230. China with Arnaud Bertrand

[@adelsasumi]

34:00 Correction: China already has spread its system to Tibet, Hong Kong and Macau and wants to do it also for Taiwan.

[@ruki1015]

Please point on one Chinese politician who is critical of leaders in China. And living in China

[@FC-vp9ej]

Why should them be critical of themselves? They are politician. if they don't like things, they change themselves. It's people that should be critical of politician.

[@ruki1015]

@@FC-vp9ej 😂😂🤡

[@adelsasumi]

1:22:40 Again he tells untruth (which everyone can fact-check on wikipedia): Tibet was de-facto independent (like Taiwan today) since 1911 and wanted to stay independent, Chinese maoists took it by force in 1950-51, then removed its autonomy (similarly to Hong Kong case) in 1959. Since then there were many protests for independence by Tibetans, crushed by CCP (again, similarly to Hong Kong).

[@liuzhen2008]

duh. You take what you can militarily. Isn’t that name of the game in the last 200 years.

[@adelsasumi]

1:37:50 - This is not true, Switzerland is more decentralized than China with its provincial system. In Switzerland cantons and counties build schools, have their own police, etc.

[@BluePyramids]

Stay tuned for next week! We got a Norwegian who thinks North Korea is just swell!

[@nicholasscholten4838]

My previous landlord from Seattle is Chinese and the last time they visited China - they came back early an most likely will never go back. Nuff said.

[@TheGreenleaf247]

Damn, Seif and Arnaud is a combo I never saw coming. Great stuff Seif, keep it up.

[@dameanvil]

Superficially, yea, this is the best guy to talk about it. After all he lives there, compared with the news that only paste governmental reports with a twist. Yet, the guy has to (1) get back to his business, (2) be able to get an entry visa to china, (3) be able to get an exit visa from china, (4) keep his business his own, (5) deal with the bureaucracy in china in the daily dealings. And so on. So no, he is a weasel speaking for the Beijing authority the best he could.

[@muaawiyahtucker]

Evidence?

[@Madosatoshist]

@@muaawiyahtucker He just gave you 5 bullet points and you still ask for evidence? You'll only believe what has a government seal of approval don't you?

[@fusion9619]

This guy is a normie - he just adopts the opinions of the people around him. Eight years in China can cause you to say some really dumb sh-stuff. I know because i also lived in China for years. All of the details around Taiwan are just noise. The bottom line is, they see themselves as different and want to be independent. As Bitcoiners, we should support anyone anywhere that wants independence - or else we are hypnocrats (yt censors that word, so use your imagination). America did not start the Taiwan situation. The US could not have done anything to change the outcome of China's civil war - the US was busy fighting a two front war. Taiwan cannot be included in the fantasy of a "century of humiliation" - thats like that meme where a guy on a bike puts a stick in his own spokes, crashes, then blames someone else. The rest of the "century of humiliation" is also a fiction. For example, the eight nation alliance, that supposedly attacked china, was actually a peacekeeping force that was requested by the Chinese empress after the boxer rebels committed genocide against Caucasian people living in China. They teach complete nonsense in Chinese schools - they leave out the reasons for things. That this guy could fail to mention these details shows that he is not a good person - either he lacks the curiosity to research things, or he lacks the integrity required to resist brainwashing - the result is the same : not a good person. Saif, you're an amazing writer, and you have persuaded me that Palestine's situation is not what the media says. I'm a huge fan of your work. This guest is not on your level.

[@maambomumba6123]

Eye opening

[@deamonsept4356]

This person is an interesting case study of bias elevated to an art form. So much cherry-picking, distorsion, day dreaming, convenient omissions and arbitrary interpretations to feed and stick to the narrative, that's a collapse of critical thinking here.

[@robertrenk7074]

I don’t understand the idea of exporting inflation…. Also, if the exchange rate for the Chinese currency is the same from one year to the next doesn’t that mean that the Chinese government is just keeping pace with American inflation? If the Chinese government wasn’t inflating the RMB it would cost more USD to buy the RMB. Edit: Forgot to mention that a close friend moved from China to Canada in 2018. He went back to visit family in China in 2023 and said prices had gone way up.

[@lugiasimply6054]

I hate to say this, but this is one of the few things that you got some stuff wrong. China is not doing well at all. The Xinjiang "Deradicalization" is not humane at all, and they actually copied Israeli methods of torturing Palestinians, they even used the term "People's War on Terror" to describe it. Like how Israel blames all Palestinians for the actions of Hamas, China blames all Uyghurs for the actions of the Turkistan Islamic Party, an Al-Qaeda affiliate (which they refer to under the vague name "East Turkistan Islamic Movement", used to describe just about anyone of Uyghur background, not any specific group). And of course there is also the fact that China is really inefficient economically. It spends too much money on useless crap, bans crypto, and has no regard for any sort of personal liberty, having a massive surveillance on it's own citizens. I would recommend reading Zhang Weiying's "The Logic of the Market" if you want further details on how stuff in China actually is (from a fellow Austrian nonetheless). I don't support war or sanctions with China, as I believe the KMT are really not good either (Chiang Kai-Shek was not a hero), but I do hope that you understand this.

[@Madosatoshist]

I've seen plenty of those pink eyeglasses wearing foreigners when I lived in China. They have some fiat corporate job that afford them a luxury lifestyle and they believe that gives them some credibility to talk about the country. When you get off the beaten track you see most Chinese people live unimaginable poverty. There is never ending starvation and abuse of all kinds. Those people are entirely powerless and you never hear about them.

[@BrotherCreamy]

Too right

[@TheMarcuslindberg]

Can you give one example of a Chinese town where the people live in poverty and starvation?

[@Madosatoshist]

@@TheMarcuslindberg I gave you links and youtube blocked them. You can go file a report with them. They're not as bad as the CCP so they should hear you. lol.

[@tweedy4sg]

Starvation & poverty ? LOL . You must've missed the news that China's govt lifted 800-900 mil people out of poverty and has eliminated the remaining populace from abject poverty a few years ago. Oh wait of course you didn't because you read only news about China from western sources.

[@fusion9619]

​@@TheMarcuslindbergI don't remember the names, if I even ever knew them, but I've seen plenty. I used to live there and I explored much more than the average foreigner does. The poverty was crushing. Now to be fair, the wealth in the big cities is also incredible, like nothing I've ever seen elsewhere. But is it good to have such wealth AND such poverty at the same time?

[@Zoe-ot5kp]

Im so glad I found you 💓

[@eskosmos]

As I know, the Land in overall China is only given to people for a space of time as 70 years, or 20 years. The same should be in Xinjiang.

[@eskosmos]

And for example in Switzerland You have to pay a lot of taxes if You "own" land.

[@abstract1052]

You need to invite jayant bhandari on the show.

[@VastChoirs]

I've been living here for the past 9 years. I'm only about 20 minutes in, but so far this all seems 100% correct. I just laugh when I hear news media reports of China; it could not differ from my own experience on the ground. Is there a very big economic problem right now in China? Of course. Will it cause the country to collapse? Definitely not, we will recover. The collapse of their housing market will be a natural free market massive redistribution of wealth that will further promote upward mobility. Unlike the US, they are willing to allow these corrections to happen and endure some short term pain for long term macroeconomic health.

[@robertrenk7074]

Any government involvement in the “free market” makes it a controlled economy to some degree dependent on the amount of control

[@Handle35667]

This guy lives in China, his next paycheck depends on China, and here is here to give his opinion on China? Also he’s French. 😂

[@Madosatoshist]

Yuri Bezmenov warned against those exact pseudo journalists or intellectuals that visit Communist countries and feel entitled to talk about it as if they were experts.

[@manekedark]

If communist is so bad, why is China the second biggest economy in the world?

[@FC-vp9ej]

You must be one of those compulsive liars who hate to be exposed huh XD?

[@MichaelMcDonald-lu3et]

My favorite podcast til this. A “CCP love in” I did not expect. Slave labour is not an economy. I know you’re looking for interesting content but this is wicked. I’ll keep referring your Book but it’s may be out from here n in !

[@tweedy4sg]

Forced labor ? LOL. You mean the prison labor in US ?

[@fusion9619]

​@@tweedy4sgchild labor is always forced labor. And yes, I've seen it with my own eyes. And what-about-ism is not an argument - in fact, it disqualifies your argument because it is both fallacious and dishonest.

[@tweedy4sg]

@@fusion9619 Child labor. ??? Of all the accusations of China's labor issues, none (as in ZERO) has ever says there's child labor. China due to 1-child policy has very few children in every household, they're treasured no one will send kids out to work. Just proves you're a LYING propagandist!! As for those like you who loves to scream & shout whataboutism, they are the TRUE hypocrites because they don't like being called rich and have their double-standards hypocrisy called out, knowing the moral high ground they're standing on to criticize others of the same issue is crumbling right before their eyes.

[@tweedy4sg]

@@fusion9619 Child labor??? LOL 😂. There's been all manner of accusations thrown at China in the West on the issue of labor, but none (as in ZERO) is about child labor. You know why ? Because they know China with it's 40-yrs of 1-child policy has very few to no kids in Chinese households. Kids are treasured & spoiled. No one in their right mind will send their kids out to work. And you can't count kid helping with work around the house including farm-work as child labor. Just proves you're a lying propagandist !! As for what-aboutism, hypocrite propagandist like you regularly scream & shout this out as counter argument because they don't like having their behavior acting rich being exposed and their double-standards hypocrisy being called out. They know the moral high ground they're standing on when criticizing others crumbles right before their eyes when their hypocrisy is being exposed.

[@tweedy4sg]

@@fusion9619 Child labor??? LOL 😂. There's been all manner of accusations thrown at China in the West on the issue of labor, but none (as in ZERO) is about child labor. You know why ? Because they know China with it's 40-yrs of 1-child policy has very few to no kids in Chinese households. Kids are treasured & spoiled. No one in their right mind will send their kids out to work. And you can't count kid helping with work around the house including farm-work as child labor. Just proves you're a lying propagandist !! As for what-aboutism, hypocrite propagandist like you regularly scream & shout this out as counter argument because they don't like having their behavior acting rich being exposed and their double-standards hypocrisy being called out. They know the moral high ground they're standing on when criticizing others crumbles right before their eyes when their hypocrisy is being exposed.

[@Hawaii_NoKaOi]

This guy is a horrible guest. I can’t understand what he is saying. It’s very difficult to listen to him.

[@fusion9619]

You didn't miss anything. He's dishonest, and me and several other people who have lived in China have pointed out his BS. Also, aloha Hawaiian! I was just talking with a bunch of Hawaiians, trying to get a job there. I didn't get the job... But it's been fun learning about Hawaii anyways.

[@FC-vp9ej]

@@fusion9619 Are your name Adrian Zenz?

[@fusion9619]

@@FC-vp9ej who's that?

[@lugiasimply6054]

@@fusion9619 I'm glad you agree with me on this

[@richardmackenzie1878]

Props to Saif for bringing this guy on in the current Sinophobic climate, takes guts. Just reading the comments you can get an idea of the foaming-at-the-mouth hatred being cultivated in America.