Comments on: shadow of the Opium Wars… http://www.ricardopinto.com/blog/2009/12/29/shadow-of-the-opium-wars/ the blog of author Ricardo Pinto Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:32:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: ricardo http://www.ricardopinto.com/blog/2009/12/29/shadow-of-the-opium-wars/comment-page-1/#comment-961 ricardo Wed, 13 Jan 2010 08:59:35 +0000 http://www.ricardopinto.com/blog/?p=1359#comment-961 Ah, yes, but I expressed it the way I did to indicate the delicacy of the situation - the subtlety... I don't understand your point about the Brits - since the very opposite seems true. During the Opium Wars, it was the Chinese who had 'to take it'... this time it seems the it is we who have 'to take it'... Don't you think that many writer's are outsiders in their own society? If they weren't, how could they get far enough away from their society to write about it? Ah, yes, but I expressed it the way I did to indicate the delicacy of the situation – the subtlety…

I don’t understand your point about the Brits – since the very opposite seems true. During the Opium Wars, it was the Chinese who had ‘to take it’… this time it seems the it is we who have ‘to take it’…

Don’t you think that many writer’s are outsiders in their own society? If they weren’t, how could they get far enough away from their society to write about it?

]]> By: ricardo http://www.ricardopinto.com/blog/2009/12/29/shadow-of-the-opium-wars/comment-page-1/#comment-960 ricardo Wed, 13 Jan 2010 08:55:06 +0000 http://www.ricardopinto.com/blog/?p=1359#comment-960 I wasn't using history to justify anything - rather I was attempting to show that there are certain political realities here that the outrage against this seems to fail to take into account. If this issue were about China's systematic abuse of human rights, then why is the outrage merely about this one victim of the death penalty? I would suggest that this has all to do with our own internal politics - not that of China. So my point was really that the West sees things from its point of view: the Chinese from their point of view. I was demonstrating historical parallels to this phenomenon and that this situation really has nothing whatsoever to do with morality or human rights, but politics... Whether China is justified in using the death penalty seems to me an entirely different issue... I wasn’t using history to justify anything – rather I was attempting to show that there are certain political realities here that the outrage against this seems to fail to take into account. If this issue were about China’s systematic abuse of human rights, then why is the outrage merely about this one victim of the death penalty? I would suggest that this has all to do with our own internal politics – not that of China. So my point was really that the West sees things from its point of view: the Chinese from their point of view. I was demonstrating historical parallels to this phenomenon and that this situation really has nothing whatsoever to do with morality or human rights, but politics… Whether China is justified in using the death penalty seems to me an entirely different issue…

]]> By: lowly http://www.ricardopinto.com/blog/2009/12/29/shadow-of-the-opium-wars/comment-page-1/#comment-957 lowly Mon, 11 Jan 2010 03:29:02 +0000 http://www.ricardopinto.com/blog/?p=1359#comment-957 Lol, you threw me with "... position not uncomplicated". I reduce that to 'not simple' then 'complicated, so the Chinese position is complicated. But then it isn't complicated, is it? The Brits are doing the same thing they've done in the past and we don't have to take it this time around. Pretty simple. The above isn't actually what caught my eye about the post, which was that you stepped back and looked at the situation from the Chinese side. Objective folks aren't really appreciated, can't be more than 20% of the population that can step back like that. That'll make you an outsider in your own society. Lol, you threw me with “… position not uncomplicated”. I reduce that to ‘not simple’ then ‘complicated, so the Chinese position is complicated.

But then it isn’t complicated, is it? The Brits are doing the same thing they’ve done in the past and we don’t have to take it this time around. Pretty simple.

The above isn’t actually what caught my eye about the post, which was that you stepped back and looked at the situation from the Chinese side. Objective folks aren’t really appreciated, can’t be more than 20% of the population that can step back like that. That’ll make you an outsider in your own society.

]]> By: Robert J http://www.ricardopinto.com/blog/2009/12/29/shadow-of-the-opium-wars/comment-page-1/#comment-951 Robert J Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:09:24 +0000 http://www.ricardopinto.com/blog/?p=1359#comment-951 I don't think we can accept historical pretexts as justification for China's deliberate and consistent human rights violations. China may well have had a bum deal at the hands of the British but they are not the only ones. Africa, the Indian sub-continent and indeed many members of the Commonwealth were exploited purely for financial gain by the British; not all kill thousands of people each year for committing crimes. Let's not forget that drug smuggling/dealing is only one of a number of crimes for which China routinely executes people. When you say the issue is not uncomplicated, the subtext here is that you are implying that the historical context must be understood. If that is so, where is the historical context for the other crimes China executes people for? What about the Ethnic Uighurs executed for subversion? What about the hundreds of their citizens put to death for corruption? And let's not forget those executed aiding Tibet border crossings, a statutory crime in China which is punishable by death. Your statement is inflammatory and naive Ricardo. The issue is about the country's systematic abuse of human rights by a regime which believes it can act with impunity, not about one man being executed for drug dealing. Drug dealing is heinous but searching through a country’s history does not make me understand any better why they want to kill people for it. I don’t think we can accept historical pretexts as justification for China’s deliberate and consistent human rights violations. China may well have had a bum deal at the hands of the British but they are not the only ones. Africa, the Indian sub-continent and indeed many members of the Commonwealth were exploited purely for financial gain by the British; not all kill thousands of people each year for committing crimes. Let’s not forget that drug smuggling/dealing is only one of a number of crimes for which China routinely executes people. When you say the issue is not uncomplicated, the subtext here is that you are implying that the historical context must be understood. If that is so, where is the historical context for the other crimes China executes people for? What about the Ethnic Uighurs executed for subversion? What about the hundreds of their citizens put to death for corruption? And let’s not forget those executed aiding Tibet border crossings, a statutory crime in China which is punishable by death. Your statement is inflammatory and naive Ricardo. The issue is about the country’s systematic abuse of human rights by a regime which believes it can act with impunity, not about one man being executed for drug dealing. Drug dealing is heinous but searching through a country’s history does not make me understand any better why they want to kill people for it.

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