README.adoc

==== What are the best sources of anti-commie news?

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

Catches all the important news

A large part of the posts is 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/

Tecent 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>>.

==== Where can I find good words for a keyword attack?

* https://chinadigitaltimes.net This is the best source I've seen so far. Extremely comprehensive and up-to-date.
** https://chinadigitaltimes.net/china/word-of-the-week/?view=all word of the week
** https://chinadigitaltimes.net/china/directives-from-the-ministry-of-truth/?view=all censorship directive reports
*** https://chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/category/%E6%9C%89%E5%85%B3%E9%83%A8%E9%97%A8/%E7%9C%9F%E7%90%86%E9%83%A8%E6%8C%87%E4%BB%A4/?view=all chinese version
** https://chinadigitaltimes.net/space/Main_Page a wiki version of the censored word lists, the "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
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_blacklisted_keywords_in_China | https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%AD%E8%8F%AF%E4%BA%BA%E6%B0%91%E5%85%B1%E5%92%8C%E5%9C%8B%E5%AF%A9%E6%9F%A5%E8%BE%AD%E5%BD%99%E5%88%97%E8%A1%A8
* 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]
* https://qz.com/698990/261-ways-to-refer-to-the-tiananmen-square-massacre-in-china/ 261 ways to refer to the Tiananmen Square Massacre in China

[[keyword-choice]]
==== How do you choose keyword for the keyword attack?

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.

These are some of my prioritization guidelines:

* recent cases receive a large prime over 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 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 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.

==== Are there other openly dissident users on Stack Overflow?

Query to find them: https://data.stackexchange.com/stackoverflow/query/312860/chinese-dissidents-by-keyword-aboutme-or-displayname

Notable ones only here (high rep or innovative criticism):

* "GNUSupporter 8964民主女神 地下教會"
** Real name: Vincent Tam from social media links.
** https://math.stackexchange.com/users/290189/gnusupporter-8964%E6%B0%91%E4%B8%BB%E5%A5%B3%E7%A5%9E-%E5%9C%B0%E4%B8%8B%E6%95%99%E6%9C%83
** https://web.archive.org/web/20180924203410/https://math.stackexchange.com/users/290189/gnusupporter-8964%E6%B0%91%E4%B8%BB%E5%A5%B3%E7%A5%9E-%E5%9C%B0%E4%B8%8B%E6%95%99%E6%9C%83
** Keyword attack inspired by me
* Yu Hao
** http://stackoverflow.com/users/1009479/yu-hao
** http://archive.is/76FCb
** "GFW (Great Firewall of China) is one of the most notorious inventions in the history of Internet. Anyone working for it should be ashamed."
* iBug
** https://stackoverflow.com/users/5958455/ibug
** iBug http://web.archive.org/web/20190507140910/https://stackoverflow.com/users/5958455/ibug
** "The Communist Party of China is a state criminal that is continuously committing state crime to ordinary Chinese citizens!" followed by an event list.
* gotqn
** "Free Tibet From China Domination"
** https://stackoverflow.com/users/1080354/gotqn
** https://web.archive.org/web/20190821105901/https://stackoverflow.com/users/1080354/gotqn
* Scott 混合理论
+
https://stackoverflow.com/users/1230329/scott-%E6%B7%B7%E5%90%88%E7%90%86%E8%AE%BA
+
Same message as Yu Hao, I wonder if it is an external thing or direct copy of Yu, but no Google hits besides them.
* Terry Wang
** http://stackoverflow.com/users/1801697/terry-wang
** http://archive.is/V0aSK
** Lego recreation of Tankman on profile picture.

Users who had GFW references but removed it:

* http://stackoverflow.com/users/4594532/gnimuc-key
** http://web.archive.org/web/20170331144256/https://stackoverflow.com/users/4594532/gnimuc
* http://stackoverflow.com/users/651907/jclin
** http://web.archive.org/web/20160516065151/https://stackoverflow.com/users/651907/jclin

Misc interesting stuff:

* <location>火车站酒店小姐 (about 20 accounts with that pattern)
** https://stackoverflow.com/users/7040504/%E8%8E%86%E7%94%B0%E7%81%AB%E8%BD%A6%E7%AB%99%E9%85%92%E5%BA%97%E5%B0%8F%E5%A7%90
** http://web.archive.org/web/20190428090348/https://stackoverflow.com/users/7040504/%E8%8E%86%E7%94%B0%E7%81%AB%E8%BD%A6%E7%AB%99%E9%85%92%E5%BA%97%E5%B0%8F%E5%A7%90
** Interesting list of prostitution spam / sockpuppets? All have the exact same profile information.
** Hitting query due to "审查", but the usage is unrelated to the Firewall.

Anti-dissident users:

* https://stackoverflow.com/users/815408
** https://web.archive.org/web/20170602054631/https://stackoverflow.com/users/815408/%E8%AF%B7%E5%B0%81%E6%8E%89ciro-santilli-%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E5%85%B1%E4%BA%A7%E5%85%9A%E4%B8%87%E5%B2%81
** username: "请封掉Ciro Santilli 中国共产党万岁"
** profile: "中国万岁！ 中国共产党万岁！ 法轮功，民运，台独在中国共产党的铁蹄下不过是螳臂当车！"
* https://stackoverflow.com/users/9393161
** http://web.archive.org/save/https://stackoverflow.com/users/9393161/ciro-santilli-%E7%9A%84%E9%80%A0%E8%B0%A3%E6%98%AF%E5%8F%AF%E8%80%BB%E8%A1%8C%E4%B8%BA
** username: "Ciro Santilli 的造谣是可耻行为" http://web.archive.org/save/https://stackoverflow.com/users/9393161/ciro-santilli-%E7%9A%84%E9%80%A0%E8%B0%A3%E6%98%AF%E5%8F%AF%E8%80%BB%E8%A1%8C%E4%B8%BA
* https://stackoverflow.com/users/8454187
** username: "Snowden Assange Wounded Knee"
** profile: "燃(ri)烧(si)您(ni)的(de)梦(ma)，Ciro Santilli. StackOverflow上的一个用户. The Oliver Stone Experience"
** explanation:
*** "燃烧您的梦": http://www.nq6.com/dj/1674.html
*** "Wounded Knee": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wounded_Knee_Massacre

Query to find them: http://data.stackexchange.com/stackoverflow/query/312863/mentioned-ciro-santilli-on-aboutme-or-displayname

==== Other notable keyword attacks

===== Notepad++

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notepad%2B%2B

It might be a newbie text editors for newbie Windows users, but at least they use it to good use by doing keyword attacks:

* 2019-10: "In October 2019 Notepad++'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/
** https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/dp3icm/notepad_after_voicing_their_support_for_the/ "Notepad++, 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++'s SourceForge.net homepage": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concerns_and_controversies_over_the_2008_Summer_Olympics#Boycotts

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]).

[[separatism]]
=== What do you think about separatism?

If a large number of people in a given region want to leave an country strongly or have greater autonomy, I believe that they should be allowed to do so.

Rationale:

* 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.
+
All of which are against my principles.

What makes me the most mad 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?

See also: <<western-democracies-have-invaded-other-countries-and-crushed-separatism>>.

[[taiwan]]
==== Taiwan 台湾

I don't consider Taiwan separatism.

Taiwan is a country split due to civil war, long ago.

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.

The West must not let China advance and take more territories. The more they take, the more they will want.

The West must protect China's neighbouring countries with military support and assurance.

The West must recognize Taiwan for what it is: a separate country, under threat of invasion, and in need of support.

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 it's claim to any other country.

If Taiwan is a part of China, why doesn't China put the Chinese flag on all major Taiwanese government buildings?

Oh, I forgot, it is because they have absolutely no control over Taiwan. Just like the have absolutely no control over any other country.

China, if you want to claim that Taiwan is a part of you, just invade them already. Or just stop this joke.

Someone once told me:

____
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 like they did in the Middle East
____

Reply:

____
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?
____

Interesting quote from https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/07/taiwans-status-geopolitical-absurdity/593371/

____
Taiwan’s Status Is a Geopolitical Absurdity
____

Some interesting links:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-China_policy every country has private relations with Taiwan through some trade organizations, they just don't call them embassies
* http://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.
* https://youtu.be/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

[[xinjiang]]
==== Xinjiang 新疆

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinjiang_re-education_camps

In 2017 - 2018, details of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyghurs[Uyghur] internment camps are emerging.

.<<rebel-pepper,Rebel Pepper>> 2017.4 新疆中国cartoon. TODO source.
image::https://web.archive.org/web/20191013085312if_/https://i.stack.imgur.com/mQFKa.png[height=400]

* 2019-09-22 Drone footage of Xinjiang prisoner transfer uploaded to YouTube. TODO confirm location and that these are political prisoners rather than "normal criminals".
** Upload sources
*** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGYoeJ5U7cQ
*** https://twitter.com/warcombatfear/status/1174031079432310785
** News coverage
*** https://news.sky.com/story/chinas-detention-of-uighurs-video-of-blindfolded-and-shackled-prisoners-authentic-11815401 Drone footage, video sources:
** Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/d78aog/chilling_video_of_chinese_police_transferring/
+
.Video still of 2019-10 drone footage of blindfolded Xinjiang prisoners being marched taken at time 00:30. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGYoeJ5U7cQ[Source].
image::https://ia601505.us.archive.org/27/items/cirosantilli/Video_still_of_2019-10_drone_footage_of_blindfolded_Xinjiang_prisoners_being_marched_taken_at_time_00%3A30.png[height=400]
* 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"
+
.https://www.rfa.org/english/cartoons/XiJinping-uyghur-camp-cartoon-07162019155441.html[Source].
image::https://web.archive.org/web/20191012074352im_/https://www.rfa.org/english/cartoons/XiJinping-uyghur-camp-cartoon-07162019155441.html/190716RFA-en-1000.jpg/@@images/c8c9143a-3a01-4116-9322-6aeb4857100f.jpeg[height=400]
* 2019-07-04 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-48825090 "China Muslims: Xinjiang schools used to separate children from families"
* 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
* 2019-02-24 http://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
* 2018-11 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-45812419 Xinjiang legalises '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
* 2018-05 generic report https://jamestown.org/program/evidence-for-chinas-political-re-education-campaign-in-xinjiang/
* 2018-05 mapping interment camps with satelite imaging:
** https://www.albawaba.com/news/mapping-china%E2%80%99s-internment-camps-its-ethnic-minorities-1136100
** https://medium.com/@shawnwzhang/list-of-re-education-camps-in-xinjiang-%E6%96%B0%E7%96%86%E5%86%8D%E6%95%99%E8%82%B2%E9%9B%86%E4%B8%AD%E8%90%A5%E5%88%97%E8%A1%A8-99720372419c 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
** http://uk.businessinsider.com/what-is-life-like-in-xinjiang-reeducation-camps-china-2018-5
* 2017-04 https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/camp-photo-04262019171258.html
+
.Image of prisionners wearing blue sitting down in Xinjiang concentration camp, with some prisionners identified to indicate that they are not criminals but rather detained purely for political reasons. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/camp-photo-04262019171258.html[Source].
image::https://web.archive.org/web/20191107091847/https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/camp-photo-04262019171258.html/uyghur-photo.jpg/@@images/58e9361a-f0e3-4886-a80a-6c9668ee678f.jpeg[height=400]

[[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>>.

==== 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 defence of extradition bill 'absolute nonsense'", Hong Kong Free Press
** 2019-10 https://twitter.com/Slasher/status/1181442535962632193 Blizzard bans top Hearthstone esports player blitzchung for pro Hong Kong message in interview

===== Daryl Morey Tweet

2019-10 Daryl Morey, NBA's Houston Rockets manager sent tweet supporting the Hong Kong protests.

But then he was a coward, removed this tweet, and apologized: https://twitter.com/dmorey/status/1181000808399114240 (http://archive.is/6Sdpn[archive]).

NBA is huge in China.

* 2019-10-07 Lakers vs. Heat NBA Tencent LIve Stream cancelled due to fan wearing Taiwan 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::https://web.archive.org/web/20191109172810/https://i.redd.it/y8y7esngllx31.jpg[]
** https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49956385
** https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/07/business/houston-rockets-nba-china-daryl-morey/index.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20191109172810/https://i.redd.it/y8y7esngllx31.jpg

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

=== What should all pro-democracy people do about China?

==== Photobombing-like attacks

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

See also: <<keyword-attack>>.

===== Appropriation attack

An appropriation attack is one where the attackers attempt to associate an existing symbol to their cause.

For example, during the <<2019-hong-kong-anti-extradition-bill-protests>> attackers attempted to use this technique to associate a generic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chun-Li[Chinese Chun-Li-like] character Mei from Blizzard's link:++https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overwatch_(video_game)++[Overwatch game] to try and get it blocked in China after the gaming company punished a pro gamer for defending the Hong Kong protests. Coverage https://www.businessinsider.com/blizzard-fans-overwatch-mei-hong-kong-protests-memes-2019-10 (http://web.archive.org/web/20191012094950/https://www.businessinsider.com/blizzard-fans-overwatch-mei-hong-kong-protests-memes-2019-10[archive]).

.https://twitter.com/marnofavonlea/status/1182557311539150849[Source].
image::https://web.archive.org/web/20191013075823if_/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EGlJmSEUYAE7F7G?format=jpg&name=900x900[height=400]

===== Sport event live broadcast image attacks

NBA in particular is super popular in China, and people sitting at the front row can easily bomb emissions due to the small court size:

* China’s Tencent halts NBA live broadcast over Taiwanese flag
* https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3813842

Started in particular due to the <<daryl-morey-tweet>>

=== What should Western countries do about China?

Western governments must reciprocate unfair Chinese practices.

Companies only care about money and have no long term view, the following must be imposed by governments on companies.

The most obvious thing is to go https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tit_for_tat[tit for tat] on Censorship and completely ban all Chinese-sponsored news and culture media, e.g.:

* https://twitter.com/globaltimesnews | http://archive.is/7oshu
* https://www.youtube.com/user/ChinaViewTV/featured
* https://www.facebook.com/globaltimesnews/

Their websites should also be blocked e.g.: http://www.globaltimes.cn/

And the same must be done for cultural centers that report diretly to the CCP such as <<confucious-institute>> and <<cssa,CSSAs>>.

Western governments must identify raw material dependencies on China, and reduce them, while at the same time forbidding technology transfer to China. China has been trading cheap resources for technology, and we must stop that now.

Unfair Chinese commercial practices must be reciprocated. Chinese companies should be forced to open joint ventures to operate outside of China, which is a trick China uses to control profits and more easily steal IP from Western companies:

* https://www.msn.com/zh-hk/news/other/us-entrepreneurs-make-a-choice-rewards-of-doing-business-in-china-often-outweigh-risks-of-losing-trade-secrets/ar-BBSPC69 (http://web.archive.org/web/20190905071456/https://www.msn.com/zh-hk/news/other/us-entrepreneurs-make-a-choice-rewards-of-doing-business-in-china-often-outweigh-risks-of-losing-trade-secrets/ar-BBSPC69:[archive])
* https://www.chinalawblog.com/2019/02/china-joint-ventures-the-long-version.html (http://web.archive.org/web/20190905071738/https://www.chinalawblog.com/2019/02/china-joint-ventures-the-long-version.html:[archive])

==== Companies that comply to Chinese censorship requests

Western government should prevent companies from complying to Chinese censorship requests.

Citizens should boycott such companies.

https://github.com/caffeine-overload/bandinchina contains a "List of companies who have apologized to the Chinese government and implemented censorship requests". It only lists companies that implemented censorship outside of China however (with Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau defined as outside of China), therefore it is basically a Taiwan flag takedown + Hong Kong / Taiwan censorship list: https://github.com/caffeine-overload/bandinchina/pull/56#issuecomment-541230090 | https://github.com/caffeine-overload/bandinchina/pull/84

Here is a quick  2019 summary:

.https://twitter.com/hoho90272496/status/1182669015937966080[Source].
image::https://web.archive.org/web/20191013075353if_/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EGmvMb6XUAQgYq9?format=jpg&name=900x900[height=400]

And some good cartoons:

.https://www.rfa.org/english/cartoons/china-hongkong-us-10102019153228.html[Source].
image::https://web.archive.org/web/20191011092825if_/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EGikEkFXkAE-A8m?format=jpg&name=4096x4096[height=400]

.https://www.rfa.org/english/cartoons/China-Apple-cartoon-08242017103540.html[Source].
image::https://web.archive.org/web/20191013080151if_/https://www.rfa.org/english/cartoons/China-Apple-cartoon-08242017103540.html/170731Apple-700.jpg[height=400]

=== What should pro-democracy Chinese living in China do about the dictatorship?

First of all, hide and stay safe, unless you can deal the final blow. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_at_War[World at war, 1973], ep. 16:

____
A dictatorship is like a snake. If you put your foot on its tail as you do it, it will just bite you and no body will be helped. You have to strike the head.
____

Once that is taken care of, a few good options are:

* if you are a psychopath, while hiding your thoughts, manipulate your enemies, infiltrate the power circles, and go up the ladder
* if you are an innovator, leave China and come work for the West. Don't strengthen commie power.

And regardless: remember your kids that the commies are bastards every day.

=== What is your reply strategy?

People get kind of passionate sometimes about politics. And some of them might also be just malicious wumaos, although it is generally not possible to distinguish between them.

In order to not waste too much time on those, I use the following strategy:

If the original thread post is not very interesting, I try to parse it quickly and reply once, always <<better-to-do,linking to the FAQ>>, and then unfollow. This shows that I'm still present, and takes little effort.

I then do my best to never read the inevitable reply again. An interesting reply never follows from a non-interesting original post.

If the user keeps generating notifications, warning + temporary block.

If the post is outright useless and offensive, direct user block, with a link to the link:CONTRIBUTING.md[].

I have also been pointed out to the following reply strategy by C.K. Hung which might be of interest: https://ckhung0.blogspot.com/2017/07/50-cents-party.html

For outbursts of activity from Chinese websites, usually programming (v2ex, hacpai), only post the following canned answer and nothing else, because cowards from the website might delete your posts, so I can't afford waste time there with that shit:

____
大家你好

关于我常见问题我在我的GitHub中国FAQ repository回答了好几个。

你们要是在那儿找不到一个回答，清在那个repository开一个issue，我马上就回答。

我不要再在这个网页评论。
____

Finally, don't forget the golden rule from https://biblehub.com/proverbs/26-4.htm[Proverbs 26:4]:

____
Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you will become as foolish as they are.
____

which is now usually seen on the form https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/66460/origin-of-do-not-argue-with-idiots[of unclear attribution]:

____
Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.
____

Where basically idiot == someone who creates posts that obviously aren't teaching you any new useful thing, or that not praising you :-)

=== How do different websites view Ciro Santilli's profile?

Stack Overflow mentioned at: <<meant-to-be-used>>.

==== Zhihu questions related to Ciro Santilli

Parent section: <<backlinks-to-this-repository>>

All Zhihu posts related to Ciro Santilli were deleted following <<zhihu-purge>>. Some had been deleted before.

* 2019-06-12: https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/68869259 (http://web.archive.org/web/20190905071450/https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/68869259[archive before deletion], (http://web.archive.org/web/20191103072349/https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/68869259[archive after deletion])) "德国极端分子黑我们大中国！犯我中华者，虽远必诛！！". Ciro wonders why the poster thought Ciro was German.
* 2019-03: https://www.zhihu.com/question/316700162 (http://archive.is/ewxqb[archive before deletion], (http://web.archive.org/web/20191103065512/http://web.archive.org/screenshot/https://www.zhihu.com/question/316700162[archive after deletion])) "如何看待Github Trending上Ciro Santilli的众多开源项目？". Due to: https://github.com/cirosantilli/x86-bare-metal-examples being featured on Hacker News: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19428700
* 2018-11: https://www.zhihu.com/question/302738350 (http://archive.is/lkQxS[archive before deletion], (http://web.archive.org/web/20191103065759/https://www.zhihu.com/question/302738350[archive after deletion])) "如何评价Ciro Santilli对Stack Overflow和GitHub的扰乱？"
* 2017-03-07: https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/25600138 (http://archive.is/DkooN[archive before deletion], (http://web.archive.org/web/20191103065808/https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/25600138[archive after deletion])) "StackOverflow 上的一个智障用户"
** 2017-03 https://sololand.moe/2017/03/06/brain-fucked-user-on-stackoverflow (http://web.archive.org/save/https://sololand.moe/2017/03/06/brain-fucked-user-on-stackoverflow/[archive]) by https://github.com/brglng/ (https://web.archive.org/web/20180802090918/https://github.com/brglng/[archive]) "StackOverflow 上的一个智障用户"
* 2015-08-18: http://www.zhihu.com/question/34775392 (https://web.archive.org/web/20160219094646/https://www.zhihu.com/question/34775392[archive before deletion], (http://web.archive.org/web/20191103065816/https://www.zhihu.com/question/34775392[archive after deletion])) "你们怎么看stackoverflow上某人故意屏蔽中国访问的事件？"

A random control question that shows that archive.org 404's are actually deleted questions: https://www.zhihu.com/question/316700165 (http://web.archive.org/web/20191103065449/https://www.zhihu.com/question/316700165[archive]).

[[zhihu-purge]]
==== Ciro Santilli's Zhihu purge 2019-11-03

Ciro received an email from account@mail.zhihu.com:

____
您好，Ciro Santilli，很抱歉您的回答受到了牵连，您回答过的问题「github.com@cirosantilli 是谁维护的，为什么会收集邮箱地址？」因「违反互联网相关法律法规」已被删除。
____

followed by Ciro's answer to <<zhihu-46957710>>. Ciro could not login anymore, the login screen showed:

____
帐号已停用，请联系：user@zhihu.com
____

So likely someone must have used the fact that this was an edgy personal information release subject issue, and then someone from Zhihu decided to purge Ciro and anyone posts that ever talked about him.

Note that not only the posts made by Ciro himself were deleted: he had never asked any questions or made any Zhuanlan posts himself, only replied to those. But that content made by other users was still removed. Therefore, this is not just a simple user ban, but active censorship.

Ciro's blocked account:

* before deletion: http://web.archive.org/web/20190821075907/https://www.zhihu.com/people/cirosantilli/activities
* after deletion (redirects to login page): http://web.archive.org/web/20191103071033/https://www.zhihu.com/signin?next=http://www.zhihu.com/people/cirosantilli/activities

Random unblocked control account: https://www.zhihu.com/people/lu-zhen-yu-96-65/activities (http://web.archive.org/web/20191103070652/https://www.zhihu.com/people/lu-zhen-yu-96-65/activities[archive]).

Furthermore, all questions related to Ciro, including the posts criticizing him such as https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/25600138[], were taken down. This made Ciro laugh: in China, you can't even criticize that which is censored, or your post also gets taken down.

Ciro then created an anonymous Zhihu account after this event.

https://www.zhihu.com/people/lu-zhen-yu-96-65/activities

[[zhihu-46957710]]
===== github.com@cirosantilli 是谁维护的，为什么会收集邮箱地址？

https://www.zhihu.com/question/46957710 (http://archive.is/PVOLd[archive before deletion], (http://web.archive.org/web/20191103065828/https://www.zhihu.com/question/46957710[archive after deletion])).

Asked in 2016-09 after Ciro published: https://github.com/cirosantilli/all-github-commit-emails

Deleted after <<zhihu-purge>>. Ciro's answer before deletion:

____
你用的git config user.email当然是公开的：谁都会git clone就知道了。

问题就是git repository很大，我们不会都clone.

但是github有一个API，收集很多信息，包括邮件。

然后，Google用了那个API给他们的https://cloud.google.com/bigquery/...信息。

BigQuery对程序员很容易提取信息，是我用的。

我发表邮件以后，两个东西变化了：

1. Google 把邮件从BigQuery删除
2. GitHub 更新他们的隐私声明GitHub Privacy Statement

这就是我的木比：保护人们的隐私权

我的README.md更详细地解释。
____

==== Zhihu ban

I was banned from Zhihu on 2018-06-25 for "politically sensitive" content.

As a result, since that time I will be answering Zhihu questions as issues in this repo with the https://github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship/labels/zhihu[label `zhihu`].

I have however never posted anything politically sensitive on Zhihu, unless my name and profile picture have reached that distinction, and therefore the ban is clearly an unfair per-person ban.

But of course, all is fair in love and war, and politics.

Posting any sensitive content on Chinese websites is a waste of time, since it only means that they will be removed and you will waste time creating a new account, I will never do that.

The only significant content I ever posted on Zhihu is the answer to: https://www.zhihu.com/question/46957710/answer/122827944 which is purely technical, and trivial replies on threads that other people have started about me. Have those people been blocked like me?

My posts are still up and it does not appear to be possible for people to see that I have been banned, but whenever I try to take any action on the website a popup appears saying:

____
由于严重违反 知乎社区管理规定 ，该帐号已被永久禁言
____

This includes liking, commenting, answering, asking or trying to update my profile to say that I have been blocked.

This message also shows on my public page for everyone to see: https://www.zhihu.com/people/cirosantilli/activities but they use some JavaScript scheme complicated enough that archive.is cannot capture it.

I still get notifications however, but I am unable to reply to them, specially given that all Chinese accounts, unlike mine, have no personal identifiable information due to the understandable fear Chinese citizens have of their own government (even though such accounts https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/27/china-doubles-down-on-real-name-registration-laws-forbidding-anonymous-online-posts/[might be illegal in theory to my understanding]).

The only action that I can take now is to report abusive comments people make to me.

Obviously, the only effect of such ban is that I will create an anonymous account under Tor with a second cell phone if I wish to contribute in the future, and China will have less information about my political interests than before.

The private messages the website sends while banning you are:

____
知乎管理员 ：您好，根据用户举报，您的帐号发布了「政治敏感」内容，帐号已根据知乎社区规范被永久禁言。处理详情可查看社区服务中心。具体规范请查看知乎社区管理规定。 6月25日 16:37 回复 | 删除

知乎管理员 ：您好，根据用户举报，您的部分个人信息由于不符合知乎用户信息管理规范已被重置。用户名可以在设置页面中修改，修改后会自动进入审核等待通过；其他个人信息可以在个人主页中编辑。感谢您对知乎社区的理解和支持。 6月25日 16:37 回复 | 删除
____

Those messages contain links to: https://www.zhihu.com/terms2 | http://archive.is/wdXSz and https://www.zhihu.com/question/19551824 | http://archive.is/BrgV2

The ban came soon after I posted a link to my GitHub repo as a comment at: https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/21/ice-employee-list-github-linkedin/ maybe they are related.

===== Who reported Ciro Santilli on Zhihu

At the same time the ban happened I received a public comment from user "Eureka" https://www.zhihu.com/people/crb912/activities | http://archive.is/1F3t6 on this thread: https://www.zhihu.com/question/46957710 | http://archive.is/PVOLd saying:

____
你滥用了github， 也滥用了Stackover。这个一个纯粹计算机、编程和知识分享的地方，请不要带入政治性的色彩。请不要这么做， 维护社区的非政治性、中立和技术性纯粹，是每个热爱cs的人应尽的义务。
____

I am unable to get an URL that shows the comment on archive.is, so I have no proof of this claim. If you trust me, then here is a screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/YCiEEax

Since I expect the ban lists to be private, I find it extremely likely that this was the user who reported me, unless both were simultaneously triggered by a third event which I have not seen. So correct me if I'm wrong here.

Users with the same user id `crb912`, related "Eureka" username or same profile picture, can be found at:

* https://www.weibo.com/crb912 (unable to archive)
* https://github.com/crb912 | http://archive.is/heGfd which suggests a possible real name

By Googling the email found on the GitHub repos, we find: http://www.360doc.com/content/15/0809/11/25724933_490492490.shtml | http://archive.is/2UnGL which might, at last, contain a photo of my nemesis.

My public message to the reporter whomever he may be:

____
While you have also raised issues that were raised a thousand times before, and clearly answered in the FAQ, at least you were able to take some actual action leading to an actual ban, and I respect you for that.

I hope that one day you will redirect that cunning and initiative towards taking down the root cause of the problem, which are the Chinese communist Party and their Firewall themselves.
____

==== Quora

https://www.quora.com/profile/Ciro-Santilli

* 2016 blocked Chinese keywords on both my username and credentials. Justification: non-English.
* 2017 created on in English: Cook Tiananmen Square Noodle Shop.
+
Added my Noodle shop to maps: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Tiananmen+Square+Noodle+Shop/@60.6132538,15.6687509,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x94603408e3c63fb3!8m2!3d60.6132538!4d15.6687509
+
Leaches that picked it up: http://kvalster.se/Falu/Uthyres/Lagenheter/Gammelvagen_49_1417351

=== Christianity

The commies are not a fan. But as someone once told me: the commies are not a fan of a bunch of things!

As mentioned at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_China there are only a few state approved churches under total CCP control, and the others are forbidden. For example one of them is called the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Patriotic_Catholic_Association[Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association]! God and CCP on the same sentence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pius_XII[Pope Pius XII] excommunicated people from that organization who were appointing new Bishops!

* 2018-12 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzWApdCNdik 100 Christians detained in China crackdown
* 2018-09 Vatican Christian pope makes deal with China
+
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China%E2%80%93Holy_See_relations#September_2018_Holy_See%E2%80%93China_Agreement
+
.https://www.rfa.org/english/cartoons/vatican-china-cartoon-09282018102133.html[Source].
image::https://web.archive.org/web/20180930134934im_/https://www.rfa.org/english/cartoons/vatican-china-cartoon-09282018102133.html/180927RFA-vatican-china.jpg/@@images/190bb54e-d6be-4c98-9599-b4a88aa6b959.jpeg[height=400]
* 2018-01 Chinese authorities demolish Christian mega-church sparking fears of religious persecution
** https://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-authorities-demolish-christian-mega-church-in-crackdown-2018-1
+
.https://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-authorities-demolish-christian-mega-church-in-crackdown-2018-1[Source].
image::https://web.archive.org/web/20191013080937if_/https://image.businessinsider.com/5a572ca3a75e205e138b4b5f?width=1300&format=jpeg&auto=webp[height=400]
* 2016 http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/27/world/asia/china-zhejiang-christians-pastor-crosses.html pastor 14 years jail
* 2015 https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/christians-in-china-feel-full-force-of-authorities-repression/2015/12/23/7dd0ec5a-a736-11e5-b596-113f59ee069a_story.html

.<<rebel-pepper>> Last Supper arrest cartoon. https://www.rfa.org/english/cartoons/china-crackddown-Christianity-cartoon-09072018150421.html[Source].
image::https://web.archive.org/web/20191012075042im_/https://www.rfa.org/english/cartoons/china-crackddown-Christianity-cartoon-09072018150421.html/180907RFA_thelastsupperinChina_1000.jpg/@@images/ac0553ed-a46d-43f6-98d8-288ce76901af.jpeg[height=400]

.Mao at the Last Supper by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Hongtu[Zhang Hongtu]. http://musicandculture.blogspot.com/2010/03/massive-last-supper-parodies-post.html[Source].
image::http://web.archive.org/web/20191107094724if_/http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W8pwMnZMNuQ/S5YAJmo1Q1I/AAAAAAAAC_A/YKRCKXUiSAM/s1600/meal.jpg[height=400]

=== Falun Gong

==== Falun Gong is not important to be worth discussing

The main reason I emphasise FLG it that is 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.

If that is correct, I'm curious to understand what you 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 <<flg-lhz,prophet>>: make something that appeals to aspiring military officers.

And of course: <<flg-bias>>

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

* http://www.aparchive.com/search?query=falun%20gong&from=1&orderBy=OldestFirst#7e34a6 AP Archive: could not find a good one there

.Thousands of Falun Gong practitioners in Guangzhou, China, 1998. https://www.theepochtimes.com/finding-the-balance-between-ancient-and-modern_2248694.html[Source].
image::https://web.archive.org/save/_embed/https://img.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2017/05/10/GuangzhouPractice_big-700x420.jpg[]

.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::http://web.archive.org/web/20191108081906im_/http://falunau.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/1a1744bca5595d8dc0c0aa3ca1280f04.jpg[]

.Hundreds of Falun Gong believers in Chengdu, China, 1998. https://faluninfo.net/falun-gong-the-practice/[Source].
image::https://web.archive.org/save/_embed/https://faluninfo.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/chengdu.jpg[]

==== Do you believe in or practice Falun Gong?

No, I'm agnostic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnosticism

Here are some things that I don't like about Falun Gong for example: <<things-i-personally-dislike-about-flg>>.

I think that FLG exercises and meditation are good for you, just like many other meditative practices such as Yoga, Buddhist meditation, Tai chi, deep Catholic prayer, etc.

However I find the metaphysics and obligations boring like for any other prophetic xref:flg-religion[religion].

The absolute truth is already known by the xref:flg-lhz[prophet], although he does not want to give clear evidence for reasons. Or a Jesus put it:

____
Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.

"If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written:

“'He will command his angels concerning you,

and they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"

Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
____

Ah good old prophets, their tricks haven't changed a bit in 2 thousand years!

And you just repeat these truth over and over and over:

* FLG is good
* FLG is good
* FLG is good
* xref:flg-religion[Aliens]
* FLG is good
* xref:flg-organized[You can support FLG by doing X and Y, why wouldn't you since you are saving other people?]
* FLG is good
* FLG is good
* xref:flg-religion[Alternate dimensions]
* FLG is good
* 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]
* FLG is good
* FLG is good
* Non-followers are like this, FLG people are like that. Although non-followers who do good things are actually doing FLG without knowing it. Note: FLG even has a specific terminology for non-believers, which is translated in English as https://falundafa.org/eng/eng/zfl_new_4.html["ordinary-people"]. 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 I forgot it, and you can see it in Harry Potter as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muggle[The Muggles].
* FLG is good
* FLG is good
* FLG is good
* xref:flg-religion[Final judgement]
* FLG is good

I would really like to know if <<flg-lhz,LHZ>> really believes in FLG, 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 I'm good natured, it's hard for me 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 I believe are real feelings. And then using that entry point asks you to believe a whole lot more, that you can't feel.

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 I feel is a realistic account that matches my observations: https://medium.com/@Ben_D_Hurley/-10677166298b "Me and Li" by Ben Hurley published on October 23, 2017.

In any case, at least FLG got one thing right: the commies <<do-you-think-the-chinese-government-is-evil,evil>>, and we have to get rid of them.

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

See also: <<flg-is-fake>>.

[[flg-bias]]
==== Do you support FLG just because your wife and mother-in-law do it?

Not consciously, I think I would likely support them even if I didn't have family ties to FLG.

Likely I wouldn't have started this campaign if I didn't know them of course.

But of course, this is impossible to answer objectively.

But don't you think that <<falun-gong-is-not-important-to-be-worth-discussing,**70 Million** people (6% of the total population in 2000!)>> getting completely squashed by the Party illustrates extremely well the dangers of the dictatorship?

With that in mind, I try my best to give FLG only the right level of exposure I think it deserves relative to other events, according to these guidelines: <<keyword-choice>>

If more recent events of mass human rights violation happen, especially affecting in the order of tens of million people, I will probably rank higher than Falun Gong, this was the case for <<xinjiang,Xinjiang in 2019>> for example, even though it only affected a measly million.

==== How much do you know about Falun Gong's claims?

I haven't read their <<flg-canon,canon>> myself, no patience, but I have constant contact with believers and so have an idea of its content.

[[flg-canon]]
==== What are the canonical Falun Gong texts?

It appears that Falun Gong cannon is present at: http://falundafa.org/

It contains <<flg-lhz,LHZ>>'s approved texts / speech transcriptions, which are sacred.

The only sacred version is Chinese which is a sacred language, and of which there is only one perfect revision.

I think <<flg-lhz,LHZ>> claims the specifically chose to reincarnate in China this time.

The English translation is made by followers, and gets new revisions to reduce translation imperfection.

However, the Chinese language seems to be fundamentally sacred, and there might never be an sacred English version approved by LHZ.

LHZ is of course a de-facto God with superpowers, and can of course speak all languages, but for reasons he didn't just write an English translation himself.

This is a reasonable command to download the English cannon for grepping:

....
wget -r -l inf --no-remove-listing --no-clobber --no-parent -w 2 https://en.falundafa.org/falun-dafa-books.html
....

TODO: need to find a way to wrap lines, otherwise grep might fail on sentences.

Nothing else is canonical. LHZ seems to have said that there are enlightened followers, but has not specified who, so we can't derive canon from anyone else.

Notably, <<flg-organized,FLG media>> such as http://www.minghui.org/ is believer led and thus not canonical, even though believers have very high confidence on it, and LHZ <<flg-organized,directly supports it>>.

==== Do you support FLG, or just use it because it is a censored?

I don't support FLG specifically, only freedom of religion.

I use it in my usernames simply because it is the most banned and censored one in China today.

I believe that individuals should only be put in jail for what they do, not for what they believe.

I consider FLG <<flg-religion,a religion like any other>>, and I am against its ban, as I am for all other religions.

Also I believe that freedom of speech and democracy imply that FLG and other religions will exist. If you want freedom, you have to <<most-chinese-people-dont-care-about-the-minorities,accept other people's choices>>.

Otherwise, <<democracy-is-a-religion,democracy and communism can also be considered as religions>>, and banned.

See also: <<flg-verifiable>>.

[[flg-daily]]
==== How is it like to live with Falun Gong believers?

This will obviously vary from believer to believer, but here my experience.

Like any other religion that is taken seriously, they spend several hours per week doing their standard religious activities: <<flg-religion>>.

I have never seen them, or anyone we know from FLG say or do something that I consider morally incorrect because of FLG.

This does not prevent <<why-do-you-love-china-so-much,my wife>> from working normally.

My mother-in-law, who is retired, dedicates all her time to Falun Gong when she is not taking care of the house.

My mother is also religious (link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestantism[Protestant]), and I get a very similar feeling about both groups.

Like other religions, Falun Gong gives them meaning in life, and I admire that they pursue their belief energetically.

I much prefer that my mother-in-law does Falun Gong, which is a noble meaningful goal, rather than watch stupid crap on television.

Also, although I am <<do-you-believe-in-or-practice-falun-gong,agnostic>>, I also live in a similar way.

My religion is that of science and technology, and I pursue it fervently by trying to learn and teach it and spend several hours a week doing that, even when it does not give me money immediately.

If I pursue my meaning, why should I prevent anyone from pursuing theirs?

Previously, my wife and mother-in-law would sometimes try to persuade me to learn FLG, which was annoying.

But every time I told them very clearly that I know where to download the books if I want to, and that I may never want to read them, and that my wife must either accept this fact of leave me.

And they have accepted that: they think I'm a good person, and they can accept that you can also be a good person even without doing FLG.

I do feel Falun Gong makes my mother-in-law more reluctant to use or actively search for <<flg-medication,medication or treatment>>. But I think it is also linked to the fact that she didn't have a very good education or a good health system around. However, if we give her something, she will take it. My wife does not have any resistance to medication.

One thing that does worry me is that my mother in law sleeps too little every night, doing one of the Falun Gong meditations late in the evening, and then waking up very early to a long series of reading and exercise sessions.

Bibliography:

* http://www.zhihu.com/question/27659795 (https://www.zhihu.com/question/27659795[archive])家里有人练法轮功是一种怎样的体验？

==== In the Tweet you say "correctional facility", but reeducation through labour has been abolished

My bad https://twitter.com/cirosantilli/status/579270450984984576[here], the precise term is "jail". I'm _not_ talking about: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Re-education_through_labor Unfortunately I can't edit a Tweet.

[[flg-changed]]
==== Falun Gong is completely different in the West than it was in China

I believe that it has changed.

But isn't that the case of every cultural religious movement that migrates to a completely new culture?

Main points which may have changed:

* It has become more organized.
+
But why shouldn't they organize to defend themselves now that they have the chance without being put into prison?
+
The CCP is highly organized and has way more resources.
* Less emphasis is given to the religious / mystical aspect, and more to the corporal exercises, and health aspect.
+
This may be because people in the "West" are:
+
** are "scientific-educated" atheists who wouldn't go for a "religion"
** already have other religions, which would view FLG as a taboo

Also maybe only the richest and most educated believers managed to escape China, and thus the movement carried that bias outside China.

If you know more ways in which it may have changed, let me know.

But once again, we can know nothing for sure about the past in China because of censorship.

Even if you saw something yourself, how can you be sure that it is representative?

And if it has changed, now that it has changed, maybe China should unban it?

==== FLG has been funded by the US government at least once, therefore it is evil

1.5M USD in 2010 for a FLG controlled internet freedom group http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8678760.stm

But well, if you are going to do something anyways, and someone offers you money, why wouldn't you take it?

Taking the money does of course give a "bad impression" that someone is trying to buy influence, but does it in itself imply that you are doing something bad?

But do you really think that the US government paid that to buy influence in FLG? What would they force upon that FLG group that they didn't already want to do? Isn't it more likely that the US government wanted them to continue doing exactly what they were doing?

Every government funds groups it supports, it is an all out war I suppose. Compare that to the propaganda funds of the CCP.

What about the funding of political campaigns, which vastly outnumbers 1.5M USD every year?

==== FLG is illegal in China, we must follow the law

This might be a bad law that should be changed.

It was perfectly legal for Nazis to kill Jews. Does it make that right?

==== FLG is fake

The same can be argued about any other religion or political belief of type: it is better if we organize society in this or that way.

How can you disprove their belief, when as in any other religion, every affirmation made hinges on "miracles only happen around when true believers are around" or "only true believers can perceive evidence in their hearts / minds directly". He died of cancer? Not a true believer.

Conversely, do you understand the full sequence of experiments that imply quantum field theory? Have you seen videos of those experiments? Have you attended live demonstrations? Do you understand the construction of the experimentation apparatus? Yet, why do you believe it?

More importantly: what do you propose that should be done about it? Should we kill followers? Or is jail enough?

Also do let me know when you have achieved irrefutable proof that democracy / freedom of speech are the optimal ways to organize the government: <<democracy-is-a-religion>>.

See also: <<flg-religion>>

[[flg-verifiable]]
===== FLG never makes any predictions that can be reasonably verified by non-believers

Exactly, just like any other <<flg-religion>>, this is why I'm <<do-you-believe-in-or-practice-falun-gong,agnostic>>.

The closest claims to observable I've heard are:

* when pictures are taken in sacred events, notably Shen Yun, sometimes you can see magic Falun energy wheels in the pictures
* in the homes of some followers, small magic good plants-like fungi-like things have grown
* the sacred books of some believers had a closed lotus flower when they were bought, and after several years, the flower opened

but I suspect they are not even <<flg-canon,canon>>, just believer oral culture.

Of course, like every other religion, reality happens to be is constructed in a way that prevents non-believers to verify anything with their eyes in a reproducible way.

===== FLG is a very new religion and therefore fake

The Romans called <<christianity>> the "Cult of Jesus".

If I tell a lie today, will it become true in a thousand years? Or a truth today become a lie?

Try sending an email to <<flg-lhz,LHZ>> asking him to prove his powers to you :-)

[[against-censorship-and-flg]]
==== Many people both are against censorship and FLG

I know that, and that supporting FLG is "bad" for my public image with most Chinese, including those that are against censorship.

But without censorship, there will be democracy, and with democracy FLG followers will have voting rights, and FLG will become legal.

I think the situation is very similar to Scientology in the USA today: most people dislike it, but believe that you can believe whatever you want.

Democracy and Communism <<democracy-is-a-religion,can also be considered as religions and persecuted>>.

Isn't it convenient when a dictatorship gets rid of those weirdos for you? But not so much when suddenly you or your family is the weirdo...

If you are not ready to accept the beliefs of others, dictatorship is the only choice for you.

See also: <<flg-bias>>

[[democracy-is-a-religion]]
===== Why do you say that democracy is a religion just like FLG?

Because it also specifies irrational and fundamental aspects of how one should live, notably voting and freedom of speech.

Like the Cult of CCP has one fundamental belief: the Party is always right.

[[flg-stability]]
===== Falun Gong had to be banned because it was a threat to the stability of the country

Then they link to the Taping Rebellion:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Rebellion
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Heavenly_Kingdom

Of course FLG it was a threat to the stability of the country.

It is, as I have said, a highly organized political power: <<flg-political>>.

However, <<democracy-is-a-religion,democracy>> is a threat to the stability country in the exact same way:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution

Anything that goes against a dictatorship is a threat to the stability of the country.

Now read: <<stability>>

==== Many people say they do FLG only to get VISAs to the USA

Heard this a few times, and I believe it has happened.

But I don't see how this is relevant at all to this discussion:

* if they are not really FLG believers, they should be prosecuted, but this says nothing about the real FLG believers,
* if they are, then why wouldn't they seek a VISA, since they are in constant threat of going to jail or worse in China, and the USA law gives them that right?

Sample news:

* https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2018/09/28/652218318/thousands-could-be-deported-as-government-targets-asylum-mills-clients

[[flg-witness]]
==== I have personally seen people do bad things because of Falun Gong

Either direct suicide or <<flg-medication,dying because of not taking medication>>.

First, I'm not saying I don't believe you, and I'm sorry about what happened.

But your testimony is worthless unless you give the following:

* clear unique personal identification
+
This is because the CCP has thousands of wumaos who could make fake reports.
+
There are basically two ways to do that:
+
.  your testimony is done in video form on YouTube clearly showing your face as you make it
.  links between a notable social media presence that is hard to achieve, e.g. Twitter with many followers, Stack overflow with a lot of rep, and the account
+
Either of those must contain / link to information that uniquely identifies you. Generally, full name, city and date of birth is enough.
* a precise testimony that states exactly what you saw happen with your own eyes, or heard from people that are very close to you.
+
The testimony must include:
+
--
** when the events happened
** where they happened, in which city at the very least
** the full names of who did what
--
+
This is to:
+
** make it easier to verify the truth of the event
** uniquely identify the event so we don't count a single event multiple times

If you do provide all of the above, I add your report to a list of reports that I will maintain. This list does not exist yet because there were no valid reports yet.

Next consider this:

* are you sure that Falun Gong made the person do the bad thing, and that the person wouldn't have done it anyways?
+
Did someone from Falun Gong told the person to do it?
+
I bet that if you look into patients of psychiatrists, you will find more suicides than average. So should we ban psychiatry?
* are you sure that the order came from <<flg-lhz,LHZ>>, and that it was not just some disgruntled local leader using Falun Gong for his personal madness and doing things he did not approve?
+
Branch Davidians were inspired by <<christianity>>. So should we ban Christianity? What about the majority of Christians who have never done anything bad?
* only statistics has any meaning, and it would require a very large number of reports to make up statistics, so you will likely be wasting your time. I will do my part and maintain a list however.
* if ask for FLG believers to compile a list of horrors they have suffered, which they have already been doing since the start of the persecution, I bet that their list will be much longer than yours, because they are so <<flg-organized,well organized>>

==== FLG does not have proof of their persecution claims

How much proof do you think they would be able to get when there is no freedom of press?