "authoritarian" is a more precise term, but it is just too much of a mouthful.
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In particular, dictatorships are harder to sustain than authoritarianism, since it generally implies even less freedom, and a single leader whose death can destabilize everything.
The CCP is more like a social class with a large number of members and various sub-layers, and it is therefore much harder to take down on the other hand.
Dictatorship is becoming link:https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/07/world/asia/china-xi-jinping-party-term-limit.html[more and more precise under Xi] however.
Even <<mao-zedong>> admits it and put it into the constitution: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_democratic_dictatorship[People's democratic dictatorship 人民民主专政], so funny.
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Well known <<evil-west,Evil Western media>> that also call China a dictatorship:
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* 2020-01-29 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/29/opinion/coronavirus-china-government.html "Coronavirus Spreads, and the World Pays for China's Dictatorship"
* 2018-03-04 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/04/xi-jinping-from-president-to-china-new-dictator "Xi Jinping's power play: from president to China's new dictator?"
* 2017-10-11 https://www.ft.com/content/cb2c8578-adb4-11e7-aab9-abaa44b1e130 "Under Xi Jinping, China is turning back to dictatorship"
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Further discussions about this useless terminology question:
* https://www.quora.com/Is-China-a-dictatorship
[[anti-ccp-info-sources]]
==== What are the best sources of anti-CCP news?
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https://www.reddit.com/r/China[], see also: <<reddit>>
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Catches all the important news.
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A large part of the posts has controversial material.
Has some noise of course as well, but less than other media I find.
Highly worth your feed.
Reddit was banned in China in August 2018: https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/965k4c/reddit_banned_in_china/
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<<tencent>> will invest 150 million on Reddit in 2019: https://gizmodo.com/reddit-banned-in-china-is-reportedly-set-to-land-150-1832375439 See also: <<biased-media>>.
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===== Reddit

Subs with lots of anti-commie info:
* https://www.reddit.com/r/China is arguably the best as of 2020, see also: <<anti-ccp-info-sources>>
* https://www.reddit.com/r/fucktheccp/ small as of 2020 but promising
* https://www.reddit.com/r/HongKong had 3x more users than r/china as of 2020 after <<2019-hong-kong-anti-extradition-bill-protests>>.
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** https://www.reddit.com/r/FragrantHarbour/ another Honk Kong one, TODO vs r/HongKong.
* https://www.reddit.com/r/CCP_virus/ for <<covid>>
* https://www.reddit.com/r/tibet/ 3k subs 2020
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* https://www.reddit.com/r/ChinaMemes 2.5k subs 2021-03
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* https://www.reddit.com/r/saraba2nd/ (第二新S1市) modded by <<chinatimeline>> TODO title meaning
* https://www.reddit.com/r/BoycottChina/
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* China Circle Jerk subs (CCJ). TODO: these appear to be <<politically-incorrect,politically incorrect>> subs, but they do seem to allow anti-commit info. As of 2020, they were either banned or private:
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** https://www.reddit.com/r/CCJ
** https://www.reddit.com/r/CCJ2

TODO review:

* https://www.reddit.com/r/taiwan/
* https://www.reddit.com/r/China_Flu/
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* https://www.reddit.com/r/China_irl/ (流浪防区) https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/mnbpum/if_you_want_to_experience_the_censorship_and/ claims pro-CCP, but e.g. https://www.reddit.com/r/China_irl/comments/mn68dy/各位键委如何看待gfw/ has <<gfw>> talks
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===== Instagram

* https://www.instagram.com/hongkongprotestposters/

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===== r/chonglangTV

https://www.reddit.com/r/chonglangTV/

15k users 2020-03.

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Overview of their culture: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ChonglangTV

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Chinese language, pretty good content, anti-CCP samples:

* 2020-03-27 https://www.reddit.com/r/chonglangTV/comments/mdlowp/ciro这人行能处/ (Ciro is nice)
* 2021-02 https://www.reddit.com/r/chonglangTV/comments/lf5dy5/致那些坚持认为不会翻墙者不配看墙外东西的粉红/
* 2021-01 https://www.reddit.com/r/chonglangTV/comments/kpulab/最双标的人/ (the people with the most double standards, 双标 is a short form or 双重标准), comments how China complained when the US imposed sanctions on <<huawei>>, while China itself had already banned everything from the West
* 2021 https://www.reddit.com/r/chonglangTV/comments/lyxlf9/不_言_而_喻一_目_了_然/ has a cartoon about <<jack-mas-disappearance-2021>>. Ciro's actually going to steal that.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Sino/
Any comment critical of China and mods immediately ban you, e.g. on 2020-08-21 at https://www.reddit.com/r/Sino/comments/ie0mak/china_is_building_a_github_alternative_called/ which is related to <<gitee>>, <<ciro-santilli>> commented:
____
Let's see how long it takes them to block my repo/account: https://gitee.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship | http://web.archive.org/web/20200821202450/https://gitee.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship
____
The ban message is:
____
You have been permanently banned from participating in r/Sino. You can still view and subscribe to r/Sino, but you won't be able to post or comment.
Try https://www.reddit.com/r/westerner/[r/westerner] TRASH doesn't get by mods here. Tiananmen Square is vindicated by China's development. Anti terror system in Xinjiang is working. End result for HK is the same since 1997, regardless of rioters. Scientology-esque FLG/Shen Yun cult show has failed for decades, if you believe their claims, it's all of them losing badly.
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Dec 31 China informed WHO about mysterious pneumonia. Jan 11 Chinese reveal virus genome Jan 23 Wuhan quarantine - businessinsider/sciencemag
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You had the genome and saw the lengths China went to. Don't blame others for failing months later.
US accused of 'modern piracy' after diversion of masks meant for Europe - theguardian
Democracies Are Better at Fighting Outbreaks - theatlantic XD
The US leads in coronavirus cases, but not pandemic response - sciencemag XD
Beliefs of founder cultleader of Falun Gong from own lectures on official falundafa site https://redd.it/42wlvf
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____

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====== r/russia

Completely pro-Putin, e.g. removed https://www.reddit.com/r/russia/comments/kd21ck/cnnbellingcat_investigation_identifies_russian/ about <<the-poisoning-of-alexei-navalny-2020>>

===== Telegram

* https://t.me/anticcpbase
* https://t.me/ccp_unmasked see also: <<knowlesys>>

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===== Twitter

Lists by <<ciro-santilli>>:

* https://twitter.com/i/lists/221848102 anti-ccp
* https://twitter.com/i/lists/235201419 pro-ccp

After Trump was unfairly banned from Twitter, his social media team created an amazing "Chongald Xrump" account <<what-should-western-countries-do-about-china,pretending ridiculously to be a CCP PR person>>, it had really good posts.

But that amazing account was banned: https://babylonbee.com/news/trump-sneaks-back-on-twitter-by-disguising-self-as-pr-rep-for-chinese-communist-party Twitter is <<politically-incorrect,trying really hard>> to beat the <<censorship,CCP at its own game>>.

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News:

* 2021-04-08: publicly supported the <<milk-tea-alliance>>

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[[trump-twitter-kuang-biao]]
.Cartoon showing Donald Trump's mouth sewn shut in a "Twitter" shape by <<kuang-biao>> (2021) after Trump was <<unjust-social-media-censorship-in-the-west,banned from Twitter>>. You know it's bad when the artists who normally criticize the <<ccp,CCP>> start to criticize you. https://xueqiu.com/9870976009/168210673[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Flag_of_the_Republic_of_China.svg[height=400]

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===== YouTube

Many western Pro CCP accounts: <<ccp-apologists>>.

[[winnie-the-pool]]
====== Winnie the Pool (乳透社·小池塘,XJP音源,习近平音源)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjGMgaDmTJtyWl4QCbHJlig 乳透社·小池塘Winnie the Pool. Basically a bunch of anti-Xi Jinping YouTube poop in Chinese.

* https://twitter.com/Ruters0615
* https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr9pkYrfp6QumE11R9A9gqQ 乳透社·小反旗 sister channel

Many of their videos use their <<xi-jinping-speech-synthesizer>> system called XJP音源(习近平音源). It is mentioned in the description of videos e.g. 

* https://twitter.com/ruters0615/status/1227823202522427392 gives some voice synthesis methods used

GitHub reupload: https://github.com/cirosantilli/xijinping-yinyuan

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===== Tumblr

* https://independence-of-mind.tumblr.com/ 独立思考社群 (Independent thought society)

==== Where can I find good words for a keyword attack?
* List of blacklisted keywords in China
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_blacklisted_keywords_in_China
** https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/中华人民共和国网络审查
* https://github.com/jasonqng/chinese-keywords
* https://github.com/cirosantilli/media/raw/master/complete-gfw-rulebook-for-wikipedia-v3.0.pdf[Complete GFW Rulebook for Wikipedia v3.0]
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* <<china-digital-times>> This is was an amazing source, extremely comprehensive and up-to-date, but the series was stopped in September 2018:
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** https://chinadigitaltimes.net/china/word-of-the-week/?view=all word of the week, ran from Mar 7, 2012 to Sep 20, 2018
*** https://chinadigitaltimes.net/china/cdt-censorship-digest/ "CDT CENSORSHIP DIGEST", monthly version of Word of the week started on Feb 10, 2020
** https://chinadigitaltimes.net/china/directives-from-the-ministry-of-truth/?view=all censorship directive reports
*** https://chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/category/有关部门/真理部指令/?view=all chinese version
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** https://chinadigitaltimes.net/space/Main_Page a wiki version of the censored word lists, the ,"<<caonima,Grass-mud horse>> index" (cao3n2ma3 草泥马), with a censored term of the week section.
** https://chinadigitaltimes.net/china/sensitive-words-series/?view=all sensitive words list
** Fun 2015 ebook: https://github.com/cirosantilli/decoding-chinese-internet-pdf-download
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** Has received funding from US Government to some extent: https://www.ned.org/china-digital-times-provides-crucial-insight-and-information-about-china-and-the-covid-19/
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* <<censorship-monitoring>>
* <<tiananmen-square-protests-keywords>>
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[[keyword-choice]]
==== How do you choose keywords for the keyword attack?
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I haven't counted, but the limit for Stack Overflow is quite low, and I'm always almost at the maximum, which is about "Ciro Santilli" + 3 3-4 Chinese character events with a separator.
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These are some of my prioritization guidelines:
* recent cases receive a large prime over the raw death toll, because older cases can always be attributed to other people.
+
E.g., I've heard there is even some opening towards acknowledging the Great Famine, thus 烏坎事件 (and others from my previous profile names)
* words must refer to a precise event, and must be clearly summarizable in very few chars, for increased impact, and profile name length limitations.
+
E.g. "High <<corruption,corruption>> rates, high pollution", although very serious, feel too generic.
* events that relate directly to freedom of speech receive a prime, since they can only happen in China and very few other countries.
+
E.g.: <<falun-gong>>, <<tiananmen>>.
+
Non e.g.: corruption and pollution. Those are hard to quantify, and there is always an immediate reply: china GDP per capita is low, same happens in India, Brazil, etc.
+
Freedom of speech however, is immediately verifiable (e.g. "my <<weibo,Weibo>> was taken down"), and undeniably caused by the current central government.
* the more people affected, and the more deeply they have been affected, the more important obviously
I am currently trying to maintain in my Stack Overflow Location a ranking of events in a single string, so that it can be easily copy pasted around. The location appears on every page if you hover over my account name, so it is likely in the HTML at least.
If you think that this list can be improved, please open an issue explaining how and why.
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==== Other notable keyword attacks
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[[notepad]]
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* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notepad++
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notepad++
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It might be a newbie text editors for newbie Windows users, but at least they use it to good use by doing keyword attacks:
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* 2020-08: https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/17/notepad-plus-plus-blocked-in-china/ "Text editor Notepad{plus}{plus} banned in China after ‘Stand With Hong Kong' update" where "banned" means "the download page where they keywords are shown is now blocked in Chinese browsers". The rest of the website is still up. So no domain block due to HTTPS, browser only action for now.
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* 2019-10: "In October 2019 Notepad{plus}{plus}'s GitHub issue tracker was flooded with pro-Chinese and anti-western messages after a version codenamed "Free Uyghur" (v7.8.1) was released"
** https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/10/31/notepad_china_spam/
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** https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/dp3icm/notepad_after_voicing_their_support_for_the/ "Notepad{plus}{plus}, after voicing their support for the Uyghurs, is now being bombarded by Chinese nationalists on Github." See e.g.: https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/issues/7489 and earlier issues
* 2008-03: "In March 2008 the "Boycott Beijing 2008" banner was placed on Notepad{plus}{plus}'s SourceForge.net homepage": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concerns_and_controversies_over_the_2008_Summer_Olympics#Boycotts
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The creator appears to be a Vietnamese immigrant or descendant living in France. There are many such immigrants due to Vietnam being an ex-colony: https://github.com/donho Also he must have good reason to dislike the commies due to similar commit bullshit in Vietnam. He was at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Diderot_University[Paris Diderot] in 2000: https://donho.github.io/#education (https://web.archive.org/web/20190424004100/https://donho.github.io/#education[archive]).
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=== Separatism (分离主义)
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If a large number of people in a given region want to leave an country strongly or have greater autonomy, <<ciro-santilli>> believes that they should be allowed to do so.
* if they don't feel they are getting a good deal out of your country, it is unfair to keep them in
* keeping them in the country forcibly implies large scale violation of human rights: mass incarceration and removing freedom of speech.
+
Which in turn implies terrorist backslash.
+
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All of which are against <<ciro-santilli>>'s principles.
+
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[[luxor]]
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.https://youtube.com/watch?v=eouBCMPtNDQ?t=1170 "It happened in ... Luxor" by Al Jazeera English (2011) is a short documentary about the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxor_massacre[Luxor massacre in Egypt (1997)]. At this timestamp, survivor https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_E._Müller[Felix Mueller] whose girlfriend was killed in the attack comments that it is when people don't have an official way to express their needs due to censorship that they are more likely to turn to terrorism to express themselves.
video::fASh2_RzMuE[youtube,height=400,width=600,start=1170]
What makes Ciro the maddest is the censorship. If you are going to put people in jail, write a clear law about it, and let international reporters come to see the situation.
But why do you do something and then hide it? Maybe because you are not doing the right thing?
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Ciro also believes that although terrorists must be fought with all our strength, they must also be given some degree respect (interspersed simultaneously <<sacred-cows,with humour>>). He sometimes prefers the term "warriors" or "fighters", because their actions are largely indistinguishable from many ideological or purely greed based actions that larger nation states have done many times over and over. It is just a war, plain and simple.

The reason why they kill mostly civilians is that they don't have the means to kill the presidents those civilians elected. An amazing scene from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_Algiers[The Battle of Algiers (1966)] comes to mind. After the head of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algerian_War[Algerian independence] movement and terrorist, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larbi_Ben_M%27hidi[Larbi Ben M'hidi] is arrested, the French military let him be interviewed by the press on 4 March 1967 https://youtu.be/uHWZkiBuKGY?t=5312 (TODO real words? Cannot find source):

Translation:

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Journalist: Don't you think that it is cowardly to use the handbags and pushchairs of your women to transport your bombs? Those bombs that make so many innocent victims? [Earlier in the movie, we saw women carriying bombs into the French areas of Algiers through those means]

Larbi Ben M'hidi: And you, don't you think that it is much more cowardly to drop on defenseless villages your napalm bombs that kill thousands times more? Obviously, with airplanes, it would have been much more convenient for us. Give us your bombers, and we will give you the pushchairs.
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Original text:

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Journalist: Ne trouvez-vous pas plutôt lâche d'utiliser les sacs et les couffins de vos femmes pour transporter vos bombes? Ces bombes qui font tant de victimes innocentes?

Larbi Ben M'hidi: Et vous, ne vous semble t-il beacoup plus lache de larguer sur des vilages sans défence vos bombes au napalme qui tuent mille fois plus d'innocents? Évidement, avec des avions, ca aurait été beaucoup plus comode pour nous. Donnez vous vos bombardiers monsieur, et on vous donnera les couffins.
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See also: <<western-democracies-have-invaded-other-countries-and-crushed-separatism>>.
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==== Taiwan (Republic of China, 台湾, 中華民國)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/中华民国
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If you are interested in Taiwan, one important programmer forum is: <<ptt>>.
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Some interesting links:
* https://youtube.com/watch?v=6aZkM_ZLvjE?t=50 (zh) "【這就是科學|柯文哲】EP3/從癌症治療看政治!除惡務盡→除惡「勿」盡?「與敵共存」才是生存之道!", 柯文哲, 2019-06-26. Ko Wen-je, the mayor of Taipei 台北 and a professor in medicine, applies the concept of isolation and mutation in evolution to Taiwan and China
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News:

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* 2021-03-10 https://web.archive.org/web/20210310210519/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-10/asia-shoppers-snap-up-taiwan-pineapples-in-defiance-of-china-ban "Shoppers in Asia Snap Up Taiwan’s Pineapples in Defiance of China’s Ban". In 2018 there were <<fake-news>> about that apparently: https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3423317 but now it became true.
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Discussion:

* https://www.zhihu.com/question/59337963 为什么西方国家不针对台湾? Why don't Western countries target Taiwan [in their criticisms]? First answer: because of something called <<dictatorship,dictatorship>>.

[[one-china-policy]]
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===== One China policy (一个中国)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-China_policy
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/一个中国
Taiwan is not a case of <<separatism>>.
Taiwan is a completely separate country split due to civil war, long ago.
Almost every country, and all reasonably powerful countries, have diplomatic relations with Taiwan. They just don't call them diplomatic relations to not piss off China so they can keep doing business.
The fact that most countries in the world does officially recognize Taiwan as a country is a joke, considering that the only thing keeping it afloat is the West's military threat.
<<what-should-western-countries-do-about-china,The West must not>> let China advance and take more territories. The more they take, the more they will want.
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The West must protect China's neighboring countries with military support and assurance.
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The West must recognize Taiwan for what it is: a separate country, under threat of invasion, and in need of support.
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If China's claim to Taiwan is valid, then Taiwan also has an equally valid claim on China.
If China's claim to Taiwan is valid, then so will its claim to any other country.
China, if you want to claim that Taiwan is a part of you, just grow some balls and invade them already. Or just stop this stupid joke.
Interesting quote from https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/07/taiwans-status-geopolitical-absurdity/593371/
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Taiwan's Status Is a Geopolitical Absurdity
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And https://www.economist.com/asia/2017/02/16/americas-affirmation-of-the-one-china-policy-pleased-taiwan-too calls the One China policy a:
https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/62447/how-can-a-citizen-of-mainland-china-visit-taiwan/62466#comment178495_62466 hi, I want a "not VISA" to Taiwan. Thanks.
A well educated Mainlander who lived outside of China once told Ciro:
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Taiwan should not be considered a country by China, because then it would not join back to China when China becomes a democracy, and would be used by the USA to do evil things as they did in the Middle East
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Ciro was shocked. He considered that person highly intelligent and not fully brainwashed! Reply:
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China claiming that Taiwan is a part of them only drives Taiwan closer to the West! Who wants to be part of a dictatorship unless you have been brainwashed by one?
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They truly believe in <<evil-west>>.
The US first caved in in 1972 with the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Communiqué[Shanghai Communiqué].
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* 20201-01-10 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-09/u-s-to-end-restrictions-for-diplomats-regarding-taiwan-pompeo "U.S. Eases Restrictions on Contact With Taiwan in Jab at China"
* https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/taiwan-finalises-62-billion-purchase-of-f-16-jets-lockheed-13023336 "Taiwan finalises purchase of F-16 jets from Lockheed Martin". 90 jets, 8 billion USD.
* 2020-05-26 https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3940533 "Brazilian netizens fight back against CCP threats over Taiwan support"
** It should also be mentioned that this campaign could be being used/created by pro-Bolsanaro politicians as a way to detract focus from the COVID-19 epidemic that is reaching its deadliest phase in Brazil, e.g.: https://twitter.com/PauloMartins10/status/1265038976617984002
** Taiwan was at a disadvantage during since it was not part of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Organization[World Health Organization] and therefore could not get information as fast and influence decisions
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.https://youtube.com/watch?v=fASh2_RzMuE WHO officer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Aylward[Bruce Alyward] pretends not to hear question from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTHK[Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK)] about the possibility of Taiwan's membership in the WHO during a one-to-one Skype interview, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/30/senior-who-adviser-appears-to-dodge-question-on-taiwans-covid-19-response[reference].
video::fASh2_RzMuE[youtube,height=400,width=600]
* 2020-03-27 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-taiwan-usa/u-s-increases-support-for-taiwan-in-recognition-battle-with-china-idUSKBN21E0B7 "U.S. President Donald Trump has signed into law an act that requires increased U.S. support for Taiwan internationally". But he didn't recognize it as a country. Semi bullshit.
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* Taiwan Travel Act
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_Travel_Act
** https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/台灣旅行法
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Related:

* https://baike.baidu.com/item/台湾问题 on <<baidu-baike>>

.The flag of Taiwan. Like most modern countries, Taiwan has one. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_the_Republic_of_China.svg[Source].
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image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Flag_of_the_Republic_of_China.svg[height=400]
.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_Office_Building[Presidential Office Building of Taiwan] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/總統府_(臺灣)[總統府_(臺灣) | 总统府 (台湾)]). What is that flag we see on top of the central government building of Taiwan? It appears to have a blue rectangle on the top left! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TaipeiROCPresidentialOfficeBuilding.jpg[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Taiwan_White_House.jpg[height=400]
.It is fun to see that some small random Latin American countries https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraguay–Taiwan_relations[like Paraguay] recognize only Taiwan and not Mainland China. Brave warriors!!! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Two_Chinas.svg[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Countries_that_recognize_Taiwan.jpg[height=400]
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.Washington DC TECRO. Instead of "embassies", Taiwan has https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taipei_Economic_and_Cultural_Representative_Office["Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Offices" (TECROs)] https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/臺北經濟文化代表處[(台北经济文化代表处|臺北經濟文化代表處)] in 2013. The just happen to issue VISAs and passports like embassies, but remember, they are not embassies. No flag you see? This is because idiotic countries don't allow TECROs to have the Taiwan flag. In 2019 Senator Ted Cruz planned on passing a law to allow that though: https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3825086[]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Taipei_Economic_and_Cultural_Representative_Office_in_the_United_States_from_VOA_(1).jpg[Source].
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image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/TECRO_Washington.jpg[height=400]
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.2014 cartoon by D Nguyen summarizing the Taiwan China relationship in history. Featuring: fatter and fatter <<mao-zedong>> on first three cartoons to the left, likely <<deng-xiaoping>> to left on the last, and <<chiang-kai-shek>> to the right. TODO middle figure on last cartoon. TODO find proper attribution source, originally seen at: https://i.redd.it/xb5qr3asfns41.jpg[].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Taiwan_we_are_China_cartoon.jpg[height=600]
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.Proposed reunification flag for Taiwan and China. https://9gag.com/gag/a9E1YVo[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/China_Taiwan_reunification_flag.webp[height=500]

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.West Taiwan (西台湾), also known as Mainland Taiwan (台湾大陆), also known as China. Not to be confused with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regions_of_Taiwan[Western Taiwan] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/臺灣西部[台湾西部]), which is a region of Taiwan. https://www.reddit.com/r/TaiwanChina/comments/j34ftk/taiwan_number_one/[Source].
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image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/West_Taiwan_map.jpg[height=500]

[[taiwan-number-one]]
===== Taiwan #1 (2915)
2015 meme started by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z1_Battle_Royale[H1Z1] streamer AngryPug, in which he repeatedly taunts the Chinese streamer Em0 by pretending to be Taiwanese.
* https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/taiwan-1
* https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/3tz3jq/what_is_the_point_of_the_taiwan_1_thing/
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=vTqZ9xrxhHk ANGRYPUG's official YouTube upload of the clip "Taiwan #1" meme.
video::vTqZ9xrxhHk[youtube,height=400,width=600]
See also: <<photobombing-like-attacks>>.
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===== Hololive

Hololive is a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_YouTuber[VTuber] management company from Japan.

<<ciro-santilli>> didn't know WTF a VTuber was before coming across this event, he's too old for that.

The key event was 2020-09-28 https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4018580 "Japanese VTubers banned for mentioning Taiwan during livestream":

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During their most recent livestreams, Hololive Japanese VTubers Kiryu Coco and Akai Haato announced the countries where they have received the most followers based on YouTube analytics. One of the countries that they highlighted was Taiwan because it accounted for seven percent of viewers and they displayed the flag of Taiwan to represent the nation.
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therefore joining the long list of <<western-companies-that-comply-with-chinese-censorship-requests>>.

This event was clarified to Ciro at: https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship/issues/157 and is tracked under https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship/labels/vtuber

Interestingly, this led to a large number of <<shitpost>>/spam on https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship/issues[], culminating notably at https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship/issues/191[], and many of them seemed to involve:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixiv[Pixiv], which is "a Japanese online community for artists" which likely has lots of VTubers,
* Japanese language, although one of the very extremely erudite and trustworthy comments at: https://boards.4channel.org/vt/thread/1403290/really-makes-you suggests that the Japanese at there is completely broken, and it is likely just a Chinese person using Google Translate

It is however hard to understand the rationale of such posts.

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===== Internal politics of Taiwan

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_the_Republic_of_China
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/中華民國政治

As of 2020, there are two relevant parties:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuomintang["Kuomintang"], which have become a bunch of pussies, and prefer to keep the ambiguous <<one-china-policy>> status quo, to not get bombed, and do some commerce with China. Those people make <<chiang-kai-shek>> turn in his grave of shame.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Progressive_Party[], which wants independence, and was winning as of 2020

[[chiang-kai-shek]]
===== Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石, 蔣中正)

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiang_Kai-shek
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/蔣中正

[[xinjiang]]
==== Xinjiang (新疆)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinjiang
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/新疆维吾尔自治区
* 2014 something very serious happened in Xinjiang.
** https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/4hmhzt/xinjiang_massacre_2014_resulted_in_30005000_deaths/
* 2010 Xinjiang 10 month Internet blackout
** https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8682145.stm
* 2009 Ürümqi riots
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_2009_Ürümqi_riots
** https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/乌鲁木齐七五事件
** 2009 Shaoguan incident
*** https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaoguan_incident
*** https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/旭日玩具厂群体斗殴事件

Terrorist attacks done by Xinjiang separatists:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_China#Chronology_of_major_events

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Notable terrorist attacks:

* 2014 Kunming attack
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Kunming_attack
** photo of 8 bodies lined up after the attack: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/05/world/asia/chinese-officials-seek-to-shift-attention-from-rampage.html
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** Interestingly, https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2014/03/sensitive-words-attack-kunming/ points out that http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/845642.shtml#.UxYZgeddVRG by <<china-digital-times>> said that:
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The public must realize that a handful of extremists are far from qualified to represent tens of millions of local residents in Xinjiang. It is not only an irrational and biased mindset to put the blame on the entire Uyghur community or the Muslim world, but the idea will also abet and aid those separatists and terrorists who are desperate to take advantage of ethnic and religious conflicts.
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and yet as of the <<xinjiang-re-education-camps>>, all Xinjiang Muslims were fucked. <<rule-of-law>> comes to mind.
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People:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilham_Tohti[Ilham Tohti] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/伊力哈木·土赫提[伊力哈木·土赫提])

.<<rebel-pepper,Rebel Pepper>> 2017-04 cartoon showing that Xinjiang is like a prison inside a greater prison, which is China itself. Chinese characters read: 新疆(Xinjiang) and 中国(China). TODO source.
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Xinjiang_camp_in_camp.jpg[height=600]

[[xinjiang-re-education-camps]]
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===== Xinjiang "re-education" camps (新疆再教育營, 2017-)

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinjiang_re-education_camps
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/新疆再教育營

The keyword is <<rule-of-law>>: because of a few terrorists, every single Muslim was fucked even if they did not commit any crime.
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Master issue: https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship/issues/226

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Overview projects:

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* https://www.talkaboutxinjiang.com/ Talking about Xinjiang 我们一起来谈谈新疆
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* https://wokeglobaltimes.com/xinjiang Breaking Down the Xinjiang Crisis
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* <<xinjiang-data-project>>
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News:
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* 2021-06 Inside Xinjiang short video series by The Telegraph. Basically the lady getting followed by police everywhere, and some destroyed mosques.
** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LLMSzh4ZZI
** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w3_A2vRGqE
** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LLMSzh4ZZI
* 2021-04-16 https://twitter.com/adrianzenz/status/1382397174684680197 "Breaking: Xinjiang's latest 2020 Statistical Yearbook lacks ALL crucial population data"