CEO sacked.

State pressure cranked up on the airline.

Reportedly pilots are being fired for being seen on the wrong side of the issue.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... oOj9WI3siT

Looks like the CEO has resigned..

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49367949

This is going to end with PLA tanks rolling into Hong Kong imho.

A lot of Expats must be frantically working on an exit strategy - doesn't look like much of a future there.

Likely going full commie there soon.

Or the start of a Chinese uprising towards democracy, look at what happened in the Middle East.

fish4life wrote: ↑Fri Aug 16, 2019 3:18 pm Or the start of a Chinese uprising towards democracy, look at what happened in the Middle East.

Democracy.

Like in Libya where the ‘western funded moderates’ sodomized Gaddafi with a knife after he threatened to dump the US petrodollar in favour of a pan-African currency based on the Libyan golden Dinar ?
Sure is a democratic paradise now ...

daedalusx wrote: ↑Fri Aug 16, 2019 5:20 pm

fish4life wrote: ↑Fri Aug 16, 2019 3:18 pm Or the start of a Chinese uprising towards democracy, look at what happened in the Middle East.

Democracy.

Like in Libya where the ‘western funded moderates’ sodomized Gaddafi with a knife after he threatened to dump the US petrodollar in favour of a pan-African currency based on the Libyan golden Dinar ?
Sure is a democratic paradise now ...

Uprising towards democracy, I never said it was successful

Egypt is another fine example. Interesting isn't it, that while the "moderates" get a lot of attention and Western support it is more often than not the more conservative elements who have the wherewithal to organize themselves and their supporters to get elected - and by conservative elements in Egypt that was specifically the Muslim Brotherhood.

The same can be said of Syria, it's all well and good to be pro-democracy but it doesn't mean a damned thing if you can't galvanize the population at large. Sometimes a real piece of shit dictator is a better leader than a more "respectable" elder statesman, when it comes to keeping the locals in check. Iraq, Egypt, Libya, and more than a few other countries prove the point well.

The question is, what will the reaction be if Xi decides to let the PLA loose in Hong Kong - because it's going to be really difficult to cover that sort of thing up, versus say pretending all is well in the Muslim majority region(s) or that whole Tiananmen Square thing well, you get the drift.

The Chinese strive to maintain face at all costs. They are truly screwed with HK: if they don't intervene forcefully they will lose face at home. If they pull another Tiananmen Square, they will massively lose face internationally and they know it.

IMO the only reason the tanks haven't rolled yet is that second factor, combined with needing time to get influential mainland sympathizers and financial concerns out.

Interesting times indeed.

Also interesting how so many "Chinese" locales have no interest in being ruled by China: HK, Tibet, Taiwan...maybe Beijing should take a hint.

complexintentions wrote: ↑Sat Aug 17, 2019 6:11 am
IMO the only reason the tanks haven't rolled yet is that second factor, combined with needing time to get influential mainland sympathizers and financial concerns out.

Interesting times indeed.

complexintentions wrote: ↑Sat Aug 17, 2019 6:11 am The Chinese strive to maintain face at all costs. They are truly screwed with HK: if they don't intervene forcefully they will lose face at home. If they pull another Tiananmen Square, they will massively lose face internationally and they know it.

If they do nothing there will be a spate of uprisings across China - which is not a monoculture but is composed of multiple ethnic groups.

Chinese value human life differently than we do in Western Culture.

For those of you not old enough to remember:-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Tian ... e_protests

Some background on the current protests:-

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/it-will-end ... eally-want

Takes real courage to stand up to Beijing knowing what they've done in the past.

altiplano wrote: ↑Fri Aug 16, 2019 6:19 am CEO sacked.

State pressure cranked up on the airline.

Reportedly pilots are being fired for being seen on the wrong side of the issue.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... oOj9WI3siT

Ahh, point of order - they were on the right side of the issue! Its the crony capitalist dictators in Beijing who are on the wrong side...

Obviously.

Not from their point of view, NS.

I'm also not so sure our form of "democracy" on these shores is that much different, or superior, than China's.

North Shore wrote: ↑Sat Aug 17, 2019 6:38 pm

altiplano wrote: ↑Fri Aug 16, 2019 6:19 am CEO sacked.

State pressure cranked up on the airline.

Reportedly pilots are being fired for being seen on the wrong side of the issue.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... oOj9WI3siT

Ahh, point of order - they were on the right side of the issue! Its the crony capitalist dictators in Beijing who are on the wrong side...

If you get fired for having an opinion, you were obviously on the wrong side.

rookiepilot wrote: ↑Sun Aug 18, 2019 5:46 am Not from their point of view, NS.

I'm also not so sure our form of "democracy" on these shores is that much different, or superior, than China's.

We don't have to worry about getting run over by Tanks! (At least not yet).

I agree things are less than ideal - but it's still better than the alternatives imho.

rookiepilot wrote: ↑Sun Aug 18, 2019 5:46 am Not from their point of view, NS.

I'm also not so sure our form of "democracy" on these shores is that much different, or superior, than China's.

What an incredibly ignorant thing to say.

Eric Janson wrote: ↑Sun Aug 25, 2019 4:09 am

rookiepilot wrote: ↑Sun Aug 18, 2019 5:46 am Not from their point of view, NS.

I'm also not so sure our form of "democracy" on these shores is that much different, or superior, than China's.

We don't have to worry about getting run over by Tanks! (At least not yet).

I agree things are less than ideal - but it's still better than the alternatives imho.

We are a lot less democratic than we appear, and I think you're smart enough to know that.

The chances of massive protests in NA, put down hard, has never been greater in recent history.

Anyone who thinks different is just naive.

Bottom line, you can say what you like about your leader, whether it is Trump or Trudeau(in fact you can make millions creating a movie about Bush) and live a decent-life. Just try doing that with the leader of China as a citizen of China and see what happens to you. I'll take what we've got any day of the week. People forget these things.

What did Churchill say about Democracy again?