china/ccp

[mthoopsfan]

i'm surprised by the number of people i know who saw video of the hu jintao episode - the long video where it was obvious he didn't want to go anywhere. otherwise china is just a cage right now. vpns are still successfully blocked, so nobody can easily access outside news.

and for greenie, the hong kong sevens are happening this year. don't know how people are going to drink beer through their required masks, but... also, mostly locals are going: https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3197451/tickets-still-available-hong-kong-sevens-organisers-sell-25000-local-fans-30000-set-attend-kick?module=lead_hero_story&pgtype=homepage

Thanks. I had basically quit following the HK 7's. I'm assuming the Hong Kong is lost, the 7s will never been the same, and I will never go there again. Love HK. Most of my HK friends, who grew up there, have left. One to Singapore. One to NYC. Another had departed a number of years ago to Sweden; he's Swedish, but grew up in HK. The several US business people I knew from HK have left too.

My big group of Dartmouth friends are now gearing up for the France 2023 Rugby World Cup next September. I hope to be in France for 3 weeks. Am trying to spend more to get my Delta Diamond medallion status now. Hope to take a first class/one trip to Germany to meet my kids and some of their/our young German friends before year end. The German friends were at the lake this summer. And visited my daughter in NYC recently. I need to get back to big traveling, as my life clock is ticking. Now that we are friends again, look me up when you next come to Missoula. I'll take you and your wife out on the town.

I talked to Baucus and his wife a week ago. He's still following China closely, and was going there often, before the covid. Not now, though. They live in Bozeman and built a house there.

I still look for your China and Taiwan articles. I am not following China much anymore. I hope the US defends Taiwan. I fear the China takeover is coming. Now that I'm retired, I've lost track of what my old law firm is doing, or not doing, in China. I follow Culbertson Cowboy football. They are in the playoffs. My cousin who lives on our ranch, is the coach. I went to school there in my earlier days.Thx.

 

[mthoopsfan]

From the Journal tonight:

"Meanwhile, the failure to deter Russia is leading to increased American spending in Europe. We have sent around $20 billion to Ukraine since the invasion began and have dispatched an additional 20,000 troops to Eastern Europe. All this makes sense, but the contrast with our Asian commitments is sobering. Senators are currently working to send Taiwan $10 billion in U.S. aid over the next 10 years, half of what Ukraine has received in eight months of war. The U.S. announced plans to send six nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to Australia Monday morning, but the impact was offset by news that up to half the American combat aircraft stationed in Japan will be withdrawn, with no agreed Pentagon plan for permanent replacements.

 

[argh!]

From the Journal tonight:

"Meanwhile, the failure to deter Russia is leading to increased American spending in Europe. We have sent around $20 billion to Ukraine since the invasion began and have dispatched an additional 20,000 troops to Eastern Europe. All this makes sense, but the contrast with our Asian commitments is sobering. Senators are currently working to send Taiwan $10 billion in U.S. aid over the next 10 years, half of what Ukraine has received in eight months of war. The U.S. announced plans to send six nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to Australia Monday morning, but the impact was offset by news that up to half the American combat aircraft stationed in Japan will be withdrawn, with no agreed Pentagon plan for permanent replacements.

interesting, i hadn't read the part about the withdrawal of planes from japan, a country that is starting to spend much more on their military because of the pla threat. as for baucus, last i knew he was on the board of alibaba, which seems a little sketchy to me. plus, it makes him vulnerable to ccp tricks. since every business with over something like 50 employees has to have a ccp oversight committee, you know they are right there, watching, listening.

since i'm on the subject, the reaction to xi's third term and new politburo was pretty quick - people are getting out. the luxury apartment market took a huge dive in just a few days after emperor xi cemented his power, which is pretty all-encompassing. the hk market also took a huge dive on the news, having it's worst day since the 2008 meltdown. on the mainland, nobody seems particularly happy other than the brainless xiao fen hong, aka the ultranationalist 'little pinks'. i talk to people in china almost every day. they all want to leave 'paradise', as they sarcastically call it. what a place. the access to outside news is very limited. everybody mocks 'zero covid' on social media. they hate it, which is probably why all the lockdown notices go out at midnight. 'xi jinping thought' is a class children have to take every day, every year. xi just keeps leading them backward to the days of mao. he's even calling for 'a return of shangshan xiang', the policy that sent kids from the cities to go work the fields in the country, to help out with 'common prosperity'. very backward thinking. i could go on and on, but the take home message is always that the country is being closed off from the world (again) via zero covid, and is in the hands of a poorly educated, power hungry dictator, who is employing north korea tactics to brainwash the public. meanwhile, across the taiwan strait, people are living much better lives, albeit with daily ccp threats. what a clusterfuck.

 

[poorgriz]

From the Journal tonight:

"Meanwhile, the failure to deter Russia is leading to increased American spending in Europe. We have sent around $20 billion to Ukraine since the invasion began and have dispatched an additional 20,000 troops to Eastern Europe. All this makes sense, but the contrast with our Asian commitments is sobering. Senators are currently working to send Taiwan $10 billion in U.S. aid over the next 10 years, half of what Ukraine has received in eight months of war. The U.S. announced plans to send six nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to Australia Monday morning, but the impact was offset by news that up to half the American combat aircraft stationed in Japan will be withdrawn, with no agreed Pentagon plan for permanent replacements.

interesting, i hadn't read the part about the withdrawal of planes from japan, a country that is starting to spend much more on their military because of the pla threat. as for baucus, last i knew he was on the board of alibaba, which seems a little sketchy to me. plus, it makes him vulnerable to ccp tricks. since every business with over something like 50 employees has to have a ccp oversight committee, you know they are right there, watching, listening.

since i'm on the subject, the reaction to xi's third term and new politburo was pretty quick - people are getting out. the luxury apartment market took a huge dive in just a few days after emperor xi cemented his power, which is pretty all-encompassing. the hk market also took a huge dive on the news, having it's worst day since the 2008 meltdown. on the mainland, nobody seems particularly happy other than the brainless xiao fen hong, aka the ultranationalist 'little pinks'. i talk to people in china almost every day. they all want to leave 'paradise', as they sarcastically call it. what a place. the access to outside news is very limited. everybody mocks 'zero covid' on social media. they hate it, which is probably why all the lockdown notices go out at midnight. 'xi jinping thought' is a class children have to take every day, every year. xi just keeps leading them backward to the days of mao. he's even calling for 'a return of shangshan xiang', the policy that sent kids from the cities to go work the fields in the country, to help out with 'common prosperity'. very backward thinking. i could go on and on, but the take home message is always that the country is being closed off from the world (again) via zero covid, and is in the hands of a poorly educated, power hungry dictator, who is employing north korea tactics to brainwash the public. meanwhile, across the taiwan strait, people are living much better lives, albeit with daily ccp threats. what a [#]f###.

That is all fascinating. When you say access to outside news is very limited, outside of normal social media censorship (that we also have here in the U.S.), how do they achieve that exactly? Don't they all have access to the WWW? Not sure how you block the internet.

 

[mthoopsfan]

From Wiki:

"Max Baucus served on the Board of Advisors to Alibaba Group until May, 2019.[74]"

Just the board of advisors, which I assume is not the board of directors, for a couple years.

 

[argh!]

From Wiki:

"Max Baucus served on the Board of Advisors to Alibaba Group until May, 2019.[74]"

Just the board of advisors, which I assume is not the board of directors, for a couple years.

thanks, i stand corrected.

 

[argh!]

interesting, i hadn't read the part about the withdrawal of planes from japan, a country that is starting to spend much more on their military because of the pla threat. as for baucus, last i knew he was on the board of alibaba, which seems a little sketchy to me. plus, it makes him vulnerable to ccp tricks. since every business with over something like 50 employees has to have a ccp oversight committee, you know they are right there, watching, listening.

since i'm on the subject, the reaction to xi's third term and new politburo was pretty quick - people are getting out. the luxury apartment market took a huge dive in just a few days after emperor xi cemented his power, which is pretty all-encompassing. the hk market also took a huge dive on the news, having it's worst day since the 2008 meltdown. on the mainland, nobody seems particularly happy other than the brainless xiao fen hong, aka the ultranationalist 'little pinks'. i talk to people in china almost every day. they all want to leave 'paradise', as they sarcastically call it. what a place. the access to outside news is very limited. everybody mocks 'zero covid' on social media. they hate it, which is probably why all the lockdown notices go out at midnight. 'xi jinping thought' is a class children have to take every day, every year. xi just keeps leading them backward to the days of mao. he's even calling for 'a return of shangshan xiang', the policy that sent kids from the cities to go work the fields in the country, to help out with 'common prosperity'. very backward thinking. i could go on and on, but the take home message is always that the country is being closed off from the world (again) via zero covid, and is in the hands of a poorly educated, power hungry dictator, who is employing north korea tactics to brainwash the public. meanwhile, across the taiwan strait, people are living much better lives, albeit with daily ccp threats. what a [#]f###.

That is all fascinating. When you say access to outside news is very limited, outside of normal social media censorship (that we also have here in the U.S.), how do they achieve that exactly? Don't they all have access to the WWW? Not sure how you block the internet.

there are several ways access is blocked. first is the "great firewall" aka the "golden shield" that keeps non-china sites blocked. the nytimes, washington post, fox news, and perhaps worst of all, porn sites (!) are all blocked in china. so are google and youtube, much to the frustration of younger chinese. the list of sites blocked is long, and wikipedia provides just a short list (below). perhaps even more effective is the giant army of censors who have the job of scrubbing the internet of stuff the ccp doesn't want there. any reference to the tiananmen square massacre is wiped almost instantly, i.e. you cannot type in any variation of the date 6/4/89 and have it last more than a few minutes. these decisions are made in minutes, and the erasure is swift, so people have to be clever with what they say to get messages past the censors. that is why the sarcastic posts i've read about lockups all use cryptic language, i.e. calling china 'paradise', etc... another issue is that if you run afoul of the censors, like people who reposted pictures of 'banner man' hanging his banner calling for xi's removal (among other things) on a bridge in beijing had their accounts terminated, and their social credit score lowered. it is a very effective combination of censorship combined with fear that keeps people from saying or reading anything disagreeable about the government. there are still ways to pass information, but those are all controlled by the ccp and monitored, like wechat and zoom. when using those to contact people overseas, everyone just assumes they are being watched. there is a way around this, which is by using a vpn, but the government has gotten better at blocking them. lots of young people use them still, but mostly to listen to western music and watch porn (although prostitution is rampant there). those are just some of the ways. which reminds me, my friends sneered when i called the firewall 'the great firewall', replying 'there is nothing great about it'. there are more ways of blocking 'western influence', like this year's banning of halloween parties, but this post is getting long, so i'll just stop with a partial list of blocked sites, mainly the well-known ones: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_websites_blocked_in_mainland_China

 

[argh!]

That is all fascinating. When you say access to outside news is very limited, outside of normal social media censorship (that we also have here in the U.S.), how do they achieve that exactly? Don't they all have access to the WWW? Not sure how you block the internet.

there are several ways access is blocked. first is the "great firewall" aka the "golden shield" that keeps non-china sites blocked. the nytimes, washington post, fox news, and perhaps worst of all, porn sites (!) are all blocked in china. so are google and youtube, much to the frustration of younger chinese. the list of sites blocked is long, and wikipedia provides just a short list (below). perhaps even more effective is the giant army of censors who have the job of scrubbing the internet of stuff the ccp doesn't want there. any reference to the tiananmen square massacre is wiped almost instantly, i.e. you cannot type in any variation of the date 6/4/89 and have it last more than a few minutes. these decisions are made in minutes, and the erasure is swift, so people have to be clever with what they say to get messages past the censors. that is why the sarcastic posts i've read about lockups all use cryptic language, i.e. calling china 'paradise', etc... another issue is that if you run afoul of the censors, like people who reposted pictures of 'banner man' hanging his banner calling for xi's removal (among other things) on a bridge in beijing had their accounts terminated, and their social credit score lowered. it is a very effective combination of censorship combined with fear that keeps people from saying or reading anything disagreeable about the government. there are still ways to pass information, but those are all controlled by the ccp and monitored, like wechat and zoom. when using those to contact people overseas, everyone just assumes they are being watched. there is a way around this, which is by using a vpn, but the government has gotten better at blocking them. lots of young people use them still, but mostly to listen to western music and watch porn (although prostitution is rampant there). those are just some of the ways. which reminds me, my friends sneered when i called the firewall 'the great firewall', replying 'there is nothing great about it'. there are more ways of blocking 'western influence', like this year's banning of halloween parties, but this post is getting long, so i'll just stop with a partial list of blocked sites, mainly the well-known ones: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_websites_blocked_in_mainland_China

i could put it more succinctly: china has an intranet, not an internet.

 

[argh!]

From Wiki:

"Max Baucus served on the Board of Advisors to Alibaba Group until May, 2019.[74]"

Just the board of advisors, which I assume is not the board of directors, for a couple years.

thanks, i stand corrected.

i did a little more looking around about baucus. apparently, in 2020 on cnn, he compared trump's rhetoric about china to hitler's, and joe mcarthy. this article is from a thinktank that has been rated as 'leans right' by one organization, and 'far right' by another. the video of the comment is in the article. he certainly sounds very pro-ccp. the article claims that baucus is basically a shill for china now, as he has investments there. i can't stand trump, but i think baucus is over the top here: https://www.aei.org/op-eds/when-max-baucus-calls-trump-hitler-we-should-remember-whos-paying-max-baucus/

here's another article about baucus shilling for beijing, and how he has his fingers in business over there, including his own 'baucus group', that advises both chinese and u.s. firms. it is a good way to get some ccp money for an ex-ambassador to china, for sure. the article is from the washington free beacon, which is rated as 'right': https://freebeacon.com/national-security/obamas-man-in-china-now-beijings-man-in-washington/

 

[poorgriz]

That is crazy! Thanks for all that great information. I knew they censored the people big time but I didn't know to that extent. As you stated, it is really difficult to block the internet, especially given the VPN option, and even half way tech savvy folks can type in specific URLs and get get out to more information that way I believe. One last question for you... I get all the website blocking and monitoring for online chatting, etc... but if I'm in China, can't I call my buddy in the US and have him tell me what's going on in the works, on all the news sites, etc??

 

[mthoopsfan]

"The Pentagon is pulling F-15 fighter jets from Okinawa after decades on the Japanese island, and the news has received too little attention. American air power is spread thin across the world, and the U.S. is in a precarious position even as it needs to put more hardware in the Pacific to deter China.

“Starting in November, the Department of Defense will commence a phased withdrawal of F-15 C/D aircraft forward-deployed to Kadena Air Base over the next two years,” the Air Force said on Oct. 28 after the news had leaked. The Air Force F-15Cs and Ds are 38 years old on average, and no doubt they’re costly to maintain and keep airborne. Lt. Gen. David Deptula, a retired F-15 pilot, tells us these are the last active duty F-15C/D pilots in the Air Force, another limiting factor.

Yet the F-15s are departing strategic real estate in the Western Pacific’s first island chain with no permanent replacement. The U.S. will “temporarily” deploy “newer and more advanced aircraft” on rotation, the Air Force says. The announcement promises a steady presence but says the Pentagon has “not made a decision on the long-term solution.”

Today's Wall St. Journal

The US military is getting stretched thin. Biden hasn't been taking good care of the military. It's likely to get worse.

 

[mthoopsfan]

Banned in China:

"Gmail
Dropbox
Google Apps (Drive, Docs, Calendar, Maps etc.)
Microsoft OneDrive
Slack
Google Play (i.e. no downloading Android apps)
Hootsuite"

[I think all of Google is blocked]

"Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
Snapchat
Pinterest
Quora
Tumblr
Reddit
AO3"

"YouTube
DailyMotion
Vimeo
Twitch
Periscope
Pandora
Spotify
Soundcloud"

"New York Times
BBC
Financial Times
Wall Street Journal
Reuters
CNN
TIME"

"Google (text and voice)
Amazon (Alexa)
Wikipedia
DuckDuckGo
*Note* – You can use Bing in China, but the results within China are censored."

"WhatsApp
Facebook Messenger
Telegram
Line
Signal
KaKao Talk (Korean)"

"Medium
Blogspot
Wordpress.com*"

"Skype (although it sometimes works, it’s not reliable)
Google Hangouts
Viber"

"Porn websites
VPN websites
Politically sensitive sites"

"Here’s a quick list of the websites and apps that AREN’T blocked in China – even though you might be told otherwise.

Netflix/Hulu/Disney+: Technically, streaming sites like Netflix, Hulu and Disney+ are not blocked by China. The websites are accessible, but since the content hasn’t been licensed in China, you’ll still run into a “Sorry, our service hasn’t come to this country yet” message. This is something known as geoblocking content and there are ways to still stream Netflix in China.
Banking: Thankfully, you don’t need to worry about not being able to log into your bank account online. To date, no western banks have had their websites blocked in China.
iMessage & FaceTime: Despite a tenuous relationship with China, Apple has been able to maintain and open iMessage platform for all its iPhone users. In theory, this is more secure than using WeChat, but who knows for sure."

"If you’re not already aware, there are ways to access websites and apps that are blocked in China. It’s a technology known as a Virtual Private Network, or “VPN” for short."

[But you can't get VPN in China. You have to bring it already set up on your computer.]

https://www.travelchinacheaper.com/index-blocked-websites-in-china

 

[argh!]

That is crazy! Thanks for all that great information. I knew they censored the people big time but I didn't know to that extent. As you stated, it is really difficult to block the internet, especially given the VPN option, and even half way tech savvy folks can type in specific URLs and get get out to more information that way I believe. One last question for you... I get all the website blocking and monitoring for online chatting, etc... but if I'm in China, can't I call my buddy in the US and have him tell me what's going on in the works, on all the news sites, etc??

sure, you could call your buddy and update them, but you'd both be wise to know that overseas phone calls are monitored, and if the wrong things get said, your buddy, or maybe his family, might get a visit from the ccp. they are paranoid, and have all sorts of vague laws they could throw at your buddy. everybody i know who talks to people in china is careful, and uses vpns or messenger apps they got from elsewhere. when i talk to people, we have a goofy code so i know if they are using a vpn or not.

also, a note about vpns, you can still get them in china, on the black market. you just install them manually on your phone. it was three years ago, but i was told by a teenager that they all had vpns, which was why they were all up on the most current u.s. rappers. you can also get netflix - first, get a vpn, then for a very small amount, buy a faked membership. you have to set the vpn to a country that has the content you want, and then use your fake membership. i'm not sure how that works. anyway, it is a strange place, and the government aren't our friends. they aren't really anybody's friends.

lastly, i had an interview with baucus at msu posted where he says stuff that shows he hasn't the slightest clue about the average chinese person, saying stuff like 'they work way harder than us', which is laughable (i guess the ccp took their work naps in private). he said other stuff i thought was correct, but his overall message i would have to rate as out to lunch, when it comes to how the place really operates. it doesn't sound like he's ever sat down with a non-government person and tried to learn how the average joe thinks, or even how the lower level ccp members think. doesn't sound like maybe it was a good fit - he doesn't speak chinese, and his pre-existing knowledge of the country probably all came from official interactions, which isn't the way to get to know anywhere. i was going to edit a couple things in my comments then put it back up, but had other stuff to do.

 

[argh!]

"The Pentagon is pulling F-15 fighter jets from Okinawa after decades on the Japanese island, and the news has received too little attention. American air power is spread thin across the world, and the U.S. is in a precarious position even as it needs to put more hardware in the Pacific to deter China.

“Starting in November, the Department of Defense will commence a phased withdrawal of F-15 C/D aircraft forward-deployed to Kadena Air Base over the next two years,” the Air Force said on Oct. 28 after the news had leaked. The Air Force F-15Cs and Ds are 38 years old on average, and no doubt they’re costly to maintain and keep airborne. Lt. Gen. David Deptula, a retired F-15 pilot, tells us these are the last active duty F-15C/D pilots in the Air Force, another limiting factor.

Yet the F-15s are departing strategic real estate in the Western Pacific’s first island chain with no permanent replacement. The U.S. will “temporarily” deploy “newer and more advanced aircraft” on rotation, the Air Force says. The announcement promises a steady presence but says the Pentagon has “not made a decision on the long-term solution.”

Today's Wall St. Journal

The US military is getting stretched thin. Biden hasn't been taking good care of the military. It's likely to get worse.

taiwan seems to be purchasing jets from us left and right. they are adamant they want to be able to protect themselves, so maybe that will counter the loss some?

 

[argh!]

hong kong sevens article about the first day of the event. doesn't sound like a lot of fun, with the heavy police presence and covid rules, particularly having to add an invasive app to your phone:

https://www.scmp.com/sport/rugby/hk-sevens/article/3198528/hong-kong-sevens-returns-roars-approval-key-test-citys-readiness-reopen-after-years-covid?module=lead_hero_story&pgtype=homepage

 

[mthoopsfan]

hong kong sevens article about the first day of the event. doesn't sound like a lot of fun, with the heavy police presence and covid rules, particularly having to add an invasive app to your phone:

https://www.scmp.com/sport/rugby/hk-sevens/article/3198528/hong-kong-sevens-returns-roars-approval-key-test-citys-readiness-reopen-after-years-covid?module=lead_hero_story&pgtype=homepage

Thanks. I sent this to my HK buddies and some others. I think all of 6 HK guys I know, have no moved from HK. Some recently, some previously. Doesn't look like fun to me.

 

[argh!]

hong kong sevens article about the first day of the event. doesn't sound like a lot of fun, with the heavy police presence and covid rules, particularly having to add an invasive app to your phone:

https://www.scmp.com/sport/rugby/hk-sevens/article/3198528/hong-kong-sevens-returns-roars-approval-key-test-citys-readiness-reopen-after-years-covid?module=lead_hero_story&pgtype=homepage

Thanks. I sent this to my HK buddies and some others. I think all of 6 HK guys I know, have no moved from HK. Some recently, some previously. Doesn't look like fun to me.

with the national security law and radically re-made police force, hong kong doesn't sound anything like the cool city it once was. the police, who used to be the most respected in asia, have turned in to lap dogs for the ccp. the education system has been totally revamped, in order to try to brainwash kids from an early age. the changes are brazen, i.e. rewriting textbooks using blatantly false "facts" that make the ccp look better. here's an article on the changes in the education system, from a few months ago: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/06/22/hong-kong-education-beijing-colony/

 

[argh!]

here's a funny one - the term "beijing man" is being censored the past couple days on the chinese internet. why? because after a woman in beijing missed a covid test, she caught covid, and here apartment complex was put into quarantine because of 'close contacts'. this was reported in the news as 'beijing woman causes 1700 people to be quarantined'. in the comments section, somebody wrote that the title should be 'beijing man causes 1.4 billion people to be quarantined'. of course, most people thought that was funny, except that 'beijing man', who quickly had it censored...

 

[mthoopsfan]

here's a funny one - the term "beijing man" is being censored the past couple days on the chinese internet. why? because after a woman in beijing missed a covid test, she caught covid, and here apartment complex was put into quarantine because of 'close contacts'. this was reported in the news as 'beijing woman causes 1700 people to be quarantined'. in the comments section, somebody wrote that the title should be 'beijing man causes 1.4 billion people to be quarantined'. of course, most people thought that was funny, except that 'beijing man', who quickly had it censored...

That is funny. I liked it. The HK 7's is returning to its original dates of late March/early April, so there will be another one in 5 months.

Australia beat Fiji. Fiji has been a power for 6 or 8 years, and won the Olympics a time or two. An inexperience US team was there. They won some early matches, and then I didn't follow.

 

[argh!]

here's a funny one - the term "beijing man" is being censored the past couple days on the chinese internet. why? because after a woman in beijing missed a covid test, she caught covid, and here apartment complex was put into quarantine because of 'close contacts'. this was reported in the news as 'beijing woman causes 1700 people to be quarantined'. in the comments section, somebody wrote that the title should be 'beijing man causes 1.4 billion people to be quarantined'. of course, most people thought that was funny, except that 'beijing man', who quickly had it censored...

That is funny. I liked it. The HK 7's is returning to its original dates of late March/early April, so there will be another one in 5 months.

Australia beat Fiji. Fiji has been a power for 6 or 8 years, and won the Olympics a time or two. An inexperience US team was there. They won some early matches, and then I didn't follow.

i read where ethnically chinese hk'ers were not happy about the crowd having lax mask, etc, enforcement, saying it was because there were a large number of expats there. they didn't want more enforcement, they wanted the same freedom. but it is nothing compared to the mainland. a friend in chengdu told me she has to pass a pcr test for covid every single day of the week lately, or else she can't enter public spaces. chengdu, which had about 14 million people in 2015, now has about 24 million people. that is a lot of covid tests. the government probably sees it as a way to quietly print money, sort of like all the infrastructure they like to brag about, which often doesn't make economic sense, i.e. the passenger train all the way thru tibet to lhasa.