Speakers: 📢 Carlos Martinez 📢 Chen Weihua 📢 Qiao Collective 📢 Dan Kovalik 📢 Amanda Yee 📢 Ben Chacko 📢 Sara Flounders 📢 Radhika Desai

Register: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-east-is-still-red-book-launch-tickets-686727700037 Stream: https://youtube.com/live/m8IqgNi3n-g?feature=share

This guy is the researcher cited: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/seas/people/academic-staff/david-tobin

At first glance, he seems somewhat legit, but I've never heard of him before. What do we know about this guy, his research, and what's the best way to understand these claims?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/863212

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/863209

Archived version: https://archive.ph/5Ok1c
Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20230731013125/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-66337328

It looks like the creator wanted to win the biggest community name contest.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), an anti-China think tank with ties to weapons manufacturers like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, has produced various articles and an interactive map of China that supposedly lists sites of “forced labor camps” and “destroyed mosques.”

This so-called database has been cited as a source by many articles criticizing China. But like other widely discredited sources — such as the far-right religious extremist Adrian Zenz, known as the architect of the “Uyghur genocide” narrative — the ASPI map contains a plethora of misinformation. This map, dubbed the “Xinjiang Data Project,” has incorrectly listed mosques under renovation as “demolished,” including the Keriya Aitika Mosque in Hotan, Xinjiang.

The renovation of mosques is widely exploited by dishonest reporters looking to spin a story. Renovations of mosques, housing units, cultural sites and virtually every other type of structure are common throughout China, especially in southwestern regions like Xinjiang, where earthquakes are common.

What we saw in Xinjiang were vibrant cities — Kashgar and Urumqi — full of tens of thousands of tourists and a local population of many nationalities. Huge and colorful marketplaces and bazaars, almost all run by Uygur families, stretched for blocks. Busy subway lines crossed the cities. Everywhere we saw food markets brimming with inexpensive produce. Restaurants, numerous cafes and street food stalls were packed with local people. In the evenings, the streets were lively and full.

Numerous international studies, ignored in the Western media, back up our observations.

The illiteracy rate in Xinjiang has fallen to 2.66%, lower than China’s impressive 2.85% national average. Before the 1949 Chinese Revolution, illiteracy was 80% throughout China and more than 90% in Tibet and Xinjiang. Today, 97.51% of small children are in preschool programs. Some 98.82% of the youth are enrolled in senior high schools in Xinjiang. (tinyurl.com/bdfyxn29)

Over the past 60 years, the Uygur population has increased from 2.2 million to about 12 million, and average life expectancy has grown from 30 to 75 years.

Drives through the countryside revealed fully mechanized agriculture with tractors, planters, drone sprayers, irrigation canals and acres of plastic-topped greenhouses. We saw no fields with workers doing hand labor — hoeing, picking or trimming. This is confirmed in numerous reports and many photos. The mechanization of cotton production is at 90%. (tinyurl.com/37s3e7e9)

In Kashgar, the 15th-century Idkah Mosque houses up to 20,000 worshipers. It is only one of the many Islamic centers and mosques that we saw while walking the city streets and in several villages. Tall, slender minarets and dome-shaped roofs seemed to be a part of every block.

We met with Uygur people working in food stalls, small groceries and farms. People of many nationalities are construction workers, truck drivers, animal herders, veterinarians, teachers and retirees. Many of them described how government subsidies and training programs had dramatically improved their living conditions and life opportunities.

ETA: webinar on the subject coming on June 28.

Learn Chinese by exploring the relationships between characters alongside examples that illustrate their use. To get started, click any hanzi or word in the diagram. You can search for hanzi, Chinese words, or English words. You're viewing Simplified characters. You can choose from Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Cantonese, or the HSK wordlist in the menu in the upper left. You can zoom, drag, and re-arrange the diagram however you please. Interested in how words, not just characters, flow together? Try the Show Flow button. HanziGraph is free and open source. Check out the code on GitHub. See the FAQ for more information.

The IAC thanks the Chinese translator, Associate Professor Jia Jun of the Center for Modern World History, School of History, Beijing Normal University and Luminaire Books, a division of Shanghai Century Publishing Co., Ltd. for this timely contribution.

Significantly, “Metal of Dishonor,” published in 1997 and reissued in 1999, played an important role in gathering a great deal of the suppressed information on the devastating impact of DU’s low-level radiation. The book, its study guide and documentary, “Poison DUst,” were part of an international campaign to ban DU weapons.

The statement calling for the ban on the use of these weapons had tens of thousands of signers. It was translated into many languages and demonstrated the powerful campaign of antiwar forces exposing the impact of the use of these horrific weapons by Washington in the U.S. 1991 war in Iraq and the 1999 U.S./ NATO war to break up Yugoslavia.

The book is an alarming exposé of the dangers of the Pentagon’s DU weapons; it issued a dire warning about their devastating effects on soldiers and civilians. In it, scientists, Gulf War veterans, and leaders of environmental, anti-nuclear, anti-military and community movements discuss the connection of DU to Gulf War Syndrome and the then-new generation of radioactive conventional weapons.

A comprehensive explanation of the recent fake 'Chinese spy base', and why it's being peddled right now.

US-backed news outlets love to exaggerate and complain about China's supposed anti-LGBT policies that don't actually exist. There's some really good discussion around this on r/Sino Reddit.

Translated: Statement by Ambassador Zhang Jun at the Security Council Open Debate on Climate and Security

China welcomes Minister Muhairi for presiding over today's meeting and thanks Under-Secretary-General Lacroix, Mr. Santos and Ms. Kedri for their briefings.

The challenges of climate change to human life and the development of all countries are becoming more and more prominent, and it has become more urgent and important for the international community to unite and collaborate to address climate change. China supports the international community to adhere to the main channel of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities, equity and respective capabilities, strengthen policy coordination, increase support for developing countries in terms of finance, technology and capacity building, fully and effectively implement the Convention and its Paris Agreement, and promote continuous new progress in global climate governance. China supports the important role of the United Nations in addressing climate change and fully supports the UAE in hosting the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and believes that under the leadership of President Sultan Al Jaber, the conference will achieve important positive results.

Regarding the relationship between climate and security, the Council has met several times to discuss it, and it is clear that there are differences of opinion that still need to be explored in depth. On the one hand, we have seen that in developing countries with weak climate resilience, extreme weather and natural disasters are frequent, seriously undermining development gains, exacerbating resource tensions and triggering communal conflicts. At the same time, from a broader perspective, the link between climate change and security risks is very complex, and the exact transmission mechanism between the two is not yet fully understood. It is not scientific to deny that there is a link between climate and security, nor is it scientific to generalize climate issues and talk about the security implications of climate change in isolation from specific contexts. The key is to do the right thing in the right way.

To this end, we advocate that the Security Council should make specific analysis of the relationship between climate and security, taking into account its own mandate, established agenda and specific country situations, as well as the resources and means at its disposal. We should adhere to a problem-oriented approach, identify the root causes of security risks, and propose practical and effective solutions. Haiti's recent floods have exacerbated the humanitarian situation, which is somewhat linked to climate change, but the underlying challenges in Haiti remain gang violence and political corruption. Iraq faces ecological challenges such as water scarcity, drought, and desertification, which are also somewhat related to climate change, but the primary challenge in Iraq is the severe consequences of foreign invasion. Years of warfare, including the use of depleted uranium munitions by outside forces, have led to irreparable degradation of Iraq's ecological environment, and the legacy of war has rendered large areas of land unusable. If these root causes are ignored in the work of the Security Council, it is unlikely that the right direction will be taken to solve the problem and that it will have the desired effect.

It is also worth considering why the economic and social consequences of climate extremes are different in North America and the Pacific Islands. It is clear that there is a huge difference in the ability of countries to cope with climate change, and behind it is a huge gap in the level of development. Therefore, the most fundamental way to interrupt the transmission of climate change to security risks is to start with development, help developing countries cross the development divide and improve their climate resilience and response capacity. In this regard, the Security Council should not become a talk shop and pursue "political correctness", but should be down-to-earth and do something practical for developing countries to address security risks in accordance with its own mandate.

First, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Paris Agreement are the most important guidelines for addressing climate change. The basic consensus that is clear from the Convention is that developed countries have a historical responsibility for global climate change. They are supposed to take the lead in significantly reducing emissions and achieve net zero or even negative carbon emissions earlier. Unfortunately, since last year, some developed countries have regressed in their energy policies, and fossil energy consumption and carbon emissions have increased rather than decreased, a disturbing situation that deserves the Council's close attention. This also raises the question that if climate change constitutes a potential security threat, does the negative retrogression in the implementation of emission reduction obligations, including unilateral withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, also constitute a threat to international peace and security? Can the Security Council take enforcement measures to correct these negative behaviors as authorized by the UN Charter? This deserves our in-depth consideration.

Second, inadequate financing is the most important bottleneck for global climate governance. Developed countries have a lot of historical debts on climate finance and need to fill the $100 billion annual gap as soon as possible and set new collective quantitative funding targets after 2025. Last year's Sharm el-Sheikh Conference (COP27) established the "Loss and Damage Fund", and developing countries are eagerly awaiting the fund to be operationalized as soon as possible. The relevant UN agencies should play a role in promoting the implementation of the fund, including the establishment of a mechanism to monitor the implementation of climate finance and to promote the translation of political commitments into concrete actions by developed countries. The Security Council has a role to play and should also make a strong voice in these areas. At the same time, the Security Council should reflect its role through action. As a first step, it can consider authorizing missions in countries affected by climate change to collect information on the annual receipt of climate financing by developed countries and to brief the Security Council on a regular basis. Of course, the missions themselves should also set a benchmark and become a role model in energy conservation and emission reduction, and contribute to climate action in the host countries.

Third, the green protectionism of developed countries is worthy of caution. Under the pretext of promoting their own energy transition, some countries have invested hundreds of billions of dollars in high subsidies for their manufacturing industries through various unfair bills and administrative initiatives, while imposing trade barriers against the green industries of other countries and cutting off developing countries' access to green technologies. These actions blatantly violate WTO rules, disrupt global green industry and supply chains, undermine countries' efforts to achieve sustainable development goals, and run counter to the international community's collective efforts to address climate change. They also make the pretty slogans of the countries concerned look pale and hypocritical. The Council has a role to play and should firmly oppose such acts and practices. Green protectionism has become a chain that binds developing countries to the low end of the global value chain, and another chain that clamps down on the development and stability of developing countries is illegal unilateral sanctions. Many sanctioned countries have difficulty in obtaining even the most basic means of living and production, let alone improving their ability to cope with climate change. The Security Council should listen to the voices of the people in the affected countries, pay great attention to the climate and security risks caused by green protectionism and illegal unilateral sanctions, and dare to take targeted measures to uphold fairness and justice.

Madam President.

The ecological environment is the foundation of human survival and development. China upholds the green development concept of "green water and green mountains are golden mountains" and insists on the Chinese modernization path of harmonious coexistence between human beings and nature. Over the past decade, China has taken a responsible attitude and implemented its commitments with actions, reducing CO2 emissions per unit of GDP by 34.4 percent, building the world's largest carbon market, and vigorously carrying out reforestation and sand control, making great achievements in ecological construction and environmental protection that have attracted world attention. China has actively participated in South-South cooperation on climate change and provided support and assistance to other developing countries, especially small island states, LDCs and African countries, in addressing climate change, which is highly appreciated by the majority of developing countries. China is willing to continue to work together with all parties to promote the construction of a fair and reasonable global climate governance system with win-win cooperation, so as to jointly build a clean and beautiful home on earth.

Thank you, Madam President.

"The software is 100 % free, open source, and in the public domain. You may do with it what you like: use it, improve it, change it, publish an improved version, even use it within a commercial product. English is not my mother tongue - so please forgive me any mistakes.

▶ Abstract - [↑]

    Learning with Texts (LWT) is a tool for Language Learning, inspired by:
        Stephen Krashen's principles in Second Language Acquisition,
        Steve Kaufmann's LingQ System and
        ideas from Khatzumoto, published at "AJATT - All Japanese All The Time".
    You define languages you want to learn and import texts you want to use for learning.
    While listening to the audio (optional), you read the text, save, review and test "terms" (words or multi word expressions, 2 to 9 words).
    In new texts all your previously saved words and expressions are displayed according to their current learn statuses, tooltips show translations and romanizations (readings), editing, changing the status, dictionary lookup, etc. is just a click away.
    Import of terms in TSV/CSV format, export in TSV format, and export to Anki (prepared for cloze tests), are also possible."

"Essentially I have just taken the Shuowen's data on the components for each character and run it through a program to generate the trees implied by this data. I have then translated the explanations from the Shuowen and from later commentaries by traditional Chinese sources for each character, and added character and word definitions. The dictionary does not contain original research, but rather it is a demonstration that computerized cross-referencing now makes it possible to more fully implement Xu Shen's original vision for Chinese lexicography. I hope that other printed and electronic dictionaries will similarly be designed to further his vision.

Note that this website was created in 1996 before standard browsers could display Chinese characters, so instead images are used for all of the Chinese characters. I apologize that this makes it impossible to copy and paste from the website. "

Anyone who needs to remember things in their daily life can benefit from Anki. Since it is content-agnostic and supports images, audio, videos and scientific markup (via LaTeX), the possibilities are endless. For example:

Learning a language
Studying for medical and law exams
Memorizing people's names and faces
Brushing up on geography
Mastering long poems
Even practicing guitar chords!

The locomotive number is Mao's birth year, which is why it has this plaque!

You know, after illegally occupying it for 100 years, holding exactly zero elections during that occupation, discriminating against the native Chinese population there and favouring British migrants, all after getting literally all of #China addicted on opium and then strong arming them to sign Hong Kong away.

Yes, you respect Hong Kong's autonomy SOOOOO much, UK.

Also, you want to talk autonomy? The majority of HK citizens support the PRC. Look at their election results, not parliament representation because First Past the Post is trash, but the raw numbers on who voted for what party there.

Also also, the majority of Hong Kong citizens DESPISED the protests. It massively exacerbated the COVID-19 outbreaks there (remember, this was in 2020, height of the pandemic) because protesters were literally breaking into hospitals and their quarantine areas. The metro and road systems were almost entirely blocked by protesters so you couldn't go anywhere, windows were smashed, graffiti, various other vandalism, fires, schools and universities occupied forcing classes to stop, and any PRC supporters were violently assaulted.

Like, people in the US screech about the BLM protests (which, at least they were protesting an actual issue), or much more related to what happened in HK, the January 6 Nazi Extravaganza. Or in Canada, the Trucker's convoy. Well, all of those were like lover's quarrels compared to the HK protests, which also happened in a tiny city territory where you couldn't escape, and which was also many times denser than anywhere in the US. But as long as it's not in your home, then freedom (American style "freedom") over literally all else, right?

But you didn't see those people being interviewed by Western media.

I'm trying to learn Chinese and would like some books in Chinese to read. Preferably, books used to teach young students, since I'm still not very proficient. They don't need to go in depth, superficial books are fine, as I have no familiarity with the subject! 谢谢！