Chinese Dissident Gets 11 Years in Prison

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Using the internet to demand free speech in China works extremely well….if your plan was to be sent to prison for eleven years. Damn.

Liu Xiaobo, 53, a former literature professor and a dogged critic of China’s single-party political system, was detained in December 2008 after he helped draft a petition known as Charter 08 that demanded the right to free speech, open elections and the rule of law.
 
Countries of the world should just do a trade embargo with China,

One particular country hmm.....I think of it... it's a country that's 90% import 10% export...hmmm dang it. I know this one. They're fueling China's economy, making terrorism profitable for everyone..err oh well not coming to me.
 
Countries of the world should just do a trade embargo with China,
Do me a favor. Flip over the keyboard you just used to type this message, flip over the mouse you used to click "Submit reply" on this thread. In fact, go around your house and start flipping over all the electronic gadgets, small appliances, housewares, etc and read where they were all made.
After you've done that, comeback and read what you posted here and think really hard about it.
 
Countries of the world should just do a trade embargo with China,

You mean give manufacturing jobs to Amercians!? Have our factories be far more environmentally conscious!? Give jobs to all those unemployed people?! Make products that don't break so much?! Export those products to the rest of the world and make money?! Nah that's a crazy idea.
 
You mean give manufacturing jobs to Amercians!?
America's manufacturing infrastructure has been pretty much dismantled since the late 70's when corporations moved their manufacturing operations overseas.

Have our factories be far more environmentally conscious!?
Being environmentally conscious costs a lot of money and those costs will be passed down to the consumers purchasing the products. Let's see if you are willing to pay $30 for a 6pack of socks that today costs $8.
The person who works in the sweatshop operating the machinery making those socks does not have insurance, nor employee benefits, nor healthcare, nor a retirement plan. American workers do.

Give jobs to all those unemployed people?!
Yeah let's convince all those unemployed americans with university degrees to work in dirty factories assembling cheap plastic toys, electronics, etc.

Make products that don't break so much?! Export those products to the rest of the world and make money?!
Yeah let's make products with materials that cost 10 times as much so that they don't break. I'm sure we will be competitive in the international market because our 10 times more expensive product will never break. :rolleyes:

Nah that's a crazy idea.
The only sensible thing you said :D
 
I like how we are the bad guys in the world but countries like China can do things like this.


You mean give manufacturing jobs to Amercians!? Have our factories be far more environmentally conscious!? Give jobs to all those unemployed people?! Make products that don't break so much?! Export those products to the rest of the world and make money?! Nah that's a crazy idea.

I'm on board with you about bringing jobs back to the USA. But what you fell to grasp is our own Government will be making companies think twice about investing over here. If Tax and Scam I mean Carbon Credits happen no one that produces any product that uses energy will do it here.
 
NAFTA is the reason so many jobs were lost, not China. The single worst piece of legislation of the past 20 years as far as killing American jobs.
 
NAFTA is the reason so many jobs were lost, not China. The single worst piece of legislation of the past 20 years as far as killing American jobs.

Americans out of jobs (or in crappy jobs) are more dependent on the government for services. Something to think about.
 
America's manufacturing infrastructure has been pretty much dismantled since the late 70's when corporations moved their manufacturing operations overseas.

And we've been paying for it with our lives ever since.

Being environmentally conscious costs a lot of money and those costs will be passed down to the consumers purchasing the products. Let's see if you are willing to pay $30 for a 6pack of socks that today costs $8.
The person who works in the sweatshop operating the machinery making those socks does not have insurance, nor employee benefits, nor healthcare, nor a retirement plan. American workers do.

I would gladly pay the $30 if the socks would last longer than the 3-4 weeks that the $8 socks from China do. I'm actually sick and tired of buying new shirts and pants because they keep ripping when anything worse than a hard stare at them causes them to just rip apart. I own one all-American made shirt that I spent $25 on. It has lasted me almost ten years. It doesn't look brand spanking new, its faded, I'll admit. But it also doesn't have every rip, tear, and loose thread that my sweatshop-made shirts have gotten after 2-3 months. $25 for a ten year shirt that I can still wear today, or $7 every 2-3 months for a new one. You tell me which one was the better investment of my money.

Yeah let's convince all those unemployed americans with university degrees to work in dirty factories assembling cheap plastic toys, electronics, etc.

I work at a retail store and a guy who was let go from Lucent Technologies came to do gruntwork until he could find something better to get back on his feet. Not quite the same as factory work, but going from $60,000+ a year to 8 bucks an hour is not exactly what you call a reasonable drop in pay. I see a lot of people in that store like that guy.

Yeah let's make products with materials that cost 10 times as much so that they don't break. I'm sure we will be competitive in the international market because our 10 times more expensive product will never break. :rolleyes:

If the quality is there and I don't have to pay 20x as much trying to keep it fixed or replacing it in the long run, lose a good amount of business from the downtime or otherwise eating the cost of going cheap, you bet your ass I'll pay it. Do it right the first time, or don't be in the business of doing it.
 
Blame the damn Unions I tells ya fer dem takin yer jerbs. Dey took yer jerbs!
Wait, what's that have to do with humans rights and the guy getting locked up?
 
Blame the damn Unions I tells ya fer dem takin yer jerbs. Dey took yer jerbs!
Wait, what's that have to do with humans rights and the guy getting locked up?

Nothing, except people who bitch about Chinas humans rights violations should either stop buying anything made in China or STFU
 
Taking our jobs doesn't change that the dude is in prison for wanting to say that his government suckaduhcock.. like we do every chance we get.
 
Tax the living crap out of outsourcing companies.

Like:

However % they outsource = their direct tax rate.


However....


[curses], that guy did see it comming. c'mon, posting a protest... ONLINE..... in a country the filters their entire Internet!?
 
[curses], that guy did see it comming. c'mon, posting a protest... ONLINE..... in a country the filters their entire Internet!?

Of course he saw it coming. He is obviously a brave and moral man. How many of us have the stones to tell our governments where to go and how to get there, when the risk is so great?
 
How many of us have the stones to tell our governments where to go and how to get there, when the risk is so great?

Precisely. No government can exist without it's people's blessing, if we were all so brave as to stand up for what was right, things would be much better. Unfortunately, we favor our comfort, our trinkets, our 'security' over our freedom and that of others.

“No dictator, no invader, can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever. There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power, governments and tyrants and armies cannot stand.”
 
Nothing, except people who bitch about Chinas humans rights violations should either stop buying anything made in China or STFU

Yes, like that's an option. STFU is what landed everyone in this mess in the first place. Globalization is great if you're a massive corporation, not so much for your average joe.
 
Yes, like that's an option. STFU is what landed everyone in this mess in the first place. Globalization is great if you're a massive corporation, not so much for your average joe.
you do know most companies that travel overseas pay their employees more than what the average is in that nation with benefit of some sorts. Yes the pay is less than what an American would get but if they were equal than I guess there would be no need for outsourcing. He is right about people complaining about human rights and buying Chinese products. In todays globalized market, there are many alternatives.
 
its weird because free trade agreements in theory are the right thing, but when you sign with the devil like china you arent playing by the same rules and the free trade agreement becomes a dagger for the businesses in the country who has to play by the rules. well, not really for the businesses themselves, just the factories and all those millions of american families that depend on them.
 
That sucks hard. Usually I don't really care, but that feels just wrong.
 
Tax the living crap out of outsourcing companies.

Like:

However % they outsource = their direct tax rate.


That sounds like a great idea. Til the company decides to just close up shop and move to a different country. At which point, you just lost that tax money and all those jobs.


Also tax on exports is unconstitutional in the US.

US Constitution
Article 1, Section 9, Clause 5.
"No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State."
 
Cause liberty/freedom is not an issue in China. They're doing what they are doing, according to their own laws. What's there to argue about?
 
Guess which happy, cheerful country owns our federal debt and has our country by the short hairs?
 
Meh good for China. I like my cheap crap. I also enjoy the fact they tell everyone else to fuck off on the enviroment to actually grow there economy. May be we should do the same because we are never going to stop importing from there.
 
Cause liberty/freedom is not an issue in China. They're doing what they are doing, according to their own laws. What's there to argue about?

And we import everything from China and produce just about nothing ourselves.. what's their to argue about?

Our shitty economy that imports everything from China is every bit as set in stone as the liberties of the Chinese people.. so by your way of thought, there should be no argument. :rolleyes:
 
You do know that the US is the 3rd largest exporter (4th if you throw in EU, instead of them being seperate countries), behind China. 5.5% of our exports goes to China. 16.5% of our imports comes from China. 17.2% of China's exports goes to the US. 7.2% of their imports comes from the US.

Another major importer to the US. Canada 15.7%. Not even 1% difference between them and China.

Check it all out on CIA World Factbook if you want.
 
You do know that the US is the 3rd largest exporter (4th if you throw in EU, instead of them being seperate countries), behind China. 5.5% of our exports goes to China. 16.5% of our imports comes from China. 17.2% of China's exports goes to the US. 7.2% of their imports comes from the US.

Another major importer to the US. Canada 15.7%. Not even 1% difference between them and China.

Check it all out on CIA World Factbook if you want.

Yes, and another little-known fact is that only 800 billion of the national debt (6% of total debt and 23% of public debt) is owed to China.

Also I find it somewhat saddening that, in response to an article about political suppression in China, everyone is complaining about the United States. You all need to take a step back and realize how fortunate you are to be allowed to do that without going to prison for 11 years. 20% of the world lives in China.

To the protectionists: you say you want manufacturing jobs to stay in America because we have more humane labor laws here. Unfortunately, if we have high wages, safe factories, and clean air over here, most of the jobs are going to go over there. You can't have both. Until China levels the playing field and enacts the same laws, that's how it's going to be.
 
Of course he saw it coming. He is obviously a brave and moral man. How many of us have the stones to tell our governments where to go and how to get there, when the risk is so great?

Well here is the problem. All the whiney bitch ass Americans that complain about China's policies, don't understand that they have the right in the US to complain and bitch because people stood up for themselves and changed their government. The Chinese people for the most part are happy with the way their country is. If they weren't they would have many more large scale protests and riots.
In a land of billions, if the people speak out in a unified voice they can topple the most powerful government.
 
The right likes to use China as a boogieman to scare the American public.

"Europe is finished, China is the future, blah blah."

When the fact is that, yes, the USA would be fourth if the EU were 'counted'. In fact it would be fourth if Germany were counted, Germany on it's own is the worlds largest exporter of manufactured goods.

And the fact is that it took a generation for the European middle class to recover from WW2 and overtake the American middle class in average earnings. The only thing that makes things appear 'ok' is that the price of food and some consumer goods are cheaper in the US (and we know why), hence why the right has had to fall back on quoting PPP GDP figures to reassure us that the USA is still the 'best country in the world'.
 
The right likes to use China as a boogieman to scare the American public.

"Europe is finished, China is the future, blah blah."

When the fact is that, yes, the USA would be fourth if the EU were 'counted'. In fact it would be fourth if Germany were counted, Germany on it's own is the worlds largest exporter of manufactured goods.

And the fact is that it took a generation for the European middle class to recover from WW2 and overtake the American middle class in average earnings. The only thing that makes things appear 'ok' is that the price of food and some consumer goods are cheaper in the US (and we know why), hence why the right has had to fall back on quoting PPP GDP figures to reassure us that the USA is still the 'best country in the world'.

Sounds like bitter jealousy or something. Who cares? No one is comparing national e-peckers in here.
 
Jealousy? I just don't like being lied to day in and day out.

Did you know that it was Germany that is the world's largest exporter? No, because reality isn't convenient for the right who want to scare Americans.

China is not rich. China is not a super power. Next to nothing of American business is in Chinese ownership (as compared with 30% of our largest corporations being in European hands).
 
The right likes to use China as a boogieman to scare the American public.

"Europe is finished, China is the future, blah blah."

When the fact is that, yes, the USA would be fourth if the EU were 'counted'. In fact it would be fourth if Germany were counted, Germany on it's own is the worlds largest exporter of manufactured goods.

Germany is counted.

1. EU
2. Germany
3. China
4. US

If we don't count EU, the US is 3rd.

Guess which happy, cheerful country owns our federal debt and has our country by the short hairs?

Umm....I think that would be the US. We do own majority of our debt. Unless you think China owning 6% of our debt trumps our 72% (around there).
 
Do me a favor. Flip over the keyboard you just used to type this message, flip over the mouse you used to click "Submit reply" on this thread. In fact, go around your house and start flipping over all the electronic gadgets, small appliances, housewares, etc and read where they were all made.
After you've done that, comeback and read what you posted here and think really hard about it.
So what, you get the stuff from Taiwan, Vietnam, and Korea for three cents more.
 
And the fact is that it took a generation for the European middle class to recover from WW2 and overtake the American middle class in average earnings. The only thing that makes things appear 'ok' is that the price of food and some consumer goods are cheaper in the US (and we know why), hence why the right has had to fall back on quoting PPP GDP figures to reassure us that the USA is still the 'best country in the world'.
HA! Yeah right... I can assure you that the economy is not that great and that you have very little disposable income as the government takes it all away in huge taxes (especially the cost of unfubaring the east). Thats why I'm happy right here in Texas, along with my friends and relatives that can get visas. You are in for a rude awakening if you believe the middle class in Germany is doing better than in the USA as a whole. For civil liberties, higher level education, and economically, the US is still one of the top dogs. As they say, the grass is always greener...
 
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