It’s what it looks like. China imperialist, free Tibet, and it’s not Socialism unless it’s perfect.
Oh god, I didn’t listen very far into the episode
Please tell me he didn’t compare China to the Confederacy
China is not socialism because of the definition but as American leftist we have the potential to explore and construct socialism with no past baggage attached to it tho
Idk, I think we’ve all got baggage to contend with. Don’t get me wrong, I’d expect revolutions in different places to have different characteristics, but the US would have its own unique challenges.
For instance, I don’t think the US as a national identity could be reconciled with socialist motivations. But then, I don’t think it could hold popular support while repudiating the evils the US has wrought. Luckily, my speculation’s not worth much.
Chinese soft power is almost non existent, do they really think that leftists online are being brainwashed by the fucking global times and not the massive military industrial complex here?
I was honestly confused when I read that description cause I was like “Oh wow yeah that sounds great!” Because the idea that when he was talking about Taiwan myths the “nationalists” are the Chinese who want reunification, and not the Taiwanese groups who want an independent nation (hence, nationalists), didn’t even cross my mind
oh for fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucksssssssss saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaakeeeee
this literally has nothing to do with the subject of that podcast wtf. this is the most unsubtle shit i’ve ever seen. on the other hand, people like robert evans sorta give me hope that the feds could (in some situations) be dumber and louder than we think once shit fully hits the fan
So, basic commentary (was high when I listened last night, so my memory is a little spotty):
- Folks blaming Robert Evans for this should note that he’s not on the episode at all. Chris Wong is a long-time affiliate of the podcast and has done episodes on Evans’ other podcast, but he isn’t an alter-ego of Evans. Probably. Evans could be a stellar voice-actor, I don’t know.
- The ultimate position that Wong takes is that self-determination should be the first and only razor on the subject of what nation a given territory is part of, but he then sets that aside and gives a completely separate history of Taiwan that centers the indigenous population up until the late Ming Dynasty, after which the indigenous population gets sidelined more and more (which, at least, does reflect the reality of what happened to the indigenous population of Taiwan, too, I guess)
- The history given is mostly accurate, and doesn’t take a particularly fond position on the KMT, who are described as exactly the ultra-nationalist crime-syndicate-cum-political-party that they were. Details are, perhaps, a little sparse in terms of how the KMT fell from dictatorship and was forced to disarm, and the violent takeover of the island is not necessarily given its full due in terms of the sheer horror, but no attempt is made to suggest that the KMT were anything but monsters.
- Wong supports a continuation of the status quo as a practical matter. He indicates that he thinks that independence is the ideal state for Taiwan, but that it just isn’t worth the war it would trigger. He disdains the ties between the US and Taiwan, but also says that he can’t really blame the “progressive” forces in Taiwan for aligning themselves with the US, given the military threat they are under.
- The PRC is depicted as a continuation of Chinese colonial projects in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Taiwan, specifically as a settler-colonial state that gets to pretend otherwise because of the convenience of geographically contiguous holdings. This seems like a more credible argument with regards to Tibet and Taiwan than it does with regards to Xinjiang, given that the current population of Xinjiang was settled there by a Chinese state in the first place, after the… Ming? dynasty (I think…) effectively genocided the prior population there.
- There’s some vaguely interesting discussion toward the end about the fact that the indigenous population of Taiwan tend to support the KMT over the DPP, largely because of patronage networks created by the KMT.
given that the current population of Xinjiang was settled there by a Chinese state in the first place, after the… Ming? dynasty (I think…) effectively genocided the prior population there.
It’s the Qing dynasty.
There’s some vaguely interesting discussion toward the end about the fact that the indigenous population of Taiwan tend to support the KMT over the DPP, largely because of patronage networks created by the KMT.
This is a really sore point among DPP supporters. That is when they aren’t pretending Hoklos are indigenous to Taiwan.
Robert Evans is Tim Pool for radlibs
