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Comment by sneak | Hacker News Reader

I don’t have any direct political ability to meaningfully influence policy in China.

I, in theory, can participate in US elections and purportedly have some say in how things are done in the US. Additionally, I don’t have a language barrier to inciting others to action in the US.

I think it’s a very hypocritical situation, and I wonder specifically about the who and the why for the huge anti-China campaign in the global west.

I also think scale is important. Human rights violations against one person are bad. A system that imposed them against millions is worse. Both the US and China have such systems.

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If we know what the Chinese government is doing to ethnic minorities does the motive behind the media covering it even matter? So long as the atrocities stop I don’t think I really care who benefits from having a public discussion or how.

Do we know what the Chinese government is doing to ethnic minorities? I've seen enough evidence from both sides to know that it's despicable but that it is also not a genocide.

That is where the accusation of "whataboutism" comes into play, because given my limited time and influence I'd rather focus on issues of similar or greater magnitude (indigenous rights, climate change, the prison system, healthcare, white supremacist structures in our countries, imperialist tendencies that result in freedom bombings) over posturing about re-education and vocational camps in China that have humans rights abuse. I would 100% prefer the latter to not exist but it really feels like a distraction tactic and something we in the West have no power over.

i'm sure this is what the 'america first' crowd told themselves in the 30s.

china sees us as rivals and has designs on our allies and global institutions. ignoring them is at our own peril.

america has deep problems, like any country, but you are a fool if you think that a chinese hegemon would leave us better off or that the ccp can be ignored.

I'm sorry but the Uyghur birth rate in Xingjiang has dropped 83% year on year. The Uyghur people are being exterminated and you're more interested in a conspiracy about who is behind us caring about it.

FYI you don't have a direct political ability to meaningfully influence policy on China but you are directly supporting the CCP by buying blood-goods.

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