this post was submitted on 05 Feb 2026
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I've seen several references to some sort of rift between the users of these instances today. What's happening?

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[–] stickly@lemmy.world -4 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (1 children)

they tell you that those are american propaganda and all lies and ONLY THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT IS TELLING THE TRUTH

It's better than that: you can back them into a position that runs directly counter to official CCP policy and they'll claim that it's a "western agitprop translation" from the original language. Support it with translation and testimonials from actual Chinese citizens and those get dismissed because they're impure enough to speak a dirty western language.

Some fun ice breakers for any ML post:

  • Why is it illegal to form a union in China?
  • Why does the PRC constitution guarantee freedom of the press but journalists require a liscense? [Bonus: how can you quantify a requirement like "journalist ethics"?]
  • Why is the number of executions in China a state secret?

Edit:

Cowbee spending 30k words in this comment section to explain how PRC citizens have so many freedoms but they can't use them because it could be counter-revolutionary but that's fine because everyone's interests are perfectly represented by the proletariat government but they don't need a vote in central government because that might undermine the state but they wouldn't vote against the CCP anyway because they're so open and transparent but the CCP shouldn't need to tell their citizens when arrests and executions happen but if they do tell you just trust that it's internal party corruption but a corruptable party doesn't give the proletariat an exuse organize themselves in other ways, which they could but they definitely...

[and also every ML insists that you don't know an AES state even if you were born in and lived there half your life, you gotta read more T H E O R Y]

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 4 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (1 children)

Why is it illegal to form a union in China?

It isn't, it just must be a part of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions to ensure that no "independent unions" can be wielded by the west or by capitalists to undermine socialism.

Why does the PRC constitution guarantee freedom of the press but journalists require a liscense? [Bonus: how can you quantify a requirement like “journalist ethics”?]

To ensure journalists aren't spreading western disinformation to de-legitimize the state and foment instability, as has happened time and time again in other countries.

Why is the number of executions in China a state secret?

For similar reasons as the prior two.

Edit: Why not respond? You said they were icebreakers, I don't see how editing your comment to essentially add a soyjack meme furthers any of your goals.

[–] ageedizzle@piefed.ca 3 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

The execution thing does seem backwards though, no? The death penalty in general seems pretty backwards. It’s no less barbaric when China does it than when the US does it. Most civilized countries do not kill their own citizens.

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 0 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

I'm against the death penalty in most circumstances, but in the case of China it's largely for corrupt CEOs and sexual assaulters. I'd prefer more of a focus on rehabilitation, but I'm not going to say the PRC is executing people willy-nilly.

[–] FunkyStuff@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

but in the case of China it’s largely for corrupt CEOs and sexual assaulters.

Isn't drug trafficking and murder also punishable by death?

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Yes, those as well. The PRC is strict about drugs and prostitution in general. I wasn't meaning a full, comprehensive list, but to say that the death penalty is popularly supported there and largely applied for the most serious offences.

[–] FunkyStuff@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Yeah for sure, but I think it's a bit misleading to make it sound like only owners of capital (be it corrupt haute bourgeoisie or human trafficking capitalists) get executed. I don't know the numbers but I'd assume since murder and drug trafficking are also punishable by death, that means most of the people executed are workers, not capitalists.

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

Fair point, yes, though I also included sexual assaulters, who are statistically more likely to be workers.

[–] ageedizzle@piefed.ca 1 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

but I'm not going to say the PRC is executing people willy-nilly.

But how do you know that if they keep the numbers secret? 

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago) (1 children)

They publicize lots of the information, even if they keep the total secret, and we know that crime rates in the PRC are very low in general. The police don't even carry guns most of the time. Is it a perfect system? By no means. Is it a regularly improving, functional system? Yes.

[–] ageedizzle@piefed.ca 1 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

How do we know the information they make public isn’t cherry picked to make them look good? It takes a lot of trust in the Chinese government take the cases they do publicize at face value and assume that nothing else is going on, because without the total numbers it’s impossible to know how many cases are being omitted.

I don’t think I could bring myself up to that level of trust. It’s not even anything against the Chinese government in particular; I don’t know if I’d trust any government to that degree. 

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 hour ago

You don't have to take them purely at their word, you can look at tangential topics, such as crime rates, conviction rates, how the police work, etc to see if the claims match up. Even if they did post the totals, you'd still have people claiming they were made up.