• knfrmity@lemmygrad.ml
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    1 year ago

    For starters, the article is very anti-China, albeit in a more subtle way than many articles from western sources. The headline itself also grabs in people ostensibly worried about population growth. The facts presented may well be true, but they are missing context which cannot be provided in a bullet points format. The author simply ignores parts of their own sources in order to present their own contradictory point. For example, the line “Wedding registrations in 2022: 6.83 million, the lowest since the 1970s.” links to an article from Tsinghua University, which only mentions the declining marriage rate in the last paragraph of the article. It’s primarily about how China is well positioned to manage their demographic changes.

    Li Daokui, director of the Academic Centre for Chinese Economic Practice and Thinking at Tsinghua University, said in the same seminar that it is a common misunderstanding that a decrease in total population will set back demand and erode innovation power and economic growth. “It’s not total population size that determines the long-term growth potential of China’s economy, but whether the ample human resources could be enhanced and fully taken advantage of,” he said.

    Another example: the author quotes from the Global Times article that quotes Qiao Jie. What the Stop Population Decline author fails to note is that their source explains some of what China is doing to raise its fertility rate.

    China’s National Healthcare Security Administration announced in February the inclusion of labor analgesia and assisted fertility technology in the coverage of medical insurance as part of broader efforts to safeguard people’s reproductive rights and willingness to have children. Healthcare authorities have always attached great importance to population issues, the administration said, adding that eligible fertility support medicine, including bromohentine, triprelline and clomiphene, are already covered by medical insurance, which has helped many patients. None of this context is provided in the article, as it is intended to dig in to existing anti-China sentiment while also concern trolling over falling birth rates.

    The author also projects problems onto China which are only inherent to declining populations in neoliberal countries. In a people’s state such as China these same topics are essentially irrelevant, as quoted above for example. An ageing population certainly is a challenge in terms of healthcare demands, but none that cannot be solved by a nation that prioritizes the well being of its people over arbitrary economic indicators or the further enrichment of its capitalist class.

    • tintory@lemm.eeOP
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      1 year ago

      Anti China?

      You mean critical of the government. They also been critical of the UK, US, and Korean governments. Not to mention why they are most critical of isn’t the traditional reasons, but by the fact they need to ramp up social spending but hasn’t

      Also it seems they are cynical of the numbers coming out, which is a fair point considering the Chinese researchers has a history of overcounting, inflating numbers, and sugarcoating CCP policies

      At worse you can say they are anti CCP like other western sources like you said, but at best they just critical of any government who doesn’t increase social spending

      • RickyRigatoni@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        You’re talking to someone from lemmygrad. Anything that isn’t praising china is just racist propaganda to them. Don’t waste your time.

      • knfrmity@lemmygrad.ml
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        1 year ago

        “Anti-CCP” is anti-China. The whole “hate the government not the people” charade is just a lame cover for racism and imperialism. Even the simple use of the incorrect “CCP” rather than the correct CPC is enough to indicate a person’s stance.

        The sources linked even discuss how China is increasing social spending in a multitude of ways, but all that information is left out and instead the spectre of “overcounted or inflated numbers and sugar-coated CCP policies” and western concern trolling tells the story.

    • fear@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      You pointed out how well China will be able to combat their declining birth rates and what they are doing to raise fertility rates. That’s great. You disliked the format of the article and didn’t feel it expressed their point adequately. Awesome. But you’re coming at the comments section with an intensity that seems disproportionate to how banal the article is. Birth rates are plummeting across the world, and every other country has their turn to have attention drawn to it, complete with their own set of uninvited suggestions regarding potential impact and what to do about it. It’s okay for people to disagree on the impact of stats like this. It’s normal and healthy when done in good faith.

      Regarding your other post: “Anti-CCP is anti-China” is a tactic to try to deflect away criticism entirely. It is dangerous for a population to be stripped of the right to criticize their government. I criticize my own government all the time, and others as well when I think they’re making poor decisions. The CCP doesn’t get to be above this on an international scale because racism. The old stigmatizing the critic into silence approach is not conducive to open dialogue, and it’s ultimately a way of shooting yourself in the foot. 欲蓋彌彰

      • knfrmity@lemmygrad.ml
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        1 year ago

        Commends me on engaging some of the content in good faith.

        Then makes bad faith arguments based on strawman arguments, demonstrably false information, and racist concern trolling to shut down my other salient points and project deflection on to me.

        Sorry I just can’t with the hypocrisy here. Maybe I am shooting myself in the foot, but I just can’t with this kind of western bullshit. All for open dialog until someone challenges their worldview.

        • fear@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          欲蓋彌彰

          I just can’t with this western bullshit!

          I’m sure if someone remarked about “eastern bullshit” that you would cry racism, and you wouldn’t be wrong. Thanks for at least being amusing by calling me a racist and then immediately acting like one yourself. Don’t feel too bad about it, you’re one of countless to prove that wise saying which predates the CCP by 1400 years.