TAIPEI, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen appealed to voters on Sunday to think of what had happened to Chinese-controlled Hong Kong when they cast their ballots next month, saying peace must be backed up with a commitment to boost defences.
Taiwan prepares for presidential and parliamentary elections on Jan. 13 as China, which claims the democratically governed island as its own territory, ramps up military pressure to assert its claims, including two major war games around the island in the past year and a half.
China and Taiwan’s main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), have cast the election as a choice between war and peace. China detests Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and its presidential candidate, Vice President Lai Ching-te, calling them dangerous separatists.
Hong Kong, a former British colony, was returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with the promise of wide autonomy under a “one country, two systems” framework
A promise which China immediately broke. When the people of Hong Kong protested against China’s increasing authoritarian control and general dishonesty, China used it as an excuse to brutalize them.
Beijing in 2020 imposed a tough national security law on Hong Kong, which it said was vital to restore stability after the city, a global financial hub, was rocked for months by sometimes violent anti-government and anti-China protests in 2019.
This is such a softball take. The violence was caused by a pro-Chinese mob who were probably a gang paid by the government to attack the protesters, and by the Hong Kong police.
China and Taiwan’s main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), have cast the election as a choice between war and peace.
[…]
KMT presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih said on Saturday a vote for the DPP was equivalent to “sending everyone out to the battlefield” because supporting Taiwan independence would touch off a war.
KMT is threatening the people of Taiwan with violence in order to influence their votes. If there is a war, it will be because China started it.
Well said. This feels like an existential election for Taiwan.
The next several are likely to be. Unfortunately that means internal things that should be important take a back seat to external things.
It wasn’t really immediately, it was only under Pooh Bear that mainland China abandoned all pretenses and went full authoritarian in Hong Kong. China seems to be doing another great leap forward, again lead by a paranoid authoritarian leader who happens to be superb at politicking, but bad at governing. It’s as if history is doomed to repeat itself.
Edit: I somehow misspelled Hong Kong.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
TAIPEI, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen appealed to voters on Sunday to think of what had happened to Chinese-controlled Hong Kong when they cast their ballots next month, saying peace must be backed up with a commitment to boost defences.
China detests Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and its presidential candidate, Vice President Lai Ching-te, calling them dangerous separatists.
Hong Kong, a former British colony, was returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with the promise of wide autonomy under a “one country, two systems” framework, which China has also offered to Taiwan - with little support on the island.
Beijing in 2020 imposed a tough national security law on Hong Kong, which it said was vital to restore stability after the city, a global financial hub, was rocked for months by sometimes violent anti-government and anti-China protests in 2019.
Tsai, barred by term limits from seeking re-election, has made bolstering Taiwan’s defences a cornerstone of her tenure, a stance that Lai, leading in the polls, has pledged to continue.
KMT presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih said on Saturday a vote for the DPP was equivalent to “sending everyone out to the battlefield” because supporting Taiwan independence would touch off a war.
The original article contains 414 words, the summary contains 204 words. Saved 51%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
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Two questions for clarifying this invitation for comparison:
Did the Taiwanese lease out the island to the Kuomintang?
How long was Hong Kong under military occupation/martial law?
The indigenous Taiwanese peoples were subject of multiple genocides, at the hands of the Japanese, and then later the Kuomintang. I don’t think they were ever really asked for their opinion on the matter.
Shameless McCarthyism
The Chinese government are a ruthless immoral authoritarians. Say what you want about economic systems, but fuck authoritarians.
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Technically I didn’t, so who is putting words in whose mouth?
Please, explain how this is McCarthyism.
First you have to be stupid, like really dumb. Second, you need a fetish for authoritarian regimes. Third, bring up some irrelevant figure from the 50s to confuse everyone.
So I got that first part down, 100%. I didn’t read the rest, but I assume it all came together, and proved this is McCarthyism.
So ya see, the CCP is the Chinese Communist Party. And McCarthy didn’t like Communists. Any deeper understanding of the situation is irrelevant and unnecessary.
Assuming you are pro KMT, the irony of that accusation coming from the same party that carried out anti-communist witch hunts vis-a-vis the White Terror is just delicious.
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Under FPTP voting that’s literally the mathematical truth of the matter
It’s not, though. In the US, it’s possible to be both against the GOP and the DNC. This is quite common amongst leftists.
I mean, neither of them are anything remotely like a left wing party. Not even slightly left leaning.
Hell, even Bernie Sanders would be center-right in most countries.
No he wouldn’t, this has been debunked dozens of times already, the mainstream of the DNC operates center left on fiscal policy relative to most functioning democracies, and significantly to their left on social issues considering how many of those functioning democracies are unofficial ethnostates that have only recently begun grappling with questions of national identity America has been dealing with since its founding.
Bernie would be considered a radical even among the nordic states for his stances on the complete nationalization of all medicine, not just point of service care.
Not to mention how, while we here in America discuss the ramifications of the republican party openly embracing fascist ideology and language, AfD, EDL, Vox, FI, PiS, Fidez, NF, and SD are all long and well established parties that all have deeply troubling roots among the literal og fascists from WWII, for god’s sake Mussolini’s granddaughter is an MP in italy, and the defacto leader of France’s right is basically the princess of the children of collaborators.
Nevermind how all of them receive support from Vladimir Putin as part of his agenda to discredit democracy before Russians get too unignorable asking why they don’t get to play with the west’s cool government structural toys.
*among white “leftists” who see PoC and Queer folks as ideal victims to avenge, if only they’d just shut up and let the fascists kill them already
They prefer us as martyrs for their cause as opposed to active agents for our own. Martyrs are much more agreeable in their eyes.
It’s why they betrayed us to the Nazis in France, and it’s why they constantly threaten to do it again in America.
