To feel I've been lied to about China

Yet another post that follows the Party line. 🤔

And anyone who uses scare quotes when referring to human rights probably has no idea about the actual human rights abuses in China (or anywhere else for that matter).

Speakeasier · Today 12:32
It’s hilarious and depressing at the same time. Saying China and the UK are similar in terms of freedoms is just laughable. But I wonder how many are actually posting in good faith

I’ve seen China get an easy ride on mn sometimes. One poster made much of the incredible improvements in education under Chairman Mao.
I’m sure that was great consolation to the millions who he murdered.

I’ve never been but some of their traditions and laws are outdated. For example rape within marriage is not a crime . Sex is just expected within marriage. I found at a few weeks back children of convicts are often shunned by their families. They aren’t entitled to the states help so often end up in a charity home.

YABU and sound like you’ve drunk the kool aid. They don’t have elections or democracy, there’s ongoing operations by their agents to spy and intimidate Hong Kong dissidents, including here. They commit huge cyber attacks.

I’ve visited China and loved it. No, it’s not North Korea, but it is not a free country and is very muscular in its approach to Taiwan. And not to mention the poor uyghurs.

I’m sure China is perfectly fine, unless you’re a Uyghur, Tibetan, a Hong Kong bookseller, or any type of political activist or dissident.

I don’t understand you’re meaning. You think their poor at SPAG?

Any country that can turn a blind eye to a barbaric massacre of dogs, cats and goodness knows what else, in the name of a "festival", has no place in a civilised world. Yes, we have a long way to go in the UK, but China is hell for any animal. Never mind people; they're not treated that much better. In my view it's a shithole, I'll wait a long time for anyone to convince me otherwise.

Actually teaching English apparently. Are punctuation, grammar, spelling no longer fundamental aspects of written English?

Sorry, but all aspects of the ops posts are in doubt.

There are always exceptions. At my dc’s international school we could access google, facebook etc through the school wifi. All approved by the local govt with the prime objective of students having unrestricted access to the internet for research, school projects etc. However, Facebook etc was monitored and school director was advised that if anti China postings appeared on Facebook then this privilege would be withdrawn. Most people I knew used a vpn and, of course, the govt knows we are doing that and generally it’s all fine. I used mumsnet when I lived in China - no vpn required.
I would never have posted any anti China comments on wechat (Chinese WhatsApp) as it would be disrespectful. I chose to live there, my dh had a senior job and I would never do anything to offend or upset his colleagues and friends.

They may have coal reserves, but those reserves are not high quality (the ash content is too high and the carbon content low). China sources a good deal of thermal and metallurgical coal from other countries for steelmaking and power generation.

I like China and feel we could learn a lot from them in terms of how to run a country properly as a collective instead of worrying so much about individual "human rights".

I agree. The bots seem to be increasing. Not to mention the number of AI-generated posts that are (evidently) posted by legitimate users.

It’s hilarious and depressing at the same time. Saying China and the UK are similar in terms of freedoms is just laughable. But I wonder how many are actually posting in good faith. I do think that MN is plagued with a lot of bots.

If you want to start your own thread about the US then go ahead. This is about China and it’s very interesting and well informed.

Look at primary energy. Electricity is not the only way coal is used in China

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_policy_of_China

I have multiple friends who grew up in China and now live in the west.

Both have shared details about the lack of religious freedom. One was secretly taught about God and prayer by her grandmother. That still shocks the hell out of me.

China are producing 30-40% of electricity from renewable sources contrast thst with U.S. where it’s under a quarter, in UK it’s just over half. Goal of carbon neutrality is 2060. I don’t think people realise how much progress has been made or how quickly.

Freedom House currently scores mainland China 9 out of 100 for political rights and civil liberties and classifies it as “Not Free.” Its press freedom is not merely somewhat worse than America’s or Britain’s. Reporters Without Borders ranks China 178th out of 180 countries in its 2026 World Press Freedom Index. It reports that 121 journalists and other media professionals are imprisoned, the highest number in the world. Britain is ranked 18th.

There is also substantial evidence of arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment. The UN human-rights assessment of Xinjiang found credible allegations of torture or ill-treatment—including beatings, interrogation techniques, sexual violence and coercive medical treatment—and concluded that the scale of arbitrary detention and associated abuses may constitute crimes against humanity.

In January 2026, UN experts described a persistent pattern of alleged state-imposed forced labour involving Uyghurs, Tibetans and other minorities across multiple Chinese provinces.

There is no same-sex marriage or national civil partnership, no comprehensive nationwide protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and LGBT organisations and public advocacy face censorship and organisational restrictions. That is plainly not equivalent to the legal freedoms and family rights available in Britain or most liberal democracies.

Women hold only 26.5% of seats in the National People’s Congress. Women also remain severely underrepresented at the highest levels of Communist Party power.

An authoritarian country does not have to feel like a prison every minute to everyone. Most people in authoritarian states live ordinary lives—working, socialising, travelling and complaining about permitted subjects. The defining issue is what happens when someone crosses the political red lines, attempts to organise independently of the state, or belongs to a group the state has selected for coercive control.

I thought this thread was about China. Turned out it's about the US.
Funny old world innit ?

Its an even funnier world when you realise that some US businesses could still operate in China after the revolution.Take a look at all that empire building during the 90 year stint of the Yangtze naval patrol and the scale of U.S ambitions in 'stabilizing' and 'westernizing' China over that long period and then of course ask why a large segment of rich U.S citizens made/make their fortunes directly from China in a magical cycle of having their gold deposits at Fort Knox backing up the Renminbi via trillions of the good ole Greenbacks sitting in banks in Beijing. Rich 'old money" U.S families and the C.C.P red aristocracy in a supportive partnership of elitist cronyism on backs of the colossal exploitation of Chinese workers.As the ancient English proverb says- 'same a*s different cheek'.

China is the world’s largest CO₂ emitter (about one-third of global emissions), burns more coal than the rest of the world combined, still gets around 55% of its electricity from coal, and continues to build new coal power stations. Whatever progress it is making on renewables, it remains the single largest contributor to global carbon emissions.

are always trying to manage their PR. They want to have their cake and eat it - have a brutal and repressive regime for their own citizens, deploy aggressive expansionist policies overseas, denying other nations their autonomy,

I thought this thread was about China. Turned out it's about the US.

Funny old world innit ?

Define "way ahead of us in renewable energy".

China could generate 3x as much of its power from renewables as we do, but still be way behind us on % of total power generated from renewables, because it is a huge country of at least 20x the size.

I think they are one of the last coal based economies. They have huge reserves which they are not going to leave just because the West has used up all their coal and is getting righteous about carbon.

HS2 might not happen in China, but to claim that large infrastructural projects are without issues is naive . A quick google ( perfectly possible to do outside , China, not so possible inside!) will show that while there have been huge and very expensive projects which have been successful there have also been huge and very expensive projects which have failed miserably or been the cause of terrible accidents and death, and projects completed so poorly because the fear of whistleblowing and the hierarchical nature of command stopped people expressing worries, leading to collapsed dams, flooding, insecure bridges and other disasters. Often hidden from both internal and outside view because they are seen as shameful failures.

And to the poster who upthread says they would like to live in China I would like to know their opinion on the very efficient mobile death vans that the Chinese government uses so effectively to maintain their high ranking in the Regimes That Kill Their Own Citizens Club.

I've spent some significant time working in countries that have significantly different/non democratic political systems.

By and large my view is that generally if you are a normal person going about your business the state is not that intrusive on your life, although you may on occasion be subject to certain injustices with little opportunity for recourse. Engagement with the authorities is something largely to be avoided where possible.

If you choose to raise your head above the parapet (that may include things like criminal activity, engagement in politics or protest etc) then it is a different issue.

As an aside it is also true to say from my experience that people pretty much want the same things the world over. The ability to provide a stable home and food for their families, the idea that they will be cared for in their old age, the idea that their children will be educated and live better lives than they did.

It's probably not surprising that people who have little experience of living in different countries and political systems form their view on what those countries are like to live in from the media, which nearly always tends to be about the negative headlines rather than positive ones.