Digital Despotism — China
Tech can be a good thing; tech can be a bad thing. China, a vicious Communist country, is using tech to control its people. Soon they will use it to reward and punish their people. It is all about control. Let’s dig into this.
China — the world’s largest country by population — has 1,420,000,000 people. Some (talking to you, Hong Kong) are yearning to be free, free of the Communist leadership that desires to suppress the yearnings for freedom while controlling everybody. The promise of “One China, Two Systems” has evaporated. Hong Kong is going to conform to Beijing’s wishes or disappear.
Look at the picture of Moe and Larry. Two clowns who could cause a lot of trouble, who are big pals. If the Chinese wanted to control North Korea, they could do so in a heartbeat, but they don’t want to.
China is 92% Han Chinese with the balance being “other” minorities like the Uyghurs (Uygurs, Uighurs, Uigurs). The Uyghurs are a Turkic ethnic minority, one of the 55 “ethnic minorities” recognized by Beijing.
Since the 16th century, the Uyghurs have been Muslim which has defined their culture and identity. In China, there are 11,300,000 Uyghurs. More about the Uyghurs later.