In general I do agree (except for the recent Canada stuff - I believe it's more of a bluff than anything else)
But I want to respond to this:
> And to top it all off, despite having a much smaller population AMERICA HAS MORE PRISONERS THAN CHINA. Its insane
1. The US publically acknowledges who is in prison, China doesn't. You can be disappeared in China without anyone knowing.
2. The Chinese operate several Black prisons both within and without their borders. These are Prisons without actual sentences, laws or rights. The public doesn't even know of their existence. This is where you land up as a political prisoner in China.
3. The Chinese have placed thousands of Uigur muslims in "re-education camps" (not prisons) - many of whom are only guilty by association (i.e. there's no direct crime the CCP arrested them for, other than being a blood relative of someone who did commit one of these "crimes")
4. Chinese police are already spread thin enough dealing with all the political prisoners meaning there are many dangerous criminals who are freely committing crimes in China. The CCP keeps this information under tight wraps so as not to cause a panic. As a result the Chinese are a lot less cautious than they should be so (unofficial) crime levels are much higher than they should be. It's not uncommon to hear of (or see) Children who were kidnapped and had their limbs chopped off so they could beg more effectively - there has never been a widespread crackdown on this behaviour and many perpetrators are still walking the streets forcing children to beg for them.
5. Not to even talk about the prison organ harvesting claims made by several groups who have been persecuted by the CCP. From Falun Gong practitioners to Uigur muslims.
Also don't be lazy and just call this propaganda - I could easily do the same with other messages in this thread ("CCP propaganda") meaning it's not a strong argument to anyone on the fence / on the other side. Yes, it is very anti-China, but that's because I'm trying to bring it in contrast to the very anti-US message. I don't think either country is perfect and in fact I prefer to not live in (or near) either.
1 & 2: Wikipedia keeps an active list. Currently there are 15 held in Guantanamo bay. Could you provide me with a similar list of prisons + prisoners from China? (no because they intentionally keep it secret). I think the fact that we can name and put pressure on the US about this ~prison~ torture-camp makes enough of the argument for me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_detainees_at_G...
4. No, and trying to use official sources unfortunately gives you an overly positive impression on China. This is one of the reasons it's so dangerous for an average citizen to live under a system which hides information - you are left without knowledge of how much danger you're in. If you think you're safe you're more likely to be taken advantage of.
There was an interesting case recently where CCP propaganda showed that other countries feared the Chinese passport (trying to boost nationalism and pride in China). This has led to several Chinese citizens getting robbed abroad, they then hold their passport in the attackers face thinking it will scare them off. Only for the passport to also get stolen.
6. Absolutely, the direct danger from the US isn't from the US itself but the governments it backs up (indirect danger?). Whether it's because the government is incompetent or evil, history shows that whatever the US props up is likely to collapse as soon as they leave but the country is in a much worse position than if the US never involved itself.
But I want to respond to this:
> And to top it all off, despite having a much smaller population AMERICA HAS MORE PRISONERS THAN CHINA. Its insane
1. The US publically acknowledges who is in prison, China doesn't. You can be disappeared in China without anyone knowing.
2. The Chinese operate several Black prisons both within and without their borders. These are Prisons without actual sentences, laws or rights. The public doesn't even know of their existence. This is where you land up as a political prisoner in China.
3. The Chinese have placed thousands of Uigur muslims in "re-education camps" (not prisons) - many of whom are only guilty by association (i.e. there's no direct crime the CCP arrested them for, other than being a blood relative of someone who did commit one of these "crimes")
4. Chinese police are already spread thin enough dealing with all the political prisoners meaning there are many dangerous criminals who are freely committing crimes in China. The CCP keeps this information under tight wraps so as not to cause a panic. As a result the Chinese are a lot less cautious than they should be so (unofficial) crime levels are much higher than they should be. It's not uncommon to hear of (or see) Children who were kidnapped and had their limbs chopped off so they could beg more effectively - there has never been a widespread crackdown on this behaviour and many perpetrators are still walking the streets forcing children to beg for them.
5. Not to even talk about the prison organ harvesting claims made by several groups who have been persecuted by the CCP. From Falun Gong practitioners to Uigur muslims.
Also don't be lazy and just call this propaganda - I could easily do the same with other messages in this thread ("CCP propaganda") meaning it's not a strong argument to anyone on the fence / on the other side. Yes, it is very anti-China, but that's because I'm trying to bring it in contrast to the very anti-US message. I don't think either country is perfect and in fact I prefer to not live in (or near) either.