This is a Dutch investigative piece (English subtitles available) made by the Dutch government funded TV program ‘Nieuwsuur’. Before you start bashing on it for it being biased because the TV program is government funded, a lot of Dutch politicians at the time strongly wanted to increase our trade agreements with China, this item was actively hindering that.
I get disliking a lot of the ‘American exceptionalism’ you see on some corners of the internet, but one must also be cautious of not accidentally creating your own ‘Chinese exceptionalism’. There is actual concrete proof that this is happening in China. This is of course not the fault of the Chinese people, this is government policy, not the fault of the whole Chinese people. But if we become to cautious to speak up about issues like these, they will keep occurring in all parts of the world.
I don’t think I’ll be able to convince anyone in here, but due to me more and more frequently spotting posts about these on my Lemmy feed, I was itching to speak up about it.
Politicians were being questioned by other media based on this report. They had to defend improving relations and creating stronger economic bonds with a country that did not have a great human rights record.
this seems strange to me. dutch politicians have no problems doing business with countries with awful human rights records. the absolute worst countries by this metric.
I’m not saying that this completely stopped them in their tracks. But it would obviously be in the governments best interests to not bring to light an item like this. It would be easier for them they don’t have to worm their way out of difficult interviews
but again, it doesnt seem to bother either the politicians or the press when the netherlands trades with the worst offenders on the planet. and yet, in the case of china, it matters?
either the dutch are terribly inconsistent for no reason, or there’s something else in play.
or is it just me and this seems like a perfecly good explanation of their actions to you?
You are somehow completely missing the point. Why would there be something else at play? What possible reason could the Dutch government have to want a report like this to exist? The opposition often gives the coalition a lot of heat for things like this, actually affecting legislation. Again, 0 reasons to think that this TV program is biased in their reporting. They even have some more recent items you would actually like, about how Dutch innovation is starting to fall behind compared to China.
The point is this:
It is perfectly understandable to dislike ‘the west’ or anything you want to fit into that term, but don’t use that as an excuse to defend other parties. No matter who they are.
I wish it was different, I wish China could focus their internal and external policies on items that actually benefited them.
i’m not talking about the report, i’m talking about the dutch govt’s actions. you say they’re based on this report. i cant see how.
edit:
to try to explain what i’m getting at, i’m puzzled by this sentencve of yours:
Before you start bashing on it for it being biased because the TV program is government funded, a lot of Dutch politicians at the time strongly wanted to increase our trade agreements with China, this item was actively hindering that.
you’re going to have to explain how this item was hindering that and why only this item and why much worse violations of human rights committed by the netherland’s other trade partners do not hinder trade with those countries.
I am not saying that, perhaps i worded it weirdly. I was merely trying to explain a reason why this report can’t simply be put down as ‘biased’. But since you are apparently not interested in the contents of said report I guess there is no convincing you. I just want to implore you to just like with any other country (or entity for that matter) to never blindly defend them.
Don’t think I’m defending the Dutch government here, I strongly oppose the current government (what’s left of it), but I do want to praise actual good journalism. It is something that is unfortunately becoming less and less common.
This is a Dutch investigative piece (English subtitles available) made by the Dutch government funded TV program ‘Nieuwsuur’. Before you start bashing on it for it being biased because the TV program is government funded, a lot of Dutch politicians at the time strongly wanted to increase our trade agreements with China, this item was actively hindering that.
https://youtu.be/ixdGGZ4Nof0
I get disliking a lot of the ‘American exceptionalism’ you see on some corners of the internet, but one must also be cautious of not accidentally creating your own ‘Chinese exceptionalism’. There is actual concrete proof that this is happening in China. This is of course not the fault of the Chinese people, this is government policy, not the fault of the whole Chinese people. But if we become to cautious to speak up about issues like these, they will keep occurring in all parts of the world.
I don’t think I’ll be able to convince anyone in here, but due to me more and more frequently spotting posts about these on my Lemmy feed, I was itching to speak up about it.
how was it hindering more trade agreements?
Politicians were being questioned by other media based on this report. They had to defend improving relations and creating stronger economic bonds with a country that did not have a great human rights record.
this seems strange to me. dutch politicians have no problems doing business with countries with awful human rights records. the absolute worst countries by this metric.
i think there has to be another reason here.
I’m not saying that this completely stopped them in their tracks. But it would obviously be in the governments best interests to not bring to light an item like this. It would be easier for them they don’t have to worm their way out of difficult interviews
but again, it doesnt seem to bother either the politicians or the press when the netherlands trades with the worst offenders on the planet. and yet, in the case of china, it matters?
either the dutch are terribly inconsistent for no reason, or there’s something else in play.
or is it just me and this seems like a perfecly good explanation of their actions to you?
You are somehow completely missing the point. Why would there be something else at play? What possible reason could the Dutch government have to want a report like this to exist? The opposition often gives the coalition a lot of heat for things like this, actually affecting legislation. Again, 0 reasons to think that this TV program is biased in their reporting. They even have some more recent items you would actually like, about how Dutch innovation is starting to fall behind compared to China.
The point is this:
It is perfectly understandable to dislike ‘the west’ or anything you want to fit into that term, but don’t use that as an excuse to defend other parties. No matter who they are.
I wish it was different, I wish China could focus their internal and external policies on items that actually benefited them.
i’m not talking about the report, i’m talking about the dutch govt’s actions. you say they’re based on this report. i cant see how.
edit:
to try to explain what i’m getting at, i’m puzzled by this sentencve of yours:
you’re going to have to explain how this item was hindering that and why only this item and why much worse violations of human rights committed by the netherland’s other trade partners do not hinder trade with those countries.
I am not saying that, perhaps i worded it weirdly. I was merely trying to explain a reason why this report can’t simply be put down as ‘biased’. But since you are apparently not interested in the contents of said report I guess there is no convincing you. I just want to implore you to just like with any other country (or entity for that matter) to never blindly defend them.
Don’t think I’m defending the Dutch government here, I strongly oppose the current government (what’s left of it), but I do want to praise actual good journalism. It is something that is unfortunately becoming less and less common.