README.adoc

<<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.

[[internal-politics-of-taiwan]]
==== Internal politics of Taiwan (中華民國政治)

* 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

Events:

* 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

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
** 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.

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-chained-knives]]
.Uyghur butcher with chained knives in Xinjiang (2021). Knives at shops in Xinjiang have to remain chained, and each blade is tracked with a https://www.businessinsider.nl/china-tracks-uighur-minority-qr-code-kitchen-knives-doors-human-rights-watch-report-2018-9/[QR code]. A <<zhihu>> question about it https://www.zhihu.com/question/294738809[]: 为什么菜刀要用铁链子栓起来？ 来乌市快有一个月啦，我很好奇为什么所有的店里都要用铁链子把菜刀栓起来？ (Why are kitchen knifes tied up with an iron chain? It's been almost a month since I came to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ürümqi[Urumqi] [capital of Xinjiang]? I am curious why all the shops have to tie up kitchen knives with iron chains?). https://youtu.be/4w3_A2vRGqE?t=279[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Xinjiang_chained_butcher_knives.jpg[height=600]

[[xinjiang-re-education-camps]]
==== 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.

Master issue: https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship/issues/226

Overview projects:

* https://www.talkaboutxinjiang.com/ Talking about Xinjiang 我们一起来谈谈新疆
* https://wokeglobaltimes.com/xinjiang Breaking Down the Xinjiang Crisis on <<the-woke-global-times>>
* <<xinjiang-data-project>>

News:

* 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"
* 2021-04 The wings of songs (歌声的翅膀, 2021) Xinjiang propaganda musical film
** https://www.theguardian.com/books/video/2021/apr/03/wings-of-song-china-launches-idyllic-musical-set-in-xinjiang-video
** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt-FkaH5YwI trailer
* 2021-03-28 <<cgtn>> invents French national "Laurene Beaumond" who refutes the situation in Xinjiang:
** <<cgtn>> article in French: https://archive.is/USZ45[] by "Laurene Beaumond". The article was updated a day later: this time they remembered to say that Laurene Beaumond is a pseudonym. Article URL: https://francais.cgtn.com/n/BfJEA-cA-HAA/DcCEIA/index.html
** original investigation by Le Monde: https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2021/03/31/quand-la-television-chinoise-cgtn-invente-une-journaliste-francaise_6075155_3210.html
** commentary https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/01/china-butchers-aesop-fable-in-latest-act-of-wolf-warrior-diplomacy
* 2021-03-20 https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2021/03/the-nightmare-of-uyghur-families-separated-by-repression/ "The nightmare of Uyghur families separated by repression" on <<amnesty-international>>
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Although it is often extremely difficult, if not impossible, for Uyghurs overseas to receive information about the whereabouts of their family members, some parents have received bits and pieces of information in the form of coded words, or photos and videos, from relatives and friends that make them believe their children were taken to state-run “orphan camps” or boarding schools.
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* 2021-03-01 https://www.reuters.com/article/BigStory12/idUSKCN2AT1BA "China counters Uighur criticism with explicit attacks on women witnesses"
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Chinese officials have named women, disclosed what they say is private medical data and information on the women’s fertility, and accused some of having affairs and one of having a sexually transmitted disease. The officials said the information was evidence of bad character, invalidating the women’s accounts of abuse in Xinjiang.
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<<reddit>>: https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/lvrkoi/china_counters_uyghur_criticism_with_explicit/
* 2020-10-28 <<global-times>> https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1203861.shtml in response to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Samuel_Paty[The Murder of Ssamuel Paty] clarifies that the best way to counter terrorism is preventive mass incarceration and brainwashing: "Eradicating extremism is a huge challenge of governance for all countries. China has proactively explored feasible ways in its Xinjiang governance and generated positive outcomes."
* 2020-10-17 (paywall) https://www.economist.com/china/2020/10/17/how-xinjiangs-gulag-tears-families-apart "How Xinjiang's gulag tears families apart". "So many parents have been locked up that officials struggle to cope with the left-behind children"
* 2020-09-19 https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3101986/china-claims-vocational-training-given-nearly-13-million-people "Chinese authorities "indirectly" confirm the scale of the camps. China claims 1.3 million Xinjiang residents given 'vocational training' each year"
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The document: http://www.scio.gov.cn/zfbps/32832/Document/1687588/1687588.htm also quoted on <<peoples-daily>>: http://politics.people.com.cn/n1/2020/0918/c1001-31865875.html
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Official English translation: http://english.scio.gov.cn/whitepapers/2020-09/17/content_76712251.htm
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Title: 新疆的劳动就业保障 (Employment and Labor Rights in Xinjiang)
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Quote:
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全疆年均培训城乡各类劳动者128.8万人次，其中，南疆地区年均培训45.14万人次。参训人员至少掌握1项就业技能，绝大多数取得了职业资格证书、职业技能等级证书或专项职业能力证书，实现稳定就业。
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Google translation:
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The average annual training for all kinds of workers in urban and rural areas in Xinjiang is 1.288 million, of which 451,400 are trained in southern Xinjiang. Participants have mastered at least one employment skill, and most of them have obtained vocational qualification certificates, vocational skill level certificates or special vocational ability certificates to achieve stable employment.
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* 2020-08-27 https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/alison_killing/satellite-images-investigation-xinjiang-detention-camps "Blanked-Out Spots On China's Maps Helped Us Uncover Xinjiang's Camps". Good technique.
* 2020-06-29 https://apnews.com/269b3de1af34e17c1941a514f78d764c "China cuts Uighur births with IUDs, abortion, sterilization"
** 2021-01-07 https://archive.vn/sVB8X Tweet from the "Chinese Embassy in US" verified account said "Study shows that in the process of eradicating extremism, the minds of Uygur women in Xinjiang were emancipated and gender equality and reproductive health were promoted, making them no longer baby-making machines", which could be interpreted as suggesting that birth control was one of the goals of the Xinjiang oppression. Some coverage: https://qz.com/1954520/china-says-it-saved-uyghur-women-from-being-baby-making-machines/
*** https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/09/china-forced-sterilizations-feminist-rebrand comments that there is precedent to that in Peru's dictatorship:
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In the 1990s about 350,000 people were sterilized in Peru under a program promoted by President Alberto Fujimori, who argued a lower birth rate was the key to eliminating poverty. "Peruvian women should be the owners of their destiny!" Fujimori said in a 1995 speech to congress. He presented his family-planning campaign as a step forward for feminism, and even got funding from the US Agency for International Development, USAid. Many of the women who were sterilized, however, came from poor indigenous backgrounds and were coerced or forced into the procedure.
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* 2020-06-17 https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN23O3EW "Trump signs bill pressuring China over Uighur Muslim crackdown"
* 2019-12: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEkliuqQo-g "A Secret Look Inside a Chinese Labor Program for Uighurs | Visual Investigations" by "The New York Times" published on Dec 30, 2019. Description: "China is relocating Uighurs and other Muslim minorities to urban areas as part of a contentious labor program. The Times obtained rare footage taken inside one."
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video::dEkliuqQo-g[youtube,height=400,width=600]
* 2919-12: Muslim German Turkish Arsenal player link:++https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesut_%C3%96zil++[Mesut Özil] criticizes concentration camps on Twitter, and China stops broadcasting arsenal matches
** https://twitter.com/MesutOzil1088/status/1205439723302469632 (https://web.archive.org/web/20191214233550/https:/twitter.com/MesutOzil1088/status/1205439723302469632[archive])
** https://news.sky.com/story/chinas-state-tv-will-no-longer-show-arsenal-match-after-mesut-ozil-remarks-11887171
* 2019-11: "What happened to me" manga depicting Uighur torture hits 2.5m views
** https://wapipi.net/home/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/uy0830_en.pdf (https://web.archive.org/web/20191126162143/https://wapipi.net/home/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/uy0830_en.pdf[archive])
** https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/26/what-has-happened-to-me-manga-depicting-uighur-torture-hits-25m-views
* 2019-11 The Xinjiang Papers: leaked cables about Xinjiang internment camps policy, some reported by the New York Times and others by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, soure yet unknown. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinjiang_papers
** 2020-02-18 https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/02/20/more-evidence-chinas-horrific-abuses-xinjiang the "Karakax list" leaked spreadsheet contains detailed information on 331 citizens Karakax County in Xinjiang and sheds further insight on why certain people have been persecuted from <<human-rights-watch>>
*** https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/china-war-terror-uproots-uighur-families-leaked-data-shows-200218052952415.html
** https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/16/world/asia/china-xinjiang-documents.html
** https://www.icij.org/investigations/china-cables/exposed-chinas-operating-manuals-for-mass-internment-and-arrest-by-algorithm/
** 2020-02: more leaks containing detailed records of several citizens: https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2020/02/asia/xinjiang-china-karakax-document-intl-hnk/
* 2019-07-31 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/30/world/asia/china-xinjiang.html "Doubt Greets China's Claim That Muslims Have Been Released From Camps"
* 2019-07-19 https://www.france24.com/en/20190712-37-countries-defend-china-over-xinjiang-un-letter "37 countries defend China over Xinjiang in UN letter"
* 2019-07-04 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-48825090 "China Muslims: Xinjiang schools used to separate children from families"
** https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/09/15/china-xinjiang-children-separated-families from <<human-rights-watch>>
* 2019-05-07 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/07/revealed-new-evidence-of-chinas-mission-to-raze-the-mosques-of-xinjiang
* 2019-05-07 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULaJVWOr4ko CNN does a few Xinjiang interviews and sends reporter to visit some of the concentration camps
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video::ULaJVWOr4ko[youtube,height=400,width=600]
* 2019-02-24 https://fortune.com/2019/02/21/thermo-fisher-xinjiang-china-uighurs/
* 2019-02-17 https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/2186547/china-data-leak-exposes-vast-hi-tech-surveillance-operation "China data leak exposes vast hi-tech surveillance operation in Xinjiang", leak by SenseNets Technology.
* https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/30/world/asia/china-xinjiang.html
* 2019-03 https://shahit.biz/eng/ database of Xinjiang victims, with precise names, location, date of birth and ID card number of victims and testimonies
* 2018-12 https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=dsd1NkCKaNg In full: 'I begged them to kill me' - ex-Xinjiang detainee Mihrigul Tursun gives testimony in the US. Observers however rightly brought up the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nayirah_testimony[Nayirah testimony].
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video::dsd1NkCKaNg[youtube,height=400,width=600]
* 2018-11 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-45812419 Xinjiang legalizes 're-education' camps
* 2018-08 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-rights-un/u-n-says-it-has-credible-reports-that-china-holds-million-uighurs-in-secret-camps-idUSKBN1KV1SU
* 2018-07 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eak3WRtcdko Sairagul Sawytbai testifies to the existence of Chinese concentration camps in Xinjiang
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video::Eak3WRtcdko[youtube,height=400,width=600]
* 2018-05 generic report https://jamestown.org/program/evidence-for-chinas-political-re-education-campaign-in-xinjiang/
* 2018-05 mapping internment camps with satellite imaging:
** https://www.albawaba.com/news/mapping-china’s-internment-camps-its-ethnic-minorities-1136100
** https://medium.com/@shawnwzhang/list-of-re-education-camps-in-xinjiang-新疆再教育集中营列表-99720372419c List of Re-education Camps in Xinjiang 新疆再教育集中营列表 Shawn Zhang https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/8mbhad/satellite_imagery_of_xinjiang_reeducation_camps/
* 2018-05 Omir Bekali's account of Xinjiang education camps:
** https://apnews.com/6e151296fb194f85ba69a8babd972e4b
** https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/former-inmates-of-chinas-muslim-re-education-camps-tell-of-brainwashing-torture/2018/05/16/32b330e8-5850-11e8-8b92-45fdd7aaef3c_story.html?utm_term=.df8ea170b18f
** https://uk.businessinsider.com/what-is-life-like-in-xinjiang-reeducation-camps-china-2018-5
* 2017-04 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/25/world/asia/china-xinjiang-ban-muslim-names-muhammad-jihad.html "China Bans 'Muhammad' and 'Jihad' as Baby Names in Heavily Muslim Region".
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Note that Muhammad is an incredibly popular name in Islamic countries, and thought to be the most popular name in the world with 150m people sharing it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_(name)#Transliterations
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It is so prevalent, that it is often shortened to just "Md." and people are just called by their second name to reduce ambiguity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_name#Ism
* 2017-04 https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/camp-photo-04262019171258.html
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[[xinjiang-lop-county]]
.Image of prisoners wearing blue sitting down in Kaifaqu internment camp (TODO Chinese) in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lop_County[Lop county] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/洛浦县[洛浦县]) on April 2017. The image shows some prisoners identified to indicate that they are not criminals but rather detained purely for political reasons, their name from left to right: Mamtimin, Aziz Haji Shangtang, Eli Ahun Qarim, and Abdulla Haret. A fifth and sixth ones were https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/camp-photo-04262019171258.html[identified in another report]. This image has become emblematic of the prison camps. Wikipedia cites as a source: http://web.archive.org/web/20180821032854/https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1564669932542581[] which was down as of 2021-06. But that image has a semi cropped watermark, so it simply cannot be the original image. An image with the same watermark uncropped can be seen at: https://mvslim.com/re-education-camps-for-muslims-chinas-muslim-community-the-uyghurs-are-facing-a-new-level-of-oppression/[] it reads "[<<wechat>> logo]新疆司法行政" (Xinjiang judicial administration) Freewechat from <<greatfire>> has a dump of some of their WeChat posts: https://freewechat.com/profile/MzIwODIyNTU1NA== but we could not find the one containing that image specifically, although the watermark is the same. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/camp-photo-04262019171258.html[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Xinjiang_prisoners_sitting_identified.jpeg[height=400]

.Workers walking next to a prison-like security wall with concertina wire and barbed wire in the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dabancheng_District[Dabancheng] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/达坂城区[达坂城区]) <<xinjiang-re-education-camps,re-education camp>> circa 2019. https://www.dw.com/en/western-un-envoys-condemn-chinas-muslim-re-education-camps/a-49543438[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Dabancheng_reeducation_camp.jpg[height=400]

.Security towers and inmate buildings of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artux[Artux city] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/阿图什市[阿图什市]) <<xinjiang-re-education-camps,re-education camp>> circa 2018-12-03. https://apnews.com/article/think-tanks-australia-china-13278c6178b9da1c37cbbc5bd063e473[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Artux_city_reeducation_camp.webp[height=400]

[[xinjiang-core-socialist-values]]
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxnS4z-cSlI (https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship/issues/220[GitHub reupload]) 2021 video showing dozens of Uyghurs standing on a large court being brainwashed by a woman saying on a loudspeaker: <<core-socialist-values,社会主义核心价值观>>，一定维护民族团结 (<<core-socialist-values,Core socialist values>> definitely maintain ethnic harmony). The echo of the speaker on the background buildings is eery. UNCONFIRMED. https://twitter.com/__Inty__/status/1381002964551168000[Source].
video::AxnS4z-cSlI[youtube,height=400,width=600]

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUmom_z6nQ4 (https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship/issues/221[GitHub reupload]) <<tiktok>> video of a few dozen Uyghur chilren being marched on the street with large bags, presumably during a displacement. The adults organizing it are a laugh, presumably at something cute one of the children did. Video markings: "@MaD DaN", location: "伯干村" (Bogancun, a town in Xinjiang https://goo.gl/maps/rt6jaT8oEjoXo95t8[according to Google Maps]), rolling banner TODO confirm, understand: "诗书达理之山人刨作原声". TODO identify Chinese music being sang on background, it is not clear if it is an edit or from the footage. The echo of the speaker on the background buildings is eery. UNCONFIRMED. https://twitter.com/Uyghurian/status/1380992770823835664[Source].
video::dUmom_z6nQ4[youtube,height=400,width=600]

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcLbAveuemI Here is a trick to getting longer lashes by feroza.x (2019). In this <<tiktok>> video, American then 17-year old Feroza Aziz, alias feroza.x, starts what looks likea regular makeup video, but which soon turns out to be a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bait-and-switch[bait-and-switch] video drawing attention to the <<xinjiang-re-education-camps>>. This is somewhat similar to a <<keyword-attack>> with its <<dual-use-technology>> approach.
video::ZcLbAveuemI[youtube,height=400,width=600]

On 2019-09-22 Drone footage of Xinjiang prisoner transfer surfaced. TODO confirm the location and that these are political prisoners rather than "normal criminals".

News coverage

* 2019-09-23 https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2019/sep/23/footage-blindfolded-shackled-prisoners-china-video Footage shows hundreds of blindfolded and shackled prisoners in China
* https://news.sky.com/story/chinas-detention-of-uighurs-video-of-blindfolded-and-shackled-prisoners-authentic-11815401
* <<reddit>>: https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/d78aog/chilling_video_of_chinese_police_transferring/

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGYoeJ5U7cQ 2019 Drone footage of Xinjiang prisoner transfer. The prisoners are blindfolded and shackled. On the HUD of the footage we can see "dji", which was a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DJI[popular drone manufacturer of the period].
video::gGYoeJ5U7cQ[youtube,height=400,width=600]

.Video still of 2019-09-23 drone footage of blindfolded Xinjiang prisoners being marched taken at time 00:30. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGYoeJ5U7cQ[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Xinjiang_prisoners_march.jpg[height=400]

[[xinjiang-data-project]]
===== Xinjiang Data Project (新疆数据项目)

* https://xjdp.aspi.org.au/
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinjiang_Data_Project
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/新疆數據項目

By the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Strategic_Policy_Institute[Australian Strategic Policy Institute], funded by the Australian government, which also published Also includes the <<uyghurs-for-sale,Uyghurs for sale>> report.

.Screenshot of the interactive map of the <<xinjiang-re-education-camps>> by the <<xinjiang-data-project>>. https://xjdp.aspi.org.au/map/?cultural=none&mosque=none[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Xinjiang_Data_Project_screenshot_of_camp_map_2021.jpg[height=600]

[[xinjiang-model-camps-for-foreign-media]]
===== Xinjiang model camps for foreign media (新疆外媒示范营)

Starting in 2019, China officially invited foreign journalists to some of their model camps to show how happy people were.

It is hard to understand why they did this, as it just made everything worse for them, because everything was so obviously fake, and it actually allowed glimpses in some of the horrors.

Online commentators have compared such camps to:

* <<nazi,Nazi>> model concentration camps which foreign people were invided to see, e.g. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-china-blog-48700786[commented by the BBC itsef]
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theresienstadt_Ghetto[Theresienstadt Ghetto] had a Red Cross visit in 1944
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnenburg_concentration_camp[Sonnenburg concentration camp]
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potemkin_village[Potemkin village]

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmId2ZP3h0c "Inside China's 'thought transformation' camps - BBC News" 2019-06-18. Accompagning article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-asia-china-48667221[]. China gives BBC "access" to a chosen show camp where everyone claims they are happy and willing to stay. They are however clearly adults being treated like children, taking courses and even having to sing and dance for the camera. https://youtu.be/WmId2ZP3h0c?t=486[486s] is also golden, when the CCP officer Zhang Zhisheng explains how they are <<thoughtcrime,just preventing future crime from happening>>. How can they be so stupid? How can they not see that this is not what the West wants to hear? Amazing dark-comedy like stuff.
video::WmId2ZP3h0c[youtube,height=400,width=600]

.Man wearing traditional Xinjiang clothing and playing a traditional instrument inside a classroom setting inside a prison camp, as the CCP tries to show the world that they are happy and their culture is being respected, and only makes things worse. The man also shows on the video at: https://youtu.be/WmId2ZP3h0c?t=407[] made by the BBC when they got supervised access to the camps to film, nearby segment uploaded at: https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship/issues/169[]. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-china-blog-48700786[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Uyghur_playing_guitar.jpg[height=400]

[[forced-displacement-of-uyghurs-across-china-2020]]
===== Forced displacement of Uyghurs across China (2020, 维吾尔人被迫流离失所)

Many videos were published on <<tiktok>>, 2020-07-09 https://www.codastory.com/authoritarian-tech/china-uyghur-migration/ "Revealed: New videos expose China’s forced migration of Uyghurs during the pandemic" has compilations of the most well known videos, with direct MP4 uploads that are easy to download.

<<github>> re-uploads at: https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship/issues/221

[[uyghurs-for-sale]]
.Advertisement published by Qingdao Decai Decoration Co. claiming to supply government-sponsored Uyghur workers from Xinjiang to other provinces. Source of translation: https://www.aspi.org.au/report/uyghurs-sale["Uyghurs for sale" report]. Original website archive from  16 Jan 2020: http://archive.ph/r7T8r[]. The ad features a caricature of two dancing Uyghurs in traditional clothing. This is evidence of the CCP's mass forced eviction and slavery of Uyghurs. Another report at 2021-04-16 https://news.sky.com/story/amp/new-evidence-of-the-strict-controls-uighurs-face-in-factories-thousands-of-miles-from-home-12276248 "Batches of 50 to 100 Uighur workers are being advertised on the Chinese internet" suggests that a <<baidu>> search for "劳务派遣" leads to incriminating ads, but which they fail to translate. Report lead: <<vicky-xu>>.
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Uyghur_sale_website.jpg[height=500]

.Uyghur workers at Qingdao Taekwang Shoe Manufacturing Co. Ltd (青岛泰光制鞋有限公司) in Laixi, <<shandong,Shandong>> (莱西市, <<shandong,山东>>) waving the Chinese flag, October 2019. Viewable on the pro-CCP China Ethnic Religion Net (中国民族宗教网) website: http://www.mzb.com.cn/html/report/191130765-1.htm[], and also shown in the https://www.aspi.org.au/report/uyghurs-sale["Uyghurs for sale" report]. Company address: https://goo.gl/maps/EgkbtxgjEny7EU1YA[山东省青岛市莱西市李权庄镇工业园区泰光路71号].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Uyghur_workers_waving_China_flag.jpg[height=400]

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx0JFgwATho&t=128 "New footage shows Uyghurs bussed across China for forced labour in factories". At the given timestamp, contains 30 seconds of footage extracted from 3 social media posts showing Uyghurs being sent in busses to work in far way regions.
video::M_aXcH1zDEE[youtube,height=400,width=600,start=128]

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx0JFgwATho New footage shows Uyghurs bussed across China for forced labour in factories by Channel 4 News (2020) contains one of the many edits made with a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bella_ciao[bella ciao] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/啊朋友再见[啊朋友再见]) background, Chinese version showing uyghurs being sent in busses to work in far away locations in China. The music fits perfectly, literal translation of the Chinese version is "Ah, friend, goodbie".
video::Mx0JFgwATho[youtube,height=400,width=600]

[[merdan-ghappar-s-video-2020]]
===== Merdan Ghappar's Xinjiang prison video (2020, 麥爾丹·阿巴的新疆监狱视频)

GitHub 上传 upload: https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship/issues/374

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merdan_Ghappar
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/麥爾丹·阿巴

Original report by the <<bbc>>:

* https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/chinese-news-53816701
* https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-53650246

Self made video shows the ex-model chained to a bed in a camp. Text messages give further details.

Text messages and translation: https://medium.com/@millwarj/wear-your-mask-under-your-hood-an-account-of-prisoner-abuse-in-xinjiang-during-the-2020-3007a1f7437d

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg4sWv3dEvU&list=PLQReVuWUFgXOlOOmJGRgVDtp2XqED0-8Y is a playlist with dozens of videos of him being cute while modelling. Appears to be mostly a <<tiktok,Douyin>> dump mostly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUr97pK9qmU is particularly good.

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX-jY1tgL_o Merdan Ghappar's video footage, terrible screen capture from the BBC original, but can't find a better one.
video::mX-jY1tgL_o[youtube,height=400,width=600]

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYhcrXYA6tM Rare footage of former model held for “re-education” in China’s detention system - BBC News (2020) Reportage with more context, including previous modeling work. They're incapable of adding the name "Merdan Ghappar" to the title or description however, what newbs.
video::SYhcrXYA6tM[youtube,height=400,width=600]

[[xinjiang-cotton]]
===== Xinjiang cotton (新疆棉花, 2021)

Reports surfaced that <<xinjiang-re-education-camps>> people were being used to pick cotton, and boycotts followed.

Companies that boycotted, subset of <<western-companies-that-stood-up-against-the-ccp>>:

* 2021-03-25 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-56519411 "Nike, H&M face China fury over Xinjiang cotton 'concerns'", see also: <<xinjiang-re-education-camps>>.

Companies that supported:

* 2021-03-26 https://hongkongfp.com/2021/03/26/hugo-boss-tells-chinese-customers-it-will-continue-to-purchase-xinjiang-cotton-months-after-telling-us-news-outlet-it-has-never-used-it/ ""Hugo Boss tells Chinese customers it will continue to purchase Xinjiang cotton, months after telling US news outlet it has never used it". People https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/mdilxi/hugo_boss_tells_chinese_customers_it_will/[immediately commented] that Hugo Boss was the company who made <<nazi>> uniforms.
+
Here's a link to the <<weibo>> mentioned: https://weibo.com/2329770312/K7RDviZl4?from=page_1006062329770312_profile&wvr=6&mod=weibotime&type=comment archive: https://archive.ph/tOcum
+
Original text:
+
____
Hugo Boss秉持着对生产制造高品质产品的坚持，使用来自世界各地，包括原材料源自中国各大产区的面料。多年来，我们一直尊重一个中国原则，坚决捍卫国家主权和领土完整。我们与许多优秀的中国企业建立了长期合作，并将继续保持。新疆长绒棉是世界上最好的棉花之一，我们相信优质的原料一定会实现价值。我们将会继续采购和支持新疆棉花。
____
+
and the Google translate:
+
____
Hugo Boss adheres to the insistence on manufacturing high-quality products, using fabrics from all over the world, including raw materials from major producing areas in China. Over the years, we have always respected the one-China principle and resolutely defended national sovereignty and territorial integrity. We have established long-term cooperation with many outstanding Chinese companies and will continue to maintain them. Xinjiang long-staple cotton is one of the best cotton in the world, and we believe that high-quality raw materials will surely realize value. We will continue to purchase and support Xinjiang cotton.
____
+
Statement on Hugo Boss' website in English saying that they are ethical: https://group.hugoboss.com/fileadmin/media/pdf/sustainability/company_commitments_EN/HUGO_BOSS_Statement_on_Xinjiang.pdf (https://web.archive.org/web/20210326134037/https://group.hugoboss.com/fileadmin/media/pdf/sustainability/company_commitments_EN/HUGO_BOSS_Statement_on_Xinjiang.pdf[archive])

Reports:

* 2020-12-14 reports that Uyghurs are being forced to work on the cotton industry emmerge:
** https://cgpolicy.org/briefs/coercive-labor-in-xinjiang-labor-transfer-and-the-mobilization-of-ethnic-minorities-to-pick-cotton/ "Coercive Labor in Xinjiang: Labor Transfer and the Mobilization of Ethnic Minorities to Pick Cotton"
** https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/nz0g306v8c/china-tainted-cotton "China's 'tainted' cotton"

<<blood-cotton-initiative-wuheqilin,"Blood Cotton Initiative" by wuheqilin>> is a <<holocaust-denial>> cartoon claiming it is all lies.

.Side-by-side comparison of black american slaves from 1908 and <<xinjiang-re-education-camps,happy Xinjiang workers>> working in cotton collection. This was posted by the verified account of Chinese government official Hua Chunying (华春莹) on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SpokespersonCHN/status/1375015592944537605[], archives: https://archive.ph/3PTiA and https://web.archive.org/web/20210326034948/https://twitter.com/SpokespersonCHN/status/1375015592944537605[]. Pure beauty. Does she have a brain? The images read: "The cotton planter and his pickers, H. Tees, West Point, Miss[ssisipy]", https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cotton_planter_and_pickers1908.jpg[source], and "Uighus people picking cotton in Xinjiang China". <<holocaust-denial>>, here we go.
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Xinjiang_cotton_vs_American_plantation_from_1908.jpg[height=600]

[[other-islam-countries-speak-up-for-uyghur]]
===== Why don't many Islamic countries speak up for the Uyghur persecution? (为什么很多伊斯兰国家不反对维吾尔族迫害？)

Either because those countries:

* are also dictatorships and completely corrupt to the brim
* or because Muslim schisms make them hate split groups even more than they hate other religions doe to the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley[uncanny valley effect]

Analyses:

* https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2020-09-10/long-shadow-xinjiang "The Long Shadow of Xinjiang"
* https://nationalinterest.org/feature/plight-uyghurs-why-muslims-wont-speak-their-brethren-112466

Related:

* 2021-05-15 https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/competition-05142021190045.html "Beijing-backed Drawing Contest in Turkey Backfires as Students Submit Depictions of Xinjiang Abuses" by <<rfa>>
* 2021-04-08 https://www.turkishminute.com/2021/04/08/chinese-wolf-warrior-met-their-match-in-turkey-with-municipal-trench-at-embassy-gate/ "Chinese wolf-warriors meet their match in Turkey with municipal trench at embassy gate" after 
+
____
Turkey's nationalist opposition has responded to a belligerent attitude from Beijing with workers from the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality digging a giant hole outside the Chinese Embassy in Ankara after the ambassador threatened the city’s mayor and an opposition leader with action over their tweets commemorating the victims of China’s violent crackdown on Uyghurs
____
* 2020-11-23 "Uighur scholar arrested in Saudi Arabia at risk of deportation to China", "Activists and human rights advocates have raised concerns that Aimadoula Waili may be tortured in a ‘re-education' camp if sent back to China"
* 2020-10-01 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9CIZ9x3pIs "Uighurs in Exile: Arrested and deported back to China – BBC Newsnight", "Newsnight has found that Uighur people in the Middle East have been targeted by nations including Saudi Arabia"
* 2020-07-11: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/11/world/asia/china-iran-trade-military-deal.html "Defying U.S., China and Iran Near Trade and Military Partnership"
* 2018: vice-president https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jusuf_Kalla[Jusuf Kalla] said "we don't want to intervene in the domestic affairs of another country": https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-23/muslim-governments-stayed-silent-on-chinese-minority-uyghur/10630822
* https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/uk-muslim-activist-praises-jewish-community-for-speaking-out-for-uyghurs-635626 even the Jews are speaking lowder in some cases

.<<rebel-pepper>> 2019-07 cartoon showing <<xi-jinping>> claiming to have won the global opinion on the Xinjiang re-education camps because all other dictatorships support him, including <<other-islam-countries-speak-up-for-uyghur,Islamic dictatorships>>. https://www.rfa.org/english/cartoons/XiJinping-uyghur-camp-cartoon-07162019155441.html[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Xinjiang_I_won.jpeg[height=400]

[[pakistan-prime-minister-xinjiang]]
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=YlHPEgE3fjk <<pakistan>> Prime Minister https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imran_Khan[Imran Khan] refuses to acknowledge <<xinjiang-re-education-camps,Muslim Uyghur oppression in Xinjiang>> during interview, cites Chinese money by HBO (2021). Correctly mentions <<israel>> in his defense.
video::YlHPEgE3fjk[youtube,height=400,width=600]

[[holocaust-denial]]
===== Holocaust denial (犹太人大屠杀否定论)

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust_denial
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/犹太人大屠杀否定论

Once again, <<nazi>>.

.Holocaust denial cartoon by far-right cartoonist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Françoise_Pichard[Françoise Pichard] was a runner-up the <<iran,Iranian>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Holocaust_Cartoon_Competition[International Holocaust Cartoon Competition] of 2006, which obviously aimed at discrediting Israel. The cartoon shows two https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasidic_Judaism[Hasidic Judaism][Hasidic jews] and reads in French: "Qui l'a mis par terre? Faurisson. Myth des chambres a gaz" which can be translated as: "Who put it down? Faurisson. Myth of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_chamber[gas chambers] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/毒气室[毒气室])". Farisson is a reference to famous French holocaust denier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Faurisson[Robert Faurisson]. The <<ccp>> is doing the same as of 2020 in <<xinjiang-re-education-camps,Xinjiang>>, e.g. through works such as <<blood-cotton-initiative-wuheqilin,"Blood Cotton Initiative" by wuheqilin>>. http://iranianhistory.pbworks.com/w/page/16588754/iranianhistory6[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Holocaust_denial_cartoon_by_Francoise_Pichard.jpg[height=400]

[[holocaust-denial-palestine]]
.Holocaust denial cartoon suggesting that the Holocaust killed much less than Israel did during the Palestinian conflict TODO confirm artist, source image address suggests Moroccan https://www.toonsmag.com/naji-benaji/[Naji Benaji]. Palestine is <<evil-west,a tragedy>>, also mentioned at <<israel>>, but trying to justify its horrors by comparing it to the horrors of other countries. We must recognize and fight against injustices of all countries. One injustice cannot justify the other. https://web.archive.org/web/20201201110526/https://cst.org.uk/news/blog/2010/10/29/a-new-low-for-scottish-palestine-solidarity-campaign[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Holocaust_denial_cartoon_vs_Palestine.jpg[height=400]

[[blood-cotton-initiative-wuheqilin]]
.Blood Cotton Initiative by <wuheqilin>>. This pro-<<ccp>> propaganda work suggests that the <<xinjiang-cotton>> is a fabrication of <<evil-west,Evil West>>. It depicts Americans as wearing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan[Ku Klux Klan] in an usual CCP reminder that <<racist-west>>. It is basically a <<holocaust-denial>> cartoon. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Blood_Cotton_Initiative.jpg[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base-ignore}/Blood_Cotton_Initiative_by_Wuheqilin.jpg[height=400]

.Side-by-side comparison of <<blood-cotton-initiative-wuheqilin,"Blood Cotton Initiative" by wuheqilin>> and the <<holocaust-denial-palestine,Palestine vs Israel holocaust denial cartoon>>.
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Blood_Cotton_Initiative_by_Wuheqilin_holocaust_denial.jpg[height=400]

[[inner-mongolia]]
=== Inner mongolia (内蒙古)

* 2020-08-31 https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/language-08242020101614.html "China 'Will End' Mongolian-Language Education Starting This Semester: Reports"
** 2020-09-04 https://www.smhric.org/news_681.htm "Southern Mongolia turns to police state as full-blown cultural genocide unfolds" contains images of arrest orders and the like
* 2011 Inner Mongolia unrest
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Inner_Mongolia_unrest
** https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011年内蒙古抗议示威事件

[[tibet]]
=== Tibet (西藏)

Events linked to reducing the teaching of the Tibetan language in schools and replacing it with Mandarin:

* 2020-04 https://www.languagemagazine.com/2020/04/23/tibetan-language-phased-out-as-schools-switch-to-mandarin/
* 2010 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Tibetan_language_protest

==== Tibet "re-education" camps (2020)

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

2020-09-22 the <<jamestown-foundation>> reported that <<xinjiang-re-education-camps>>-style camps were started to be built in <<tibet>>: https://jamestown.org/program/jamestown-early-warning-brief-xinjiangs-system-of-militarized-vocational-training-comes-to-tibet/ and were housing half a million people.

[[tibetan-unrest-2008]]
==== 2008 Tibetan unrest (2008年西藏骚乱)

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Tibetan_unrest
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008年西藏骚乱

Good gory photos from the event: https://file.wikileaks.org/file/tibet-protest-photos/ (https://web.archive.org/web/20200410200709/https://file.wikileaks.org/file/tibet-protest-photos/[archive])

.https://youtube.com/watch?v=B-tEi4uLM_E "Hundreds of Tibetan protesters clash with police after anti-China protest" published by AP Archive.
video::B-tEi4uLM_E[youtube,height=400,width=600]

[[tibetan-unrest-1987-1989]]
==== 1987-1989 Tibetan unrest (1989年拉萨骚乱)

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987–1989_Tibetan_unrest
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989年拉萨骚乱

.https://youtube.com/watch?v=qMZgoRuPJBg "Troops stormed the Tibetan holy site the Jokhang Temple and beat monks"
video::qMZgoRuPJBg[youtube,height=400,width=600]

.https://youtube.com/watch?v=3uQcGcGGepw "Latest Spate Of Violent Unrest In Lhasa And The Imposition Of Martial Law" by AP Archive
video::3uQcGcGGepw[youtube,height=400,width=600]

[[hong-kong]]
=== Hong Kong (香港)

News source: https://www.reddit.com/r/HongKong/ Became larger than `r/china` during the <<2019-hong-kong-anti-extradition-bill-protests>>.

There is only one solution to Hong Kong's problem:

* give inhabitants people easy VISAs to leave China, with priority to the rich/educated ones. Give them free language courses on the country of arrival, and help them find jobs
* treat Hong Kong exactly like any other part of China, removing any special commercial treaty with the reagion, which it has enjoyed for many years

These have started happening seriously in response to the <<hong-kong-national-security-law>>.

Hong Kong related posts at: https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship/issues?q=label%3Ahong-kong+

Related:

* Hong Kong-Mainland China conflict
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong–Mainland_China_conflict
** https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/中港矛盾
* <<hong-kong-dissidents>>
* <<lihkg>>

==== Hong Kong 97 SNES video game

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_97_(video_game)
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/香港97_(遊戲)

1995 video game realistically depicts the fight of Hong Kong against the Communist Party predicted to happen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handover_of_Hong_Kong[at the handover], featuring Bruce Lee (often represented as <<entertainers-who-support-the-ccp,Jackie Chan>>) who returned from the grave to join the fight and kick <<jiang-zemin,Jiang Zemin's>> ass.

The dead body from the game over screen was taken from a still from a video of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosnian_War[1992 Bosnian War]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCDWyzZyNdw

The track is a sample of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Love_Beijing_Tiananmen["I Love Beijing Tiananmen" (我爱北京天安门)] Cultural Revolution song that was popular before <<tiananmen>> and later became an ironic protest song:

____
我爱北京天安门 +
天安门上太阳升
____

which means:

____
I love Beijing Tiananmen Square +
The sun rises over the Tiananmen
____

Full song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is_Z2K7guKs

.Cover of the Hong Kong 97. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hong_Kong_97_cover.jpg[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Hong_Kong_97_cover.jpg[height=600]

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_aXcH1zDEE The venerable https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angry_Video_Game_Nerd[Angry Video Game Nerd] made a review of Hong Kong 97.
video::M_aXcH1zDEE[youtube,height=400,width=600]

[[hong-kong-protests-2014]]
==== 2014 Hong Kong protests (Umbrella movement, 雨伞运动占领区)

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Hong_Kong_protests
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umbrella_Movement
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/雨傘運動佔領區

.A common logo used in the Umbrella movement, depicting an stylized umbrella with yellow background. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Umbrella_Revolution_icon_3.svg[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Umbrella_movement_icon.png[height=400]

.Sea of seated protesters during the <<hong-kong-protests-2014>> gathering at the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admiralty,_Hong_Kong[Admiralty] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/金鐘[金鐘]) on 2014-10-10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Umbrella_Revolution_in_Admiralty_Night_View_20141010.jpg[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Umbrella_movement_in_Admiralty_night_View_20141010.jpg[height=600]

[[hong-kong-national-security-law]]
==== Hong Kong National Security Law (香港国安法, 2020)

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_national_security_law
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/中華人民共和國香港特別行政區維護國家安全法

News:

* 2020-01-06 https://www.ft.com/content/ff253c71-6efb-4ca7-9d6c-b5e43d9371ba "Hong Kong police round up dozens of pro-democracy politicians"
* 2020-11-12 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-54899171 "Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers resign after China ruling"
* 2020-08-30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWxuzuBXh1U "Chinese Police Arrest Hong Kong Activist Andy Li (李宇轩), 11 Others, for Attempting to Flee to Taiwan"
** 2021-01-4 https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3116301/mainland-chinese-lawyer-who-assisted-one-hong-kong "Mainland Chinese lawyer who helped one of the Hong Kong fugitives in Shenzhen threatened with loss of licence"
* 2020-08-22 https://hk.appledaily.com/us/20200822/QS26FF4DBFE7PG2LJJEO4NSQTQ/ they are already trying to remove sensitive materials from history textbooks
** 2020-08-21 https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/chinese-news-53846482 "香港通識科課本大幅度修改涉政治取向內容引發爭議" appears to give more concrete details. An English infographic at: https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/ig9xca/some_censorship_examples_of_the_latest_changes/
* 2020-08-10 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-10/hong-kong-media-tycoon-jimmy-lai-arrested-apple-daily-reports[] "Hong Kong Media Tycoon Arrested in Latest Blow to Democracy Camp"
+
<<jimmy-lai>> is the founder of <<apple-daily>>, the flagship newspaper under Next Digital and the biggest pro-democracy paper in Hong Kong, reported that nearly 200 officers were entering their offices. 
+
Other notable arrests:
** <<agnes-chow>> https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/08/10/who-are-jimmy-lai-agnes-chow-two-hong-kong-democracy-advocates-arrested-monday/
+
The CCP is not even pretending anymore.
+
2020-08-12: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/hong-kong-media-tycoon-lai-released-bail-arrest-200811173810887.html[]: they were released on bail
* 2020-08-30 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/29/asia/hong-kong-security-law-election-intl-hnk/index.html "Four Hong Kong student activists arrested for 'secession' over social media posts": the arrests against online freedom of speech begin https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-53616583 gives the names, all are abroad it seems:
+
____
Police in Hong Kong are seeking the arrest of six pro-democracy activists living in exile in Western countries, including the UK, media reports say.

The group reportedly includes former UK consulate worker Simon Cheng, well-known activist Nathan Law and US citizen Samuel Chu.
____
* 2020-07-08 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-protests-china-security/china-converts-hong-kong-hotel-into-new-national-security-office-idUSKBN24903Z "China converts Hong Kong hotel into new national security office"
+
The name of the hotel is Metropark Hotel (維景酒店), address: 148 Tung Lo Wan Rd, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong: https://goo.gl/maps/1uR4RntpLMFaCYpq6
+
Using hotels as a base of operations is of coures common in occupied regions, see e.g.:
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Peninsula_Paris[The Peninsula Paris] (previously Hotel Majestique), which was used by the <<nazi,Gestapo>> and figures in the movie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_of_Shadows[Army of the Shadows (1969)]. An important quote from that movie when a prisoner of the Nazis dies, his friend says:
+
____
All debts will be paid. +
Toutes les dettes se paieront.
____
* 2020-06-29 https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2020/06/statement-us-secretary-commerce-wilbur-ross-revocation-hong-kong "Statement from U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross on Revocation of Hong Kong Special Status"
+
____
With the Chinese Communist Party's imposition of new security measures on Hong Kong, the risk that sensitive U.S. technology will be diverted to the People's Liberation Army or <<ministry-of-state-security,Ministry of State Security>> has increased, all while undermining the territory's autonomy. Those are risks the U.S. refuses to accept and have resulted in the revocation of Hong Kong's special status.
____
* 2020-06-03 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/03/britain-could-change-immigration-rules-for-hong-kong-citizens "Boris Johnson lays out visa offer to nearly 3m Hong Kong citizens"
* 2020-05-29 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52842303 "UK could offer 'path to citizenship' for Hong Kong's British passport holders"
* 2020-05-24 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/24/beijing-to-impose-hong-kong-security-laws-without-delay

Resources:

* https://hkchronicles.com/ Blocked on early 2021 in Hong Kong: https://hkchronicles.com/d/view/announcement-on-blockage

.Over 100 police officers raid the <<apple-daily>> Hong Kong newspaper soon after the <<hong-kong-national-security-law>> started. A https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-53723266[Chinese source]. https://hongkongfp.com/2020/08/10/scores-of-police-raid-office-of-hong-kong-pro-democracy-newspaper-apple-daily/[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Apple_Daily_raid.webp[height=600]

===== Hong kong national security department hotline

2020-11-06 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-54835955 "Hong Kong: Snitch hotline gets more than 1,000 calls"

An official source: https://www.police.gov.hk/ppp_en/03_police_message/nsdrh.html (https://web.archive.org/web/20201106164104/https://www.police.gov.hk/ppp_en/03_police_message/nsdrh.html[archive]).

The contacts:

* <<wechat>> id: NSD62717171
* SMS: 62717171
* Email: nsd-public@police.gov.hk

Related: <<cac-report-website>>

Discussion:

* https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/jp3s8a/hong_kong_snitch_hotline_to_report_people/ on <<reddit>>
* https://lihkg.com/thread/2272029/page/1 on <<lihkg>>

==== 2019 Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protests

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Hong_Kong_anti-extradition_bill_protests
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEvalUQuClE "Last Hong Kong governor Chris Patten: Gov't defense of extradition bill 'absolute nonsense'", Hong Kong Free Press
* <<blitzchung>>

Songs:

* Glory to Hong Kong
** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glory_to_Hong_Kong
** https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/願榮光歸香港

.https://youtube.com/watch?v=YhN6jipSHFI Hong Kong Yoga - Sammy J S2 (ep31) published by ABC Comedy on 2019-09-19. Very good.
video::YhN6jipSHFI[youtube,height=400,width=600]

[[do-not-split]]
===== Do Not Split (不割席, 2020)

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_Not_Split
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/不割席

===== LeBron James opposes Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protests (2019)

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LeBron_James
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/勒布朗·詹姆斯

NBA is huge in China.

On 2019-10-05 (Friday) 7:41PM Daryl Morey, NBA's Houston Rockets manager sent a tweet with an image that read:

____
Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.
____

Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20191005025317if_/https://twitter.com/dmorey/status/1180312072027947008

Then Daryl was a coward, removed this tweet, and apologized on 2019-10-07 (Monday) 1:18 AM  https://twitter.com/dmorey/status/1181000808399114240 (https://archive.is/6Sdpn[archive]), so by then it was already deleted.

____
I did not intend my tweet to cause any offense to Rockets fans and friends of mine in China
____

Then TODO date the uberstar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LeBron_James[LeBron James] (not a Houston Rockets player), a big supporter of black rights in the US, criticized this.

https://apnews.com/article/dd96d002394f45a6859c280c889afcb7[LeBron's words]:

____
I don't want to get into a word or sentence feud with Daryl Morey, but I believe he wasn't educated on the situation
____

Related video of LeBron saying similar things on interview (TODO same?): 2019-10-15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjM43blzaRc "LeBron addresses Daryl Morey's tweet and Lakers' trip to China | NBA on ESPN"

Led to: <<sport-event-live-broadcast-image-attacks>>.

* 2019-10-15 https://apnews.com/article/dd96d002394f45a6859c280c889afcb7 "LeBron: Rockets' Morey 'wasn't educated' on China tweet"
* 2019-10-07 (Monday) "Rockets' general manager's Hong Kong comments anger China"
* 2019-10-07 Lakers vs. Heat NBA <<tencent>> Live Stream cancelled due to fan wearing the <<taiwan,Taiwanese>> flag
+
.Fan wearing Taiwan flag in 2019-10-07 Lakers vs. Heat showing fan and text (TODO from <<tencent>>?) saying that the match will be cancelled. https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/dtrx4b/tencent_nba_live_broadcast_got_cancelled_because[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/NBA_Taiwan_flag.jpg[height=600]
** https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49956385
** https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/07/business/houston-rockets-nba-china-daryl-morey/index.html

Some good LeBron cartoons:

* https://twitter.com/Christi71386739/status/1312730174497058816/photo/1 <<rebel-pepper>> 2019-10-15 "You are the king"

."Kneeling" by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Zyglis[Adam Zyglis] (2019) compares the NFL's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Kaepernick[Colin Kaepernick] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/科林·卡佩尼克[科林·卡佩尼克]), who kneeled during the playing of the U.S. national anthem during the 2016 season to protest against social injustice, vs NBA's LeBron James, who instead supports China's <<dictatorship,dictatorship unconditionally>>. https://twitter.com/adamzyglis/status/1185634052008808448[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Kneeling_by_Adam_Zyglis_NFL_Colin_Kaepernick_vs_NBA_LeBron_James.jpg[height=500]

.In 2020-10-04 American billboard company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outfront_Media[Outfront Media] refused to post this ad by the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Legal_and_Policy_Center[NLPC conservative think tank] critical of LeBron James' stand on Hong Kong. The ad shows the NBA superstar with a Chinese flag covering his mouth and the message "Silence is Violence." and URL http://freedom4china.com/[]. <<to-obey-is-to-betray,To obey is to betray>> comes to mind. https://www.foxnews.com/sports/billboard-company-refuses-to-post-ad-critical-of-lebron-james-stand-on-china[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Silence_is_violence.jpg[height=400]

[[falun-gong]]
== Falun Gong (法轮功, Qigong new religion/cult)

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong
* https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/法轮功
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Falun_Gong
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/610_Office

<<flg-religion,Religion>> created in the '80s by a Chinese dude called <<li-hongzhi>>.

With the support of the Communist Party to Qigong movements, it reached 70 million believers in 1999, at which point the commies decided they had to be shut down and banned the religion.

Li fled to the USA and lives near New York, where he continues to run the religion as of 2020.

Bibliography:

* <<the-falungong-phenomenon-by-hu-ping-2003>>

.<<falun-gong>> believer arrested by police in Beijing <<tiananmen,Tiananmen Square>> in 2000-01-10. https://www.theepochtimes.com/spiritual-practice-continues-to-be-persecuted-in-china-amid-the-ccp-virus-pandemic_3296045.html[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Falun_Gong_lady_silenced.jpg[height=600]

[[falun-gong-police-step-over-head]]
.Police steps over <<falun-gong>> believer's face in 2000 at Tiananmen. This images was http://content.time.com/time/covers/asia/0,16641,20010702,00.html[on the cover of the July 2, 2001 cover of Time Magazine "Crushing Falun Gong"]. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/27/anastasia-lin-miss-world-canada-falun-gong-practitioner-china-persecution[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Police_steps_over_Falun_Gong_believer_s_face_in_2000_at_Tiananmen.jpg[height=600]

[[zone-theory]]
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClvX7ED8UUI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_%26_Eric[Tim and Eric]'s Zone Theory. If you want to stop <<falun-gong>>, don't put them in jail like the <<dictatorship,dictators>>. Do it the same way you stop dictators: with <<funny,comedy>>. Otherwise, the dictators remain in power, and <<intolerance,next person in jail, will be you>>.
video::ClvX7ED8UUI[youtube,width=600,height=400]

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYJ1dbyDcrI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_%26_Eric[Tim and Eric]'s The Universe. Basically the same as <<zone-theory>> but from the believer's perspective. Source a popular mind blown meme: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/mind-blown
video::FYJ1dbyDcrI[youtube,width=600,height=400]

[[aarvoll-shenyun]]
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=IAQ14AnAsmU YouTubber under pseudonym "Aarvoll" (TODO full real name, face shown in channel all the time) tells about his experience playing trumpet for Shen Yun in 2013 as a non-believer and Falun Gong in general. Reading the sacred books and doing Falun Gong exercises were mandatory. He also talks about <<flg-organized>>. Ciro agrees/finds what he says convincing. In one interesting anecdote, he tells how although Li Hongzhi claims to be a God, he looked like an average slightly overweight dude, and had a trumpet since he used to play it, but couldn't really play it because he hadn't practiced in so long. He also comments on the obvious fact that Li does not speak English very well, e.g. on the Shen Yun tour bus he was there one day answering questions, and a translator was needed.
video::IAQ14AnAsmU[youtube,height=400,width=600]

[[christine-marie]]
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwoO7Nekmpw&t=445 Christine Marie, founder of http://voicesfordignity.com/[Voices for Dignity] which takes care of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamentalist_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-Day_Saints[FLDS] leaves, was interviewed in VICE documentary "Polygamist Mafia: Escaping The Kingston Clan". While Ciro does not believe Falun Gong is as extreme as FLDS, he does really like the things Christine says. E.g., she calls "cult leaders" with the neutral <<flg-religion,religious>> form "<<li-hongzhi,prophet>>", just like Ciro, and mentions the important fact that "And the another thing that the public doesn't realise, is that there are also beautiful thing within those communities". This is the mindset of <<intolerance,tolerance>> that the world needs.
video::GwoO7Nekmpw[youtube,height=400,width=600,start=445]

Less good ones:

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eiut_qUNBI In Search of Miracle Man by Adult Swim

[[flg-important]]
=== Why is it important to talk about Falun Gong?

The main reason <<ciro-santilli>> emphasizes FLG is that it shows how the CCP can mercilessly crush a 70M strong group (according to CCPs own statistics) out of a population of 1.3B in 2000, i.e. 5% of the population, and of course not because of <<flg-bias>>, since Ciro is completely and totally unbiased.

If that number is correct, Ciro wonders curious what you would consider an important movement? :-)

Anything much larger would take down the government and change China's history forever.

OK, maybe the fact that 69M of those were likely old ladies didn't help much either. Tip to next <<li-hongzhi,prophet>>: make something that appeals to aspiring military officers.

Let's try to gather some well sourced footage showing huge numbers of believers on the streets:

* https://www.aparchive.com/search?query=falun%20gong&from=1&orderBy=OldestFirst#7e34a6 AP Archive: could not find a good one there
* rehashes of Falun Gong propaganda videos with good footage:
** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7cz4Tkbwy8 contains old good footage
** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDRUp50XkSs Chinese with English subs, above is rehashed from this one most likely

.Thousands of <<falun-gong>> practitioners in Guangzhou, China, 1998. https://www.theepochtimes.com/finding-the-balance-between-ancient-and-modern_2248694.html[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Falun_Gong_Guangzhou.jpg[height=600]

.Thousands of <<falun-gong>> practitioners in Liaoning Industrial Exhibition, China, likely 1998. https://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2016/5/21/157091.html[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Falun_Gong_Liaoning.jpg[height=600]

.Hundreds of <<falun-gong>> believers in Chengdu, China, 1998. https://faluninfo.net/falun-gong-the-practice/[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Falun_Gong_Chengdu.jpg[height=500]

[[does-ciro-santilli-believe-in-or-practice-falun-gong]]
=== Does Ciro Santilli believe in or practice Falun Gong? 三西猴相信法轮功吗？

No, Ciro is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnosticism[agnostic] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/不可知论[不可知论]) and therefore believes that all the metaphysics that <<li-hongzhi>> says is bullshit.

Here are some things that he doesn't like about Falun Gong for example: <<things-ciro-santilli-dislikes-about-falun-gong>>.

Ciro believes Falun Gong can be split into two parts, like any other <<flg-religion,religion>>:

* the "self-help" "how to live well" part, including the physical exercises and meditation, which cannot be proven or disproved, like any other self-help and <<democracy-is-a-religion,political opinion>>
* the metaphysics, most notably, Li Hongzhi is a living God, and all other non verifiable things he claims like aliens, alternate dimensions, etc., see:
** <<flg-religion>>
** <<flg-verifiable>>

Ciro thinks that FLG's self-help part could potentially be good for you, just like many other meditative practices such as Yoga, Buddhist meditation, Tai chi, deep Catholic prayer, etc. As far as he has heard, all of it sounded good standard religious self-help: be peaceful, be good to others, etc. Like any other well managed religion, FLG does have good things to offer, see also: <<christine-marie>>.

However Ciro believes that the metaphysics is all complete and utter bullshit, child stories made up by Li Hongzhi, and just as real as Father Christmas or the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster[Flying Spaghetti Monster].

Also the "obligation to reach Salvation" is boring like for many other prophetic <<flg-religion,religion>>.

From a purely strategic point of view, the metaphysics is a trade-off:

* some people will believe you are a freaking living God
* others will laugh at you and say you are a charlatan

It may be argued however that Li played this card beautifully: since all Chinese power is concentrated in the CCP, any non-CCP movement dies out, so he was better off long run playing the metaphysics game. The only other choice would have been joining the CCP.

To Ciro it is obvious that Falun Gong is just one of the many very similar movements that came out of the Qi Gong Boom, such as: <<zhong-gong>>. It just happens to be the one that survived due to better luck and strategy.

The absolute truth is already known by the <<li-hongzhi,prophet>>, although he does not want to give clear evidence for reasons: <<flg-verifiable>>, and Ciro finds that utterly boring. There's no fun in living in a world where the absolute truth has been found.

For these reasons, Ciro cannot bother to read even into the self-help part: how can you read that when there is so much bullshit every other page?

Ciro would really like to know if <<li-hongzhi>> really believes in FLG himself, or is just a complete manipulating charlatan, but unfortunately we will never know that. Just imagine if before he died he published a video saying: "it was a joke, gotcha!". Now that would be **epic**!

Since Ciro is good-natured, it's hard for him to believe that he doesn't believe in anything, how can anyone be that evil? Maybe he believes in part of it, but made up some stuff to sell it better, maybe with good intentions that selling the fake part would also lead more people to see the good part?

Like any other prophetic religion, FLG gives tiny evidence that you can directly feel through meditation. The energies, which Ciro believe are real feelings. And then using that entry point asks you to believe a whole lot more, that you can't feel: <<flg-verifiable>>.

This becomes especially strong when a critical mass of believers is reached, and then they start interpreting all sorts of events as miracles, and you start to believe other believers without questioning them, and a circle is formed.

This post by a former believer gives what Ciro feels is a realistic account that matches Ciro's observations: <<me-and-li-by-ben-hurley-2017>>.

And yet, all those who love freedom, must oppose FLG ban, or be themselves enslaved by tyrants themselves: <<democracy-is-a-religion>>.

In any case, at least FLG got one thing right: the commies are <<ccp-evil,evil>>, and we have to get rid of them.

See also: <<flg-fake>>.

[[how-much-does-ciro-santilli-know-about-falun-gong]]
==== How much does Ciro Santilli know about Falun Gong? (三西猴对法轮功有多熟悉？)

He hasn't read their <<flg-canon,canon>> himself, no patience, but he has had <<flg-bias,constant contact with believers>> and so has an idea of its content.

Ciro has summarized his thoughts about <<falun-gong>> at: <<does-ciro-santilli-believe-in-or-practice-falun-gong>> and <<flg-religion>>

[[flg-religion]]
=== Is Falun Gong a religion? 法轮功是一个宗教吗？

If asked if they follow a religion, most FLG believers will say "no", and <<li-hongzhi>> explicitly says that in <<flg-canon>>, e.g. https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/jjyz52.htm[]:

____
Falun Dafa is not a religion, but future generations will regard it as one.
____

E.g. they call themselves "practitioners" or "students" (学员) or "disciples of the Great Law" (大法弟子, or mare accurately, of <<li-hongzhi>>'s Law) instead of "believers", and their peers "practitioner colleagues" (https://baike.baidu.com/item/同修[同修]). Non believers call them derogatorily "轮子"("little wheels"), or in friendly terms "轮友" (wheel friend).

And if you say you don't believe in their FLG metaphysics bullshit, they will often reply "he does not understand".

To them, it is not about belief, the truth is clear, and you just don't see it yet.

To this you should reply: "and you don't understand that <<li-hongzhi,Li Hongzhi>> is a master manipulator dude who deceived you and millions of others".

But <<ciro-santilli>> strongly believes that this is just a language barrier/FLG propaganda question (see also "Different levels of truth" from <<orange-papers>>), and that 99.9999% of people in the West would classify FLG as a religion just like <<christianity>> if they are told about FLG's beliefs:

* absolute truth comes from an enlightened <<li-hongzhi,prophet>>, who is perfect and has superhuman abilities
* weekly in-person meetings (学法 "study the Fa", or more verbosely "study the law (of the universe (of <<li-hongzhi>>))"）or daily online meetings where they read from a <<flg-canon,sacred book>>, either written by the prophet, or transcribed from his presentations to disciples, including the disciples questions, much like traditional Chinese texts like <<analects>>, just like Christians read from the Bible over and over again.
+
In both cases, some believers claim that sometimes even reading the same text again gives them new insight.
* prescribed daily meditation exercise hours, somewhat like Muslim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salah[Salah] prayers which they call https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fazhengnian[发正念 (fa1 zheng4 nian4)], which means "send righteous thoughts". They seem to believe that this meditation helps external good magic things happen, so it is half meditation half prayer.
* longer "less mandatory" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qigong[Qigong-like] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/气功[气功]) exercises (lian4 gong1, 练功) followed by a meditation (打坐) and which they collectively call https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/修道_(道教)[修炼] "practice austerities". note that this term is borrowed from Taoism but possibly with different precise meaning. There are exactly 5 exercises (meditation being the fifth) some with a fun supernatural name, on <<flg-canon>> https://www.falundafa.org/book/eng/flg_2006_4.htm[] "The Falun Gong Practice System":
** Buddha Stretching a Thousand Arms
** Falun Standing Stance
** Penetrating the Cosmic Extremes
** Falun Cosmic Orbit
* higher intelligent beings
* some believers who practice really well can also get some "supernatural powers" (功能), but not everyone develops them (luckily only so many people are that manipulable!), and you are <<flg-verifiable,not allowed to show your poweres to "ordinary people">> of course, from <<flg-canon>> https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/zfl_34.htm[]:
+
[[flg-supernatural-powers]]
____
What will one develop in the course of his cultivation? He will develop supernatural powers which are called supernormal capabilities for short.

Do you want to use them among ordinary people? You are absolutely not allowed to use them among ordinary people at will.
____
+
See also "You don't get the promised goodies" from <<orange-papers>>
** other dimensions, which some select people with vision superpowers can see, this being one of the supernatural powers that may be developed, the "Celestial Eye" https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/zfl_21.htm[]:
+
[[flg-cross-dimensional-vision]]
____
A cultivator of a particular attainment level can only see the scenes on that level. He cannot see or believe the truth beyond that level. Therefore, he only believes what he has seen on his own level. When he has not gone up to such a high level of cultivation, he would think those things do not exist and are incredible.
____
+
and the "Supernormal Capability of Remote Sight" is a closely related ability: https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/zfl_22.htm:
+
____
A supernormal capability directly connected with the Celestial Eye is called the Remote Sight. Someone says that he can see scenes in Beijing, in America or scenes on the other side of the earth while sitting here.
____
+
And finally there is also the past-future vision ability "Supernormal Capability of Total Recall" https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/zfl_23.htm[]:
+
____
 There is another supernormal capability which has a direct relation with the Celestial Eye. It is called Total Recall. Now there are six supernormal capabilities which are generally recognized in the world. They include the Celestial Eye, Remote Sight, and Total Recall. What is Total Recall? It is a supernormal capability with which one can know a person's future and past; if the ability is great, one can know the rise and decline of a society; if the ability is even greater, one can see the Law of the change of the whole celestial body.
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* aliens that look like humans are amongst us, they gave us part of our modern technology, some are evil, others not so evil. E.g. https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/lectures/19980530L.html[]:
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Science, however, is not something gods imparted to humans. Instead, it was passed down to humans by alien beings inside the Three Realms, and for the purpose of controlling humankind. People's belief in it has surpassed everything. But I tell you that precisely because of its shallowness, this science has caused the degeneration of morality in human society.
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Despite this however, Falun Gong benefits from information technology enormously. For example, many (most?) believers use the Internet daily to study the Fa, and to organize their <<falun-gong-media,media outlets>>.
* meetings in which people tell their religious testimonies ("experience sharing" TODO Chinese name, possibly just "分享修炼的美好", e.g. https://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2015/9/29/分享修炼的美好-印尼召开修炼心得交流会（图）-316838.html[source]): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testimony#Religion
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As Jesus put it in https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2018%3A20&version=NIV[Matthew 18:20]:
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For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them
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which highlights the critical believer mass effect of reinforced beliefs.
* an impending link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Judgment[final judgment]-like event, which will happen "very soon" (<<flg-verifiable,unspecified date>>), and in which the just will be rewarded
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Ciro predict that when <<li-hongzhi>> dies, the claim will be that he went to another dimension so save us all, therefore putting this final judgment on hold, a bit like Jesus.
* non-believers are fundamentally different from believers. Although non-followers who do good things are actually doing FLG without knowing it.
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FLG has a specific terminology for non-believers, which is translated in English as https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/zfl_new_4.html["ordinary people"] (常人), as opposed to Falun Gong Believers, which Li calls Falun Gong disciples (大法弟子).
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Non-FLG people should therefore logically call Falun Gong believers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abnormal_psychology[abnormal people] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/異常心理學[异常人]) in return, much like Ciro likes to call the Chinese who call him 老外 as "老内".
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Like other aspects of FLG however, this appears in other religions, e.g. my mother mentioned the funny term used by her Protestant's group term but Ciro forgot it, and you can see it in Harry Potter as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muggle[The Muggles].
* xref:flg-organized[You can support FLG by doing X and Y, it is not mandatory, but why wouldn't you since you are saving other people?]. Explaining that Falun Gong is good contrary to CCP propaganda also known as "Fa-rectification" in the English translation jargon.
* alternate dimensions
* pre-civilization: civilization is actually much older than what we believe, and was super advanced, but https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Societal_collapse[societal collapse] events led us to forget about it, a bit like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis[atlantis].
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Notably, this also implies that the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution[theory of evolution] is wrong, since there existed modern humans hundred of millions of years ago (the current scientific estimates for anatomically modern humans is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_modern_human[500,000 years]): https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/zfl_14.htm
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Archaeologists have found in the world a kind of organism called "three-leaves insect", which came into being between 600 million and 260 million years ago, and became extinct thereafter. An American scientist found a fossil of "three-leaves insect", on which there was also a human footprint, left by a shoe he was wearing, and clearly printed on the fossil. Aren't they joking with the historians? How could there possibly have been human beings 260 million years ago according to Darwin's theory of evolution?
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* xref:flg-medication[Maybe FLG will make you healthier, but no promises, but it will make you a better person, and that's why you should do it, but if you really really believe, you get healthier]. But people who seemed to be believers also die, because deep within their hearts, there was a belief problem.
* <<falun-gong-believes-that-the-ccp-is-literally-a-manifestation-of-real-devils>>

From this, it is obvious that Falun Gong is just a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Age[New Age] (link:https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/新纪元运动[新纪元运动]) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syncretism[syncretic] (https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/綜攝[综摄]) religion combining https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qigong[Qigong], https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism[Buddhism], some aspects of <<christianity>>, and whatever other crazy things <<li-hongzhi>> believes in.

Or you could call Falun Gong a <<flg-cult,cult>>, which is nothing but a new/small religion with negative connotation, and thus meaningless.

FLG is very similar to Scientology in Ciro's view: a new religion that mixes elements of both old and new. And just like any other religion, <<democracy-is-a-religion,their practice must be allowed>>.

But consider this: how to classify what a religion is?

Some would answer: science is what every one can perceive with their own senses.

But FLG followers claim to feel FLG energies when doing the exercises, and a few of them have the power of seeing the other dimensions.

On the other hand, how many of your friends have experienced the laws of quantum field theory or general relativity in a very direct way?

And aren't pro-democracy believers also taking actions based solely on a shared belief, possibly organized by a pro-democracy leader?

From a purely strategic point of view, the "religion" denomination would be:

* good to FLG because the concept of freedom of religion carries considerable weight in the West
* bad for FLG because people who already have a religion would be less likely to try it out and start believing
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Falun Gong's recruitment strategy is to focus on the exercises first, and in particular its <<flg-medication,health benefits>> and then as some people start to feel things, they start introducing the metaphysics.

See also: "Different levels of truth" from <<orange-papers>>.

See also: <<flg-daily>>.

==== Falun Gong believes that the CCP is literally a manifestation of real devils

Unlike <<ciro-santilli>> which does <<is-chinese-politician-x-evil,not think most CCP politicians are actually evil>>, Falun Gong seems to believe that they literally as in they are representatives of, or evil supernatural beings themselves.

E.g. <<jiang-zemin>> is actually an evil frog in some alternate dimension, literally, not just memecally.

And those devils they are literally responsible for example for creating <<covid,Covid-19>>, which is itself a magic force which tests the evil and good: <<falun-gongs-view-of-epidemics>>.

And <<flg-trump,Trump>> likely represents a magical anti-devil force of the universe.

Some of the most direct <<flg-canon,canon>> suggestions we could find: https://en.falundafa.org/eng/HongYin5.htm[]:

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The Red Devil uses lies and money to meddle with man
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https://en.falundafa.org/eng/articles/20060209A.html[]:

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All along, lowlife secret agents of the wicked CCP have been constantly gathering so-called "Falun Gong intelligence."
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Falun Gong gives the CCP too much credit. The CCP are just a bunch of lazy and greedy people like you and me.

==== Falun Gong preaching

link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-air_preaching[Street preaching] is an important aspect of Falun Gong, using stands and leaflets on the streets much like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah's_Witnesses[Jehovah's Witnesses].

Jargon:

* http://www.minghui.org/mh/glossary.html[讲真相]: "truth-telling"
* hongfa (TODO characters?)

The Falun Gong organization also specifies guidelines on how to preach, although these might not be <<flg-canon,canon>>, even though if they are not, it is extremely likely that <<li-hongzhi,LHZ>> is directly involved in their specification

Falun Gong has also used <<flg-telemarketing,phone call preaching>>.

All of this is part of their effort to "save people (救人)", i.e. convert them to Falun Gong.

<<li-hongzhi>> personally heavily emphasises the importance of preaching in <<flg-canon>>.

.Falun Gong believers preaching on the street in London in 2016. This image taken from a believer website shows a typical local regular gathering of believers on weekends, or even week days if there are enough retired believers in the group. They will put on their exercise music, and do exercises to attract more followers. Someone will also stand on their stall giving out propaganda flyers, or asking people to sign petitions for Western governments to support Falun Gong, e.g. opposing their alleged <<flg-organ-harvesting,organ harvesting>>. In the case of touristic areas with Chinese people walking around, they will also ask the Chinese tourists to <<tuidang,quit the their CCP membership, possibly using a fake name>>. <<ciro-santilli>> has to say: it is very amusing to see those Chinese people trying to pretend to ignore the censored religion, when some of them are clearly curious about it, especially the younger ones who didn't see it live. Some just get mad, and say how the CCP is so great to them. https://truthinchina.wordpress.com/2012/06/16/london-uk-practitioners-explain-the-facts-about-falun-gong-in-st-martins-place-photos/[Source].
image::{china-dictatorship-media-base}/Falun_Gong_street_preaching_2016_London.jpg[height=400]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=315&v=nD6792YoOmY from <<nigel-ng,Mikey Chen>> shows a parade/preaching event in San Francisco.

[[flg-telemarketing]]
===== Some Falun Gong people make phone telemarketing

Ciro Santilli has seen Falun Gong people making phone calls to people in China with to explain why FLG is with his own eyes, and therefore is sure it has happened on some scale.

Particularly during <<covid>>, Falun Gong ramped up the telemarketing calls and some voluntary believers were making calls all day nonstop.

Ciro does not know how the called numbers were obtained and if callees voluntarily signed up for it, but that feels extremely unlikely.

Interestingly however, many of the callees seemed interesting in what they had to say, and they often had long chats, Ciro was surprised by that. Maybe they were just bored senseless due to the Corona lockdown. Or maybe <<most-chinese-people-like-their-dictatorship,many Chinese People actually don't like their Government>> and the CCP is fucked.

Also, of course, the callers received call scripts and guidelines to makes those calls, because obviously <<flg-organized>>.

Ciro strongly disapproves of this, Just like for any product, visual ads on the street are impossible to prevent, but any kind of advertising that generates notifications on feeds, or takes people's time, is unacceptable.

As you can easily find on <<google>>/<<baidu>>, such calls may be reported in the <<cac-report-website>>.

Ciro has not however seen them talking about making automated phone calls.

https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1940394/how-rampant-phone-scams-highlight-chinas-need-tighter also mentions that Falun Gong makes telemarketing in passing without any reference.

[[flg-cult]]
==== Is Falun Gong a cult? 法轮功是邪教吗？

Does <<ciro-santilli>> think Falun Gong a cult? Yes.

Is the CCP a cult? Yes: <<ccp-cult>>.

Is <<christianity>> a cult? Yes.

Is democracy a cult? Yes: <<democracy-is-a-religion>>.