
Xi Jinping's daughter has returned to US to resume studies at Harvard - sexy_seedbox
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3796172
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rogerkirkness
Anyone else amazed at the profound symbolism of this? It seems like China
gives so much more thought to symbolism than we do in the West.

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whatshisface
I'm not sure how symbolic it is, it's not like the US is going to arrest a
Harvard student _who is also the daughter of the Chinese dictator_ for
political reasons.

~~~
lbotos
But the idea that Harvard is still the "best place" for his daughter _is_
symbolic.

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bitL
Kim Jong-un studied in Switzerland, Pol Pot in France.

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rangibaby
Chiang Kai Shek, and both founders of the Communist Party of China were
educated in Japan

~~~
env123
Perhaps they studied politics very well to understand the positive and
negative traits of democracy?

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tedk-42
I'm amazed this is a news article and that people are drawing any kind of
political opinions, motivations or messages.

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iliketosleep
If you look at it from the perspective of a collectivist culture, which China
is, this is indeed a very big deal. The president's own daughter jetting off
to the USA whilst the party has been ramping up its anti-western rhetoric has
major political ramifications. However, I highly doubt this news will reach
the majority of people in China.

~~~
A2017U1
What news does reach "the majority of people in China"?

The children of senior officials routinely study overseas, it's painfully
mundane.

As for China "ramping up anti-western rhetoric", I'm truly struggling to see
what you mean being in a unique position between the two, would actually say
the opposite. Are you sure about that or is it more a localized viewpoint far
removed from statements made by the Chinese government and media arms?

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xtracto
Or like... you know, it may only mean that the lady wanted to go back to
Harvard to study whatever she is studying there?

There may no need to grab the tinfoil.

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kgwxd
This. does not. belong. on HN.

~~~
dmix
I rarely agree with comments like this, I default to trusting the mob over
self-anointed editors of social media, It's actually against the rules to
comment on it. But it's true. This will provide little value to the wider
conversations and she's largely an innocent bystander in world events, outside
of some fuel for low quality political platitudes.

Wealthy kids get the very best schooling since childhood and often have tons
of pressure to succeed. Just because some exploit nepotism does not mean all
do, and many often exhibit high academic aptitude with all the required side
stuff to make them interesting. Not every world leader's kid goes to Harvard
either or is capable of either.

It should also be of no surprise that a wealthy child from a country in the
emerging/growth stage with a median income of $12k is going to the most
advanced country in the world to study.

The children of leaders getting exposure to western society and academia is
also arguably a good thing.

~~~
Fej
Furthermore, the guidelines explicitly note that these types of articles are
off-topic - politics, generally.

I have avoided commenting on this since, as you wrote, it's not kosher, but I
have noticed an increase in political articles (unrelated to tech) that make
it to the front page. It is worrying to me.

~~~
dmix
You can visit
[https://news.ycombinator.com/classic](https://news.ycombinator.com/classic)
which are articles submitted by older HN accounts with high karma.

The selection tends to be far more of the classic high-quality HN style and
less Reddit-y.

The politically obsessed people already ruined Twitter, which for some reason
doesn't let you opt-out of seeing some random hyper-politicized tweet that a
person you followed 6yrs ago _liked_ (not even retweeted). It's natural that
their "my pet political issues are more important than everything you care
about" mentality is expanding onto other platforms when it's been so
encouraged elsewhere.

Plan B is using [https://lobste.rs](https://lobste.rs)

~~~
traderjane
Unfortunately lobsters doesn't accept open registration.

~~~
dmix
Send me your email on Twitter via DM and I’ll invite you

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VladimirIvanov
The article gives an interesting perspective that sending her to the US
tostudy allows him to recall her back as a sort of gesture in the future

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RocketSyntax
She'll be fine as long as she stays off my bike path \m/>,<\m/ but seriously
it's wicked safe here

~~~
bbimbop
you'll be out soon for violent comments like this. shame on you. Harvard is
over, by the way.

~~~
RocketSyntax
It's irony. The most dangerous part of Cambridge is bicycles. I ride to and
from work past BU, Harvard, and MIT everyday - I was imagining a scenario of
how screwed I would be if I ran over the leader or whatever's daughter while
she was taking a photo on the bike road like so many do.

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Markoff
yeah China is great strong superpower, that's why all their politicians send
their families abroad... sadly there are too many brainwashed Chinese not
realizing irony of this

~~~
Ambele
China respects certain aspects of the U.S. That's why they steal our patents
and knock-off our products. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. The
best nations copy the best aspects and ideas from other nations.

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Slikey
Kim Jong Un studied in Switzerland and spent most of his youth in the west. It
really seems to be peak communism to send your children to study in western
countries.

~~~
nbanks
Obviously Harvard is a really good school and learning English is useful, but
it also makes me wonder if dictators and their daughters would be even more
radical without a western education.

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adamnemecek
Deleted

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shane369
Interesting story, if this is true, It means Xi is going to get overthrown by
the chinese soon?

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objektif
Is this a sign they agreed on a deal?

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sbierwagen
Bold move from Xi, considering that arbitrary detention of random bystanders
have been a feature on both sides in this trade war.

~~~
ladberg
When has the US detained Chinese for arbitrary reasons?

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Canada
He's referring to Meng Wanzhou

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meng_Wanzhou#Detention](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meng_Wanzhou#Detention)

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ummonk
She might not be smart enough to get into elite Chinese universities through
the admissions exams.

~~~
geowwy
If your family is powerful enough admissions exams don't matter.

~~~
hyperpallium
GP is implying US admissions are more corrupt than China's. e.g.
[https://wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_college_admissions_bribery_s...](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_college_admissions_bribery_scandal)

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iliketosleep
This would have been a closely guarded secret known by only a few people. I
wonder if this leak is in response to the situation in Hong Kong. Anyhow, as
China's president Xi wouldn't have taken the decision to let her go back to
the US lightly. Given how Xi treated his own political opponents and real
possibility of mounting opposition to him within the CCP, allowing his
daughter to return to the US starts to make sense.

