And?

If we continue the race where the cheapest product wins at the expense of the environment, then we are going to have a climate policy like the one in the U.S., Russia, or China. The world’s biggest polluters have the weakest rule in the combat of climate change. The COP30 in Brazil was another prove for this.

The EU is not good, yet much better.

It’s good that Europe stands firm. I wish it did so in other things (like the ban of combustion engine) also.

[Edit typo.]

This is a serious and rising problem, but one that is not limited just to South American drugs as many reports have shown in recent years.

For example, synthetic drugs from the Netherlands are exported worldwide, with China providing a significant portion of the laboratory equipment, raw materials and chemicals necessary for their production (opens pdf).

In 2021, one reports shows how Asian drug-trafficking networks operate in Europe:

[A] European Parliament report noted that Chinese criminal groups often collaborate with Dutch groups in the Netherlands supplying MDMA and meth precursors like piperonyl methyl ketone (PMK) and benzyl methyl ketone (BMK), respectively.

And more recently, an investigation reveals how China and Chinese mafias overseas protect each other’s interests:

The rise of Chinese organized crime in Europe highlights its ties to the Chinese state, national security officials say. Recent cases show the suspected role of mobsters in Beijing’s campaign to repress diaspora communities and amass influence.

I don’t waste my time anymore to listen to this pseudo-intellectual. There is much to criticize about this person, but the most obvious comes from withing his own organization. In 2022, soon after Russia invaded Ukraine, the Polish left-wing party Razem had left Varoufakis’ so-called Progressive International and ‘Democracy in Europe 2025 Movement’ (DIEM25), the reason being very revealing:

In the absence of an unequivocal declaration recognising Ukraine’s sovereignty and an absolute condemnation of Russian imperialism by the Progressive International and the Democracy in Europe 2025 Movement, Lewica Razem ends its cooperation with these organizations.

This person has nothing to do with democracy or anything like that. His organizations are just cultivating a personality cult around Yanis and some others that appeal to specific anti-democratic groups of which some are also here on Lemmy.

It’s absolutely fair to say that this vulnerability isn’t unique to Chinese tech and must be addressed regarding any tech, but the Chinese government isn’t definitely an ally. China’s political and economic coercion tactics have been well-known for decades, and it has become worse in the recent decade. It’s not a misdiagnosis therefore.

Edit for an addition: If this would be an article about US tech doing the same thing, would you also call it a ‘misdiagnosis’ because China is also a problem? I assume you wouldn’t. This kind of whataboutism works only in one direction.

The interesting thing is that any pieces only slightly critical of China are immediately censored at Tiktok, but anti-European propaganda isn’t.

Tiktok has also been spreading Chinese, Russian, and Iranian propaganda to Western audiences for years. It’s really time for a ban.

… only when a Chinese company has this ability.

Could it be that the Chinese Communist Party has long been well-known to for its coercion and bullying? Should certainly be fixed for all others, but this whataboutism works only when China is criticized.

I posted this already in another thread, but it fits here also.

In December 2024, a video was circulating on Chinese social media that shows how China should conquer parts of Siberia up to lake Baikal.

It is a news agency. It’s a major part of the dpa (and agencies in other countries) to provide ‘basic’ news as their first clients are other media. In case of dpa, almost all German radio stations and newspapers are affiliated to the dpa, meaning they can use dpa news for their reports and don’t need own staff for this. For many of these ‘quick’ news -a research company’s presentation of a survey, a bank’s press conference about its quarterly results, things like that - it would be too expensive to maintain their own editors.

So to make that clear: I don’t want to criticize that or drag it down. Agencies fulfill an important role in our media landscape. It’s just that we shouldn’t expect deep investigative research from an agency. Sometimes they do that certainly, but that’s an exemption as it is not their main job.

Was it good? You didn’t have a choice.

And was it good now? Do you want this for children today?

I am confident that there are countries in 2025 where 4-year-olds don’t learn how to shoot in kindergarten.

dpa has frequently such ‘news’ … and a ‘research’ company can spit something out, just for the headline.

I agree, this is outright bullshit by any standard.

Was this good? Did you also learn to handle a machine gun at the age of 4?

Putin himself declared, “Commanders don’t win wars, teachers win wars." It’s pretty clear what he aims at, and it has nothing to do with peace.

Maybe you can manage to watch a documentary about it: “Mr Nobody against Putin”, follows Russian teacher Pavel Talankin’s job in a school at Karabash, a poor mining town near the Ural Mountains. While recording his students Talakin also documents the Putin administration movements to control public perception during the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war. (Mr. Talankin lives now in exile.)

Many Russian teachers don’t want to do this, but they have to, Talankin says.

It must be a horror for Russian parents to send their children to such schools.

As an addition: The Russian “elite” - these are those who can afford the fee - is sending their children, of course, to private schools in Russia: or, if possible, to Western schools and university. Just fyi.

I don’t know much specifically about Romania, but as all other Eurozone members the country would certainly benefit from reduced transaction costs, which makes cross-border trade easier. This also tends to support investments in the country (both from within the Eurozone and from abroad), and it may bring increased price stability (particularly for countries with weaker economies).

Eurozone membership also means being part of the European Stability Mechanism. This creates a higher degree of financial stability for members, particularly in times of a crisis, as it provides a source of funding that countries may not have otherwise.

These would be my two cents.

What are the reasons that politicians in Romania are hesitant to join the Eurozone?

Nah, this is serious reporting about threats against Europe.

The communities that are “a collection of war propaganda pieces” are the .ml domains where they are often literally cheering the violence, including Russia’s war against Ukraine. In these communities, you even get banned if you don’t unconditionally support Russia in its war against Ukraine, or China’s aggression against its neighbours or its minorities in the country.

This is a propaganda outlet spreading pro-China narratives. This is pure authoritarian propaganda here.

In December 2024, a video was circulating on Chinese social media that shows how China should conquer parts of Siberia up to lake Baikal.

I don’t know much about Sweden, but the government released a report including options for digital collaboration platform technologies for the public sector in 2021 (available in English and Swedish, both a s pdf).

At least the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning has chosen Nextcloud in 2022.

This reminds me a bit on the Ford CEO Jim Farley who has been claiming that China is too far ahead and the Western car industry is doomed. Reports often with the same quotes circulate also here on Lemmy, many of them posted by OP. It’s the same “Europe bad, China good” narrative all the time.

it’s been a part of peace deals since the dawn of time

Here is a - supposedly incomplete - list of convicted war criminals.

Sometimes it’s hard to portray satire and sarcasm over the web. Just look at OP’s post history, their contributions have all the same anti-European, pro-China/pro-Russia spin.

My question was rhetorical, I apologize for the confusion ;-)

@schizoidman

There is Finland, a country that was committed to neutrality since WWII. Then, in 2023, it joined Nato, and now this. I am wondering why this is?