China Is Harvesting Organs From Detainees, Tribunal Concludes (theguardian.com) 414
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: An independent tribunal sitting in London has concluded that the killing of detainees in China for organ transplants is continuing, and victims include imprisoned followers of the Falun Gong movement. The China Tribunal, chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, who was a prosecutor at the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, said in a unanimous determination at the end of its hearings it was "certain that Falun Gong as a source -- probably the principal source -- of organs for forced organ harvesting."
Among those killed, it has been alleged, are members of religious minorities such as Falun Gong. Persecution of the group began in 1999 after it had attracted tens of millions of followers and came to be seen as a threat to the communist party. There is less evidence about the treatment of Tibetans, Uighur Muslims and some Christian sects. China announced in 2014 that it would stop removing organs for transplantation from executed prisoners and has dismissed the claims as politically-motivated and untrue. "The conclusion shows that very many people have died indescribably hideous deaths for no reason, that more may suffer in similar ways and that all of us live on a planet where extreme wickedness may be found in the power of those, for the time being, running a country with one of the oldest civilizations known to modern man," said Sir Geoffrey Nice QC. He added: "There is no evidence of the practice having been stopped and the tribunal is satisfied that it is continuing."
Among those killed, it has been alleged, are members of religious minorities such as Falun Gong. Persecution of the group began in 1999 after it had attracted tens of millions of followers and came to be seen as a threat to the communist party. There is less evidence about the treatment of Tibetans, Uighur Muslims and some Christian sects. China announced in 2014 that it would stop removing organs for transplantation from executed prisoners and has dismissed the claims as politically-motivated and untrue. "The conclusion shows that very many people have died indescribably hideous deaths for no reason, that more may suffer in similar ways and that all of us live on a planet where extreme wickedness may be found in the power of those, for the time being, running a country with one of the oldest civilizations known to modern man," said Sir Geoffrey Nice QC. He added: "There is no evidence of the practice having been stopped and the tribunal is satisfied that it is continuing."
comeing soon to hong kong and Taiwan! (Score:5, Insightful)
comeing soon to hong kong and Taiwan!
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Well, they are running out of Chinese-compatible organs after all.
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We should do everything we can to keep supporting Hong Kong and Taiwan. They are still free enough to have some decent news media and reporting, so China can't get away with stuff like this there. That's why China wants this new extradition law, so they can extradite people and abuse them out of sight.
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Do everything to do to support them? Puhlease. I don't give enough shit about either Taiwan or Hong Kong for my country to spend trillions of dollars on "do-good" wars again. There is plenty of dictatorships and human rights abuses happening in the world. But it is not America's duty to "right" all of them. In fact, there is now ample evidence that American dogoodism doesn't work. It hurts the target countries, and is expensive as fuck. Just look at all the countries where USA tried to do "good":
Vietnam
Afgh
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Taiwan I'd doubt, unless China goes in like Russia did in Crimea. But Hong Kong and Macau were already lost: once Britain and Portugal made their deals w/ China, how long was it gonna be before Beijing turned around and decided to totally implement its own laws there? I mean, those 2 cities are as much a part of China as Seattle is a part of US: on what basis in international law can anybody demand of China that they treat Hong Kong or Macau differently from, say, Guangzhou or Shanghai?
No evidence - fake news (Score:2)
>> Zeng, who fled China in 2001, did not see any direct evidence of forced organ removal
So the only "witness" they have has not seen any evidence. And this "tribunal" still "concluded" something somehow.
Not that independent (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Not that independent (Score:5, Informative)
It's axiomatic that anyone who organises anything will always has an agenda: why would anyone do anything if they did not care? Take a brief look at the Holocaust, most of the reports of Nazi atrocities against the Jews and other persecuted groups were from the survivors and not from the Nazis side. Why would anyone expect the situation in China with the Falun Gong, Uigurs etc to be any different?
So how does anyone with no direct first hand experience come to a reasonable understanding as to what is going on? The key is in the credibility of the entity doing the weighing and presentation of the report. The gold standard would be a UN report. However, with China being a permanent member of the Security Council that is never going to happen. This report though, was chaired by Professor Sir Geoffrey Nice QC. Professor, Sir and Queen's Counsel. To someone from outside the British system those titles may sound pompous and/or archaic. However, they do actually convey information that says in essence this guy should be taken very seriously on this subject (Google them and him). As you would announcements on Physics from the late Professor Sir Stephen Hawking CH CBE FRS FRSA. Ask yourself is he the type of person who is going to have the wool pulled over his eyes? In short is Professor Sir Geoffrey Nice QC likely to risk his career and reputation backing something that is utter garbage?
Ultimately, China is by Western standards a vast controlled and secretive society that doesn't even officially publish the number of death penalties it carries out each year. In the West our bias is to tend to think of it being like a machine where everything moves like a cog and nobody steps out of line. In some ways it is, however, all that effort monitoring what people say on social media, face scanning etc comes at the cost of other forms of illegality and gangsterism being overlooked elsewhere. The Chinese authorities, even with AI, like anyone else can only have so many priorities. There have been consistent stories of organ harvesting in China for many years, and now this weighty and credible report. Fwiw On the balance of the evidence I personally do not believe this is official national policy, but I think I would be stupid to pretend it is not happening.
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The whole thing is organized by this nice sounding, NGO-sounding group called the "International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse": https://endtransplantabuse.org... [endtransplantabuse.org]
Let's go down that list shall we?
The executive director Susie Hughes, works as a photographer for the Epoch Times, a Falun Gong Newspaper: https://www.theepochtimes.com/... [theepochtimes.com]
The second person on that list Margo MacVicar, surprise surprise, also works for the Epoch Times: https://www.theepochtimes.com/... [theepochtimes.com]
The third person on that list, Rebecca Jame
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Just a few more for shits and giggles:
The fourth person, Andy Moody, is... you guessed it, a Falun Gong member giving an interview to another Falun Gong media outlet: https://www.tasteoflifemag.com... [tasteoflifemag.com]
The fifth person, Victoria Ledwidge, is a Falun Gong member who appears on multiple Falun Gong outlets, including their "official" one: http://en.minghui.org/html/art... [minghui.org]
And to bring it back full circle, the sixth person, David Tompkins, writes for none other than the Epoch Times: https://www.theepochtimes.com/. [theepochtimes.com]
Re:That seems unlikely (Score:4, Interesting)
If you want to understand more about the interactions between the Epoch Times, Shen Yun, and Falun Gong, I highly recommend this blog entry from a former member: https://medium.com/@Ben_D_Hurl... [medium.com]
His articles have been mostly purged from the main Epoch Times website, but you'll find copies all over the web.
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Why should we trust the Slashdot poster Yi Ding's denials of actions that makes China look bad and has been reported by mainstream media for decades?
You don't have to. Follow his links, do your own additional research. He's merely highlighting that the people behind this tribunal have existing links to China that it would be sensible to take into account when exploring this issue.
That Yi Ding may (based on his knowledge of Falun Thingy, his name and his posts) also have existing links to China makes him no less trustworthy than the people he's highlighted, and indeed by using a pseudonym (or maybe even his real name) he's holding himself far more accoun
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The chap quoted in the summary had the two letters QC after his name.
That doesn't mean he's a bastion of credibility, a rock of integrity, an intelligent assessor of evidence and trusted expert, it just makes it very fucking likely and he wont be wanting to do anything to jeopardise that.
So while I share your cynicism it's unlikely to be corruptly skewed.
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A "crime" of Milosevic was fighting the Kosovar Albanian army
However, he was prosecuted for genocide and war crimes. It's a shame he died before the court could reach a verdict.
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Would any of you want an organ from a Scientologist?
The one that's been inside a number of beautiful starlets, and perhaps some male stars, could have some museum value.
fake tribunal (Score:2)
The name implies some judicial aspects, but this whole tribunal is pretty much some random committee formed by International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China (ETAC) to publicize their accusations against China. They certainly may be right in their accusations but this "tribunal" outcome was fixed from the very moment it was created and so its irrelevant.
Chinese Morality in 1995 (Score:5, Informative)
Chinese morality has changed little since 1995.
A report [cnn.com] by CNN in 2001 states, "[Doctor Wang Guoqi] said his conscience was tortured after an incident in October 1995 when he was ordered [by the Chinese government] to remove skin from a prisoner still alive.
The prisoner -- sentenced to death for robbery and murder -- was administered an anti-blood clotting agent and then shot.
Wang said the prisoner did not die immediately and was taken into the back of an ambulance where urologists removed his kidneys.
Wang and other surgeons then harvested the prisoner's skin before putting the body -- still not dead -- in a plastic bag then into a truck."
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No problem. Well, until someone more important than you and with a compatible body type needs a new heart urgently. Then you suddenly find yourself woken up by a SWAT team for killing someone (we'll find someone you shot), getting a speedy trial as the constitution demands and a quick execution, too.
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I'll bet this guy who sees no problem with it refuses to be a donor himself because he's worried doctors would let him die in the emergency room so they can get extra money transpanting.
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
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The last word was probably chosen poorly. It should have been "Chinese". Even before the Chinese were Communist, they didn't seem to care all that much about individual lives....
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Personal freedom and human life means nothing to any government that can get away with it.
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As with all things in life, moderation is the key. Total absence of governmental power is anarchy. Total control by government over its subjects is a police state. I doubt either of them is in the interest of the majority of people. The goal is to have just enough government to ensure that people can live in just enough safety to prosper without limiting them in ways that are detrimental to their general well being.
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human life, mean nothing to communists
To the contrary, they value the well-being of their citizens. The quality of life for the majority of Chinese people has improved dramatically over the last 40 years, and most Chinese people think the government is doing a good job and is looking out for them.
Which is great for the CCP because it means they aren't bothered about not having democracy or rights. Why riot when things are getting better?
Also not engaging in genocide is now necessary to maintain that prosperity, since other countries will sancti
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To the contrary, they value the well-being of their citizens.
lol no. They value the well-being of their country, and their individual citizens are only valued so long as they support the goals of the country. That's what the social credit score is all about, identifying those people which China will treat as nonpersons.
It is overwhelmingly NOT NEWS that China is harvesting organs from prisoners. We have known this for years [washingtonpost.com].
The simple fact is that the world effectively condones this behavior from China, by continuing to buy goods from them. It's hardly a surprise fro
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I should clarify that I mean they care in the same sense that a farmer cares about his cattle, so that he can harvest their meat later.
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> but personal freedom. and human life, mean nothing to communists.
"From each according to his means to each according to his needs." - Marx
"Some pigs are more equal" - basically Marx
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Obesity killed more than than and it's not a China invention.
No, it's a human invention born from ignorance. Are you the one who believes ignorance or obesity doesn't exist in China?
Fat chance of that.
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You can debate the death toll all day, people certainly do with regard to how many were killed in Iraq (death via infrastructure destruction vs soldier, etc) but to suggest Mao wasn't an evil mass murderer isn't even remotely credible. Mao slaughtered millions and his regime continues to slaughter, torture, and abuse innocents.
This is the same regime that prepared a bunch of their opposition physically, dissected them, and sent them around the world on disgusting global display. They flaunt their disregard
Beyond disgusting. Beyond horrifying. (Score:3)
Monty Python (Score:3)
"But I'm still using it."
Better than roasting (Score:2)
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
I'll chime in here (Score:3)
We can argue whether it's even possible for an industrialized country to successfully complete the transition, but there's no
Why would they stop? (Score:3)
China's ruling party are avowed atheists. Just because it 'happens' to be frowned upon by other countries does not make it illegal in China. Why would you make anything illegal that isn't immoral. Why would you assume atheists who define morality based on social convention and utilitarianism would think they are doing something they should not do by making the best use of the bodies of there political rivals while efficiently eliminating 'divisive' social elements at the same time?
After all, what higher value is there then the collective commune? What higher loyalty should be allowed then loyalty to the party? If there is no God, the answer is obvious. That is why communism has _always_ opposed any significant or expressed belief in any entity more powerful then the 'scientifically' ruled state and has little sympathy for those who suffer from the 'delusion' that God or morals not dictated by the party exist in any form.
In short if there is no God they are not 'evil' and in fact are only doing something 'wrong' in the eyes of others, who have no authority and little business interfering in China's internal affairs.
Personally I whole heatedly disagree, but it should come as no shock to anyone that a specific group of people act in a way that is logically consistent with thier stated worldview.
Old news (Score:2)
I saw these guys packaged with a least a few organs in Body Worlds a decade ago. The only thing missing in the present day is the plasticine process, which apparently diminished the resale value to back-alley transplanters.
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Well, if true, I would hope they would publish that, as quickly as possible.
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"I wouldn't want a kidney or anything from an anti-vaxer. Who knows what they are carrying? Why would you want the body parts of someone who is living an unhealthy lifestyle?"
Problem is, people with healthy lifestyles don't die until they are over a 100.
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And in this context presumptively died from something they weren't vaccinated against.
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Not likely, anti-vaxers don't die because they don't vaccinate. Ironically, most of them are vaccinated themselves since anti-vax is recent and they are adults. They don't vaccinate their kids who are basically social outcasts and their first order victims. The problem is the threat they represent to everyone else who does get vaccinated.
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perhaps an anti-vaxer liver from someone younger than you would be just dandy?
That's what Steve Jobs thought.
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But... but ... then TVs could cost a fortune again and iPhones could cost Apple more than a few cents!
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Re:Theree is a tribunal dedicated for China? (Score:5, Insightful)
What's a few nervegassed villages between friends?
Re: Theree is a tribunal dedicated for China? (Score:2)
Re: Theree is a tribunal dedicated for China? (Score:2)
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Yes, but lately the US has matured: we only put them in cages these days.
Re: Theree is a tribunal dedicated for China? (Score:3)
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Prolly prefer them alive instead of denied critical medical attention
Re:Theree is a tribunal dedicated for China? (Score:4, Interesting)
Yeah I had a bit of a look into this, and the "Tribunal" is being run by an activist group "International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China", which I strongly suspect but can't prove is a front end to Falun Gong, the scientologists of china.\
FG have long pushed weird conspiracy theories and funded ultra conservative western anti-china groups, in much the same way the Scientologists fund anti psychiatry conspiracy groups.
This thing smells of fish to me.
Re:Theree is a tribunal dedicated for China? (Score:5, Interesting)
It is pretty generally accepted that China does organ harvest those it has prosecuted and sentenced to death, unless their relatives can afford to buy back the body, whole. Just to be clear I am opposed to the death penalty, so whether or not you remove the organs of those properly prosecuted for a crime, pretty arbitrary.
So it sounds like those pushing the idea agree with execution as a penalty, just not organ harvesting. Yes, a person on death row is technically a detainee.
Re:Theree is a tribunal dedicated for China? (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm reminded of a Larry Niven story set in a world where they had solved the rejection problem and the transplant was a routine operation. They had been so successful that they were extending lafe through transplantation, not just restoring normal lifespans. Of course, there was a shortage of organs to transplant. Naturally, this lead to mandatory organ donor status, then to organs harvested from the death penalty. Then more and crimes became punishable by death......
And that last bit is the problem with harvesting organs from condemned prisoners.
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It's not just one story, much of Niven's Future History (including all the Gil the A.R.M. series) is set in a future where crimes are punished by harvesting the organs of the condemned "for the betterment of society". Crime goes massively down as the number of offenses that fall under it go up but the new crime of organ legging is created.
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Aka "He was guilty of the most heinous of crimes. Being a compatible donor for the 120 year old chairman."
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Re:Theree is a tribunal dedicated for China? (Score:5, Insightful)
Not trying to excuse any policy of using prisoners as organ banks, but there's a similar problem in the US - but one concerning an incentive to lock prisoners up instead of execute them.
The US has private, for-profit prisons. The companies that run these prisons are active politically - donating to various politicians. Those politicians then enact "tough on crime" legislation which sends more prisoners (and more taxpayers' dollars) to these private prisons. The cycle repeats.
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I'm reminded of a Larry Niven story set in a world where they had solved the rejection problem and the transplant was a routine operation. They had been so successful that they were extending life through transplantation, not just restoring normal lifespans. Of course, there was a shortage of organs to transplant. Naturally, this lead to mandatory organ donor status, then to organs harvested from the death penalty. Then more and crimes became punishable by death......
And that last bit is the problem with harvesting organs from condemned prisoners.
The story is The Jigsaw Man [wikipedia.org]
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I never ended up in prison or jail though I've known enough people who did.
It's said that people really learn to be criminals when they go in and there may be some truth to that but I maintain the primary reason so many end up going back is that the punishment doesn't end when they get out. The records follow them and make it difficult if not impossible to live a normal life afterward.
Re:Theree is a tribunal dedicated for China? (Score:4, Funny)
They have limited resources, they... no, wait, if there's one resource they don't have a shortage of it's people...
Then they just wanna be efficient, I mean, that guy's gonna get killed anyway, you can as well use his organs. We wasteful westerners just throw them in the dump, doesn't anyone think of the children or whoever else needs a kidney? Don't you have a heart?
And if you don't, wanna buy one?
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"So it sounds like those pushing the idea agree with execution as a penalty, just not organ harvesting."
Yeah, and the possibility people who otherwise wouldn't be executed are being executed because they are good match for important or wealthy people isn't on your radar?
Also we aren't talking about the death penalty to prevent horrible crimes against others. We are talking about torture, murder, and genocide. Just because you oppose the death penalty in all cases doesn't mean you have to blind to the distin
Re:Theree is a tribunal dedicated for China? (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah I had a bit of a look into this, and the "Tribunal" is being run by an activist group "International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China", which I strongly suspect but can't prove is a front end to Falun Gong, the scientologists of china.\
FG have long pushed weird conspiracy theories and funded ultra conservative western anti-china groups, in much the same way the Scientologists fund anti psychiatry conspiracy groups.
This thing smells of fish to me.
I've read stories on investigations where hospitals miraculously manage to find the necessary organs with the correct blood types within days and are even able to hard schedule transplants weeks out (how would they know organs would be available for that specific date?). Those who have been imprisoned in some of those camps also described regular medical exams that don't indicate the overall health of the detainee but rather focus on the internal organs. Sadly, I can't recall where I read these reports (it may have been CNN) and the veracity of the reports can be questioned, but on the surface they would indicate that China has some way to basically have organs on demand, at a level that doesn't match their published execution rates-very few Chinese are organ donors due to cultural issues, although there are programs trying to change that, so officially most organs are coming from prisoners sentenced to capital punishment.
So yes, one way or another there is something fishy going on.
Re: Theree is a tribunal dedicated for China? (Score:2)
Oops? In any case, next time I recommend a less ham-fisted approach.
Re:Theree is a tribunal dedicated for China? (Score:5, Interesting)
A few differences between Falun Gong and scientology:
Falun Gong's principle beliefs are in truth, compassion and forbearance. Scientology's principle belief is that humans are thetans and are being psychically attacked by disembodied thetans.
Falun Gong draws from Taoism. Scientology draws from Battlefield Earth.
Falun gong takes no money. Scientology devours the incomes of its members.
Falun Gong was endorsed by the state up until it was perceived as a threat.
So basically they're completely different. While I'm not a supporter of any form of religion, it's plain to me that one of these two is worse than the other.
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Falun Gong draws from Taoism. Scientology draws from Battlefield Earth.
Scientology doesn't draw from Battlefield Earth, Battlefield Earth draws from scientology. Regardless, I think this is a point in scientology's favor: so many new religions try to gain legitimacy by piggybacking off of older religions. Hubbard gets a point for creativity by starting from scratch.
Re: Theree is a tribunal dedicated for China? (Score:2, Insightful)
Well it's perfectly democratic, isn't it? 51% of the population can vote to disassemble the remaining 49%. That's the epitome of direct democracy. It's sort of how the coasts want to vote to make the inner country into helpless indentured servants while they get free money, healthcare, education...
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This is China, there is no democracy. A handful of people can vote disassemble the remaining billion or so. This is even worse than the tyranny of the majority.
51% voting to disassemble to the remaining 49% is closer to the problem in the US.
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It's sort of how the coasts want to vote to make the inner country into helpless indentured servants while they get free money, healthcare, education...
Most of the time when I hear someone talk about what "the coasts" want to do they basically mean California and New York, which would make your point laughably wrong. But no matter what you actually mean by it, the numbers on which states are net contributors vs. net beneficiaries of federal taxes [moneytips.com] aren't so good for your point.
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Why is this +5 without sources?
Re: Theree is a tribunal dedicated for China? (Score:2)
Re:Theree is a tribunal dedicated for China? (Score:5, Interesting)
I sort of doubt the Chinese govt cares about Slashdot these days.
The CCP has never cared about Slashdot.
It is, and has always been, available in China. Slashdot isn't important enough to censor.
The lack of Unicode support is helpful in keeping Slashdot below the radar.
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Re:Theree is a tribunal dedicated for China? (Score:4, Funny)
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Yes, it makers you a bad person.
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I have to ask why. That pig would probably be killed for meat anyway.
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Enjoy evolving out of society to save a pig who wouldn't even be alive by the billions but for humans harvesting pork chops and bacon.
Your position sounds more like an example of Poe's law.
Re:Worst choice of words ever (Score:5, Insightful)
"There is no evidence of the practice having been stopped ...
This is the crux of the problem. The Chinese prison system is extremely opaque. They don't publish their inmate population statistics, number of people executed (assumed to be about 2000 annually), and they are especially opaque about the political confinement camps in Xinjiang.
If China wants to combat propaganda and misinformation, they need to start by publishing reliable and verified information, and building their credibility. They may want to also stop illegally kidnapping people in Hong Kong, smuggling them across the border, and then officially lying about it.
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"If China wants to combat propaganda and misinformation"
"publish their inmate population statistics, number of people executed"
Wait, nice attempt at misinformation but let me correct that.
If China wants to combat this with propaganda and misinformation they should publish bogus inmate population statistics and number of people executed and claim some low number like 2000 annually. And they should throw out some misdirection about some far lesser offense that could be compared to US and allies suspected terr
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Look, I know we all love to only read TFS but you can't go making the kneejerk reaction that having read more wouldn't indicate there is also evidence they have continued. Spoiler alert, there is plenty of evidence.
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Did you miss #1?
1 : pleased or content with what has been experienced or received
He didn't say they used the word incorrectly he said it was a poor word choice.
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Re:UK has no moral ground to talk Human Rights (Score:5, Interesting)
While I do feel the UK needs to improve its implementation of international human rights protections I think it's reasonable to differentiate between dissecting people alive to harvest their organs and denying prisoners a vote.
China does both.
Re:UK has no moral ground to talk Human Rights (Score:4, Insightful)
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"something that's easily comparable to China imprisoning dissidents"
And not at all comparable to murdering them and selling their organs or giving them to the wealthy or the prime minister or what have you. It is certainly not comparable to rounding up mass groups of the wrong religion or ethnic group into concentration camps for torture and slaughter or burning Tibetans alive in masses. Or even gunning down student protesters.
Ethically, the closest thing the UK or the US has done to these things is turning
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1) The vote was a referendum, so it was never intended to be binding. So you have no idea what you're talking about.
2) Post-referendum polling has shown that people who voted for Brexit believed deliberate lies the pro-Brexit side told them, so they had no idea what they were voting for.
3) sssssshhhh, the adults are talking
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Remain also lied repeatedly about the scale of EU interference within the country's sovereignty and the amount of money that flows out and migrants that flow in of the UK. Then the backlash of the referendum got "Remain" Theresa May to power whom then intentionally threw the negotiations just so they could say "I told you so".
The Troubles were all about the UK joining the EEC and Ireland being forced by mainland Europe into certain trade situations. The Troubles only ended when the EU made concessions towar
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Actually by that logic the worst crimes the US and the UK have committed come in the form of standing by, maintaining a relationship with, and even profiting from relations with China while it engaged in widescale genocide, operated concentration camps, and likely funded their operation on illegal organ sales.
Luckily, having done wrong yesterday doesn't mean you can't start doing the right thing today. Let's pull out of our silliness in the middle east and pull together to liberate China, Tibet, etc.
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The UK is no perfect angel but this argument is just as ridiculous as when you attempt to compare the US to China. At this point China is literally guilty of human rights violations matching or exceeding Nazi Germany.
What is disgusting is that most of the world is using them as a bargaining chip to get better prices from the US or bickering over financial ties to them rather than unifying to put the rabid dog down. We should have all done it a long time ago, not looked the other way and only started giving
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Like those pesky people protesting at Tiannanmen square
No, I think the Chinese authorities will admit that they got that one wrong.
You can't harvest organs after a tank's run over someone.
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Even without the right to vote, they can make sure you never hold public office.
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So, let's recap. Imagine you're on the death list, aka the wait list for a heart. Let's imagine you're not someone who can pay for it or is otherwise important enough to actually have a chance to ever get one. China offers one.
What country would want to do what to keep you from going there? What do they threaten you with? Death? You already got that if you do not go.
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It's a refreshing break from all the international incident stories with Russian shills.