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FOREIGN EMBASSIES IN Beijing have been asked by the Chinese government to avoid displaying “propaganda” in an apparent response to shows of support for Ukraine.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government says it is neutral in Moscow’s 15-month-old invasion of Ukraine but has repeated Russian justifications for the attack, accusing the US and Nato of provoking Moscow.
Beijing was due to send an envoy this week to Ukraine and Russia to discuss a possible “political settlement”, but the effort is thought unlikely to make progress given China’s rhetorical, diplomatic and economic support for Moscow.
A spokesperson for the European Union said the protocol department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry circulated a note on 8 May to all diplomatic missions to the effect that they should “respect Chinese laws and regulations” and “not to use the external walls of embassies to carry out politicised propaganda to avoid causing disputes between countries”.
The note does not specify what might constitute “politicised propaganda”, nor communicates further on the matter, said the spokesperson, Nabila Massrali, adding that the EU Delegation in Beijing “has not changed any items displayed at its front wall”.
Another European diplomat, who asked not to be identified further due to the sensitivity of the issue, confirmed Massrali’s account, saying embassies had been asked by the foreign ministry not to use their outer walls for “political propaganda”.
He also said his government does not “see any reason to change” its display.
The verbal request did not mention Ukraine, according to the diplomats, but flags and placards set up by embassies of Canada, France, Germany and other governments are the only public displays by most foreign missions other than tourism advertisements.
A two-metre tall placard at the front gate of the Finnish Embassy has the flags of Finland and Ukraine and says “#WeStandWithUkraine”.
A billboard hung on Sweden’s Embassy has the same phrase and flags of the two countries.
Some embassies also raised rainbow flags for diversity week and Wednesday’s International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.
Such issues are considered highly politically sensitive by China’s ruling Communist Party.
Asked for confirmation and details, a foreign ministry spokesperson said embassies were obliged to “respect Chinese laws and regulations”.
“China calls on embassies of all countries in China and representative offices of international organisations in China to perform their duties in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations or relevant international agreements,” said the spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, without giving further details.
The Chinese government said earlier it was sending an envoy this week to Ukraine, Russia and other European countries to discuss a possible “political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis”.
Political analysts say there is little chance of progress toward peace because neither side appears to be ready to stop fighting.
But they say Mr Xi’s government might be trying to deflect criticism of its friendship with Russian president Vladimir Putin and split European allies away from Washington.
And pop a few dacent movies up there while you’re at it… Running low…
@Michael Bodycoach: hahaha good one.
@Michael Bodycoach: Disney+ is out next week. Going to give that a go. Light hearted family shows and movies is what I need right now. This forty something is going to watch bedknobs and broomsticks with no shame or guilt. (Just don’t tell anyone)
@Peter Cavey: Disney+ is already out isn’t it? I’ve had the app AGES but still haven’t subscribed lol
@Dalya Al-Tulaihi: their website says 24th March. Maybe you can download the app now but might not work till then.
@Michael Bodycoach: kingdom. Has zombies in it, but it’s so much more. Brilliant.
@Peter Cavey: I’ll try it out now and let you know.
@Michael Bodycoach: Should check out Uncut Gems. Really good movie.
@Peter Cavey: oh nevermind! I have the DisneyLife app! :)
@Pete Gilmartin: agreed – probably one of Adam Sandler’s best performances to date.
@Pete Gilmartin: Agreed it was Adam Sandler not being “Adam Sandler”, it was refreshing.
@Michael Bodycoach: or just download CinemaHD apk?
@Dalya Al-Tulaihi: in other countries. It doesn’t launch in ireland until the 24th. signed up for the year last week.
Covid is affecting everything.
Netflix could we please get the same content as America? Please? *puppy eyes*
@Optimus Prime: Google….. Liberty Shield.
@Optimus Prime: you can do a little Google search for tutorials.
@John C: that’s another 7 pounds a month to sign up for that.
@John C: Google…. CinemaHD.
@Optimus Prime: We get a lot of stuff that they don’t get because they are in competition with the owners there. If they aren’t streaming in Ireland/UK they don’t mind selling stuff to Netflix.
So are they reducing the price for that period also? Yeah right
@mammy: it’s not that expensive anyway for what you get. We’d have spent something similar for two or three movies a month in a video shop few years back.
@King B: yes but that’s not the point here. If we’re paying for a service we should expect the same content and service we signed up for.
@Atlas’ burden: Christ I’ll give you the €1.50
@Daragh Kennedy: @Daragh Kennedy: The basic price on Netflix is €7.99 per month. Ultra HD is €15.99 per month. So, Where are you getting your €1.50 from you muppet. But if you’re giving away a free €1.50, I’ll take it also
@Paulie B: the second tier standard which is the one you have to be on for HD is 12€ and the basic without it is €8. I’m in the second purely because of wanting HD as I don’t use the second screen. Why would I pay extra for a service I’m not getting? It doesn’t matter what the amount is, if you pay for a service you get it and if not then there should be a reduction in price to reflect that.
If quality is down for a month will subscription drop for a month? Like BMW selling you a 3.0lt and telling you they will be swapping the engine out with a 1.0lt for a month.
@Paul O Mahony: No it isnt. Not even remotely.
@Gary Stewart: why should I pay for UHD on Netflix and receive only HD… Yes the price difference is very small but not the principle. Netflix are obviously enjoying the kudos but will probably not pass it on to their customers by way of a reduction in fees.
The Irishman is now going to be 6 hours long.
Ah yes, rather buy new servers with all that new sub money the last few weeks they’ll reduce quality. Mugs the lot of ya.
@MitchConnor: Its not their issue. If you look at the article it is to relieve ISP backhaul pressure. And if you look at netfix IT, stuff like chaos monkey/kong where they can fail entire geographical locations its pretty cool. So id say their infra can handle it.
@Shougeki: As someone from a networking background. I find it a little hard to believe that core networks would struggle with Netflix converging there networks. And if it was the case, the protocol will sense it and load balance it at the various tiers in the network. Also, if the telecoms really wanted they could give priority to IP ranges of hospitals, also most hospital traffic I would imagine is intranet.
@MitchConnor: go to school
@Dave.: funny here how the posts that speak the truth get so few thumbs up .. and you were nice about it :)
@Dave.: By the message it is a combination of netflix plus everyone working from home – vpn, zoom, etc.
But the telcos cores should handle it. If you want a good tech read look into their simian army and the advent of chaos engineering where they build massive failures into their designs.
Hopefully PH keep their quality up!
Pornhub may need to look at doing the same!!
@Berkieahern3: be quiet you monster!
@Berkieahern3: Alright John
@Berkieahern3: You can get UHD porn now? What a time to be alive.
They will of course reduce their fees accordingly
So they are doing this so people can use the internet from home rather than work. Are they not using the same amount of data when at home vs at work? Fill me in…
@Mal Swan: no is the quick answer. Working from home for a lot, means accessing your company corporate network remotely. This puts traffic over internet that would not normally be there, ad to that kids are off school and you can be sure they are generating massive traffic that would not normally be there for a fair portion of weekdays. Ad to that all of those who’ve lost their jobs to to covid 19 related business closures and are at home also potentially using internet services
Less quality same sh/t
Oh more good news
What quality?
Can people please stop complaining if you have to watch TV of a slightly worse quality, the demand of internet usage is huge now that people are working from home and streaming more. Fair play to Netflix, I’m looking forward to watching HD TV again soon.
@Jenny Kelleher: I am complaining I’m paying the same fee with reduced c**p service and I have to work and expose myself and my 82 year old pop to this virus
@Jen Gordon: maybe if the service does turn crap then fair enough. It would be worse if it took longer for shows/movies to load or buffer in HD. This way everyone can enjoy. Well done for continuing to work, lots of us are
@Jenny Kelleher: Actually Netflix will have significantly reduced costs due to this move, they pay bandwidth fees (primarily to amazon web services) in proportion to the amount of bandwidth they use. Its only right to expect them to pass this on to the consumers.
I’m sure you wouldn’t think it right that they profit from covid-19 now would you?
@Jen Gordon: hardly Netflix’s fault you have to work unless you are working for them?
@Jenny Kelleher: Will somebody think of the people with 4K TVs having to watch Netflix in Full HD!
Starting to watch highway to heaven on Netflix, great upbeat show
@Terry Tibbs: maserati 3200, talk to me.
@Terry Tibbs: it is indeed and a great show for the times we live in right now!
@Mark Walsh: Message from Maserati 3200; I’m dying, I’ve been driven hard, very hard. Too hard. I’m feeling a slight clenchy feeling on number 7, I’ve upped my oil pressure, and I’m getting a bit hot, like very hot, I can’t keep this up, @Terry Tibbs should I carry on or park up? ??
@Terry Tibbs: Highway to heaven is on netflicks. well thats my weekend sorted. I’m also blind so don’t need picture just sound. no Hd needed here seems the eyes stopped showing any definition many years ago.
Reduce fees too ??
Daft system really this Netflix. Waste tons of bandwidth sending videos to invidual viewers one by one. Since everyone pretty much watches the same tripe anyway just like back in the day it makes much more sense to send to millions of users at the same time by satellite. Though as usual corporate greed prevents this from happening
@Quiet Goer: go back to bed will you, and hop out the right side
@Quiet Goer: I don’t have a detailed knowledge of how e-commerce ties into ISP profits. But it makes more money than peer to peer file sharing.
@Watchful Axe: I’m guessing.
@Quiet Goer: Actually they have edga content servers in isp co-lo’s to reduce exactly what you are saying!
@Quiet Goer: go back to the 90 so
@Quiet Goer: yes, blockbuster on line, zero benefit, not even the walk to the shop. Move has no value, you paid for hundreds with 10.99
@Quiet Goer: Do you still play ABBA Tapes??
@Shougeki: actually they host everything on AWS, google it.
@Quiet Goer: that defeats the purpose of it and restricts you to having watch stuff when it’s on. And you’re still streaming it so it still takes up the same bandwidth.
Makes sense
Ah and so it begins. You watch in 6 months time … “lads we’re just shutting off the internet for 7 days…”
@zachary vvm: thats it start downloading again like a few years ago burn up that bandwith before its gone lol
Kingdom. Soooo good
They get reduce the price commensurate with the drop in quality so, yeah!?
Omg now its time to panic!!
Hope this doesn’t include Netflix Argentina…god knows I’m paying enough for it..
@EdmundOrlando: As soon as all the Covid-19 travel restrictions lift, we’re Patagonia bound or bust. Move over Bro.
Considering our TV is 11 years old and our broadband is terrible due to living in the middle of nowhere, this certainly won’t affect us LOL
Popcorn time
I’m gaming rather than watching shows, much more fun and immersive. But I’m be still working even with lockdown happens
Can we also expect a reduction in subscription fees while the quality is not up to scratch?
I trust we can then achieve a price drop also for the consumers.
What exactly does “reduce the quality” mean? We were giving you some good entertainment now have some shït stuff?
@Cosmological: no.high definition down to a lower definition.it uses less bandwidth.
have your say