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this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2026
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Lefty Memes
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When writing stuff like "lol" and "iirc", it's a good idea to try and replace those with their all caps counterpart
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Why? Because otherwise (AFAIK), screen readers will try to read them out as actually words instead of spelling them
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I don't find these sources to be particularly damning toward PRC. The section in the second reference that was like "why would an authoritarian communist country support a democratically elected government?" Was just like redscare bs. Is it hard to believe that China does not want a civil war on its border? That they would make moves to stop illegal arms markets? Criticisms of China would be much more convincing to me if the reporters weren't holding flashlights under their chin and describing somewhat normal and peaceful IR tactics in a spooky ominous tone.
Like, no, I don't think supporting a military junta is a moral good. But I can also recognize that, after 5 years of civil war, China may want to normalize relations with their neighbor. If they invaded to overthrow the junta, that would also be bad. If they support the rebels, then the junta uses that to foment anti-Chinese sentiment on their border. It might be appropriate to disagree with the policy, but it seems to be coming from a source where no matter what actions PRC took, there would be risks and grounds fr criticism.
Based on the sources you provided, even reading through the doomish tone, Chinese actions appear pretty rational. Not above criticism, perhaps, but such criticism should be carried out in a principled and not opportunist or polemical manner, at least, if it is to be convincing to me. I like objective views, and I like views coming from real people. Lacking that, and serving a big dose of propaganda, is a real turn off for me.
I agree that one needs to read past the red scare. The PRC, despite what the US says, is a rational actor not a boogeyman. Sadly, news sources for Myanmar are scarce, so I try to remove the editorialising and focus on the factual events - since editorialising and red scare aside, the Irrawaddy has enough of a good reputation to not make up events wholesale.
And there it comes down to, sadly, that the PRC's "we don't meddle" line is sadly untrue. And while I do think that so far the evidence is that the PRC is not as destabilising and destructive for others as the US, there is no sign that a rise in the influence of the PRC will help much - instead we'll see more of what there has been in Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Laos, and others on a wider scale.
An entrenching of existing inequality, and helping the current dominant factions to cement their place in return for resources and Chinese capital getting to accumulate.