MolotovHalfEmpty [he/him]
It seems like the owners have been scum for a long time too. Apparently the faked having POC content contributors for years after they left (some calling the management culture racist when they did) by reposting old videos with black creators but having white people write articles under the same bylines in order to defraud a fund that donated to media orgs featuring black content creators…
The first one that comes to mind is the Kabul hotel attack in 2022.
There was a pretty serious uptick in attacks on China-related targets like power projects in Pakistan too before the coup.
But ISIS released a video statement officially making China a target and promising the ramped up attacks back in 2017, and there was already crossover with ETIM (East Turkestan Islamic Movement - the name China gives a broader network of terror groups in the region, often focusing on China and Xinjiang) and TIP (Turkestan Islamic Party) the ‘political’ face of the groups who are designated a terrorist group by everyone except America, allegedly because it makes it easier for them to use TIP to funnel money and wrapons to the overlapping ISIS-K groups.
Counterpoint: Tallywhacker
Not sure if you’ve seen this update, but it seems that journalists, protest leaders, and others who have questioned the validity of plan are getting a campaign of very serious death threats, being raided by intelligence services, and more. Here’s an unrolled thread
What we are gonna see more and more is a focus on the technologies themselves. “These technologies are not viable/profitable” is what you are gonna hear.
More than that, I expect we’ll see specific conspiracy theories pushed hard around safety and more when it comes to increasing Chinese dominance of the market.
When Huawei was being contracted to build a lot of the 5g infrastructure in the UK and Europe, as well as taking an increasing share of the mobile phone market, suddenly anti-5g conspiracies exploded into conspiracy spaces, with a seemingly co-ordinated push from some of the biggest conspiracy figures like David Icke 12 months before legislation banning Huawei and cancelling deals.
This often happens when US business interests are deemed to be threatened. Just look at the 15 Minute Cities conspiracy protest movement funded by oil companies and car manufacturers. Or the revelation the the US had massive anti-vac conspiracy theory nd disinformation campaign across Asia and the the rest of the world to dissuade countries from using the Chinese developed Covid19 vaccine (even when it was being given for free).
The Taliban and China have reasonably good working relationships for things like infrastructure planning. The problem is that often when deals have been in the works ISIS-K suddenly pop up and do terror attacks. Same with Chinese investment in Pakistan too before the coup.
