> "They have said that if any of the Chinese skiers are caught with these books, they are afraid that they would risk being sent to labor camp or prison in China."
So don't go to the library and check out those exact books, then.
Highly doubtful of this being the actual words being spoken. Likely translated from incentivized reporting. Getting in trouble? Sure. labor camp? If they existed past 2015 they’re highly unlikely to exist in official language.
It's not hubris, it's showboating for internal politics. Not only will Norway not comply with such a ridiculous request, the ridiculousness of the request is the whole point because "only a true believer could request something so ridiculous".
It's not always easy if large amounts of money is involved especially for small countries.
It's one thing to hold countries' feet over the fire over international conventions and other generally agreed upon conventions but this is basically international freedom of speech.
Imagine if Japan demanded that China take down books about Nanjin/Nanking when Japan was ascendant and China was weak...
Considering a nation as a supervillain is subjective. For someone touched by the US' past horrible foreign policies, the answer is not China for example.
Something is fishy about this story. Why would a sports team in town for training care what is in the local library? Even if they went there, surely the team members would be well aware that drawing attention to a taboo subject has no personal upside.
The librarian they quoted doesn't actually say that anyone associated with the team brought it up, and speaking of that interview, where did the reporter get this story idea from in the first place? Seems more likely that someone else is showing some faux concern to attract attention.
Interesting point. Maybe a Chinese student living in the city has come across the books and thought the visit would be a good excuse to get the books to disappear.
Interestingly they'll probably moan about the city needing to be good hosts and cater to their guests' wishes, and maybe there'll be tantrum thrown about the Norwegians being rude and offensive...
“We have had three different inquiries from individuals who have asked us to remove that book. Two to three other books are also mentioned from our collection. They have said that if any of the Chinese skiers are caught with these books, they are afraid that they would risk being sent to labor camp or prison in China,”
So.. is this like your kid's friend asking you to hide some books when he and his brother visit, because if his dad finds out his brother glanced at that book, the dad will beat him up? I.e. they know they live in a shitty regime, but they're helpless about it, and could you just help them avoid the wrath of the regime?
It'd be funnier if the library removed the books and put up a sign explaining the reason and questioning what sort of life do you live if the regime is afraid about this, but I'm guessing many Chinese do actually think Falun Gong is like a virus that you must avoid learning about, because if you learn about them then your mind will be broken, so Chairman Pooh is actually just protecting them!
A common and more effective technique (at least in US libraries for books deemed by some as "pornographic", "evolutionist", "offensive", etc.) is to check it out and never return it, or to hide it somewhere in the library.
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[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 54.9 ms ] threadSo don't go to the library and check out those exact books, then.
Good. China's leaders need more push back in their overreach in censoring content around the world.
It's one thing to hold countries' feet over the fire over international conventions and other generally agreed upon conventions but this is basically international freedom of speech.
Imagine if Japan demanded that China take down books about Nanjin/Nanking when Japan was ascendant and China was weak...
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
The librarian they quoted doesn't actually say that anyone associated with the team brought it up, and speaking of that interview, where did the reporter get this story idea from in the first place? Seems more likely that someone else is showing some faux concern to attract attention.
Interestingly they'll probably moan about the city needing to be good hosts and cater to their guests' wishes, and maybe there'll be tantrum thrown about the Norwegians being rude and offensive...
So.. is this like your kid's friend asking you to hide some books when he and his brother visit, because if his dad finds out his brother glanced at that book, the dad will beat him up? I.e. they know they live in a shitty regime, but they're helpless about it, and could you just help them avoid the wrath of the regime?
It'd be funnier if the library removed the books and put up a sign explaining the reason and questioning what sort of life do you live if the regime is afraid about this, but I'm guessing many Chinese do actually think Falun Gong is like a virus that you must avoid learning about, because if you learn about them then your mind will be broken, so Chairman Pooh is actually just protecting them!