cycle tramp wrote: ↑19 Jun 2022, 8:16am
slowster wrote: ↑19 Jun 2022, 7:32am
cycle tramp wrote: ↑18 Jun 2022, 10:39pm
...and then decades later handed back Hong Kong to a regime with known human rights abuses, with no protection for the residents, who up until then rather enjoyed the concepts of democracy and (some) freedom of speech.....
The action by the UK Government to offer 3 million Hong Kong residents born before 1997 the right to come and live in the UK and eventually gain UK citizenship was a commendable response to China's breach of the terms under which it took back control of Hong Kong.
..oh, tough luck on anyone born after 1997 (who would now be 25, and who have grown up with the important pillars of democracy and (some freedom of speech)).. it looks like Winnie the Pooh, leader of China has gone a bit mental and sees everyone and everything as a threat, so he's taken them away....
...we all know there were lots of responses that we could have tried... but oh no, we needed Chinese investment in our economy so it was perfectly reasonable to had back Hong Kong...
.....Places we also invaded by force include
Ireland and Scotland and Wales... we going to give them back anytime soon?
I read this with some amusement. Scotland, yes, if by "we" you mean England, and you also think that you personally are linked to those actions. But Ireland was invaded by a French speaking ruling class who had not long come over from Normandy, and who moved on to clobber Wales and Ireland when they had finished subjugating the English. England, Ireland and Wales were all clobbered by the Normans. My own Irish side of the family are partly descended from people who were part of that invasion, having come with the Normans from Wales. I suspect all Irish families are descended partly from invaders. And many modern English families have Irish and Welsh ancestry. Using the word "we" in this is fraught with complications. So is blaming "the English" for events that most English people, even at the time, had no part in.
Scotland is a different matter. Integration happened much later, and under the control of what was then established as the English crown. Though again, most English people at the time were not consulted about it. I'm pretty sure I had nothing to do with it so I'm not too keen on the "we" bit.
If I were to try to put myself on one side of the blame game I'd have difficulty. Invader or victim? One or more of my ancestors was a Welshman who joined up with a Norman-led venture into Ireland, where they integrated with some of my other ancestors who were Irish, so I have ancestors on both sides of that one. As most Irish people probably do. Many Welsh people have English ancestors and many English people have Welsh or Irish ancestors. Using "we" is a baffling thing to do.