[afavour]

China has a whole other level of control going on. You’re free to use any mobile OS you want because they’re able to monitoring every internet connection, see what you’re downloading and block any and all content they deem unsuitable with no recourse. They can also arrest you and move you to a labor camp with little recourse.

I’m not defending the UK police’s actions here but “it’s just as bad as China!” is a refrain you see often that rarely adds up.

[joe463369]

There is zero evidence of any UK police action.

[rgblambda]

There isn't even any indication of police involvement. "The authorities" could mean anything from the local police service to the National Crime Agency, to the National Cyber Security Centre (part of GCHQ) and anything in between.

[skeptic_ai]

Tbh I feel what you say it’s just to feel good about how bad our situation is. Oh, their situation is much worse, don’t worry about us, we are so much better.

[afavour]

Not at all. I’m saying the suggestion that we’re in China levels of control are simply inaccurate. Hyperbole is never a useful response.

We should be criticizing our governments. But for the things they’re actually doing. Not what we imagine them to be doing.

[Markoff]

/s

yup, me and my whole family using VPNs on there phones were arrested and placed in labor camp, I'm writing this now from camp, sending it to gateway on pigeon...

but seriously, these people fear mongering arbor China are completely clueless, China absolutely doesn't care about you unless you go against gov, nobody checked our phones at border, nobody bothered us, at the Beijing province border checks they noticed we didn't register our accommodation which is mandatory and just let us go on our trip anyway telling us to go to police after weekend where we met extremely laid-back police officers smoking under no smoking sign

been living there for years and the situation was same, I fucked up paperwork which would in US lead to detention and deportation, in China we always found solution, there is always workaround for rules, China doesn't care about you unless you do something extreme against the gov

I remember being on high horse about freedom and other BS regarding West vs china, but since COVID I'm more and more failing to see the difference, quite the opposite for West

[handle584]

The way Chinese and US treat foreigners are at two extremes. Simply from your example,

> didn't register our accommodation which is mandatory

>> Foreigner: just let us go on our trip anyway

>> Citizen: sent to detention and beaten to death [0]. Reverse ICE?

Police is friendly and laid back for foreigners, in China there are even foreigners advertising to call the police for you if you lost something, simply because police will be more responsible if a foreigner is involved. And they are also more flexible like your experience shows, which does not apply to citizens.

There are more examples, like gfw, for foreigner there are even volunteers at major airports helping you install VPN, while for citizens you can get fined or warned with an official record in your dossier.

Or like COVID you mentioned, during the lock-down period foreigners have prioritized access to foods and necessities. One extreme case I remember is a wealthy couple in Shanghai ran out of those things. And how did they get through? They happened to hire a Philippine nanny at the time, and that gives them priority, despite not officially registered like you. Imagine your gov prioritize your servant over you.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Zhigang_incident

[Markoff]

oh please, I lived in China 5+ years, plenty of Chinese breakm various laws and nobody is sending them to detention or beats to death, that's more like US thing

maybe visit China to have clue instead parroting someone's propaganda

and no, there are NOT volunteers helping you with VPN at airport, not sure what are you smoking

[handle584]

All I am saying is foreigners' experience does not necessarily reflect that of citizens, just like in the US the current ICE raids and immigration visa tighten up does not affect most citizens, but changed many foreigners' life forever.

I pick the previous linked case because what he did is exactly what you did, and I am not arguing for general law enforcement.

I go to major expos in China multiple times a year, and the volunteers are there, every time. You can find advertisements for sim cards, vpn services not only at airports, but also hotels, etc.