China has lashed out at Germany after its foreign minister called Xi Jinping a “dictator” and summoned Berlin’s ambassador for a dressing down, in the latest flaring of tensions with a western democratic power over how the Chinese leader is described overseas.

  • OR3X@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    LMAO! Racist? I didn’t know “dictator” was a race! Please, enlighten me.

      • unphazed@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Not racist at all. It’s against one person. Trump’s face is seen on an orange all the time. No one is calling for racism. He just looks like a damn orange.

          • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            That would be racist, because of the whole monkey-black-people existing racial insult. In the same way, it is not racist to depict Xi as Winnie the Pooh since there is no “President Xis look like cartoon bears” racial insult.

        • MeowZedong@lemmygrad.ml
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          1 year ago

          There’s a big difference here.

          Is Trump’s skin naturally orange? Is there a long history of oppressing white people in the US and other NATO countries?

          Just because the Winnie the Pooh meme didn’t originate as a racist symbol doesn’t mean that it isn’t used to propagate racism and sinophobia.

          • eltimablo@kbin.social
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            1 year ago

            Just because the Winnie the Pooh meme isn’t actually racist doesn’t mean I’m not going to call it racist in a pathetic attempt to establish a fake moral high ground over people who have arguments I can’t counter

            There, I fixed it for you.

            • MeowZedong@lemmygrad.ml
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              1 year ago

              Projecting much? Care to explain how it isn’t racist or damaging with an argument other than “nuh-uh”?

              • eltimablo@kbin.social
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                1 year ago

                Insulting someone doesn’t make it racist just because the other person is a different race from you.

                Also, the meme was started by Chinese people.

                • MeowZedong@lemmygrad.ml
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                  1 year ago

                  I agree with you on both points, but that is not the argument that I was making. If you need some more context, Here’s just one of the many additional comments I left in this thread explaining my position.

                  FYI, citing the fact that the meme originated in China does not negate how it is used by others after the fact. It’s like arguing that when neonazis use the swastika, it’s ok because its actual origins are as an ancient religious symbol. The meanings of things can change and be used for reasons other than their original intention.

                  I’m not saying the meme is racist, I’m saying that it’s being used in a racist way here, specifically in the form of Sinophobia.

                  • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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                    1 year ago

                    I’m not saying the meme is racist

                    – You

                    The Winnie the Pooh meme about Xi is just racism

                    – Also you

          • unphazed@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Xi isn’t in the US and his country isn’t part of NATO. Political cartoons are as old as time. They poke fun at the individual, not their descent. By trying to make it more you’re arguing for it to be censored. He has feelings (maybe), but he has gone so far as to attempt to censor the cartoon from his own country. Not because he believes it is racist, but because his opinion is that he doesn’t like it. Streisand Effect of course, it gets used more. I think Xi does remarkably look like Pooh. Do other Asian persons? No. There isn’t an innocence about it. Xi feels bad by it, people use it to make him angry. He is a dictator with lots of power so people use the one tool they have to attempt to fight that power - a fucking cartoon bear.

            • MeowZedong@lemmygrad.ml
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              1 year ago

              I think you misinterpreted part of what I’m saying. The use of the meme in Taiwan and Hong Kong were political dissent, not racism.

              The use of the meme in NATO countries is racist due to their history of racism and because this is one of the tools these governments use to convince you that China is your enemy and you should support military actions against them before their military becomes stronger than that of the US and they lose their monopoly on international power and subsequently their power to bully the rest of the world.

              Before you dismiss this argument by saying it’s just because Xi doesn’t like the meme, where did you get this information? From what I’ve seen the Chinese government has not responded and the reasoning behind the ban is purely speculative. Sure, I believe they banned the comparison as it was the basis of geopolitical dissent, but to claim it’s because a world leader who gets insulted frequently and in worse ways has thin skin is a stretch. He has bigger worries than Westerners tweeting at him.

              If you want a tool to fight the power of dictators, you’d be better served focusing on organizing the citizens of your own country against the powers that work against their interests at home. They point you toward foreign leaders and say “look, they’re worse” so you won’t criticize the shit job your own “representatives” are doing at home.

              • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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                1 year ago

                The use of the meme in NATO countries is racist due to their history of racism

                This isn’t how that works. And even if it were, then it would be racist everywhere due to everywhere’s history of racism.

          • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            What? Winnie the Pooh is from a British cartoon…Asian people aren’t described as “orange” by racists. I don’t think you know the origin of this meme

            Please illustrate how a British cartoon character is a racist caricature of xi? Is Barack Obama a tiger?

      • DarthFrodo@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        The Taiwanese use the meme all the time. Obviously not because it looks like Xi in particular and especially because of fragile censoring, but because they like to be racist against themselves. That must be it.

        Calling Trump a guinea pig is probably also considered racist in lemmygrad.

          • randint@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            The guy who replied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in your second screenshot seems like one of the far-right wingers. They do not, in any capacity, represent the general population.

        • MeowZedong@lemmygrad.ml
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          1 year ago

          Taiwan is where the former Republic of China retreated after being defeated by the People’s Republic of China. The censorship of Xi=Pooh in China isn’t rooted in racism, it’s rooted in the political conflicts between the ROC and PRC. China censors these comparisons because they are used by opponents to attack the government. You don’t have to agree with their methods to understand why they would want to do this. Censoring realistic threats to the ruling government is a common practice in all nations.

          The racist aspect originates from how the meme is used in Western circles where there is a long history of racism towards minorities and the enemies of the US as well as a long history of sinophobia.

          If your understanding of history, racism, and their opinions of Trump are so shallow, maybe lurking Lemmygrad to learn why users from this instance act so aggressively towards racism and war-mongering propaganda would be helpful.

          • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            If being connected to a cartoon is a “realistic threat” then you have a shit government

            • MeowZedong@lemmygrad.ml
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              1 year ago

              Read between the lines.

              Culture has an impact on politics and can be the spark for sudden and violent political upheaval.

                • MeowZedong@lemmygrad.ml
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                  1 year ago

                  Again, read between the lines.

                  I’m a communist who likes cats and puns. If you can make a compelling argument for how celebrating Mao in the form of a cat pun has a basis in racism and the historical oppression of a people, I’m ready to change it.

                  • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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                    1 year ago

                    I’ve no need to read between the lines, a dude named mao just told me the ruling government should be worried about cultural sparks for violent political change, and doesn’t see the irony

        • LarkinDePark@lemmygrad.ml
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          1 year ago

          and especially because of fragile censoring

          You think these memes are censored? Lol, you live in an authoritarian shithole that brainwashes you with this stupid shit. Use your brain.