China has lashed out at Germany after its foreign minister called Xi Jinping a “dictator” and summoned Berlin’s ambassador for a dressing down, in the latest flaring of tensions with a western democratic power over how the Chinese leader is described overseas.

  • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    2 years ago

    Antagonizing China while going into a recession is a really bold move by Germany. I guess that’s what you get when you put opportunists in charge of running a country.

  • sunbeam60@lemmy.one
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    2 years ago

    If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, there’s a high probability it is a duck.

  • quindraco@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    2 years ago

    Very noticeable that they didn’t specify how he wasn’t a dictator, nor what other label would be more appropriate.

      • quindraco@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        2 years ago

        I use a client that can block instances, so I have all of Hexbear blocked. It radically improves the Lemmy experience.

          • zooi@feddit.nl
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            0
            arrow-down
            3
            ·
            2 years ago

            Have you ever bothered to read the rules of your instance? If I go on there and say anything negative about your cute dictator I’ll be banned. However, you can freely go on our greedy capitalist instances and praise your teddy bear as much as you want. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. I guess your mind can’t comprehend being free.

            • Red Wizard 🪄@lemmygrad.ml
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              2 years ago

              Do you mean the rule about not being Sinophobic? Is that really a hard rule for you to follow? I like to look at objective reality instead of just barking the same nonsensical shibboleths when the topic of China arises.

              • zooi@feddit.nl
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                0
                arrow-down
                5
                ·
                2 years ago

                No capitalist apologia / anti-communism

                You would whine even harder if lemmy.ml had No communist apologia / anti-capitalism in their rules.

                • Red Wizard 🪄@lemmygrad.ml
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  2
                  arrow-down
                  1
                  ·
                  2 years ago

                  Most anti-communism has no basis in reality and often are myths perpetuated by state agencies. All Anti-Capitalist sentiment is rooted in the material realities of our world and life. To deny socialist historical reality is to deny your own history, and ultimately is an admission of your disingenuous support of the truth.

                  Historical Materialism is truth seeking in practice. It requires you to have a fact based, objective view of our past and present.

                  Also I don’t know why I would whine, because I’m not using lemmy.ml. That instance can have whatever rules they want. I wouldn’t block or defederate from them because of it either. But if you are not interested in seeking the truth and objectively observing reality, then I guess you can insolate yourself from it and keep your echos.

    • LarkinDePark@lemmygrad.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 years ago

      Because he was democratically elected in a transparent election. Unlike the current American demented imbecile.

  • sndmn@lemmy.caBanned
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    2 years ago

    He’s not just a dictator, he’s also a dick.

    What’s he going to do? Fling his pooh?

      • MeowZedong@lemmygrad.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        2 years ago

        Probably the antiracists. You should wonder if you’re on the right side when you are promoting and supporting racism.

          • MeowZedong@lemmygrad.ml
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            2 years ago

            The Winnie the Pooh meme about Xi is just racism. I don’t care if you think he’s a dictator.

            • unphazed@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              0
              ·
              2 years ago

              Not racist at all. It’s against one person. Trump’s face is seen on an orange all the time. No one is calling for racism. He just looks like a damn orange.

              • MeowZedong@lemmygrad.ml
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                2 years ago

                There’s a big difference here.

                Is Trump’s skin naturally orange? Is there a long history of oppressing white people in the US and other NATO countries?

                Just because the Winnie the Pooh meme didn’t originate as a racist symbol doesn’t mean that it isn’t used to propagate racism and sinophobia.

                • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  0
                  arrow-down
                  1
                  ·
                  2 years ago

                  If only Obama was depicted like that, yes.

                  But it is commonly used to depict black people in general.

                  While nobody uses Winnie the Pooh to depict Chinese people, only their dictator.

            • DarthFrodo@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              0
              ·
              2 years ago

              The Taiwanese use the meme all the time. Obviously not because it looks like Xi in particular and especially because of fragile censoring, but because they like to be racist against themselves. That must be it.

              Calling Trump a guinea pig is probably also considered racist in lemmygrad.

              • MeowZedong@lemmygrad.ml
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                2 years ago

                Taiwan is where the former Republic of China retreated after being defeated by the People’s Republic of China. The censorship of Xi=Pooh in China isn’t rooted in racism, it’s rooted in the political conflicts between the ROC and PRC. China censors these comparisons because they are used by opponents to attack the government. You don’t have to agree with their methods to understand why they would want to do this. Censoring realistic threats to the ruling government is a common practice in all nations.

                The racist aspect originates from how the meme is used in Western circles where there is a long history of racism towards minorities and the enemies of the US as well as a long history of sinophobia.

                If your understanding of history, racism, and their opinions of Trump are so shallow, maybe lurking Lemmygrad to learn why users from this instance act so aggressively towards racism and war-mongering propaganda would be helpful.

              • MeowZedong@lemmygrad.ml
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                0
                ·
                2 years ago

                Dehumanizing people through racism is a well established method the US has historically used when manufacturing consent to go to war among its people. Look at depictions of Germans and Japanese in WWII. Look at depictions of Koreans, the Vietnamese, Afghans, and Iraqis during the invasions of their countries.

                Just because its origins weren’t racist doesn’t mean it hasn’t taken on a racist meaning. Sinophobia is rooted in racism and ignorance.

    • hackris@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      2 years ago

      It’s definitely part communists, but I think mostly special interest groups, maybe even from China itself.

      • Łumało [he/him]@lemmygrad.ml
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        2 years ago

        You really want to feel special enough to think the Chinese government would even care about this internet backwater? Get real.

  • dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    2 years ago

    I disagree with some of Scholz’s policies, but he is kind of a breath of fresh air. Merkel was a great leader, but she played it far too safe.

    • MeowZedong@lemmygrad.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 years ago

      The only empire is the US empire and the way they talk about themselves as an empire, they’re proud of it too. Yell one-word feel-good slogans at them like “CHANGE”, “FREEDOM”, or “DEMOCRACY” and all the citizens shout and cheer because that’s what they’ve always been told to do.

      Try sitting during the pledge, the singing of the national anthem, or insulting the military. The US empire will have none of that. Truly the land of the free.

  • Thann@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    2 years ago

    Xi said that he’d start executing German tourists if they didn’t take it back

  • gnuhaut@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    2 years ago

    In China, the people directly elect local council (e.g. village or town level) representatives. Those local council members than select who among themselves to send to represent them at the next level above. This continues all the way the National People’s Congress and the Standing Committee.

    This sort of organizational structure is more-or-less how political parties in Germany also work; so by that logic the Green party itself would presumably be an undemocratic institution.

    OK, but the CPC can control who is allowed to run in elections, right? Well, Germany banned its communist party: In Germany, any organization (and their members) that wants to abolish the liberal order, capitalism, private property and so on is subject to repression, surveillance and outright bans, and this is enshrined in the constitution. So no fundamental difference there either: In Germany the liberal institutions decide who can and cannot run, and they have decided the commies are out.

    Empirically, the Chinese government enjoys way better approval rating than any Western government, Chinese people believe themselves to be living in a democracy, and the Chinese administration seems way more responsive to the actual needs of the people, what with the poverty reduction and all. How is this possible if they’re so much more undemocratic than Western liberal democracies?

    • Laitinlok@discuss.tchncs.de
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      Well I think the issue is the people in China haven’t experienced the democracy in US so the comparison would be hard to measure. As funny as it gets the people in the US can laugh at Joe Biden but not those in China that could laugh at president Xi.

      A note accompanying the poll results offers a disclaimer, stating that “in authoritarian countries, positive perceptions might result from different conceptions of democracy, high levels of government satisfaction, or fear of speaking out against the government.”

      • Krause [he/him]@lemmygrad.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        2 years ago

        I think the issue is the people in China haven’t experienced the democracy in US

        Don’t worry, the Americans haven’t either.