Communism is supposed to be a left-wing position right? But I'm saying I'm not sure I would see China as properly leftist given their behaviour. Wanting to take external territory potentially by force seems imperialist to me, and I would see imperialism as a right-wing behaviour.
As @stickly@lemmy.world pointed out, polling shows that Taiwanese people mostly want the status quo (de facto independence of Taiwan from the PRC) or they lean towards formally declaring independence.
As for Taiwan claiming sovereignty over China, maybe that is still in their constitution, I don't know. But I'm pretty sure modern Taiwanese leaders are not asserting this claim. Instead they seek to preserve the status quo, where Taiwan is de facto independent.
I don't know lots about the CAP to be honest. Anyway I guess we will just have different views on the EU. There probably are lots of flaws to the EU but I like the idea of Europe working together in principle.
Scots did of course have a referendum regarding Scottish membership of the UK, and I think Scots should be able to have such a vote again. Maybe votes like that should be held on a regular basis, to make politics more democratic.
Anyway I guess we're not going to agree. If you want the UK to remain out of the EU, I think that's a valid opinion. I think that ties with Europe can benefit the UK although I recognise it's unlikely that the government will make any steps towards rejoining the EU any time soon.
If you think the EU is an environmental disaster then you could argue for the EU to have better environmental policies, rather than argue for the UK to stay out of the EU. Just like if you disagree with some UK legislation then you could campaign for that legislation to change, rather than argue that the UK should be broken up.
I don't know how they came up with their numbers but media outlets seem to be confident quoting their figures. Also I found this written by a Tory who was an MP and is now in the House of Lords:
The latest estimates are that Brexit reduced GDP by 6 to 8 per cent by 2025, with business investment down 12 to 18 per cent.
If I were to see news articles saying that Brexit is having a fantastically positive effect on the British economy then maybe I'll look at Brexit as being somewhat beneficial. But I haven't seen that. Also like I said, I think having close ties with Europe can have some benefits beyond just easing international trade. It means Europe together can stand up against big countries who dislike Europe and want to harm Europe.
Maybe we won't agree though. I guess you think Brexit is going to be a good thing for the UK in the long-term? I guess I'm not so convinced about that.
I linked to the OBR and I find their statements interesting because they're saying the UK's productivity will be 4% lower than if the UK remained in the EU. You say the UK had productivity problems while the UK was in the EU. Let's assume for a second that's true. Then what the OBR is saying is that there is an additional factor negatively affecting British productivity; that factor is Brexit.
Also I think closer ties with Europe would be good because a united Europe can more effectively stand up to big global powers like the US, Russia, and China. I don't want to see the UK bending over backwards to accommodate Trump and his illiberal colleagues. Europe together has real weight to push back against the US. E.g. if the UK alone were to tariff American goods then it wouldn't affect the US too much, but if all of Europe did the same thing together, it would affect the US much more.
This view might be controversial but here goes. If someone is suspected of a major crime (rape, serious assault, murder, major theft), maybe it's okay for law enforcement to gain access to that person's online accounts.
People might say "but if the government has the power to do that, one day they could do it to you, or they could use those powers to oppress anybody who criticises the government". But isn't that like saying "if you build prisons then one day an authoritarian government might put any critic of the government in those prisons"?
I don't know if the right solution is a customs union, or participation in some areas of the single market, or something else. I just read that the UK's post-Brexit arrangements "will reduce long-run productivity by 4 per cent relative to remaining in the EU", so presumably if we boost trade with Europe in certain ways, it should increase British productivity
Related to your post: I've seen people from Lemmy.ml defend imperialist behaviour from Russia and China. Surely the left is supposed to oppose imperialism - whether it's from the US, Europe, Russia, China, or anywhere else.
There are many affordable goods that can be bought from countries that aren't the US or China. I actually think I would rather buy things that aren't from the US or China. Both of those countries don't seem to like Europe or the UK very much.
Actually it's your post that doesn't matter. If you actually read my posts, you'll see that I originally was responding to this post:
Lol, I wonder when Ukrainians will connect the dots that they’re in this position solely because they put their faith into western powers that didn’t deliver on their side of the bargain.
I'm saying Ukraine's current position is not "solely because they put their faith into western powers that didn’t deliver on their side of the bargain". Two reasons for this:
Even if you think "western powers" haven't fulfilled "their side of the bargain", this wouldn't be the sole reason for Ukraine's position. Another probably more important reason is that Russia chose to invade Ukraine.
Arguably "western powers", under the Budapest Memorandum, did fulfil "their side of the bargain". The US and the UK (parties to the Budapest Memorandum) didn't seem to commit to fighting a war if Ukraine came under attack. That being said, I absolutely hope that western powers do more to help Ukraine at the moment.
Now do you understand it?
Edit: I was rude in this post originally but I've taken away some of the rudeness. To be honest, the post I'm responding to is incredibly rude. Clearly the person who wrote that DID NOT READ WHAT I WROTE.