• Bernie Ecclestoned
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    The major contributing factors in the famine were the policies of the Great Leap Forward (1958 to 1962) and people’s communes, launched by Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party Mao Zedong, such as inefficient distribution of food within the nation’s planned economy; requiring the use of poor agricultural techniques; the Four Pests campaign that reduced sparrow populations (which disrupted the ecosystem); over-reporting of grain production; and ordering millions of farmers to switch to iron and steel production

    Central planning literally made it worse.

    And locking up political enemies is pretty authoritarian…

    Authorities often label independent or investigative coverage as “fake news”.[2] Since Xi Jinping became the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2012, various commentators, protesters, feminists, lawyers, journalists, and activists have been arrested, detained, jailed, and threatened for attempting to exercise press freedom.[3][4] As of 2023, Reporters Without Borders called China “the world’s largest jailer of journalists.”[

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_the_press_in_China

    • Valmond@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      You’re fighting a tankie it seems.

      Which means “communism” good, Europe & USA bad.

      It’s a shame because I don’t like lot of things here in the EU but we have probably the best life in history, so throwing that away for some dictators dream seems just idiotic.

      It’s a shame because it seems you can’t discuss with them, it’s so black and white.

      Cheers.

    • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.mlOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      And locking up political enemies is pretty authoritarian…

      Isn’t your shithole country torturing Assange right now for exposing US war crimes?

      • Valmond@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        The old whataboutism.

        We are not all from the USA and no country is perfect, that doesn’t mean any single country gets a pass in my opinion.

        • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.mlOP
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          1 year ago

          Screeching whataboutism is a logical fallacy used to justify having double standards for yourself and your adversaries. If the things you claim to happen in China are actually happening in your own country then that’s what you should be focused on. Meanwhile, it’s not just USA that’s at fault in the west. Every western country commits horrific atrocities. For example, France is doing brutal crackdowns on protesters with militarized as we speak.

          Maybe if westerners focused on fixing up their own shithole countries instead of yapping about China all the time, the west wouldn’t be where it is today.

          • Valmond@lemmy.ml
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            I’m not creeching :-)

            And whataboutism is what you just did, answering critic with “what about that country?!”.

            • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.mlOP
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              arrow-down
              2
              ·
              1 year ago

              Once again, whataboutism is not a sound argument. It’s a logical fallacy and using it discredits any argument you might’ve had.

              • Valmond@lemmy.ml
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                2
                arrow-down
                1
                ·
                1 year ago

                Correct, that is why I called you out when you were using it.

                • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.mlOP
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  2
                  arrow-down
                  4
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  No, I wasn’t using it, I was pointing out that the person moaning about authoritarianism in China has far worse things happening in their own country.