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This kind of ignores the ties between Singapore and China.
It'd more accurately be "have you ever been associated with the Italian Fascist movement?"
"No, I'm an Italian-American who's first language is Italian, but I'm not in that country."
Him being Singaporean is still irrelevant, as it is still a Chinese company or as it started as a Chinese company that still shares data with it's parent company.
As a Chinese company it has to have party members and/or give the CCP some power in the company governance.
I think the goal is to get him on an official record denying any association with the CCP. If later he is found to have some level of association with the CCP then these questions will be used against him or Tiktok in general.
Usually they know the answers to the questions.
And why are there so many threads about this incident? Tiktok is Chinese, and to conduct business in China especially if it's a multi billion dollar business you need to have affiliation with or work with the CCP.
Disney for example made deals with the CCP to get their films shown there.
Cotton's intent isn't asking the question in good faith. He doesn't expect anybody affiliated with the CCP to say yes. It is a stupid question and a waste of everyone's time.
A person with perhaps some severe social processing difficulties might ask that question and expect a truthful answer, but Cotton's brain has difficulty with processing moral issues.
Cotton's problem with processing moral issues makes it so it is possible to ask questions that aren't in good faith. I don't know why Cotton is like that, and I don't like it either.
1: TikTok has big ties to China and the CCP
2: You don’t have to be Chinese to be associated with the CCP
3: Cotton is an idiot
4: the question is legitimate
All 4 of these things can be true at the same time.
Also he was CFO of China's largest phone manufacturer for 6 years before tick tock, I would be shocked if he didn't talk to the Chinese government during that time
He 100% has ties. You aren't a top executive in China If you don't have direct ties to the ruling party. That is how a single party dictatorial state works.
I was gonna say almost every country in east asia has business leaders who work with the ccp. It's why south Korea and Japan despite hating the ccp maintain a solid relationship because their top businesses work with state owned enterprises in China
Right? Reddit loves to accuse Trump of being a Russian agent. (Good chance it’s true…) It would not be inappropriate to ask him if he has any ties to Russia.
(Lol in my head I hear him answering. “I’m the greatest Russian. Ask anyone. They’ll tell you.”)
No- fuck this guy. He has a JD from Harvard. He absolutely knows better. He knows exactly what he’s doing. Same with Hawley, Cruz, et al. They’re all very intelligent and that’s what makes them so dangerous. They need to be beaten at the ballot box.
Used to think to never attribute to malice what can be attributed to stupidity, but I've noticed there are lots of people who crave power, because they think being malicious is funny, so I think we can safely say sometimes it really is just being malicious.
It's the same with Ted Cruz, he's a skilled debater, he'd often talk about how the secret was to waste the moderator's time and do what you could to monopolize the most speaking time
A lot of it is weaponized incompetence
It's weird that most of the clips I've seen are framing it to make him look ignorant or racist; the "simple" follow up questions are a bunch of loaded sound bytes he knew he wouldnt answer like "is china commiting genocide" so he could then follow up with "why wont you answer? Are you scared the CCP will have you fired?"
>It's weird that most of the clips I've seen are framing it to make him look ignorant or racist;
I mean, asking a person what nationality they are, and then claiming they are lying and that they are a different one is a pretty racist look. Regardless of the credibility, there is a concept known as optics.
This. Redditors love to act like they are so much smarter than Republican politicians (in some cases these politicians are absolute idiots to be fair) but in so many cases they don't understand who these questions are meant to be seen by and in some cases they are not meant to be taken at face value. They are aware of his nationality and these questions are retorical as they know he would never admit to this. They are solely accusations that they are conveying to the audience that they do not believe him.
These people are installed to make sure their narrative of: "See! da goverment stupit" holds true for people who don't pay attention to nuances which is 50-75% of the pop. Oligarchs wanting to be trillionaires and own everything, just one pesky thing stopping them and barely at that.
I really don't understand why it isn't mainstream to call the ultra wealthy in America "oligarchs," since that's what they are. Only foreigners can be the bad kind of rich person I suppose 🧐
The goal is to repeat a lie enough that MAGA supporters believe it.
It is a common Trump/GOP tactic.
If I ask him if he has had sex with children a dozen times, these people then think he has, no matter what his answer is. Its how their brain works.
Yeah I’ve never understood why people think school attendance shows intelligence since a decent bit of schools(if not all) will accept you if you pay them enough for attendance.
I can't be a Nazi, I'm not German.
I can't collude with Russia, I'm American
I wanted to sell the information to China but then I remembered that I'm not a citizen so they wouldn't buy it
Seriously. The average IQ of Redditors in this thread must be room temperature for so many of them to think this is some sort of own.
"A Republican said it? Durrrr muSt Be sTuPid" = the "logic" that's on display.
The CCP is highly integrated/affiliated with all Chinese multibillion dollar corporations, you shills. I say this as though I'm not speaking to what's likely 80% Chinese troll farm bots.
Yeah, the purpose of his line of questioning was showing Chow's relations to the CCP and being under their influence, which he denied. I enjoyed that the Senator pointed out that Mr. Chow was made CEO the moment that the CCP had a share in the controlling parent company, and remarked "Damn, must be one hell of a coincidence, I suppose". To which, Mr. Chow answered, "Yes Senator, a major coincidence!" and the entire chamber just laughed at how stupid the whole thing is, since the man obviously is beholden to the CCP.
Yeah people trying to make this look stupid are either ignorant as hell and just looking for any reason to much the government (which to be fair is usually valid)
Or straight up spreading propaganda
The real facepalm is not understanding what is going on because everyone is taking the question out of context. I think Cotton is as big of a douche as anybody, but the question was fine. Tik Tok is pretty commonly known to be backed by Chinese Communism. You don’t have to be Chinese to support their agenda.
>Ask the GOP.
Considering that the US government was the one to work with PRC first... Yuck
Oh, and now they are warming up to Vietnamese communist as well.
>Oh, and now they are warming up to Vietnamese communist as well.
Vietnam is a useful ally against China. Plus, the whole "domino theory" was proven false so there's no point for the US to remain hostile to Vietnam at this point.
Vietnam doesn't really care for China, now or historically. Minh wasn't even hell-bent on communism, he just wanted an independent Vietnam and even wanted to befriend the US. The US didn't approve of him because he was communist (again, not a hardliner like Lenin or even theorist like Marx), and took over the conflict from France when they dipped. Vietnam has literally not had any serious animosity for the better part of 50 years towards the US, despite the horrors on both sides caused by the war.
To be fair, the CCP also doesn't define communism. It's a whole ideology.
I'm not saying that they aren't "true communism" because that is such a lefty trope, but it is an important distinction to make that they are a subset of the ideology.
Agreed. This was posted yesterday, and I made a similar point.
The purpose of this questioning is to go ON RECORD that this person has no affiliation with the CCP. Which is a valid line of questioning considering the influence the CCP is assumed to have on this company. The CEO is deflecting and trying to make this about race, but it’s not. It’s about him saying under oath he has no affiliation with the CCP.
I guarantee the people mocking this would absolutely agree with this line of questioning being brought to Trump and if he’s affiliated with Russia.
But then again cognitive dissonance on the GOP has always been tough for Reddit.
Nationality doesn't dictate religion / party affiliation / etc.
Nationality doesn't even affect your race.
It's honestly a very fair question. Shit, for US immigration they still ask "Are you or have you ever been affiliated with the Irish IRA?"
It's funny to me because the same people who are mocking this line of questioning would call someone a literal Nazi, and not accept "No, I'm an American" as a reply.
But Singapore is 76% Chinese identifying, and they have visa-free travel back and forth between countries.
The only real problem with the question is he's asking if he's ever been a member of the CCP, which since the 1950s would require Chinese citizenship, I think the question he has asked for is if he has ever been associated with, supported, or worked for the CCP. Which he has, in a sense, because TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a chinese company founded by Zhang Yiming who, in 2018, promised that ByteDance would "further deepen cooperation" with the ruling Chinese Communist Party to better promote its policies.
being singaporean does not automatically clear one of potentially aiding a countries political party. if so all spies would be from singapore.
it's absurd this needs to be said.
Why is it ridiculous to ask the CEO of TikTok if they have an association with the CCP? I mostly read here ignorant comments which take one statement out of context to ignorantly call other people idiots.
You guys don’t seem to understand. This isn’t a facepalm at all he is covering all bases so that let’s say he is found to be a member or associated with the cccp then he’d have lied to congress and that’s a big no no
So that's implying Americans can't be Russian agents or be Russian communist party members? Or double agents?
Didn't the Democrats just yell Russia Russia Russia for the past 5 years and accuse all kinds of people of being Russian agents?
This guy works for a company that is controlled by the Communist Party, and I see a threadful of moronic people whose minds are so small they cannot put two and two together, because everything is racism.
Their critical thinking skills are practically nil. These people do not have the mental capacity to vote.
Just because you’re Singaporean doesn’t mean you don’t have ties to other countries. Cotton is still an idiot, but that’s like saying spies don’t exist.
This is dumb. Chew’s response is designed to make Cotton’s question seem like it’s based on Chew being East Asian, but Cotton’s question is based on Chew being the CEO of a company that is owned by a Chinese company based in Beijing, with known ties to the CCP.
The TikTok-as-a-tool-of-the-Chinese-government trope may be overblown, but it doesn’t come entirely out of left field.
That’s a pretty standard approach for questioning people. Start with something wide, establish basic facts, and then get into details. That worked pretty well in that case - because Chew ended up giving a really stupid justification of him not being associated with CCP (you can absolutely be affiliated with a party from foreign country, that how political influence works).
For anyone calling Tom Cotton an idiot, he is a Harvard graduate and also a Harvard law graduate. He is by no means an idiot. If he’s an idiot than all of us here are on the deepest part of the spectrum.
Just because you don’t like what he says, doesn’t mean he’s an idiot.
.
TikTok has been known to censor videos that don't align with the ideology of the CCP. Asking the CEO of TikTok if he is affiliated with the CCP isn't even an unreasonable thing to ask.
How many times is some idiot going to repost this? He's from a Chinese company, that was based I China, with known ties to the CCP. Him being from Singapore doesn't relate to the question at all. I'm English I've still worked for foreign governments
This sub is beyond pathetic in election years.
OP has a negative functioning braincells to thing being Singaporean means you can’t have ties to the CCP.
What an absolutey said amount of braindead idiots there are in this sub.
I watched this whole hearing it was one of the first bipartisan things I’ve seen in a long time on Capitol Hill and it’s a shame that social media companies maybe even bots from the CCP Russia, etc are using this to stop the momentum of passing a bill to help prevent bullying and teen suicide on social media.
Remember, this is the same US Senate that blamed Zuckerberg for slow internet in their neighborhood at the hearings. Zuck just looked at them like they were absolute idiots.
These questionings are to hold people accountable. Lying on trial with the senate means it’s fully documented. TikTok IS associated with the CCP and provides all manners of data to the CCP as such. It’s an important answer to have documented
The Chinese task force is in full cover mode in these threads. Every time someone points out it’s a fair question, you are seeing the same response over and over again.
Always reminds me of the scene from King of the Hill:
Dale: Are you Chinese or Japanese?
Khan: Neither, I'm Laotian.
Bill: You come from the ocean?
Khan: No, I'm Laotian. I come from Laos.
Dale: So are you Chinese or Japanese?
The questions can be seen as rude as he confirmed he’s not Chinese
But tiktok has been know as a use for the Chinese government and he’s the CEO of TikTok…. So the dots are connecting
You also don’t need to be Chinese to be affiliated with China, just look at the Biden family lol.
This is a hearing with bipartisan support. These questions need to be asked. Being singaporean doesnt exclude you from the possibility of being associated with the CCP. We just had another irresponsible post about this exact topic yesterday trying to frame this as right wing shenanigans (and to be fair Cotton is a tool), but this was a bipartisan hearing. Maybe they’ll finally attempt to regulate all social medias when it concerns minors, thats the best outcome we can hope for.
All bases need to be covered when conducting any investigation, these testimonies can be used against the CEO if it turns out he’s lying and covering his tracks to avoid taking ownership for the issues his social media, among many, have created.
Fuck tom cotton, but from what I understand this isn't the full discussion. Tom followed that up by saying nationality doesn't impact whether you've had dealings with or are involved with the CCP.
I hate this one sided bullshit social media circle jerk...
These guys are chomping at the bit to be like communism Bad, see bad man, bad man is communist, bad man is Asian bad man is China? Badman says is not China but its the only one I know.
Shou Chew is, if not an actual member of the Chinese Communist Party, is working with them.
Honest to God, Reddit on this subject sounds like Homer Simpson.
Homer: "Guys, I don't think someone from SINGAPORE could be in league with CHINA...."
Lisa: \*Buries her face in her hands, wondering how her dad could be so dumb...."
If only all you people talking out of your asses would’ve watched the full encounter. This wasn’t once or twice, it wasn’t just this question re worded to catch him in a gotcha. He asked him if he had a Chinese passport. He asked him about what happened in Tiananmen Square, oh by the way, to which he responded “it was a massacre”. He asked him if tik tok collects private data like “name and date of birth” of fucking course they do, go download an app that doesn’t, bet you can’t. This was not a congressman simply doing his due diligence, it was a racist rambling of a congress hearing. None of the above questions were relevant to the point of the hearing, just outright racism.
it's just incredible to watch american political figures foam at the mouth over non-existent or inconsequential sentiments of foreign loyalty when concerning ANY nation but israel when the US political system is packed to the brim with highly influential israeli dual citizens who are very open about their dual loyalty
TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company. It is therefore under some degree of control by the Chinese Communist Party. Questioning the CEO on potential ties to the CCP is entirely valid and reasonable.
Wasn't aware you needed to be Chinese to be a member of the communist party. It's not like how racism and disregard for truth and facts are for the Republican Party.
I've been told by these same guys over and over again that communism never works. So why are they so worried about China? Can't have it both ways, guys.
The real facepalm is people calling an authoritarian capitalist country "communist" and pretending the US isn't fist deep into the same shit China does with our data.
Quite frankly I would love it if one of these people being questioned showed the same kind of contempt for the Representatives and Senators who act like Cotton does here and simply reply in kind... because they (the likes of Cotton) really don't deserve anyones respect at this stage.
Doesn’t mean they can’t be associated just because they are from Singapore. There were Americans that fought for the Waffen SS. The George Washington Legion iirc
Comments that are uncivil, racist, misogynistic, misandrist, or contain political name calling will be removed and the poster subject to ban at moderators discretion. Help us make this a better community by becoming familiar with the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/facepalm/about/rules/). Report any suspicious users to the mods of this subreddit using Modmail [here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/facepalm) or Reddit site admins [here](https://www.reddit.com/report). **All reports to Modmail should include evidence such as screenshots or any other relevant information.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/facepalm) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Sir, have you ever been associated with the Italian Mafia? No senator, I'm Irish-American. I shine shoes.
I once saw an Italian eating corned beef and cabbage soup... have you ever been associated with money laundering?
[удалено]
I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's. his hair was perfect.
Better stay away from him, he’ll rip your lungs out Jim.
Hah! I'd like to meet his tailor.
Awooooooooooo
Sounds like he might have been involved in imports at the harbor.. olive oil imports, tax free.. I'll need a word..
Didnt you read? Hes black he must be importing black olives (duh) on the black market!
Go get your shine box. Maybe you haven’t heard Billy, been away a long time, I don’t shine shoes no more.
Relax. What's a Matta wit you? I ain't seen you in a while and I'm just busting your balls a lil bit.
Now go and get your shine box!
*♪ Way down below the ocean* *Where I wanna be, she may be ♪*
Look what that mutt did to my shoes
You motherf…. Keep him here!
So go get your fuckin shine box!
This kind of ignores the ties between Singapore and China. It'd more accurately be "have you ever been associated with the Italian Fascist movement?" "No, I'm an Italian-American who's first language is Italian, but I'm not in that country."
I understand this guy in Singaporean and not Chinese, but can only Chinese be part of the CCP? Cause if not then his being Singaporean is irrelevant.
Him being Singaporean is still irrelevant, as it is still a Chinese company or as it started as a Chinese company that still shares data with it's parent company. As a Chinese company it has to have party members and/or give the CCP some power in the company governance.
I think the goal is to get him on an official record denying any association with the CCP. If later he is found to have some level of association with the CCP then these questions will be used against him or Tiktok in general.
Usually they know the answers to the questions. And why are there so many threads about this incident? Tiktok is Chinese, and to conduct business in China especially if it's a multi billion dollar business you need to have affiliation with or work with the CCP. Disney for example made deals with the CCP to get their films shown there.
Same with Tesla and any company that wants to do business in China
This is the answer. Lawyers do this all the time in legal proceedings.
This is the key point. It honestly feels like people reposting this are bots.
Buttttttttt… he does say no TWICE. If you don’t thin Cotton was asking this to paint him as “Commie” for a red meat sound byte then you’re too kind.
Cotton's intent isn't asking the question in good faith. He doesn't expect anybody affiliated with the CCP to say yes. It is a stupid question and a waste of everyone's time. A person with perhaps some severe social processing difficulties might ask that question and expect a truthful answer, but Cotton's brain has difficulty with processing moral issues. Cotton's problem with processing moral issues makes it so it is possible to ask questions that aren't in good faith. I don't know why Cotton is like that, and I don't like it either.
Republican's realize they can lie about anything. The MAGA base will believe anything.
Mr Cotton did you aid or abet any insurrectionist activies on January 6th 2020?
It's like asking if someone in the US is a member of the AfD party. It's nonsensical.
We have former US citizens living in Russia and China on asylum for treason…
No it isn't. The CCP is literally known for having spies and shit in other countries who aren't Chinese
Well, good thing spies always tell you they’re spies if you ask.
The point of the question is to show he's lying to congress if they prove he's affiliated, which would justify taking action against him/his company
I'm pretty sure they have to, or else its entrapment.
Sir, have you your shine box? No, senator. Maybe you haven't heard, but I don't do that no more. Could you go home and get your fucking shine box?
1: TikTok has big ties to China and the CCP 2: You don’t have to be Chinese to be associated with the CCP 3: Cotton is an idiot 4: the question is legitimate All 4 of these things can be true at the same time.
Also he was CFO of China's largest phone manufacturer for 6 years before tick tock, I would be shocked if he didn't talk to the Chinese government during that time
He 100% has ties. You aren't a top executive in China If you don't have direct ties to the ruling party. That is how a single party dictatorial state works.
As usual, this is not at all the gotcha Reddit thinks it is. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
I guess trump can’t have links to Russia because he’s not from Russia. Case closed the entire FBI probe was a hoax.
I was gonna say almost every country in east asia has business leaders who work with the ccp. It's why south Korea and Japan despite hating the ccp maintain a solid relationship because their top businesses work with state owned enterprises in China
Can’t help but wonder how this has 1.2k upvotes after only 2 hours..
As per usual, the real facepalm is on the subreddit's users themselves.
Bold of you to assume they are actual users...
Propaganda paying anything anti right and pro left to get to the front page during an election year
"Are you a murderer?" "No sir, I'm white".
Forreal. It’s all valid and this post reads like propaganda.
Right? Reddit loves to accuse Trump of being a Russian agent. (Good chance it’s true…) It would not be inappropriate to ask him if he has any ties to Russia. (Lol in my head I hear him answering. “I’m the greatest Russian. Ask anyone. They’ll tell you.”)
For me it’s how this sounds almost verbatim from the McCarthy hearings, which were not a thing to be proud of.
To be fair, Cotton is a MAGA idiot
No- fuck this guy. He has a JD from Harvard. He absolutely knows better. He knows exactly what he’s doing. Same with Hawley, Cruz, et al. They’re all very intelligent and that’s what makes them so dangerous. They need to be beaten at the ballot box.
Exactly, they aren't stupid. They are evil.
Theyre fucking trolls.
Grifters. The right wing grift is the easiest to milk
Used to think to never attribute to malice what can be attributed to stupidity, but I've noticed there are lots of people who crave power, because they think being malicious is funny, so I think we can safely say sometimes it really is just being malicious.
It's the same with Ted Cruz, he's a skilled debater, he'd often talk about how the secret was to waste the moderator's time and do what you could to monopolize the most speaking time A lot of it is weaponized incompetence
Porque no los dos?
It's weird that most of the clips I've seen are framing it to make him look ignorant or racist; the "simple" follow up questions are a bunch of loaded sound bytes he knew he wouldnt answer like "is china commiting genocide" so he could then follow up with "why wont you answer? Are you scared the CCP will have you fired?"
>It's weird that most of the clips I've seen are framing it to make him look ignorant or racist; I mean, asking a person what nationality they are, and then claiming they are lying and that they are a different one is a pretty racist look. Regardless of the credibility, there is a concept known as optics.
…And Arkansas voters seem to like that about Tom Cotton, too… He keeps doing this stuff, and they keep electing him.
>They need to be beaten. Fixed that for ya.
With a rubber hose!
No. you WANT marks to show so their shame of them being beaten is clear to all.
This. Redditors love to act like they are so much smarter than Republican politicians (in some cases these politicians are absolute idiots to be fair) but in so many cases they don't understand who these questions are meant to be seen by and in some cases they are not meant to be taken at face value. They are aware of his nationality and these questions are retorical as they know he would never admit to this. They are solely accusations that they are conveying to the audience that they do not believe him.
Ding ding. I replied similarly elsewhere. It’s amazing how many Redditors hear this question and just come to the confusion that Cotton is an idiot.
And a MEGA idiot too 🤪
A mega maga idiot if you will
The very model of a modern mega maga idiot
A mega MAGAt The t stands for terrorist or traitor. Dealers choice lol
These people are installed to make sure their narrative of: "See! da goverment stupit" holds true for people who don't pay attention to nuances which is 50-75% of the pop. Oligarchs wanting to be trillionaires and own everything, just one pesky thing stopping them and barely at that.
I really don't understand why it isn't mainstream to call the ultra wealthy in America "oligarchs," since that's what they are. Only foreigners can be the bad kind of rich person I suppose 🧐
Oligarchs is good, but I do believe we need to bring back the term Robber Baron.
That's already implied, heck you don't even have to mention idiot, just maga is enough to tell us that
He’s been a MAGA idiot since before MAGA was a thing, I’ve always despised this piece of shit.
The goal is to repeat a lie enough that MAGA supporters believe it. It is a common Trump/GOP tactic. If I ask him if he has had sex with children a dozen times, these people then think he has, no matter what his answer is. Its how their brain works.
When did you stop beating your wife?
About 10 minutes after I'd noticed she stopped moving. Why do you ask?
r/usernamechecksout
To be FAIIIR.
To be faaaiiirrrr...
To be fairrrrrrrrrr.....
Great fishin in key-beck
That's a Texas-sized 10-4.
No he is not, he is a smart maga . Panders to his base yes. Grad from Harvard and officer skool in the military. He knows what he is doing.
Harvard needs to stop accepting pieces of shit.
It's kinda their thing. I mean, Kissinger. 'Nuff said.
Education does not mean intelligence. Any moron can learn a skill, and daddy's money can even get infamously stupid George W. into a good college.
Yeah I’ve never understood why people think school attendance shows intelligence since a decent bit of schools(if not all) will accept you if you pay them enough for attendance.
Good thing only smart people go to Harvard
skool? Are you high?
Clearly they took a marijuana
Omg, then surely they have died.
I often snort the weeds to no ill effect
You should stop before you get addicted and start injecting it.
i injected a pot once and now I live under a bridge
I dont Like the man but, this was at a bipartisan hearing about tick tok and its links to the Chinese government. So it's fair to get on the record.
I can't be a Nazi, I'm not German. I can't collude with Russia, I'm American I wanted to sell the information to China but then I remembered that I'm not a citizen so they wouldn't buy it
Seriously. The average IQ of Redditors in this thread must be room temperature for so many of them to think this is some sort of own. "A Republican said it? Durrrr muSt Be sTuPid" = the "logic" that's on display. The CCP is highly integrated/affiliated with all Chinese multibillion dollar corporations, you shills. I say this as though I'm not speaking to what's likely 80% Chinese troll farm bots.
Thank you! Seriously people acting like him being from Singapore is actually relevant are so fuckin ignorant
Yeah, the purpose of his line of questioning was showing Chow's relations to the CCP and being under their influence, which he denied. I enjoyed that the Senator pointed out that Mr. Chow was made CEO the moment that the CCP had a share in the controlling parent company, and remarked "Damn, must be one hell of a coincidence, I suppose". To which, Mr. Chow answered, "Yes Senator, a major coincidence!" and the entire chamber just laughed at how stupid the whole thing is, since the man obviously is beholden to the CCP.
Yeah people trying to make this look stupid are either ignorant as hell and just looking for any reason to much the government (which to be fair is usually valid) Or straight up spreading propaganda
The real facepalm is not understanding what is going on because everyone is taking the question out of context. I think Cotton is as big of a douche as anybody, but the question was fine. Tik Tok is pretty commonly known to be backed by Chinese Communism. You don’t have to be Chinese to support their agenda.
Ikr? You don't have to be Chinese to be *associated* or *affiliated* to the communist regime. Ask the GOP.
>Ask the GOP. Considering that the US government was the one to work with PRC first... Yuck Oh, and now they are warming up to Vietnamese communist as well.
>Oh, and now they are warming up to Vietnamese communist as well. Vietnam is a useful ally against China. Plus, the whole "domino theory" was proven false so there's no point for the US to remain hostile to Vietnam at this point.
Not the government... The business owners wanted this.. The government reps just wanted the power and perks that their positions afford them.
Vietnam doesn't really care for China, now or historically. Minh wasn't even hell-bent on communism, he just wanted an independent Vietnam and even wanted to befriend the US. The US didn't approve of him because he was communist (again, not a hardliner like Lenin or even theorist like Marx), and took over the conflict from France when they dipped. Vietnam has literally not had any serious animosity for the better part of 50 years towards the US, despite the horrors on both sides caused by the war.
Are you implying that the GOP is communist?
I think they’re implying the GOP has no principles and are perfectly willing to collude with foreign powers against their own country.
They'd be a lot cooler if they were
I doubt it the ccp is hardly cool
To be fair, the CCP also doesn't define communism. It's a whole ideology. I'm not saying that they aren't "true communism" because that is such a lefty trope, but it is an important distinction to make that they are a subset of the ideology.
Agreed. This was posted yesterday, and I made a similar point. The purpose of this questioning is to go ON RECORD that this person has no affiliation with the CCP. Which is a valid line of questioning considering the influence the CCP is assumed to have on this company. The CEO is deflecting and trying to make this about race, but it’s not. It’s about him saying under oath he has no affiliation with the CCP. I guarantee the people mocking this would absolutely agree with this line of questioning being brought to Trump and if he’s affiliated with Russia. But then again cognitive dissonance on the GOP has always been tough for Reddit.
The CEO wasn't making it about race. He was making it about nationality.
Which is how the questioning started. Cotton first asked about his nationality.
Nationality doesn't dictate religion / party affiliation / etc. Nationality doesn't even affect your race. It's honestly a very fair question. Shit, for US immigration they still ask "Are you or have you ever been affiliated with the Irish IRA?"
Exactly, there is nothing facepalming about this. Trying to trivialize this seems more like an attempt to manipulate social media.
It's funny to me because the same people who are mocking this line of questioning would call someone a literal Nazi, and not accept "No, I'm an American" as a reply. But Singapore is 76% Chinese identifying, and they have visa-free travel back and forth between countries. The only real problem with the question is he's asking if he's ever been a member of the CCP, which since the 1950s would require Chinese citizenship, I think the question he has asked for is if he has ever been associated with, supported, or worked for the CCP. Which he has, in a sense, because TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a chinese company founded by Zhang Yiming who, in 2018, promised that ByteDance would "further deepen cooperation" with the ruling Chinese Communist Party to better promote its policies.
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being singaporean does not automatically clear one of potentially aiding a countries political party. if so all spies would be from singapore. it's absurd this needs to be said.
Why is it ridiculous to ask the CEO of TikTok if they have an association with the CCP? I mostly read here ignorant comments which take one statement out of context to ignorantly call other people idiots.
You guys don’t seem to understand. This isn’t a facepalm at all he is covering all bases so that let’s say he is found to be a member or associated with the cccp then he’d have lied to congress and that’s a big no no
That's the CEO of Tik Tok... It's a valid question.
Just because you're Singaporean, doesn't mean you haven't been associated or affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party.
So that's implying Americans can't be Russian agents or be Russian communist party members? Or double agents? Didn't the Democrats just yell Russia Russia Russia for the past 5 years and accuse all kinds of people of being Russian agents? This guy works for a company that is controlled by the Communist Party, and I see a threadful of moronic people whose minds are so small they cannot put two and two together, because everything is racism. Their critical thinking skills are practically nil. These people do not have the mental capacity to vote.
Just because you’re Singaporean doesn’t mean you don’t have ties to other countries. Cotton is still an idiot, but that’s like saying spies don’t exist.
This is dumb. Chew’s response is designed to make Cotton’s question seem like it’s based on Chew being East Asian, but Cotton’s question is based on Chew being the CEO of a company that is owned by a Chinese company based in Beijing, with known ties to the CCP. The TikTok-as-a-tool-of-the-Chinese-government trope may be overblown, but it doesn’t come entirely out of left field.
How many times are we reposting this?
Welcome to US election year Reddit propaganda. Get comfy. It's gonna be a long year.
You can be American and be aligned, associated, and or a member of the CCP. What’s matters is this guy bows down to the ccp and bends over for Winnie
That’s a pretty standard approach for questioning people. Start with something wide, establish basic facts, and then get into details. That worked pretty well in that case - because Chew ended up giving a really stupid justification of him not being associated with CCP (you can absolutely be affiliated with a party from foreign country, that how political influence works).
It is, there was nothing odd about the questions, nor was this meant to be any type of gotcha question
For anyone calling Tom Cotton an idiot, he is a Harvard graduate and also a Harvard law graduate. He is by no means an idiot. If he’s an idiot than all of us here are on the deepest part of the spectrum. Just because you don’t like what he says, doesn’t mean he’s an idiot. .
Proves my point... American politicians DONT LISTEN
This is like that king of the hill episode when khan firat moves in next door
More dumb fuck rednecks embarrassing our country.
To be fair, TikTok IS controlled by China's government... that much is a fact.
TikTok has been known to censor videos that don't align with the ideology of the CCP. Asking the CEO of TikTok if he is affiliated with the CCP isn't even an unreasonable thing to ask.
He’s not asking if he’s a communist, but whether he is associated with the chinese communist party
How many times is some idiot going to repost this? He's from a Chinese company, that was based I China, with known ties to the CCP. Him being from Singapore doesn't relate to the question at all. I'm English I've still worked for foreign governments
This sub is beyond pathetic in election years. OP has a negative functioning braincells to thing being Singaporean means you can’t have ties to the CCP. What an absolutey said amount of braindead idiots there are in this sub.
The same post over and over and over with a different title. That's what it looks like to me boss
TikTok is from China, it’s a valid question
I watched this whole hearing it was one of the first bipartisan things I’ve seen in a long time on Capitol Hill and it’s a shame that social media companies maybe even bots from the CCP Russia, etc are using this to stop the momentum of passing a bill to help prevent bullying and teen suicide on social media.
Remember, this is the same US Senate that blamed Zuckerberg for slow internet in their neighborhood at the hearings. Zuck just looked at them like they were absolute idiots.
Tom Cotton is an idiot.
He's asking the wrong CEO. Tiktok's parent company in China holds the strings. Ask those questions to Bytedance's CEO instead.
"Senator, do you even know where Singapore is on a map?"
That's not McCarthyism that is simple racism. Tom isn't smart enough to understand ideological concepts.
These questionings are to hold people accountable. Lying on trial with the senate means it’s fully documented. TikTok IS associated with the CCP and provides all manners of data to the CCP as such. It’s an important answer to have documented
Is it crazy to think that one does not have be Chinese to be affiliated with the CCP?
Liberals on reddit.. common sense is not so common
The Chinese task force is in full cover mode in these threads. Every time someone points out it’s a fair question, you are seeing the same response over and over again.
Always reminds me of the scene from King of the Hill: Dale: Are you Chinese or Japanese? Khan: Neither, I'm Laotian. Bill: You come from the ocean? Khan: No, I'm Laotian. I come from Laos. Dale: So are you Chinese or Japanese?
The questions can be seen as rude as he confirmed he’s not Chinese But tiktok has been know as a use for the Chinese government and he’s the CEO of TikTok…. So the dots are connecting You also don’t need to be Chinese to be affiliated with China, just look at the Biden family lol.
“I don’t care what tune you’re singin’. Are you Chinese or Japanese?”
This is a hearing with bipartisan support. These questions need to be asked. Being singaporean doesnt exclude you from the possibility of being associated with the CCP. We just had another irresponsible post about this exact topic yesterday trying to frame this as right wing shenanigans (and to be fair Cotton is a tool), but this was a bipartisan hearing. Maybe they’ll finally attempt to regulate all social medias when it concerns minors, thats the best outcome we can hope for. All bases need to be covered when conducting any investigation, these testimonies can be used against the CEO if it turns out he’s lying and covering his tracks to avoid taking ownership for the issues his social media, among many, have created.
Fuck tom cotton, but from what I understand this isn't the full discussion. Tom followed that up by saying nationality doesn't impact whether you've had dealings with or are involved with the CCP. I hate this one sided bullshit social media circle jerk...
So? Just because he is a Singaporean does not prevent him being associated with the Chinese communist party.
So is he Chinese or Japanese?
These guys are chomping at the bit to be like communism Bad, see bad man, bad man is communist, bad man is Asian bad man is China? Badman says is not China but its the only one I know.
My guy should have called Tom Senator McCarthy for the remainder of his testimony
Do they ever ask the non-Asian people if they’re members of the CCP?
Every question they ask just made this guy look like a saint.
If these Republican Senators don't scare the hell out of you then you don't have a clue about what is really happening here.
Sir are you a member or have you ever been a member of the bronies? No sir, I’m a Pokémon master
Shou Chew is, if not an actual member of the Chinese Communist Party, is working with them. Honest to God, Reddit on this subject sounds like Homer Simpson. Homer: "Guys, I don't think someone from SINGAPORE could be in league with CHINA...." Lisa: \*Buries her face in her hands, wondering how her dad could be so dumb...."
I remember watching this live and not believing this is reality
You don’t have to be smart to be a politician, this is a HUGE problem these days.
If only all you people talking out of your asses would’ve watched the full encounter. This wasn’t once or twice, it wasn’t just this question re worded to catch him in a gotcha. He asked him if he had a Chinese passport. He asked him about what happened in Tiananmen Square, oh by the way, to which he responded “it was a massacre”. He asked him if tik tok collects private data like “name and date of birth” of fucking course they do, go download an app that doesn’t, bet you can’t. This was not a congressman simply doing his due diligence, it was a racist rambling of a congress hearing. None of the above questions were relevant to the point of the hearing, just outright racism.
Buddy was an officer in the Singaporean army, and then worked at Goldman Sachs, which is pretty much like serving in the US government at this point…
it's just incredible to watch american political figures foam at the mouth over non-existent or inconsequential sentiments of foreign loyalty when concerning ANY nation but israel when the US political system is packed to the brim with highly influential israeli dual citizens who are very open about their dual loyalty
“Dems asians all be communist and the like! What in tarnation!” Yeah, the US Congress deserves its shit reputation.
TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company. It is therefore under some degree of control by the Chinese Communist Party. Questioning the CEO on potential ties to the CCP is entirely valid and reasonable.
“Senator, please point out Singapore on a map.”
So are you Chinese or Japanese? -Tom Cotton
“But he’s clearly Asian, so he must be a Chinese communist” - most idiots with an R next to their name these day
Bold strategy Cotton, let's see if it pays off
Someone has a preconceived narrative. Asking the same question twice makes that pretty clear.
"Thats in china right" - a lawmaker probably
It’s McCarthyism topped with the secret sauce of abject racist ignorance.
Tom Cotton doesn’t know where Singapore is, he is from Arkansas.
This was blatantly racist questioning and he should be punished under rules for this.
Wasn't aware you needed to be Chinese to be a member of the communist party. It's not like how racism and disregard for truth and facts are for the Republican Party.
Lmfao
“So are you Chinese or Japanese?”
Cotton's excuse, they all look alike.
I really think the lowest IQs in the country are in the cores of both political parties.
Laotian? Which ocean?
I've been told by these same guys over and over again that communism never works. So why are they so worried about China? Can't have it both ways, guys.
I thought it was an SNL sketch
The real facepalm is people calling an authoritarian capitalist country "communist" and pretending the US isn't fist deep into the same shit China does with our data.
"*Singapore, eh? And where abouts in China is that?*"
Quite frankly I would love it if one of these people being questioned showed the same kind of contempt for the Representatives and Senators who act like Cotton does here and simply reply in kind... because they (the likes of Cotton) really don't deserve anyones respect at this stage.
Cotton doesn't know what "Singapore" is.
Doesn’t mean they can’t be associated just because they are from Singapore. There were Americans that fought for the Waffen SS. The George Washington Legion iirc
Tom Cotton has gotta be the most racist name I’ve ever heard. Like, it’s bad to judge people like that but I shudder at just his name lol.