stephenthinkpad posted:

You are right, even Al Jazeera doesn't have an updated playlist for Africa.

If somebody knows an English news youtube channel for the African continent, let me know. The closest I know is BBC World News Africa Today podcast.

Kill All Cops posted:

cspam take: if you are a billionaire, its ok to live and die of old age unless you publish anti-CCP articles, in which case we will brand you as ned funded without any evidence and celebrate as the gestapo arrest you for reasons unknown

Kill All Cops posted:

meeting with the secretary of state as the US is creating the HKHRDA bill a red flag you say? thjat's conclusive evidence that a billioanire needs NED funding. Yep.

Some Guy TT posted:

do you suppose there are chinese expat forums where they get mad about how fat and backwards we stupid occidentals are and that we all piss in the street because they saw a homeless guy do it once

NaanViolence posted:

East Turkestan and Tibet are very large countries which were stolen. Their inhabitants were persecuted and continue to be persecuted. China would also love to steal Taiwan, parts of India, and the South China Sea.

China did bring a ton of people out of poverty and does provide stability for billions of people, but it is also an imperialist empire. It's not clear at all that other forms of government wouldn't have brought them out of poverty given that poverty is not the historical average for China.

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202102/05/WS601cba78a31024ad0baa7830.html posted:

Truth and fabrication on Xinjiang's population change
chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2021-02-05 11:24

Children play at a newly built residential community in Xinjiang's Kezilesu Kirgiz autonomous prefecture on Sept 20, 2020. [Photo by Wang Zhuangfei/China Daily]
Recently, the population issue concerning Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous regionhas attracted much attention. Adrian Zenz, a German anti-China scholar, in particular, quoted data from unknown sources and made up his research report "Sterilizations, Intrauterine Devices and Compulsory Birth Control: the Chinese Communist Party's Campaign to Suppress the Birth Rate of Uyghurs in Xinjiang". The "report" falsely claims that "the natural population growth in Xinjiang has dropped sharply", and slanders that there is so-called "forced sterilization" in Xinjiang.

The truth is that Zenz makes a living by fabricating Xinjiang-related stories against China. He is a senior fellow at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, a far right-wing organization established in 1983.

Zenz' "report" is full of fabricated facts and falsified data. He claims that in 2018, at least 80 percent of new surgeries of intrauterine contraceptive device implants in China were performed in Xinjiang. In fact, according to the China Health Statistics Yearbook 2019 published by the National Health Commission, the number of such surgeries in Xinjiang in 2018 was 328,475, and the nationwide number was 3,774,318, which means that the number of Xinjiang's new IUD placement surgeries accounted for only 8.7 percent of the nation's total, and Zenz number is far from accurate.


Decline in the birthrate and natural population growth rate in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in 2018 resulted from the eradication of religious extremism, a report released on Jan 7 said.

The report on population change in Xinjiang published by the Xinjiang Development Research Center said extremism had incited people to resist family planning and its eradication had given Uygur women more autonomy when deciding whether to have children.

The changes were not caused by "forced sterilization" of the Uygur population, as repeatedly claimed by some Western scholars and politicians, it said.

For a period of time, the penetration of religious extremism made implementing family planning policy in southern Xinjiang, including Kashgar and Hotan prefectures, particularly difficult, the research center's report said. That had led to rapid population growth in those areas as some extremists incited locals to resist family planning policy, resulting in the prevalence of early marriage and bigamy, and frequent unplanned births.

In the process of eradicating extremism, the minds of Uygur women were emancipated and gender equality and reproductive health were promoted, making them no longer baby-making machines, it said. Women have since been striving to become healthy, confident and independent.

Family planning policies have been fully implemented in the region in accordance with the law, the report said.

In 2017, Xinjiang revised its Regulations on Population and Family Planning, stipulating that all ethnic groups should implement a unified family planning policy allowing couples in urban areas to have two children, and those in rural areas three.

The research center's report said safe, effective and appropriate contraceptive measures are now available to couples of childbearing age in Xinjiang, and their personal decisions on whether to use those measures-which include tubal ligation and the insertion of intrauterine devices-are fully respected. As a result, the birthrate in Xinjiang fell from 1.6 percent in 2017 to 1 percent in 2018 and the natural population growth rate declined from 1.1 percent to 0.6 percent.

The Uygur population grew from 10.2 million in 2010 to 12.7 million in 2018, an increase of more than 25 percent, while the population of Han people in the region increased by just 2 percent to 9 million over the same period.

The report said an increasing number of people in southern Xinjiang were deciding to marry and have children later in life, seeing the benefits of fewer but better births, and the change was due more to personal choice than government policy.

quote:

"Article II: In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

. . .

Killing members of the group includes direct killing and actions causing death.

Causing serious bodily or mental harm includes inflicting trauma on members of the group through widespread torture, rape, sexual violence, forced or coerced use of drugs, and mutilation.

Deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to destroy a group includes the deliberate deprivation of resources needed for the group’s physical survival, such as clean water, food, clothing, shelter or medical services. Deprivation of the means to sustain life can be imposed through confiscation of harvests, blockade of foodstuffs, detention in camps, forcible relocation or expulsion into deserts.

Prevention of births includes involuntary sterilization, forced abortion, prohibition of marriage, and long-term separation of men and women intended to prevent procreation.

Forcible transfer of children may be imposed by direct force or by fear of violence, duress, detention, psychological oppression or other methods of coercion. The Convention on the Rights of the Child defines children as persons under the age of 18 years.

Genocidal acts need not kill or cause the death of members of a group. Causing serious bodily or mental harm, prevention of births and transfer of children are acts of genocide when committed as part of a policy to destroy a group’s existence.

indigi posted:

I’m going to admit something: I’ve never heard “Uyghur” said aloud before so idk how it’s pronounced.

Lostconfused posted:

Those chips wafers would have been manufactured no matter what, they would just be used for something else other than video cards.

The problem is the energy consumption and what is generating that energy, not really the graphics cards themselves.

quote:

Zhang Hongbao (simplified Chinese: 张宏堡; traditional Chinese: 張宏堡) (5 January 1954 in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China,[1] – 31 July 2006, Arizona, USA) was the founder and spiritual leader of Zhong Gong, a qigong-based system of practices and beliefs. He was also a wealthy businessman, and a self-proclaimed leader of the Chinese democracy movement.

He died in a motor vehicle accident in Arizona in July 2006. After his death, no significant activity by Zhong Gong has been reported.
Biography[edit]
Early life[edit]

Zhang was born in 1954 in Harbin, where his family trade was coal-mining. Zhang spent ten years during the Cultural Revolution in a state farm in Heilongjiang, during which time he started practising Qigong. In 1977, he was admitted to the Harbin School of Metallurgy. On leaving, he joined the Communist Party and became a physics teacher in a mining region. Zhang gained entrance into the Beijing University of Science and Technology in 1985 where he studied Economic management.[2] Palmer, citing Ji Yi, said Zhang obtained only mediocre grades as a student, but he was interested in a diverse range of modules from Law to Chinese and Western Medicine. He also signed on at the Chinese Qigong Further Education Academy. During this time he developed a style of Qigong which was based on automation, physics, relativity, bionics, and with distinctive use of mechanical engineering jargon. After graduation, he became a paid qigong researcher at a university, where he was to give his first public demonstration of the "Extraordinary Powers" he had acquired.[2]
Zhong Gong[edit]

In 1987, he founded Zhong Gong,[3] launching it on the auspicious date of 8 August.[2] Palmer, citing Ji Yi's 10-million-selling hagiography The Great Qigong Master Comes Down From the Mountains (1990), says that Zhang gave two-week-long Qigong workshops which received national coverage in the People's Daily. Among the over a thousand people who participated were prominent academics such as the President of Beijing University, who were reportedly able to capture and emit Qi. Having won over the academic community, Zhang also gained acceptance within the China Academy of Science, and other sections of the scientific community. Furthermore, he became a media celebrity after one workshop was featured in a three-minute news segment on CCTV. He also gained credibility within the media and political elites.[2]

The movement claimed 34 million followers, 120,000 employees, 30 life cultivation bases, and 100,000 "branches" at its peak.[4]

According to Perry, in the early 1990s, Zhang and his followers withdrew to Qingchengshan, deep in Sichuan, where Zhang would reorganise his activities into commercial enterprises, the flagship of which was the Qilin Group, based in Qilin City.[5] Cunningham states the group was made up of some 60 companies headquartered in Tianjin. The group reportedly employed 100,000 workers, mostly in qigong-related education, publication and health-product ventures.[6]
Criminal allegations and exile[edit]

Unlike Li Hongzhi, founder of Falun Gong, who disavowed political ambition, Zhang Hongbao positively embraced it.[7]

A close disciple defected from the group and wrote a scathing exposé alleging that Zhang was a fraud and had illicit sex with followers. Independent Chinese sceptic Sima Nan alleged that Zhang was a rapist and may even have been responsible for the murders of some former followers.[8] The Chinese Government issued a warrant for his arrest on 7 June 2000, and a statement calling for his return to face four counts of rape between 1990 and 1991, and two counts of using forged travel documents between 1993 and 1994.[1] The Chinese authorities allege Zhang was in possession of a bogus identity card in the name of Wang Xingxiang, a Han male born on 8 August 1953.[1]
Life in the United States[edit]

Zhang disappeared from public view in 1995 in light of increased criticism of Zhong Gong. Zhang together with his associate and companion, Yan Qingxin, arrived in the American protectorate of Guam in February 2000 without a visa, and applied for political asylum in the United States.[8] While awaiting transfer to the US, Zhang went on hunger strike to press for his release from detention in Guam; several overseas Chinese dissident organizations—including the Free China Movement, the Chinese Democracy Party and the Joint Conference of Chinese Overseas Democracy Movement—organizing a press conference to support his cause.[9] Zhang was denied asylum by the United States, but was granted wrongful withholding, which prevented repatriation to China. After 13 months in detention in Guam, he secured the services of Robert Shapiro, who defended O.J. Simpson.[10] Shapiro claims credit for gaining the support of Trent Lott and Jesse Helms for Zhang's application.[10] Zhang was granted protection residence by the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeal in June 2001, reversing a previous ruling.[11]

In April, the China Federation Foundation (CFF) was founded with money from Zhang, and led by a dissident named Peng Ming. This group wanted to form an alternative government for China through the violent overthrow of the Communist government.[12] Zhang claimed that he planned this for many years, not for creating conditions for formal Political Asylum to avoid being expelled if convicted.

In what may have been a power struggle within the democratic China movement, Zhang subsequently fell out with other dissidents, including Yan Qingxin, his domestic partner for 12 years. Until September 2001, Yan was Zhong Gong's first lieutenant and "helped build the organization into a powerful entity that made billions of dollars". Yan filed a lawsuit on 26 June in Pasadena Superior Court accusing Zhang of assault, battery and false imprisonment,[13] and asked for damages of US$23 million.[4] Yan's sister, Qi Zhang, also a Chinese dissident, filed a suit in Pasadena in July 2003, accusing Zhang of crimes including racketeering and slander.[13] In total, from 2003 to 2005, Zhang was hit by an avalanche of 20–40 civil lawsuits with accusations from other plaintiffs. The arrest of Zhang led to division in the democracy movement.[7]

Zhang was arrested in March 2003 at his Pasadena mansion in connection with allegations made by his housekeeper, He Nanfang. Zhang was charged with four felonies, including kidnapping assault and false imprisonment with a deadly weapon.[14] If convicted, Zhang would have lost his protection status and been expelled from the United States. In the end, the felony charges in the He Nanfang case were reduced to one charge of battery, a misdemeanor, to which Zhang pleaded no contest on 22 April 2005.[7] On 28 February 2006, Zhang won a criminal case, and soon other lawsuits against him were lost or were successively withdrawn. Only one civil case and a labor compensation case remained.[15]
Death[edit]

He had become a non-person to the mainstream Western media.[12] Zhang's death, in a car accident in the United States at the age of 52, was a non-event which went unreported. At a highway intersection in northern Arizona, his car was crushed by tractor-trailer truck travelling towards it at 60 miles per hour on 31 July 2006.[12] Both he and his female driver, who was also his secretary, died. After Zhang's death, Zhong Gong almost disappeared from the public eye due to the internal friction.

https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/war-games-suggest-the-us-will-lose-fast-if-it-confronts-china-44960 posted:

War games suggest the US will lose fast if it confronts China
The US Air Force simulated a highly classified war game over Taiwan last year, and the way it ended unnerved America's military establishment.

The war game created a future scenario in which a Chinese biological-weapon attack could sweep through American bases and warships in the Indo-Pacific region.

The future confrontation would continue for more than a decade, likely ending with the US on the receiving end of a loss, according to the classified report published by Yahoo News.

The war game carried out by the US has leaked for the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, which spread to the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier and took the US Navy’s most important unit temporarily out of commision.

In the midst of war simulation, actual Chinese combat aircraft crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait in the direction of Taipei 40 times and carried out simulated attacks on the island. It was called “disturbing” by the Taiwan premier.

Amid escalating tension between Washington and Beijing, China’s air force released a video showing a bomb attack on the US Andersen Air Force Base on the US Pacific island of Guam.

The Chinese propaganda video was titled: “The god of war H-6K [bomber] goes on the attack!”

Just four days after President Joe Biden took office, China launched simulated missile attacks on the USS Roosevelt carrier.

On Tuesday, Phil Davidson, the top US admiral for Asia-Pacific, said the US military needs more long-range weaponry in the western Pacific, including ground-based arms.

“A wider base of long-range precision fires, which are enabled by all our terrestrial forces - not just sea and air but by land forces as well - is critically important to stabilize what is becoming a more unstable environment in the western Pacific,” Admiral Phil Davidson told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

Davidson cited enthusiasm by the Army and Marine Corps “to embrace some of the capabilities that the Navy and Air Force have already developed.”

The Biden administration has said the United States intends to compete with China’s growing influence and military strength in the Asia-Pacific. The Pentagon is carrying out a review of its strategy in the region.

Davidson cited enthusiasm by the Army and Marine Corps “to embrace some of the capabilities that the Navy and Air Force have already developed.”

shrike82 posted:

I’m just disappointed that leftists seem to give up all principles when it comes to China

- “capital accumulation and unequal capital/labour relations is fine because it’s China”
- “Taiwan should be part of China”
- “China has the right to run roughshot over SE Asia because they’ve the power”
- “China’s military will beat the US because the latter says they need more money and weapons”

there’s this weird orientalism in the thread where China exists only to be the ur anti-US force, instead of a country with its own agenda and problems

Relevant Tangent posted:

Yes?

Atrocious Joe posted:

https://twitter.com/DeItaone/status/1371432897291427846?s=20

mila kunis posted:

the radio war nerd guys keep banging on about how 1979/80 was a massive turning point in history, and it really was across multiple regions of the world for disparate but slightly connected reasons

shrike82 posted:

The Soviets' critique of American racism and appeal to African Americans was more convincing given the USSR working with post-colonial Africa and enforcing racial integration ideologically

i can't see that with China given old-school Asian racism against black/brown people. at a national level, they also really messed up working with Africa by going with a model where they use Chinese companies and nationals to do infrastructure work

shrike82 posted:

shrike82 posted:

i mean the least negative interpretation is that Chinese live within an ethnic monoculture so they're blind to issues like this but this doesn't bode well for working with African Americans for example

Relevant Tangent posted:

hope you're well paid

Mantis42 posted:

this entire country is gbs

shrike82 posted:

lol vaccine nationalism

"TRT World posted:

Pakistan’s top leadership this week [indicated](https://www.dawn.com/news/1613200/time-to-bury-the-past-and-move-forward-coas-bajwa-on-indo-pak-ties) that it is willing to start talks to normalise ties with India, prompting some observers to wonder what has caused a sudden change of heart.

Already fraught relations between the two nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours hit rock bottom in August 2019 when New Delhi unilaterally stripped the nominal autonomy of the disputed territory of Kashmir - the only Muslim-majority state in India.

Islamabad has all along maintained that resolution of the Kashmir issue must be at the heart of any future dialogue.

Even now Prime Minister Imran Khan and the powerful army chief, Qamar Javed Bajwa, preconditioned talks to peace in the Himalyan region, part of which is under Pakistan's control. What’s missing is the usually fiery rhetoric. In a January speech, Khan likened Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to the “Nazis”.

Speaking at a security forum in Islamabad on Wednesday, Pakistani’s Prime Minister Imran Khan said Kashmir was the “lone irritant” hampering economic integration of the region. A day later, Bajawa echoed similar sentiment, saying it was time to “bury the past and move forward.”

“Forget all this, we must learn to see through these statements,” says Zafar Hilaly, a former Pakistani diplomat and political analyst, adding that Islamabad is probably trying to appease US President Joe Biden.

“Biden is completely, utterly, totally with India. He pretends that he’s concerned about India’s (deteriorating) human rights record but he’s arming India to the teeth.”

Modi was among the leaders alongside Japanese and Australian prime ministers who attended the Quad summit last week - the first such official meeting Biden hosted since taking office.

On Friday, the US Defense Secretary Llyod Austin arrived in New Delhi on a three-day trip, which includes a meeting with his Indian counterpart and discussions on China and Afghanistan. This is Austin’s first foreign tour, signifying the importance the Biden administration attaches to cementing ties with the South Asian country.

Hilaly says there’s little hope for lasting peace as Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continues to pursue anti-Muslim policies.

**Until a bomb goes off **

Some Indian analysts say that Islamabad’s eagerness is to counter India’s efforts to lobby other countries into imposing sanctions on Pakistan for its alleged role in financing militant groups.

“There is increasing pressure from FATF,” says Ajit Singh, a South Asia analyst at the New Delhi-based Institute of Conflict Management, referring to the Financial Action Task Force, a Paris-based multilateral organisation that oversees what steps states have taken to curb money laundering.

Pakistan is among the countries, including Albania and Morocco, which are part of an FATF grey list. These countries have been asked to improve financial compliance and introduce relevant laws to avoid sanctions.

“It is very difficult for Pakistan to stop supporting Kashmir-centric terror groups. But if the Pakistan leadership provides lip service (towards peace), at least it will help take off some of the international pressure and maybe even help them get out of the grey list,” says Singh.

But there’s reason to believe that the two sides are concurrently working towards some sort of rapprochement. And maybe it’s India that took the first step.

“India has made deliberate attempts since 2015 (after Modi came to power) to sideline Pakistan internationally and not talk to it. So I think the main switch has to come from the India side,” Dr Gareth Price, a South Asia expert at the Chatham House.

“I think there has probably been some backchannel communication to see if they can start engaging.”

In a surprise move, top Indian and Pakistani military officers agreed last month to a ceasefire along the heavily guarded border. While that’s nothing unusual and from time to time the two militaries have taken a break in launching projectiles at one another, it came at a time of heightened tension.

The two neighbours have fought three wars and came to the verge of another in early 2019 after dozens of Indian soldiers were killed in a suicide attack, which India blamed on Pakistan.

Price says New Delhi’s desire to have a say in the affairs of a war-torn Afghanistan could also be one of the reasons behind the detente.

“Certainly Pakistan can not be isolated because whatever happens in Afghanistan, it is going to have a role in it,” he says.

The US has pulled out most of its troops from Afghanistan where the government of President Ashraf Ghani - who has close ties with India - is feeling pressure from the Pakistan-aligned Taliban.

The economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic could have played a part in bringing the two sides closer, says Price.

“Both countries are perfectly capable of talking to each other. A lot of the tension along the border is for show. This cycle of talks has gone on since the 1980s.

“But it often happens that when they start negotiations, a bomb goes off, killing Indian soldiers, India blames Pakistan and the talks are called off.”

stephenthinkpad posted:

Does the US make a big deal out of other "oppression of minority" issue to other country? outside of the Urghurs and the Rohingya?

I mentioned it earlier, both the Urghurs and Rohingya can be explained from the "anti-land based new alternate trade route" angle. Xinjiang is major trunk road of the Eurasia trade route and the Rohingya/Rakhine state is the end point of a potential BRI land route, which will become a much more important route if the US ever block Chinese trade from the Malaika strait. It is interesting when you think about it, US has push this "anti BRI" agenda for multiple administrations and its the only thing ressemble a modern day "Grand Strategy", a secret Grand Strategy.

I never thought about this, does US really sanction other countries on oppression of the ethnic minority? I know nobody from the US has said anything about Modi cracked down on the Kashmir Muslims, and I don't remember anything about the Myanmar military on the Karen minority. Has the US ever sanctioned Russia for the Chechens? Ethiopia on the Tigrayans?

Ferrinus posted:

who's excited to deny a second genocide

https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1379037991700549633?s=20

OhFunny posted:

https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1378617040882135045?s=19

5 more had been killed a month before as well.

Antonymous posted:

It's obvious that the government is reacting to terrorism and secessionist sentiment with more mandarin education, more economic / cultural integration efforts (with forced patriotism), and collective punishment in the form of the education internment camps. The terrorism began because Xinjiang is less integrated into the rest of China culturally and geographically, and that was changing causing unrest.

indigi posted:

Russia is garbage lol

gradenko_2000 posted:

If me posting about how my country is slowly being driven insane is getting tedious, please tell me and I'll stop.

BrutalistMcDonalds posted:

https://twitter.com/MMAFighting/status/1381336276025147398

quote:

“I don’t hate Weili or anything like that, but I do feel as though I have a lot to fight for in this fight and what she represents,” Namajunas said when speaking to Lithuanian outlet LRT ahead of UFC 261. “I was just, I was just trying to remind myself of my background and everywhere that I come from and my family and everything like that. And I kind of wanted to educate my training partner Chico Camus on the Lithuanian struggle and just the history of it all. So we watched ‘The Other Dream Team’ just to get like an overall sentiment of what we fight for. And so, just after watching that it’s just a huge reminder of yeah — better dead than red, you know?

Malleum posted:

ToxicAcne posted:

Thanks! Would you recommend Trotsky's account of the Revolution? I've heard it's very well written

strange feelings re Daisy posted:

https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1385200479089696774?s=20
Directed energy attacks are a crank conspiracy theory circulated by paranoid schizophrenics who think they're being gangstalked by the CIA. These alleged microwave attacks in Syria have no credible evidence. Just speculation that "some troops got flu-like symptoms so obviously the Russians are using a brain scrambling ray". This is propaganda bullshit. Unfortunately the blue MAGA crowd will eat it up uncritically.

quote:

The sources told Politico that the probe includes one fall 2020 incident in Syria in which several U.S. troops developed flu-like symptoms, with lawmakers also briefed on other suspected injuries sustained by troops.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/22/pentagon-russia-attacks-us-troops-484150 posted:

A former national security official told POLITICO that, in one instance, officials suspected that directed energy had injured a Marine in Syria; but a Pentagon investigation later concluded that the Marine’s symptoms were the result of food poisoning.

quote:

Robert College is consistently ranked as the top private high school in Turkey.[5][6][7][8] The school has a long list of notable alumni, including entrepreneurs, politicians, journalists, artists, three Turkish Prime Ministers, four Bulgarian Prime Ministers,[3][9] multiple members of the Turkish cabinet, and one Nobel laureate, Orhan Pamuk.

https://tr.usembassy.gov/usaids-office-american-schools-hospitals-abroad-announces-awards posted:

USAID’s Office of American Schools and Hospitals Abroad Announces Awards
Consulate General Istanbul
Istanbul, Turkey – The U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA) announced three new grants to Turkish institutions to support construction projects and the purchase of equipment. The projects, located throughout Turkey, are funded through a competitive annual grant and directly support schools, libraries and medical centers outside the United States that share universal values, such as empowering women and inclusive societies, as well as promoting innovation and entrepreneurship, while advancing best practices in healthcare and education. Throughout its history, ASHA’s impact has covered the globe, working in nearly 80 countries with more than 270 institutions.

“We are very pleased to expand the network of ASHA partners,” said Director Katherine Crawford. “These partnerships increase access to high-quality education and healthcare abroad, which ultimately strengthens a country’s workforce, lifts populations out of extreme poverty and creates resilient societies.”

Since 1957, the USAID ASHA program has invested $44 million towards schools and hospitals in Turkey. The new awards this year are for $823,000 in total and will support the Robert College and Üsküdar American Academy in Istanbul, and the SEV American Hospital in Gaziantep. These institutions train future leaders in a wide variety of disciplines, promote advances in research and innovation, foster medical and academic professionalism, and build bridges between citizens of the United States and other countries.

To learn more about the USAID American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA) program follow them on Twitter: usaidasha1 or visit their website ow.ly/ DNhvK.

By | 5 November, 2014 | Topics: Consulate General Istanbul, Press Releases

Trash Ops posted:

gbs china thread watch


this is a thriving genre of books in amerikkka lmao, but noooo the chinese have a child-like sense of bigotry, those inscrutable asiatics

http://history.emory.edu/home/documents/endeavors/volume1/Ians.pdf posted:

Unlikely Assistance: How the Chinese and the Japanese Saved 20,000 Jews in Shanghai during World War II
Ian Deeks

The history of European Jewry has been precarious to say the least. The Jewish communities of Europe have lived under centuries of anti-Semitism; however, the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany during the 1930s marked a major turning point as anti-Semitism seemed to be reaching a climax. After the Nuremburg Laws were passed in 1933, Kristallnacht in 1938, and the creation of the concentration camps, many Jews viewed escape from Europe as their only chance for survival. Tragically, just as the situation of European Jewry became dire, many Western countries closed their borders to Jewish refugees by enforcing strict immigration restrictions. While much of the Western world turned its back on the Jews in World War II, European Jewry found an unlikely haven halfway around the world: Shanghai, China.
As an internationally controlled city, Shanghai occupied a unique position, requiring neither a visa, passport, affidavit, or certificate of guarantee for entry.i In fact, Shanghai was the only city in the world between 1937 and 1939 that required neither an entry visa nor a financial guarantee to enter.ii Consequently, approximately 20,000 Jewish refugees fled Europe for Shanghai during the late 1930s and early 1940s. iii
While Shanghai’s unique political situation allowed the European Jews to settle in Shanghai, what was unique about Shanghai, a city with seemingly no connection to or involvement in the crisis in Europe, that allowed the Jews to find refuge? Furthermore, as much of the world turned its back on the Jewish plight and anti-Semitism seemed to be spreading globally, why did anti-Jewish violence never emerge among the Chinese and Japanese in Shanghai

Ironically, it was the very same malicious Jewish stereotypes imported into Asia from European anti-Semitic beliefs that saved the Jewish community in Shanghai. Both the Chinese and Japanese believed many of the European anti- Semitic ideas that spawned anti-Jewish violence in Europe, yet the Chinese and Japanese interpreted the anti-Semitic ideas differently. The Chinese both admired the anti-Semitic image of the wealthy, business focused, politically influential Jew, while also identifying with Jewish persecution. The Japanese believed the anti-Semitic idea that Jews control the world’s economy and politics and believed they could use this “Jewish power” towards the creation of a Japanese empire. The difference in interpretation of European anti-Semitic portrayals of the Jews among the Chinese and Japanese allowed over 20,000 Jewish Refugees to survive the Holocaust in Shanghai. iv
In the following pages, I will explain how the Chinese’s and Japanese’s acceptance of European anti-Semitic ideology contributed to the survival of Shanghai’s Jewish Diaspora during World War II. I begin by providing a background on the unique situation of Shanghai during the early 20th century, including the city’s various Jewish communities. I then examine the rise of anti- Semitic ideology in Europe and, from this foundation, proceed with an analysis of Chinese and Japanese perceptions of the Jews and how these perceptions affected Shanghai’s Jewish community. During this process, I will demonstrate how the unique interpretations by the Chinese and Japanese of European anti-Semitic beliefs protected Shanghai’s Jewish community during World War II.