America needs to out-compete China, not ban it like they did with Huawei and now with TikTok. They can call it what ever they want (national security or national whatever) but if US companies had a better product then Americans would use it. Sad image for the US.
I agree. Ban if you have good reason to ban. Show evidence and act accordingly.
'Suspecting' this or that could happen and throwing everything under a 'national security' umbrella is doomed to failure.
That failure itself would be OK if it only impacted the country taking the action.
The problem is when you start demanding others follow suit (as the US does with its 'allies').
It won't work with places like China. Even now, Blinken is in China telling them what to do with their Russian interests - on their own soil. That is crazy.
Would US politicians accept someone from China landing in Washington and threatening action if they didn't get their way?
Sadly, US interests (and with it, influence) are being impacted by foolhardy decisions of a few China hawks with influence.
Non-US companies are wisely seeking to 'de-Americanise' for fear of being dumped onto some entity list, or worse, being required to stop doing business with someone simply because a small part of US technology is used in their equipment. All unilaterally.
The best route from the get go was to out-compete/out-innovate rivals, not 'ban' them for reasons with zero supporting evidence.
The Tik Tok situation is more paranoia than anything else.
If you wrote this post in 2005 I’d have agreed with you. Now I view this post as hopelessly naive. Xi greenlit the Ukraine invasion, believing that his forever friend would win quickly, setting the stage for a Taiwan invasion. That’s not paranoia — it happened, and we have witnessed the worst horrors of war in Europe since the Nazis.
Ths CCP is a malignant force in the world. It must be contained. Being an apologist for them is a stain that you can’t wash out.
It wasn't Xi who greenlit anything for the Ukraine invasion. That much is very clear.
It's more probable that careless US foreign policy had more to do with that (over decades) and that is the case here with Huawei, entity lists and Tiktok and of course the Taiwan and general semiconductor situation. It was naive to think Russia wouldn't take action (be it military or otherwise).
And for, as ugly as war is, sadly the Ukraine situation isn't the collection of worst horrors since the Nazis. I'd say that goes to the Yugoslav wars.
America needs to out-compete China, not ban it like they did with Huawei and now with TikTok. They can call it what ever they want (national security or national whatever) but if US companies had a better product then Americans would use it. Sad image for the US.
I agree. Ban if you have good reason to ban. Show evidence and act accordingly.
'Suspecting' this or that could happen and throwing everything under a 'national security' umbrella is doomed to failure.
That failure itself would be OK if it only impacted the country taking the action.
The problem is when you start demanding others follow suit (as the US does with its 'allies').
It won't work with places like China. Even now, Blinken is in China telling them what to do with their Russian interests - on their own soil. That is crazy.
Would US politicians accept someone from China landing in Washington and threatening action if they didn't get their way?
Sadly, US interests (and with it, influence) are being impacted by foolhardy decisions of a few China hawks with influence.
Non-US companies are wisely seeking to 'de-Americanise' for fear of being dumped onto some entity list, or worse, being required to stop doing business with someone simply because a small part of US technology is used in their equipment. All unilaterally.
The best route from the get go was to out-compete/out-innovate rivals, not 'ban' them for reasons with zero supporting evidence.
The Tik Tok situation is more paranoia than anything else.
If you wrote this post in 2005 I’d have agreed with you. Now I view this post as hopelessly naive. Xi greenlit the Ukraine invasion, believing that his forever friend would win quickly, setting the stage for a Taiwan invasion. That’s not paranoia — it happened, and we have witnessed the worst horrors of war in Europe since the Nazis.
Ths CCP is a malignant force in the world. It must be contained. Being an apologist for them is a stain that you can’t wash out.
It wasn't Xi who greenlit anything for the Ukraine invasion. That much is very clear.
It's more probable that careless US foreign policy had more to do with that (over decades) and that is the case here with Huawei, entity lists and Tiktok and of course the Taiwan and general semiconductor situation. It was naive to think Russia wouldn't take action (be it military or otherwise).
And for, as ugly as war is, sadly the Ukraine situation isn't the collection of worst horrors since the Nazis. I'd say that goes to the Yugoslav wars.
Further evidence that you haven’t been paying attention.
America needs to out-compete China, not ban it like they did with Huawei and now with TikTok. They can call it what ever they want (national security or national whatever) but if US companies had a better product then Americans would use it. Sad image for the US.
I agree. Ban if you have good reason to ban. Show evidence and act accordingly.
'Suspecting' this or that could happen and throwing everything under a 'national security' umbrella is doomed to failure.
That failure itself would be OK if it only impacted the country taking the action.
The problem is when you start demanding others follow suit (as the US does with its 'allies').
It won't work with places like China. Even now, Blinken is in China telling them what to do with their Russian interests - on their own soil. That is crazy.
Would US politicians accept someone from China landing in Washington and threatening action if they didn't get their way?
Sadly, US interests (and with it, influence) are being impacted by foolhardy decisions of a few China hawks with influence.
Non-US companies are wisely seeking to 'de-Americanise' for fear of being dumped onto some entity list, or worse, being required to stop doing business with someone simply because a small part of US technology is used in their equipment. All unilaterally.
The best route from the get go was to out-compete/out-innovate rivals, not 'ban' them for reasons with zero supporting evidence.
The Tik Tok situation is more paranoia than anything else.
If you wrote this post in 2005 I’d have agreed with you. Now I view this post as hopelessly naive. Xi greenlit the Ukraine invasion, believing that his forever friend would win quickly, setting the stage for a Taiwan invasion. That’s not paranoia — it happened, and we have witnessed the worst horrors of war in Europe since the Nazis.
Ths CCP is a malignant force in the world. It must be contained. Being an apologist for them is a stain that you can’t wash out.
It wasn't Xi who greenlit anything for the Ukraine invasion. That much is very clear.
It's more probable that careless US foreign policy had more to do with that (over decades) and that is the case here with Huawei, entity lists and Tiktok and of course the Taiwan and general semiconductor situation. It was naive to think Russia wouldn't take action (be it military or otherwise).
And for, as ugly as war is, sadly the Ukraine situation isn't the collection of worst horrors since the Nazis. I'd say that goes to the Yugoslav wars.
EU to tell Beijing of plan to blacklist more Chinese businesses for breaching Russia sanctions
Purpose is to enlist China’s help in ending the companies’ activities that allegedly violate sanctions on supplying products with military applications to Moscow
Discussion will come as a series of events this week, from charges of espionage and hacking to raids on businesses seeking proof of state subsidies, pressure bilateral ties
When the EU sanctions China, I thought that you would be more supportive. Evidently not. The war in Yugoslavia was a civil war, and while 100,000, more or less, died, Ukraine was invaded by Russia, and to date, there are over 500,000 casualties, including killed and wounded, not to mention Ukrainians who have been forced to move to Russia, including children.
By far, the "collection of worst horrors since the Nazis", was likely the "Great Leap Forward";
The Great Leap Forward was an economic and social campaign within the People's Republic of China(PRC) from 1958 to 1962, led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Party ChairmanMao Zedonglaunched the campaign to reconstruct the country from an agrarian economy into an industrialized societythrough the formation of people's communes. Mao decreed that efforts to multiply grain yields and bring industry to the countryside should be increased. Local officials were fearful of Anti-Rightist Campaigns and they competed to fulfill or over-fulfill quotas which were based on Mao's exaggerated claims, collecting non-existent "surpluses" and leaving farmers to starve to death. Higher officials did not dare to report the economic disaster which was being caused by these policies, and national officials, blaming bad weather for the decline in food output, took little or no action. Millions of people died in China during the Great Leap, with estimates ranging from 15 to 55 million, making the Great Chinese Famine the largest or second-largest[1] famine in human history.[2][3][4]
You supporting Xi's PRC is certainly on message for you, and the fact that the U.S. sanctions the PRC for supporting Russia is the minimum to be expected. Blaming the U.S. for Russia invading Ukraine is certainly on message for you as well, though it certainly isn't supported by the facts.
America needs to out-compete China, not ban it like they did with Huawei and now with TikTok. They can call it what ever they want (national security or national whatever) but if US companies had a better product then Americans would use it. Sad image for the US.
I agree. Ban if you have good reason to ban. Show evidence and act accordingly.
'Suspecting' this or that could happen and throwing everything under a 'national security' umbrella is doomed to failure.
That failure itself would be OK if it only impacted the country taking the action.
The problem is when you start demanding others follow suit (as the US does with its 'allies').
It won't work with places like China. Even now, Blinken is in China telling them what to do with their Russian interests - on their own soil. That is crazy.
Would US politicians accept someone from China landing in Washington and threatening action if they didn't get their way?
Sadly, US interests (and with it, influence) are being impacted by foolhardy decisions of a few China hawks with influence.
Non-US companies are wisely seeking to 'de-Americanise' for fear of being dumped onto some entity list, or worse, being required to stop doing business with someone simply because a small part of US technology is used in their equipment. All unilaterally.
The best route from the get go was to out-compete/out-innovate rivals, not 'ban' them for reasons with zero supporting evidence.
Interesting that a year is allowed for a sale to happen. Let’s see, that puts it after the election. Biden needs those Tik Tock voters. Then if reelected he will pull the plug on his voters.
Interesting that a year is allowed for a sale to happen. Let’s see, that puts it after the election. Biden needs those Tik Tock voters. Then if reelected he will pull the plug on his voters.
Tha's a laughable take. Tik Tok users isn't going to decide the Presidential Election.
America needs to out-compete China, not ban it like they did with Huawei and now with TikTok. They can call it what ever they want (national security or national whatever) but if US companies had a better product then Americans would use it. Sad image for the US.
I agree. Ban if you have good reason to ban. Show evidence and act accordingly.
'Suspecting' this or that could happen and throwing everything under a 'national security' umbrella is doomed to failure.
That failure itself would be OK if it only impacted the country taking the action.
The problem is when you start demanding others follow suit (as the US does with its 'allies').
It won't work with places like China. Even now, Blinken is in China telling them what to do with their Russian interests - on their own soil. That is crazy.
Would US politicians accept someone from China landing in Washington and threatening action if they didn't get their way?
Sadly, US interests (and with it, influence) are being impacted by foolhardy decisions of a few China hawks with influence.
Non-US companies are wisely seeking to 'de-Americanise' for fear of being dumped onto some entity list, or worse, being required to stop doing business with someone simply because a small part of US technology is used in their equipment. All unilaterally.
The best route from the get go was to out-compete/out-innovate rivals, not 'ban' them for reasons with zero supporting evidence.
I guess American companies are not capable of creating a competitive platform offering the same features? Don’t wait for this brain dead time-waster to be forced out, get its domestic replacement out there now, then shame, induce, or appeal to the “patriotism” of TTers to migrate over. Hell, Trump could single handedly move his sheeple over in days.
The problem isn't the development of a competitive platform, but the 'network effect' of having a large audience. Does anyone remember Google Hangouts? In purely technical respects, it was far superior to Facebook. But it never took off because people won't move to it since their 'friends' are not on it. Chicken/egg problem. Facebook now faces much the same problem with Threads - the X/Twitter competitor. While more successful than Google's Hangout - probably because it leveraged its Snapchat and FB audiences - it still hasn't taken out X/Twitter.
Point taken, but with no alternative, accounts should move pretty quickly.
America needs to out-compete China, not ban it like they did with Huawei and now with TikTok. They can call it what ever they want (national security or national whatever) but if US companies had a better product then Americans would use it. Sad image for the US.
It can be tough to compete with an opponent who cheats. Government subsidies, product dumping, etc.
The Ukrainian Air Force is using iPads, or similar tablets in the cockpits of its Soviet-era jets to enable rapid integration of modern Western air-to-ground weapons — something that TWZpredicted back in 2022. This has been confirmed by Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Dr. William LaPlante. While many questions remain about the tablet and how it exactly works, there’s now footage showing it fitted in cockpits during combat (or at least live-fire training) missions.
America needs to out-compete China, not ban it like they did with Huawei and now with TikTok. They can call it what ever they want (national security or national whatever) but if US companies had a better product then Americans would use it. Sad image for the US.
I agree. Ban if you have good reason to ban. Show evidence and act accordingly.
'Suspecting' this or that could happen and throwing everything under a 'national security' umbrella is doomed to failure.
That failure itself would be OK if it only impacted the country taking the action.
The problem is when you start demanding others follow suit (as the US does with its 'allies').
It won't work with places like China. Even now, Blinken is in China telling them what to do with their Russian interests - on their own soil. That is crazy.
Would US politicians accept someone from China landing in Washington and threatening action if they didn't get their way?
Sadly, US interests (and with it, influence) are being impacted by foolhardy decisions of a few China hawks with influence.
Non-US companies are wisely seeking to 'de-Americanise' for fear of being dumped onto some entity list, or worse, being required to stop doing business with someone simply because a small part of US technology is used in their equipment. All unilaterally.
The best route from the get go was to out-compete/out-innovate rivals, not 'ban' them for reasons with zero supporting evidence.
The Tik Tok situation is more paranoia than anything else.
If you wrote this post in 2005 I’d have agreed with you. Now I view this post as hopelessly naive. Xi greenlit the Ukraine invasion, believing that his forever friend would win quickly, setting the stage for a Taiwan invasion. That’s not paranoia — it happened, and we have witnessed the worst horrors of war in Europe since the Nazis.
Ths CCP is a malignant force in the world. It must be contained. Being an apologist for them is a stain that you can’t wash out.
It wasn't Xi who greenlit anything for the Ukraine invasion. That much is very clear.
It's more probable that careless US foreign policy had more to do with that (over decades) and that is the case here with Huawei, entity lists and Tiktok and of course the Taiwan and general semiconductor situation. It was naive to think Russia wouldn't take action (be it military or otherwise).
And for, as ugly as war is, sadly the Ukraine situation isn't the collection of worst horrors since the Nazis. I'd say that goes to the Yugoslav wars.
EU to tell Beijing of plan to blacklist more Chinese businesses for breaching Russia sanctions
Purpose is to enlist China’s help in ending the companies’ activities that allegedly violate sanctions on supplying products with military applications to Moscow
Discussion will come as a series of events this week, from charges of espionage and hacking to raids on businesses seeking proof of state subsidies, pressure bilateral ties
When the EU sanctions China, I thought that you would be more supportive. Evidently not. The war in Yugoslavia was a civil war, and while 100,000, more or less, died, Ukraine was invaded by Russia, and to date, there are over 500,000 casualties, including killed and wounded, not to mention Ukrainians who have been forced to move to Russia, including children.
By far, the "collection of worst horrors since the Nazis", was likely the "Great Leap Forward";
The Great Leap Forward was an economic and social campaign within the People's Republic of China(PRC) from 1958 to 1962, led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Party ChairmanMao Zedonglaunched the campaign to reconstruct the country from an agrarian economy into an industrialized societythrough the formation of people's communes. Mao decreed that efforts to multiply grain yields and bring industry to the countryside should be increased. Local officials were fearful of Anti-Rightist Campaigns and they competed to fulfill or over-fulfill quotas which were based on Mao's exaggerated claims, collecting non-existent "surpluses" and leaving farmers to starve to death. Higher officials did not dare to report the economic disaster which was being caused by these policies, and national officials, blaming bad weather for the decline in food output, took little or no action. Millions of people died in China during the Great Leap, with estimates ranging from 15 to 55 million, making the Great Chinese Famine the largest or second-largest[1] famine in human history.[2][3][4]
You supporting Xi's PRC is certainly on message for you, and the fact that the U.S. sanctions the PRC for supporting Russia is the minimum to be expected. Blaming the U.S. for Russia invading Ukraine is certainly on message for you as well, though it certainly isn't supported by the facts.
I'm not supporting anyone.
EU sanctions on China aren't relevant to my point, or Russian actions. That problem goes much further back than Putin's nutcase invasion of 2022 and you will have real trouble finding any serious commentary that doesn't reference US foreign policy/NATO actions as trigger points over the years. Notably, but not limited to, events in 2008.
And Biden's public comments on 'putting an end' to Nord Stream were another foreign policy failing.
It's worth remembering that sanctions on Russia aren't working with the desired effect. That is not only because of China. How many other countries aren't participating? Most of the world?
My point on recent war horrors in Europe should be crystal clear.
Anyway, the whole TikTok thing is just another kind of ill thought out move reeking of paranoia, and of fear of China rising and overtaking the US in a multi polar world.
Last week I went to a security conference at Vanderbilt University, focused on the threat from China. Speakers included the top leadership from the NSA, CIA, DEA and FBI Director Christopher Wray, among many others. And many of the speakers were asked about TikTok. It didn't matter who it was or whether they were liberal or conservative, or if they worked in the Biden, Trump or Obama administrations. ALL OF THEM said that Tiktok had to go because of national security and specifically the spying on Americans they already knew was going on by the CCP.
America needs to out-compete China, not ban it like they did with Huawei and now with TikTok. They can call it what ever they want (national security or national whatever) but if US companies had a better product then Americans would use it. Sad image for the US.
I agree. Ban if you have good reason to ban. Show evidence and act accordingly.
'Suspecting' this or that could happen and throwing everything under a 'national security' umbrella is doomed to failure.
That failure itself would be OK if it only impacted the country taking the action.
The problem is when you start demanding others follow suit (as the US does with its 'allies').
It won't work with places like China. Even now, Blinken is in China telling them what to do with their Russian interests - on their own soil. That is crazy.
Would US politicians accept someone from China landing in Washington and threatening action if they didn't get their way?
Sadly, US interests (and with it, influence) are being impacted by foolhardy decisions of a few China hawks with influence.
Non-US companies are wisely seeking to 'de-Americanise' for fear of being dumped onto some entity list, or worse, being required to stop doing business with someone simply because a small part of US technology is used in their equipment. All unilaterally.
The best route from the get go was to out-compete/out-innovate rivals, not 'ban' them for reasons with zero supporting evidence.
The Tik Tok situation is more paranoia than anything else.
If you wrote this post in 2005 I’d have agreed with you. Now I view this post as hopelessly naive. Xi greenlit the Ukraine invasion, believing that his forever friend would win quickly, setting the stage for a Taiwan invasion. That’s not paranoia — it happened, and we have witnessed the worst horrors of war in Europe since the Nazis.
Ths CCP is a malignant force in the world. It must be contained. Being an apologist for them is a stain that you can’t wash out.
It wasn't Xi who greenlit anything for the Ukraine invasion. That much is very clear.
It's more probable that careless US foreign policy had more to do with that (over decades) and that is the case here with Huawei, entity lists and Tiktok and of course the Taiwan and general semiconductor situation. It was naive to think Russia wouldn't take action (be it military or otherwise).
And for, as ugly as war is, sadly the Ukraine situation isn't the collection of worst horrors since the Nazis. I'd say that goes to the Yugoslav wars.
EU to tell Beijing of plan to blacklist more Chinese businesses for breaching Russia sanctions
Purpose is to enlist China’s help in ending the companies’ activities that allegedly violate sanctions on supplying products with military applications to Moscow
Discussion will come as a series of events this week, from charges of espionage and hacking to raids on businesses seeking proof of state subsidies, pressure bilateral ties
When the EU sanctions China, I thought that you would be more supportive. Evidently not. The war in Yugoslavia was a civil war, and while 100,000, more or less, died, Ukraine was invaded by Russia, and to date, there are over 500,000 casualties, including killed and wounded, not to mention Ukrainians who have been forced to move to Russia, including children.
By far, the "collection of worst horrors since the Nazis", was likely the "Great Leap Forward";
The Great Leap Forward was an economic and social campaign within the People's Republic of China(PRC) from 1958 to 1962, led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Party ChairmanMao Zedonglaunched the campaign to reconstruct the country from an agrarian economy into an industrialized societythrough the formation of people's communes. Mao decreed that efforts to multiply grain yields and bring industry to the countryside should be increased. Local officials were fearful of Anti-Rightist Campaigns and they competed to fulfill or over-fulfill quotas which were based on Mao's exaggerated claims, collecting non-existent "surpluses" and leaving farmers to starve to death. Higher officials did not dare to report the economic disaster which was being caused by these policies, and national officials, blaming bad weather for the decline in food output, took little or no action. Millions of people died in China during the Great Leap, with estimates ranging from 15 to 55 million, making the Great Chinese Famine the largest or second-largest[1] famine in human history.[2][3][4]
You supporting Xi's PRC is certainly on message for you, and the fact that the U.S. sanctions the PRC for supporting Russia is the minimum to be expected. Blaming the U.S. for Russia invading Ukraine is certainly on message for you as well, though it certainly isn't supported by the facts.
I'm not supporting anyone.
EU sanctions on China aren't relevant to my point, or Russian actions. That problem goes much further back than Putin's nutcase invasion of 2022 and you will have real trouble finding any serious commentary that doesn't reference US foreign policy/NATO actions as trigger points over the years. Notably, but not limited to, events in 2008.
And Biden's public comments on 'putting an end' to Nord Stream were another foreign policy failing.
It's worth remembering that sanctions on Russia aren't working with the desired effect. That is not only because of China. How many other countries aren't participating? Most of the world?
My point on recent war horrors in Europe should be crystal clear.
Anyway, the whole TikTok thing is just another kind of ill thought out move reeking of paranoia, and of fear of China rising and overtaking the US in a multi polar world.
I'm guessing this is what you are referring to in 2008;
5/25
CREDIT
April 3, 2008: Russia Fights Ukrainian NATO Membership
In early April of 2008, a NATO summit began with intense debate about extending a Membership Action Plan (MAP) to Ukraine. In order to gain membership to NATO, a military alliance between 28 European countries and two North American countries dedicated to preserving peace and security in the North Atlantic area, countries must first have a MAP. Russian President Vladimir Putin makes his opposition to Ukrainian membership known to NATO leaders, at one point allegedly telling President George W. Bush that Ukraine is “not even a real nation-state.” NATO does not offer Ukraine a MAP
NATO is a defensive alliance. There were also guarantees to protect Ukraine by the West in 1994 when Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons. I'm guessing that meant fuckall to the EU.
Needless to state, Sweden and Finland quickly gained membership to NATO after Russia invaded Ukraine. For all practical purposes, Russia increased its borders with NATO overnight due to the "special military option". The Baltic is now an almost completely NATO lake. I'm guessing that wasn't what Russia expected.
Germany failed to see any national security issues with reliance on Nordstream, and Nordstream II; boy were they ever wrong. Fucking morons.
wrt sanctions,
I wouldn't be too sure about sanctions at this point in time. If anything, Russia faces a declining population, and declining energy sales, and increasing inflation. Sanctions on military related hardware are increasing, and various EU countries that have been too fucking lazy to do anything about it are now becoming "concerned" that the EU may face Russia if Ukraine fails to stop them. You know, because Russia states so every fucking day, including nuking the EU.
Your point about recent horrors in the Europe is not "crystal clear". If anything, you fail.
The sources further said that TikTok as a whole represents only a small part of ByteDance's operations. Shutting the platform down in the US would have limited impact on ByteDance, and would mean that it retains its algorithms.
A separate source told Reuters that US users represented around a quarter of TikTok's global revenues in 2023. Two of the sources speaking to Reuters said that ByteDance revenue for 2023 was almost $120 billion, meaning TikTok earned at most $30 billion in that year.
How do you get from small part of ByteDance to a quarter of ByteDance revenue? Someone's math is not adding up.
America needs to out-compete China, not ban it like they did with Huawei and now with TikTok. They can call it what ever they want (national security or national whatever) but if US companies had a better product then Americans would use it. Sad image for the US.
It can be tough to compete with an opponent who cheats. Government subsidies, product dumping, etc.
Last week I went to a security conference at Vanderbilt University, focused on the threat from China. Speakers included the top leadership from the NSA, CIA, DEA and FBI Director Christopher Wray, among many others. And many of the speakers were asked about TikTok. It didn't matter who it was or whether they were liberal or conservative, or if they worked in the Biden, Trump or Obama administrations. ALL OF THEM said that Tiktok had to go because of national security and specifically the spying on Americans they already knew was going on by the CCP.
But when the NSA spies on the rest of the world it’s A-OK
I guess American companies are not capable of creating a competitive platform offering the same features? Don’t wait for this brain dead time-waster to be forced out, get its domestic replacement out there now, then shame, induce, or appeal to the “patriotism” of TTers to migrate over. Hell, Trump could single handedly move his sheeple over in days.
The problem isn't the development of a competitive platform, but the 'network effect' of having a large audience. Does anyone remember Google Hangouts? In purely technical respects, it was far superior to Facebook. But it never took off because people won't move to it since their 'friends' are not on it. Chicken/egg problem. Facebook now faces much the same problem with Threads - the X/Twitter competitor. While more successful than Google's Hangout - probably because it leveraged its Snapchat and FB audiences - it still hasn't taken out X/Twitter.
I'll do you one better: does anyone remember Google+? Seriously, I loved that platform, and in hindsight I find it funny that it was initially met with great backlash. I also thought it was quite superior to Facebook.
china blocks all kinds of Apps, why are we playing, just block it already, it's 100% trash. All you complaining, I get it, you're addicted, wait until it's gone and see how much you get done when not wasting time on that crap.
I am certain there are just as much people complaining as there are people who are celebrating its removal. Probably the majority wants it gone if you exclude the Gen Zs.
Comments
It's more probable that careless US foreign policy had more to do with that (over decades) and that is the case here with Huawei, entity lists and Tiktok and of course the Taiwan and general semiconductor situation. It was naive to think Russia wouldn't take action (be it military or otherwise).
And for, as ugly as war is, sadly the Ukraine situation isn't the collection of worst horrors since the Nazis. I'd say that goes to the Yugoslav wars.
TikTok in china is VERY different. On the rest of the world it's a woke mess.
When the EU sanctions China, I thought that you would be more supportive. Evidently not. The war in Yugoslavia was a civil war, and while 100,000, more or less, died, Ukraine was invaded by Russia, and to date, there are over 500,000 casualties, including killed and wounded, not to mention Ukrainians who have been forced to move to Russia, including children.
By far, the "collection of worst horrors since the Nazis", was likely the "Great Leap Forward";
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Leap_Forward
You supporting Xi's PRC is certainly on message for you, and the fact that the U.S. sanctions the PRC for supporting Russia is the minimum to be expected. Blaming the U.S. for Russia invading Ukraine is certainly on message for you as well, though it certainly isn't supported by the facts.
Quite a few countries already have a partial or full ban. Sharing data with the CCP is a valid concern
Valid concerns are fine but how about investigating and providing evidence?
Should the US just ban the internet? Just in case? Isn't that the most dangerous of all?
And if TikTok is such a risk, why wait? And why is the government continuing to use the service for election purposes?
https://www.twz.com/air/ukrainian-fighter-jets-using-ipads-to-control-western-weapons
EU sanctions on China aren't relevant to my point, or Russian actions. That problem goes much further back than Putin's nutcase invasion of 2022 and you will have real trouble finding any serious commentary that doesn't reference US foreign policy/NATO actions as trigger points over the years. Notably, but not limited to, events in 2008.
And Biden's public comments on 'putting an end' to Nord Stream were another foreign policy failing.
It's worth remembering that sanctions on Russia aren't working with the desired effect. That is not only because of China. How many other countries aren't participating? Most of the world?
My point on recent war horrors in Europe should be crystal clear.
Anyway, the whole TikTok thing is just another kind of ill thought out move reeking of paranoia, and of fear of China rising and overtaking the US in a multi polar world.
NATO is a defensive alliance. There were also guarantees to protect Ukraine by the West in 1994 when Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons. I'm guessing that meant fuckall to the EU.
Needless to state, Sweden and Finland quickly gained membership to NATO after Russia invaded Ukraine. For all practical purposes, Russia increased its borders with NATO overnight due to the "special military option". The Baltic is now an almost completely NATO lake. I'm guessing that wasn't what Russia expected.
Nordstream;
https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-plays-trump-card-in-pursuit-of-russian-nord-stream-2-pipeline-dream/
Germany failed to see any national security issues with reliance on Nordstream, and Nordstream II; boy were they ever wrong. Fucking morons.
wrt sanctions,
I wouldn't be too sure about sanctions at this point in time. If anything, Russia faces a declining population, and declining energy sales, and increasing inflation. Sanctions on military related hardware are increasing, and various EU countries that have been too fucking lazy to do anything about it are now becoming "concerned" that the EU may face Russia if Ukraine fails to stop them. You know, because Russia states so every fucking day, including nuking the EU.
Your point about recent horrors in the Europe is not "crystal clear". If anything, you fail.
https://www.quora.com/Why-is-the-Ukrainian-War-claimed-to-be-the-first-major-war-in-Europe-since-WW2-Do-the-Yugoslav-Wars-not-count
But when the NSA spies on the rest of the world it’s A-OK