…so just a few mid-week links…
Safeguard Defenders on China’s ‘consular protection volunteers’ overseas…
…the consolidation of overseas United Front networks as the legitimate providers of consular community assistance not only gives them potential broad access to individuals’ private data, home address and contact information, but may also dangerously enhance their function of control over overseas communities and dissenters. The fact that these functions are carried out under the guidance of local consulates and embassies does not diminish such risks, especially when considering how a series of reports by diaspora communities have pointed towards the PRC’s weaponization of such seemingly mundane services.
Newsweek reports Beijing’s new campaign to get everyone to use ‘Xizang’…
“China’s leaders are acutely aware their occupation of Tibet, including a coercive system of residential boarding schools now housing one million Tibetan children, is viewed as a serious problem by the international community and so they are literally trying to erase Tibet from global consciousness by replacing the name Tibet with the Chinese word ‘Xizang,'” Lhadon Tethong, director of the Tibet Action Institute, a rights advocacy group, told Newsweek.
About as tough to enforce as Musk’s rebranding of Twitter as ‘X’. Speaking of little used parts of the Roman alphabet – how many foreigners will even be able to pronounce Tibet’s new officially promoted ‘English’ name?
Also – I am informed that the HK Philharmonic had to drop Glitter and be Gay when it performed in Shenzhen. ‘One Country, Two Systems’ in practice.
Westerners have a hard enough time with Pooh’s given name. They tend to pronounce it like they would “xylophone”. Makes one wonder why the nightly newscast talking heads don’t have the teleprompter guys simply write “she”??
Maybe some smartass Olde Chyna Hand reporter with his/her fluent Mandarin from living 3 years in the Peking Four Seasons might say “she 蛇(2)” ??
It’s our alphabet, FFS.