Politics - Any and All Political Discussions Not Really Related to TT

[Egon]

The invasion is brutal and fascist and has caused an immense amount of suffering for both Ukrainian and Russian people.

The russian population, for the most part, supported this attack.
What kind of "suffering" has the russian population been enduring all this time?

 

[zeio]

It would be so easy for WTT/ITTF to track who was the one that did the flash during the match. These days especially when booking tickets in China everything is link to mobile number (ID verified) but of course if WTT/ITTF did that they would lose their revenue from the fangirls.

Confucianism: "To subdue one's self and return to propriety, is perfect virtue... Is the practice of perfect virtue from a man himself, or is it from others?"
Individualism: Human rights abuses and violations! Surveillance state! Persecution of sports fans! Assault on freedom of expression! Authoritarian, draconian and iron-fisted!

A cure for individualism
It runs deeply through the Western outlook, hailed and condemned in equal measures. For a corrective, look to Confucius
https://aeon.co/essays/what-is-the-cure-for-the-wests-individualist-worldview

The Confucian alternative begins from a notion of what contemporary scholars call the ‘relational self’ – that a person cannot be understood in isolation from their connections with those around them. What is most relevant about me is not that I am a free and autonomous agent, but rather that I am so-and-so’s son or daughter, grandchild or sibling; someone’s teacher, colleague or mentor; a member of such-and-such neighbourhood and community. In its conception of the person as inseparable from their relationships, the role-bearing self poses a challenge to the social contract view of humans as pristine individuals who participate in society only voluntarily.

 

[Angerer]

I think that focusing on the morality of Russia invading Ukraine prevents us from seeing the larger geopolitical picture. Geopolitical dynamics does not have morality. The US is trying to extend its sphere of influence increasingly to the east, and Russia sees this as a threat

You're trying to rationalize a senile dictator who believes in over a dozen of conspiracy theories. Although it's good intentions, you're viewing things through logic that putin sees through his perverted lens.
Plus, the military support for Ukraine by US was non-existent before 2022, you're basing your thinking over something that never was a thing. Some horrible crimes have no reasoning other that pure evil -- no matter how hard you try to find the cause or rationalize its actions.

 

[Archosaurus]

Russia sees NATO as such a threat that they emptied their western border and reinforced the eastern one during the war. Makes you think.

 

[zeio]

Replying here because answering the question requires delving into politics.

https://www.tabletennisdaily.com/forum/topics/thread-about-japanese-players.38013/post-580880

The Japanese toxicity (especially the ネトウヨ/internet rightists) is comparable to the Chinese (including Taiwanese) and Korean ones and shows no sign of abating. Don't let the Western media brainwash you about the seemingly cute and harmless Japanese culture. Political correctness of the West is such a foreign concept it would get an n for naive in East Asia. As I've repeated stressed, telling players to retire is so mild they wouldn't even bat an eye.

2026/2/26
アスリートがメイクをして何が悪いのか――　「国籍」「容姿」への攻撃、五輪開催中も6万2000件の誹謗中傷 (What's wrong with athletes wearing makeup? — Attacks on "nationality" and "appearance," 62,000 defamatory comments during the Olympics)
https://www.dailyshincho.jp/article/2026/02260534/?all=1
2026/2/14
日本選手団への中傷投稿６・２万件…団長「想定以上の件数、選手の力奪うからやめて」 (62,000 abusive posts targeting the Japanese team… Team leader: "This is a higher number than we expected. Please stop, it's taking away the athletes' strength.")
https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/olympic/2026/20260214-GYT1T00222/
2026/1/28
「ブス」「キモい」「消えろ」オリンピックで目立つ選手への誹謗中傷――卓球・張本智和選手は心無い言葉にどう向き合ったのか ("Ugly," "Gross," "Get lost"—how did table tennis player Harimoto Tomokazu cope with the hateful insults directed at prominent Olympic athletes?)
https://www.dailyshincho.jp/article/2026/01280535/?all=1

(In response to this, Harimoto said, "Even if I were originally Japanese, I think people would still say something, and I think the same would happen if my parents were Japanese (omitted)... There are people who will criticize you no matter what you do. For example, even if you just say hello, there are people who will say, 'Don't say hello.' Even if you do something 100% good, there will still be people who will say something bad" (THE ANSWER, August 2, 2024).)

2026/1/5
「恐るべきライバル」だが「先祖の恩を忘れている」…ブーイング騒動の「張本智和」を中国メディアはどう論じたか　議論が沸騰した「高市発言」の引用 ("A formidable rival," but "forgetting the kindness of his ancestors"... How did Chinese media comment on Harimoto Tomokazu, who was booed? A quote from the controversial Takaichi statement)
https://www.dailyshincho.jp/article/2026/01051001/?all=1

(Set News is a pro-DPP news channel in Taiwan)
2025/12/7 (about an author in Taiwan on the Harimoto's incident at XTWC 2025)
張本智和手勢超嗆　作家：果然只有原是中國人的張本才知怎麼對付中國人 (Harimoto Tomokazu's gestures are extremely aggressive. The author comments: "Only someone originally a Chinese like Harimoto knows how to deal with the Chinese")
https://www.setn.com/News.aspx?NewsID=1762105

---

Below is a Hong Konger living in Okinawa on how the xenophobic right-wing populists (not just Chinese, but especially Vietnamese, even Western folks are being discriminated) are growing in number in the rest of Japan such as Tokyo, especially after TAKAICHI Sanae has assumed power.

日本歧視現在嚴重嗎？ #沖繩香港人 #在日港人 #沖繩旅行 #日本生活 (Is discrimination serious in Japan now? #HongKongersInOkinawa #HongKongersInJapan #OkinawaTravel #LifeInJapan)
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Sskv6hdPgTw

【式典であいさつ】高市総理「誰もが平和で暮らせる世の中の実現へ不断の努力を重ねる」令和8年沖縄全戦没者追悼式【ノーカット】（2026年6月23日）｜TBS NEWS DIG ([Speech at the Ceremony] Prime Minister Takaichi: "We will continue our unwavering efforts to realize a world where everyone can live in peace." Okinawa All War Dead Memorial Ceremony 2026 [Uncut] (June 23, 2026) | TBS NEWS DIG)
https://youtu.be/HzUmUEvGLho?t=18

Protester(s): No war! Protect Article 9! Apologize to the 240k people who died (in the Battle of Okinawa)!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzUmUEvGLho&lc=UgxjJNrZeT_USrEchit4AaABAg
@hakaider001
11 days ago
最も平和から遠い人がのたまっております。
212 like
(These are the words of the person furthest removed from peace.)

@るんるん-i7q-s9j
11 days ago
どの面下げてスピーチしてるんだか
マジでやべえ奴だな
ここまで嫌われてるリーダーもなかなか現れないでしょう
421 like
(I wonder what nerve she has to give a speech
She's seriously a mess
You won't often see a leader who's hated this much)

@M51, still Chinese even when they win. LOL at the passive-aggressive Japanese toxicity.

https://x.com/harimotomiwa/status/2109527426653159756

https://x.com/vanvan60876787/status/2109536924558061970
シグマ
@vanvan60876787
1h
チャイニーズコンビやん
(It's a Chinese duo, isn't it?)

 

[latej]

 

[zeio]

Why our IQ levels are higher than our grandparents' | James Flynn
https://youtu.be/9vpqilhW9uI?t=964

 

[Helanren]

@M51, still Chinese even when they win. LOL at the passive-aggressive Japanese toxicity.

https://x.com/harimotomiwa/status/2109527426653159756

https://x.com/vanvan60876787/status/2109536924558061970
シグマ
@vanvan60876787
1h
チャイニーズコンビやん
(It's a Chinese duo, isn't it?)

How far did you have to dig for that comment with two likes? Don't spend so much time on negativity my friend.

 

[Egon]

How far did you have to dig for that comment with two likes? Don't spend so much time on negativity my friend.

For his electronic brain, it did not take as much time as it would have taken a living human being.

 

[zeio]

How far did you have to dig for that comment with two likes? Don't spend so much time on negativity my friend.

It was right under Miwa's post. Negativity is all around them you don't even have to spend time at all.

 

[zeio]

For his electronic brain, it did not take as much time as it would have taken a living human being.

How does it feel to be betrayed by Trump and the USA? Get real. UKR is just a pawn.

Here is how the current UKR is viewed and reported in East Asia.

美國「暗算」烏克蘭　特朗普出賣盟友換中美俄三國峰會？｜星鏈｜Starlink｜普京｜澤連斯基｜俄羅斯｜柴油｜悉國際
(U.S. "double-crossed" Ukraine. Did Trump betray an ally to secure a U.S.-China-Russia summit? | Starlink | Putin | Zelenskyy | Russia | Diesel | International Affairs)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rf8fl9fLQQ

在國際政壇這個大棋盤上
小國往往只是大國之間利益交換的籌碼
這句超級殘酷的說話
今日又一次應驗在鳥克蘭身上
(On the grand chessboard of international politics,
small nations are often merely bargaining chips in the power plays between major powers.
This brutally harsh reality
has once again proven true in the case of Ukraine.)

 

[Archosaurus]

zeio, major powers usually don't fail to defeat a much smaller adversary after several years of war. Maybe we need to update the definitions.

 

[zeio]

zeio, major powers usually don't fail to defeat a much smaller adversary after several years of war. Maybe we need to update the definitions.

It's not that uncommon throughout history. Look up the size of China at the height of the Qing dynasty. How could they lose to Great Britain and Imperial Japan just several decades later?

 

[Archosaurus]

It's not that uncommon throughout history. Look up the size of China at the height of the Qing dynasty. How could they lose to Great Britain and Imperial Japan just several decades later?

If Britain had technological and military superiority and much more force projection capabilities, weren't *they* the big power? China was basically a backwater even compared to Japan.

The difference here is that Ukraine actually *still* has inferior industrial and technological capabilities than Russia. Although they should surpass them sometime in 2027 or 2028. I guess then Ukraine is the big power.

 

[Egon]

How does it feel to be betrayed by Trump and the USA? Get real. UKR is just a pawn.

Here is how the current UKR is viewed and reported in East Asia.

美國「暗算」烏克蘭　特朗普出賣盟友換中美俄三國峰會？｜星鏈｜Starlink｜普京｜澤連斯基｜俄羅斯｜柴油｜悉國際
(U.S. "double-crossed" Ukraine. Did Trump betray an ally to secure a U.S.-China-Russia summit? | Starlink | Putin | Zelenskyy | Russia | Diesel | International Affairs)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rf8fl9fLQQ

在國際政壇這個大棋盤上
小國往往只是大國之間利益交換的籌碼
這句超級殘酷的說話
今日又一次應驗在鳥克蘭身上
(On the grand chessboard of international politics,
small nations are often merely bargaining chips in the power plays between major powers.
This brutally harsh reality
has once again proven true in the case of Ukraine.)

The American people will sort everything out themselves, without your advice or mine.
Stop supporting the aggressor country, and this war will end quickly.