China wants international peace pact online and under water China has outlined its preferred framework for international rules on internet governance, couching them as a push for peaceful development of the four “new frontiers” of “outer space, cyberspace, deep sea and polar regions.” Wang Qun, China's ambassador to the United Nations (UN) and director-general of the nation's Ministry …
In every other respect, it is long established that countries are allowed to decide what enters and leaves. The Soviet bloc did it for decades and although we disapproved on principle, no-one except the most potty crank ever suggested we should take meaningful action to stop them. (I don't count radio broadcasts as meaningful action because you could get arrested for listening to them and there was nothing the West could do to stop that.)
Maybe we should just stop trying to rule the world and accept that we can't stop other countries being bastards unless we invade them and we aren't willing to do that (not even in North Korea's case) so the sensible approach is to put that unwillingness in writing and at least get some diplomatic credit for it.
Just because we accept their sovereignty over their own cyber-space doesn't mean we've rolled over and accepted their sovereignty over artificial islands in the South China Sea.
You have whatever Rights we *say* you're allowed to have and you are perfectly free to talk about whatever you like, provided we agree with it!
In return you agree to allow us to snoop on everything you write and everyone you contact and everything you look at...
- Signed: Your Government.
The real question is "should we be trying to undermine China's government" in any way, shape or form or should we agree that they can do what they want within their own borders?
As a hypothetical, consider this. China has a population approx. of 1.3 billion.
If they allowed everybody the human right of a democratic government one party would doubtlessly stand and offer to scrap unpopular stuff like the "one child" (to two parents) policy which is reducing China's population. China's population would therefore explode, and quickly.
So, if they switched to a democracy:-
1) What effect would this have on the environment.
2) How many decades would it be before China became territorially expansionist and clashes with other people (primarily the west, ie us) for control of raw materials and food?
3) Is it best to simply allow China to peacefully carry on with what they are doing?
"should we agree that they can do what they want within their own borders?"
We should agree that "they" can do what they want within their own borders irrespective of who "they" are.
Unless we REALLY don't like what "they" are doing, in which case we'll bomb the shit out of them.
Unless "they" are actually a very strong military power or an important trading partner in which case "they" can do what they want within their own borders.
It's the western way!!
The obvious counterpoint to that speculation is that rich countries are having a hell of a lot of trouble indigenously sustaining their population levels.
China's population is a hell of a lot better off than it was even 25 years ago. Many people are choosing not to have children _at all_. The scenario postulated is unlikely at best.
There's a big hint above about how to combat global population pressures.
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