Tag: Opium Wars

Can We Please Have an Adult Conversation about China?

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

A new kind of madness is seeping into global political discourse, a poisonous fog that suffocates reason. This fog, which has long marinated in old, ugly ideas of white supremacy and Western superiority, is clouding our ideas of humanity. The general malady that ensues is a deep suspicion and hatred of China, not just of its current leadership or even the Chinese political system, but hatred of the entire country and of Chinese civilisation – hatred of just about anything to do with China.

Can We Please Have an Adult Conversation about China?

H/T: Vijay Prashad—US threatens China because China threatens US hegemony

Yellow Peril Emerges Again After 150 Years (video)

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Here’s a quick video based on my new book, looking at the toxic Yellow peril hysteria sweeping through the United States. However, this is not new and is just a rehashing of the Sinophobia from the 19th century. After the Opium Wars — in which the USA was an active participant — the British and the Americans exploited Chinese workers, who were sent to America, Australia (British colony at that time) and elsewhere. In the U.S., Chinese faced all kinds of racist and discriminatory laws for many decades until 1882 when the Chinese Exclusion Act specifically banned all Chinese immigrants. This appalling law lasted until 1943 when the U.S. wanted China’s help in defeating Japan; also, the U.S. wanted to install its puppet Chiang Kai-shek as the leader of China. So, the law was modified to allow whopping … 105 Chinese … per year to come to the U.S.!

Yellow Peril Emerges Again After 150 Years (video)

James Bradley, Author of Flags of Our Fathers, #1 New York Times Best-Seller, Speaks Out Against the U.S. Military Encirclement of China

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

James Bradley, Author of Flags of Our Fathers, #1 New York Times Best-Seller, Speaks Out Against the U.S. Military Encirclement of China

The China Mirage ends with a warning for today. Bradley writes that, “from those early days [19th century] until now, America has dispatched its hopeful sons and daughters to faraway Asia in search of a mirage that never was. And never will be.” That mirage is the idea of China as moldable in American hands. Now, according to Bradley, we have entered another disappointment phase as an ascendant China has gone about its business of expanding its economy and hence its worldwide influence. The danger is that Washington will not get over its disappointment. Bradley in fact describes the current situation—where the U.S. encircles China—as akin to dry tinder ready to spark a war.

Why Did China Lease Hong Kong to Britain?

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

In 1997, the British handed Hong Kong back to China, the end of a 99-year-long lease and an event that was dreaded and anticipated by the residents, the Chinese, the English, and the rest of the world. Hong Kong includes 426 square miles of territory in the South China Sea, and it is today one of the most densely occupied and economically independent parts of the world. That lease came about as a result of wars over trade imbalances, opium, and the shifting power of Queen Victoria’s British empire.

Why Did China Lease Hong Kong to Britain?