Blizzard bans 'Hearthstone' pro for Hong Kong protest support

[Commodore]

Activision has got to be doing some kind of happy dance. How Blizzard gets the blame for an Activision corporate culture transfusion...okay, I guess all the original Blizzardarians are gone.

I feel I shouldn't say anything at all about this hullaballoo. As many EULAs as I've clicked through, there is a real chance that Blizzard might legally own my house.

[ipecac]

Singapore is a cultural chimaera, part Chinese and part Western. In that respect very much like Hong Kong.

Do you think TV in China features interviews with protesters from Hong Kong, where they have the chance explain their reasoning and their demands to the Chinese people so they can hear both sides of the story?
Hell no, the Chinese propaganda machine is in overdrive, labelling the protesters as an angry mob. Of course the Chinese public is not going to sympathize with them.

There is no way to break this gently: the Western media is only pushing one side of the story too, in overdrive, with labels, so as to drive sympathy a certain way.

Neither side is going to give you an accurate and unbiased take, especially on something so important like Tiananmen or the current Tiananmen 2.0. For a better understanding, I've had to read both one-sided takes, sift through all the ideological bias, jingoism, and rah-rah. Still, many things remain uncertain because there is simply no reliable source of information.

[ipecac]

Well, that is one reason why I am happy you are posting so much ipecac. I don't think you understand western thinking as much as you claim, but hopefully we all can at least understand the other position a bit more regardless of whether or not we believe they ate correct

You westerners simply don't understand the situation at all. To you Hong Kong is merely about the ideals of free speech, democracy, and human rights. To the Chinese it is central to their 'Century of Humiliation', involving their very self-identity, their sovereignty, and a lot of grievance and hatred towards the west.

The Weststill trying to influence Hong Kong is playing with fire.

[ipecac]

The ensuing century scarred the Chinese psyche, whose prestige as the Celestial Empire was damaged by a series of brutal invasions by the era’s Great Powers. Great Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, and the United States of America all vied for a chunk of the Chinese empire; China lost 1/3 of its territory and tens of millions Chinese perished.

The West has mostly forgotten about these events, with the Opium Wars relegated as a brief footnote in history.

But the Chinese have not forgotten. They'll hold this grudge for centuries, and this recent Hong Kong meddling is just adding to it.

[Bobchillingworth]

 Last week I thought Hong Kong wasn't really my problem, but this week I want war.  I suppose I could be talked into something smaller, like shipping a bunch of weapons to Hong Kong and that Muslim province and Tibet, anyone who wants to try a rebellion.  Maybe just trade sanctions.  But the idea that China wants to censor Americans speaking in America is deeply offensive to me.  I want to make it clear to the Chinese government that attempting to censor us is a losing tactic, not worth attempting.

This is, quite possibly, the dumbest fucking thing I've ever read.



Hey, I just heard recently that the President of the United States asked China (!) to investigate some Americans living in America to influence an election which is going to be held in America. I'm pretty steamed about that, buy me a few beers and I bet you could convince me to FedEx a pallet of MIM-104 Patriot Missile Systems to Amish Country or the Cherokee Nation or whatever. Or possibly a hunger strike is okay?? Although video games better be involved somehow, or I'm going back to sleep.

[GeneralKilCavalry]

.

You westerners don't actually realise that the NBA has pissed off anywhere from tens of millions to half a billion in China over the Hong Kong tweet

I don't believe it.  There is no such thing as public opinion in China, no such thing as meaningful statistics about China.  There is merely what the Chinese government wants us to believe, and a bunch of suppressed private opinions that we have no way of knowing about.  Maybe in a century historians will be able to evaluate this, if it turns into WW3 as you predict.

This is bordering on sinophobia to be frank. You’re calling Chinese citizens, human beings no different from me or you entirely brainwashed and irrelevant as if they don’t have thoughts of their own. Step back and think how this sounds. Perhaps you can’t, so let me put it to you this way:

There is no such thing as public opinion in the USA, it is all manufactured consent spread by two political parties who both, generally, share the same economic interests, are run by the same elite class (with slightly different flavors) and are propagandized by media conglomerates who act as virtual monopolies rather than true competitors. 

There is merely what CNN and Fox would have you believe, and in turn they are monolithically owned owned by outside companies with no true interest in the disinformation (or lack of information) they spread. 

If you want to call citizens of other countries brainwashed, ask yourself, who told you to do so? Who does it benefit? Why are we being  taught to hate them?


On the topic of Hong Kong, I find the outrage about it strange. The protestors have been treated qualitatively better than those at Standing Rock, or the Yellow Vest protestors, or those in Moscow recently. It took only one day of protests at Kent State for police to kill 4 anti war protestors, but apparanrly a few live rounds being shot at aggressive protestors (they have the right to be aggressive, but that’s not what we’re talking about yet) is somehow horrific. While undoubtedly, China has the worlds eye on it and is therefore restrained, the US never holds itself to the same standards.

Finally, although Hong Kong is being used in the West as a means of destabilizing China using a 150 year old formula, that should not make the intent of many of the protestors any less righteous.

[The Black Sword]

On the topic of Hong Kong, I find the outrage about it strange. The protestors have been treated qualitatively better than those at Standing Rock, or the Yellow Vest protestors, or those in Moscow recently. It took only one day of protests at Kent State for police to kill 4 anti war protestors, but apparanrly a few live rounds being shot at aggressive protestors (they have the right to be aggressive, but that’s not what we’re talking about yet) is somehow horrific. While undoubtedly, China has the worlds eye on it and is therefore restrained, the US never holds itself to the same standards.

I can only speak for myself. I don't know much about the protests you are referencing, I know a little more than usual about the Hong Kong protests because I have a co-worker who grew up there, has family there and feels strongly about the situation. In any case, I think there are two differences here that don't apply to most situations:

Doing something about most injustices in the world requires some effort on my part, in this situation all I have to do is stop playing a game I like, it's not much to ask.

Here we have a western company actively condemning the protests and denying free speech, I haven't heard of a similar case that didn't get such a reaction.

[Gustaran]

First of all, free speech does not mean anarchy. Every country has limits on free speech when it come to slander and defamation or is inciting violence.

The holocaust on the other hand is a well documented event that is corroberated by countless international scientists & eyewitness as well as a vast amount of physical proof (it's almost like the Tianenmen square massacre in that regard).

The major difference is that in Germany, you will be indicted if you lie about a globally accepted historical event, while in China you will get arrested when speaking the truth about (or even mentioning)  a globally accepted historical event.

How is Holocaust denial 'slander and defamation or inciting violence', especially by an 89 year old grandma? Being globally accepted or not is irrelevant, what matters is the deemed threat to social stability or established values.

It is legally considered defamation. Incidentally, the European Court for Human rights ruled on exactly that topic just a week ago:

"Freedom Of Speech Does Not Apply To Holocaust Denial, ECHR Rules"
https://rightsinfo.org/freedom-speech-ho...nial-echr/

If you are interested in learning about the exact legal reasoning for the ruling, there is a 4 page press release in PDF format by the court, which you can find here:

http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng-press?i=00...83-8616003

[Gustaran]

Singapore is a cultural chimaera, part Chinese and part Western. In that respect very much like Hong Kong.

Do you think TV in China features interviews with protesters from Hong Kong, where they have the chance explain their reasoning and their demands to the Chinese people so they can hear both sides of the story?
Hell no, the Chinese propaganda machine is in overdrive, labelling the protesters as an angry mob. Of course the Chinese public is not going to sympathize with them.

There is no way to break this gently: the Western media is only pushing one side of the story too, in overdrive, with labels, so as to drive sympathy a certain way.

Neither side is going to give you an accurate and unbiased take, especially on something so important like Tiananmen or the current Tiananmen 2.0. For a better understanding, I've had to read both one-sided takes, sift through all the ideological bias, jingoism, and rah-rah. Still, many things remain uncertain because there is simply no reliable source of information.

I am sorry, but at that point I am out. You are excusing a massacre by employing a fake centrism strategy, as well as the typical BS media conspiracy theories. The videos of Tiananmen square are probably fake and were made with the glorious 1989 version of Adobe After Effects, right?

When a government is murdering students protesting for democracy, that's not a case where you listen to both sides and meet in the middle.




(English subtitles available)

[darrelljs]

You westerners simply don't understand the situation at all.

Change your mind on this.

To you Hong Kong is merely about the ideals of free speech, democracy, and human rights.

Well, yeah.  We think democracy and individual rights are the greatest thing since sliced bread.  When we see folks fighting for such things, we're going to support them.  To see US entities like Blizzard and the NBA failing to puts us in a white hot rage like you wouldn't believe.  I don't see anything wrong with that, nor do I see anything wrong with China using means at their disposal to push their values.  May the best ideological system win .

Darrell